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** More recently, [[spoiler: Katherine]] has become one of these, combined with joining [[spoiler: TheMenInBlack]].
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* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: [[spoiler: Shelly suddenly dies and returns as a millennia old sphinx.]]
** Actually, [[spoiler: the Shelly we see die is the one from the very first cycle of the time loop. Shelly 57 - the Shelly in the comic strip - spent the full length of all cycles of the time loop in the Time Forest - where time runs the opposite way - and had to watch all of the Shellys from the loops before hers die, before she returned as a sphinx.]]
** Actually, [[spoiler: the Shelly we see die is the one from the very first cycle of the time loop. Shelly 57 - the Shelly in the comic strip - spent the full length of all cycles of the time loop in the Time Forest - where time runs the opposite way - and had to watch all of the Shellys from the loops before hers die, before she returned as a sphinx.]]
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* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: [[spoiler: Shelly suddenly dies and returns comes back as a millennia millenia old sphinx.]]
** Actually, [[spoiler:sphinx. Or, more accurately, the Shelly we see die is the one from the very first cycle of the time loop. Shelly 57 - the Shelly in the comic strip - spent the full length of all cycles of the time loop in the Time Forest - where time runs the opposite way - and had to watch all of the Shellys from the loops before hers die, before she returned as a sphinx.]]
** Actually, [[spoiler:
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* FantasyKitchenSink: Starting out with Aztec deities, increasingly becoming this as more supernatural characters and themes are added, including {{Atlantis}}.
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** At least until [[spoiler:Mayahuel "rewrites her code"]] while in the process [[spoilerof curing her mental instability.]]
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** At least until [[spoiler:Mayahuel "rewrites her code"]] while in the process [[spoilerof [[spoiler:of curing her mental instability.]]
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** At least until [[spoiler:Mayahuel "rewrites her code"]] while in the process [[spoilerof curing her mental instability.]]
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** [[spoiler:Though Jin is now mortal herself, so not so much.]]
** Looks as if it may apply to sphinx Shelly and [[spoiler:Justin]], until we learn that [[spoiler:he is in fact an amnesiac immortal himself]].
** Looks as if it may apply to sphinx Shelly and [[spoiler:Justin]], until we learn that [[spoiler:he is in fact an amnesiac immortal himself]].
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** And then hamstrung for good measure.
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** Actually, [[spoiler: the Shelly we see die is the one from the very first cycle of the time loop. Shelly 57 - the Shelly in the comic strip - spent the full length of all cycles of the time loop in the Time Forest - where time runs the opposite way - and had to watch all of the Shellys from the loops before hers die, before she returned as a sphinx.]]
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* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Monica's first "poit" comes out of friggin' ''[[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/weneedtotalk/ nowhere]]''.
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* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Monica's first "poit" comes out of friggin' ''[[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/weneedtotalk/ nowhere]]''. (She'd previously ''been'' poited by others, and presumably just picked up the technique somehow.)
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* LiteralCliffHanger: One sequence has Shelly hanging from the edge of a [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/08202004/ billboard.]] [[spoiler:Luckily the long fall is only an illusion. She will land on a rooftop not visible due to the angle.]]
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* LiteralCliffHanger: One sequence has Shelly hanging from the edge of a [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/08202004/ billboard.]] [[spoiler:Luckily the long fall is only an illusion. She will land on a rooftop not visible due to the angle. Possibly inspired by HaroldLloyd's ''Safety Last'', which used a similar technique.]]
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[[http://wapsisquare.com/ Wapsi Square]] is a "slice of supernatural life" webcomic by Paul Taylor, who describes it as "An attempt to combine the cute and the macabre." It follows the life of Monica Villareal, a busty anthropologist from Minneapolis, as she discovers that it isn't her that's crazy, but rather the world around her.
to:
[[http://wapsisquare.com/ Wapsi Square]] is a "slice of supernatural life" webcomic by Paul Taylor, who describes it as "An attempt to combine the cute and the macabre." It follows the life of Monica Villareal, a busty anthropologist from Minneapolis, [[UsefulNotes/TwinCities Minneapolis]], as she discovers that it isn't her that's crazy, but rather the world around her.
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->''One thing I must remember about my demons...''
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->''They become totally... completely... harmless.''
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->''They become totally... completely... harmless.''"''
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* TheLibraryOfBabel: The Bibliothiki.
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* BiologicalMashUp: The Chimera, Phix
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* OurMonstersAreDifferent: The Chimera, Phix
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I Got Better was renamed to Unexplained recovery to help fight exactly that kind of misuse.
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* IGotBetter: [[spoiler: Monica is immortal. She has died multiple times only to reform completely intact seconds later.]]
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* IGotBetter: [[spoiler: Monica is immortal. She has died multiple times only to reform completely intact seconds later.]]
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* WebComicsLongRunners: Over 2000 strips as of January 2011
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spelling fix
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[[http://wapsisquare.com/ Wapsi Square]] is a "slice of supernatural life" webcomic by Paul Taylor, who describes it as "An attempt to combine the cute and tha macabre." It follows the life of Monica Villareal, a busty anthropologist from Minneapolis, as she discovers that it isn't her that's crazy, but rather the world around her.
to:
[[http://wapsisquare.com/ Wapsi Square]] is a "slice of supernatural life" webcomic by Paul Taylor, who describes it as "An attempt to combine the cute and tha the macabre." It follows the life of Monica Villareal, a busty anthropologist from Minneapolis, as she discovers that it isn't her that's crazy, but rather the world around her.
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*TotalPartyKill: the end of the previous Calendar Machine cycle. It's not described in any great detail, but previous!Monica died horribly.
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Zero Context Example of renamed trope
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* PaintingTheFourthWall
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** Tepoz also did this to Monica using a large chicken. And what goes in...
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** Tepoz also did this to Monica using a large chicken. turkey. And what goes in...in...
--> '''Monica''': "Oh, those poor people at the sewage treatment plant.."
--> '''Monica''': "Oh, those poor people at the sewage treatment plant.."
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Fixed link, moved Les Yay to YMMV
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* AllMythsAreTrue: At least the Aztec, Greek and Egyptian myths as well as {{Atlantis}] have made a fair showing so far, and Bud may actually be ancient Greek based on how her accent sounds to modern ears.
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* AllMythsAreTrue: At least the Aztec, Greek and Egyptian myths as well as {{Atlantis}] {{Atlantis}} have made a fair showing so far, and Bud may actually be ancient Greek based on how her accent sounds to modern ears.
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* LesYay: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/puts-up-with-you/ And the pixie with the rack puts up with you how?]] [[spoiler: Keep in mind that the speaker is essentially Shelly's subconscious. Who refers to Monica as "the pixie with the rack." Yeah.]]
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* AllMythsAreTrue: At least the Aztec, Greek and Egyptian myths have made a fair showing so far, and Bud may actually be ancient Greek based on how her accent sounds to modern ears.
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* AllMythsAreTrue: At least the Aztec, Greek and Egyptian myths as well as {{Atlantis}] have made a fair showing so far, and Bud may actually be ancient Greek based on how her accent sounds to modern ears.
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* NoAntagonist: Despite, the save the world plot and complex, overlapping plans, there is no clear antagonistic figure.
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* NoAntagonist: Despite, Despite the save the world plot and complex, overlapping plans, there is no clear antagonistic figure.
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see discussion
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* {{Pettanko}}: Shelly. Makes up for it by an obsessive interest in lingerie despite her tomboyness.
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* HotAmazon: Shelly, Lakshmi
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* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: [[spoiler: Shelly suddenly dies and returns as a millennia old sphinx.]]
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* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: Monica is an [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/dammit-jin/ Anthropologist, not a Psychiatrist.]] She even throws in a [[StarTrek "Dammit Jin"]] for good measure.
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* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: Monica is an [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/dammit-jin/ Anthropologist, not a Psychiatrist.]] She even throws in a [[StarTrek [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries "Dammit Jin"]] for good measure.
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* GroundhogDayLoop: Everyone but [[spoiler:Jin]] has been unknowingly trapped in one of these, due to [[spoiler:a malfunctioning Mayan calendar machine for at least eighty-one thousand years.]] [[spoiler:Jin is trapped as well, but she [[NightmareFuelUnleaded knows what's happening]] and appears to be going somewhat mad from it.]]
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* GroundhogDayLoop: Everyone but [[spoiler:Jin]] has been unknowingly trapped in one of these, due to [[spoiler:a malfunctioning Mayan calendar machine for at least eighty-one thousand years.]] [[spoiler:Jin is trapped as well, but she [[NightmareFuelUnleaded [[NightmareFuel knows what's happening]] and appears to be going somewhat mad from it.]]
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* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler: Shelly finding an old power source... made of plutonium. Within a few frames, she DIES of radiation poisoning. [[IGotBetter She gets better]]... sort of.]]
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* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler: Shelly finding an old power source... made of plutonium. Within a few frames, she DIES of radiation poisoning. [[IGotBetter She gets better]]...better... sort of.]]
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Tina_pointing_4089.png]]
->''One thing I must remember about my demons...''
->''If I don't do exactly as they say, as they wish...''
->''They become totally... completely... harmless.''
-->-- '''Monica'''
[[http://wapsisquare.com/ Wapsi Square]] is a "slice of supernatural life" webcomic by Paul Taylor, who describes it as "An attempt to combine the cute and tha macabre." It follows the life of Monica Villareal, a busty anthropologist from Minneapolis, as she discovers that it isn't her that's crazy, but rather the world around her.
The comic started out as a simple slice of life comedy, but eventually [[CerebusSyndrome grew into]] a much more complicated story with the introduction of an Aztec deity, three indestructible golems, and a massive, time-spanning plot to save the world. Despite the shift, it still finds time to explore the personal lives of the characters, but with a bit of a supernatural twist.
Has a [[Characters/WapsiSquare character sheet.]]
------
Wapsi Square proves examples of the following:
* ADateWithRosiePalms: Graphically overheard by Dietzel in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/me-time/ this]] strip.
* AdventureArchaeologist: Monica's grandfather was one of these. Monica herself, on the other hand would claim to be an archaeologist of the far more mundane variety. She spends most of her time either in a library, or analyzing things for the museum, and she doesn't do field work. However, that being said, she still did manage to help bring down a smuggling ring in the process of acquiring an artifact.
* AGoodNameForARockBand: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09192001/ Fermented Banana]] is named after [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09172001/ an unfortunate mishap]] by Monica.
* AllBikersAreHellsAngels: [[SubvertedTrope subverted]], when Monica finds a biker bar filled with mostly middle-aged white-collar workers.
* AllMythsAreTrue: At least the Aztec, Greek and Egyptian myths have made a fair showing so far, and Bud may actually be ancient Greek based on how her accent sounds to modern ears.
* AlternateHistory: Jin has lived through numerous of these because of the GroundhogDayLoop, the most recent of which apparently ended in a blind panic at the Calendar Machine site and a gruesome death for Monica, and may have something to do with Jin's refusal to let herself be too friendly with the rest of the crew, particularly Shelly.
* AmbulanceChaser: Bud has an amusing run-in with one starting [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/areyouokay/ here.]]
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: The personal demons
* ApocalypseHow: A class 2 occurred in the distant past caused by [[spoiler:the golem girls.]]
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/notnightmares/ I snore loud but I don't mean to.]]
* ArtEvolution: Compare [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09172001/ this early strip]] to [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/fromalackofsleep/ this one]]. Yes, that's the same girl.
* AshFace: Bud once found herself caught in a massive fiery explosion, and came out with one of these.
* ASimplePlan: The tendency for simple plans to go horrible wrong is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/asimpleplan/ this]] strip. Said simple plan results in being shot at and bringing down a group of smugglers in Cairo.
* {{Atlantis}}
* AuthorAppeal: Paul Taylor seems to have a thing for big and/or strong, sexually aggressive women. All male/female relationships shown have the female as the more powerful or aggressive partner. [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/06072004/ This]] sounds like the Paul talking...
* BackFromTheDead, the Golem Girls
* BadDreams
* BatterUp: Shelly seems to take a baseball bat with her to [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/i-brought-coffee/ answer the door late at night.]]
* BeachEpisode: If you could teleport, wouldn't you meet up on a sandbar somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/that-easy/ sometimes?]]
* BecauseDestinySaysSo
* BedmateReveal: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/whowhatwhere/ Bud and Kevin]] wake up in the same bed after a night of drinking.
* BenevolentBoss: Monica's boss set her up with Kevin, and Heather's once ordered her to go out and have fun.
* BigNo: Monica's takes two (albeit short) lines when [[spoiler:Phyx decides it's time to "tag" Nudge]] on [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/tag/ this page]]
* BiologicalMashUp: The Chimera, Phix
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The demons
* BrainBleach: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/washmybrain/ "Remind me to wash my brain with bleach later would you!"]]
* BringMyBrownPants: See MuggingTheMonster below.
* CallBack: A strip from [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/you-got-that/ December 2009]] featured a reference to the dialogue in the [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09092001/ very first strip]] back in 2001.
* CameBackWrong: The destruction of the Calendar Machine seems to have utterly broken Jin's mind; although she seemed reasonably sane up to that point, she's explicitly referred to as schizophrenic at least once after.
* CelestialDeadline
* CerebusSyndrome: Changing from a slice-of-life comedy, to a save-the-world drama; dropping over half its supporting cast in the process, and leaving multiple unresolved subplots.
* ChangingClothesIsAFreeAction: Jin is able to do this to both herself and Monica through some creative use of teleportation.
* ChekhovsGun: Monica's grandfather, Tepoz (surprisingly), the glyph language
* {{Chiaroscuro}}: Used in a particularly dramatic moment [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/girlwiththekeys/ in the library.]]
* ChirpingCrickets: It even [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/08132004/ used]] the sound effect [[UnsoundEffect cricket cricket.]]
* ClarkesThirdLaw
* ClothingSwitch: Tina and Monica once [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/hang-of-this/ switched outfits]] due to a slight [[TeleporterAccident teleporting mishap.]]
* ColdBloodedTorture
* ComfortFood: Pizza [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/outgrowingyourbras/ is the universal comfort food,]] even to the point where your demons won't bug you when you are eating it.
* CoolestClubEver: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/doyoustilltrustus/ Cerberus Club]]
* CoolGate: The portal cloth is interesting [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/youllberightback/ on its own,]] but it really becomes a cool gate when it is [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/atattoo/ attached to Shelly.]] If you enter it, you come out the other cloth, but you have to be able to teleport on your own to use it. It still does have its uses though.
* CoolPet: Bud and Brandi tamed a creature that could have inspired the Kraken. They named him [[FluffyTheTerrible Stinky.]]
* CosmicRetcon: An in-universe ResetButton that resets time back to the same point. The next reset is due in 2012.
* CowboysAndIndians: Shelly often found herself playing this as a kid. [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/run-rabbit/ She took the suction cups off of her toy arrows.]]
* CreepyDoll: Tina's [[BilingualBonus muñeca para el Dia de los Muertos]] looks somewhat unsettling.
* CreepyChild: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/what-are-you/ Shelly's conscience]] looks like one and [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/missing-the-poin/ she knows it.]]
* CuteKitten: Selenium, except for [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/pretty-amazing/ this instance]] any real-life cat owner would relate to. He does double duty as Amanda's shredder.
* DagwoodSandwich: Monica has been known to eat [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/meet-kris-williams/ these.]]
* DemotedToExtra: Notice the fairly small overlap between the site's current cast page and the one above? In the slice-of-life years, Tina was a moving prop, Katherine was just a weird DropInCharacter, and Tep was such a joke that he wasn't added to the cast page at the time until after the Heather arc, when ''she'd'' been there for months already; essentially, Monica and Shelly are the only two left of the original cast. Even Shelly hadn't been very prominent among Monica's friends until [[GirlOnGirlIsHot the Heather arc]] and her ImportantHaircut boosted her popularity.
* DescriptionCut: They are a staple of the humor. [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/shoeswithwheels/ This strip]] is a good example.
* DidYouJustHaveSex
* DistractedByTheSexy: Monica + LittleBlackDress = ...[[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09242001/ well yeah]]
* DoingInTheWizard: "Magic" is eventually HandWaved as an [[ClarkesThirdLaw unknown form of quantum manipulation]]
* DreamingOfThingsToCome
* EmbarrassingOldPhoto: There's a scene early on where Monica is embarrassed by a bunch of her teenage photos where she's wearing nerdy glasses and hair. Later on she shows one to her friends and they think it's cute.
* EpicFail: Tina describes a previous time [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/parallel-parking/ she had to run the coffee shop with an arm in a cast.]] [[NoodleIncident Somehow]] she managed to back over her wrist while trying to [[ParallelParking parallel park.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/we-have-rules/ We may be demons, but we have rules!]]
* ExpressiveHair: This happened a lot in the early strips, especially with Shelly.
* FacePalm: Dietzel does this [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/next-big-thing/ from time to time.]]
* FallingIntoHisArms: Happens to Monica after a biking accident [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09102003/ here.]] However, in this case, it is purely comedy, and it is not played for romance in any way.
* FlatEarthAtheist: explicitly averted by Monica, who considers all the weird things and people around her to be phenomena that science just hasn't studied yet.
* FluffyTheTerrible: Stinky the sea monster
* ForceFeeding: Bud [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/payattention/ demonstrates]] the incredibly complicated technique of force feeding through [[TeleportersAndTransporters teleportation.]]
** Tepoz also did this to Monica using a large chicken. And what goes in...
* AFriendInNeed
* FunbagAirbag: It happens to Shelly in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/abitawkward/ this strip.]]
* GayConservative: Heather is a conservative lesbian folk singer.
* GenreBusting: It is difficult to describe what genre the comic is currently in. It describes itself as a "Slice of supernatural life."
* GenreShift: Started as a slice-of-life comic, then took a supernatural turn that now dominates.
* GentleGiant: Lakshmi
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Jin
* {{Golem}}: Bud, Jin and Brandy, [[spoiler:Tepoztecal]]
* GrillingPyrotechnics: Invoked by Shelly as part of a plan to meet with and get revenge on a certain [[FairCop attractive police officer]] [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/getting-his-attention/ here.]]
* GroundhogDayLoop: Everyone but [[spoiler:Jin]] has been unknowingly trapped in one of these, due to [[spoiler:a malfunctioning Mayan calendar machine for at least eighty-one thousand years.]] [[spoiler:Jin is trapped as well, but she [[NightmareFuelUnleaded knows what's happening]] and appears to be going somewhat mad from it.]]
** More recently, Shelly has been shown to be stuck in a much stranger version of this trope.
* GroundShatteringLanding: Bud once tried to roller skate down the stairs. She is indestructible. You can imagine the rest.
* GutFeeling: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/agutfeeling/ "I find that when a body part starts making decisions, one must proceed with caution."]]
* HandsOnApproach: The first meeting between Shelly and Justin occurred off-screen when he invoked this trope on the receiving instruction end in her kickboxing class. Eventually, she figured out that [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/gripping-story/ he wasn't as inept as he acted.]]
* HardHead
* HeroicBSOD: Shelly [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/are-you-there-2/ went through one of these]] after [[spoiler:being trapped in another world as a sphinx for 80,000 years, while [[YearInsideHourOutside no time at all passed for her friends.]] She got better surprisingly quickly.]]
* HotAmazon: Shelly, Lakshmi
* HotLibrarian: Phix
* HumanityEnsues: The golem girls, [[spoiler:Tina]]
* HurlItIntoTheSun: Bud's method of disposing of [[spoiler:the calender machine]]
* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: Monica is an [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/dammit-jin/ Anthropologist, not a Psychiatrist.]] She even throws in a [[StarTrek "Dammit Jin"]] for good measure.
* ImagineSpot: Katherine imagines [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/bjarnionice/ seasonally inept Vikings.]]
* ImNotAfraidOfYou
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: A group of smugglers with automatic weapons [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/noplacelikehome/ can't hit Monica]] at all, even at rather close range. [[spoiler:We later find out that there is a slightly more complicated reason than just bad aim.]]
* InnocentInnuendo: Used in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09082004/ this]] strip. The next strip reveals that they were actually talking about [[spoiler:yoga]]
* ItsNotYouItsMe: This is [[InvertedTrope inverted]] when Monica uses this phrase to [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/10212004/ start a relationship.]] The inversion is then promptly [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded.]]
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Jin to [[spoiler:Monica's grandfather]], with the added twist that if she [[spoiler:didn't let him go, Monica would never exist to be the focal point of the ritual to destroy the calendar machine]]. Made substantially worse by the fact that [[spoiler: he was the love of her life and she's had to let him go every time she relives the cycle.]]
* {{Kneecapping}}: In a March 2011 comic there's a distant flashback that shows Jin, before she became part of the Chimera, being shot through the back of the knee with an arrow. {{Squick}}.
* KrakenAndLeviathan: Bud and Brandi have a pet named Stinky who seems to be the Kraken.
* LaserHallway: A [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/11082002/ one shot]] gag shows that apparently there are a few lasers involved in the museum's security system.
* LaymansTerms: Shelly gets an impromptu vocabulary lesson [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/partsvibrate/ here.]]
* LesYay: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/puts-up-with-you/ And the pixie with the rack puts up with you how?]] [[spoiler: Keep in mind that the speaker is essentially Shelly's subconscious. Who refers to Monica as "the pixie with the rack." Yeah.]]
* TheLibraryOfBabel: The Bibliothiki.
* LiteralCliffHanger: One sequence has Shelly hanging from the edge of a [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/08202004/ billboard.]] [[spoiler:Luckily the long fall is only an illusion. She will land on a rooftop not visible due to the angle.]]
* LittleBlackDress: Putting one on [[GagBoobs Monica]] [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09242001/ results in]] DistractedByTheSexy.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: See the [[Characters/WapsiSquare character sheet]] for more info.
* LostTechnology: {{Golem}}s
* MadeASlave
* MagicalRealism: Most of the time, especially in the early strips it seems like just a slice of life strip. And then the Mexican deities started showing up.
* MagicFromTechnology: The Calendar Machine
* MagneticGirlfriend: Kevin makes this observation [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/justweird/ here.]]
* MathematiciansAnswer: Shelly gives one when asked where she [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/onmyfront/ got her tattoo.]]
* {{Mayincatec}}: Aztec and Mayan mythology. Possibly subverted by Jin, [[spoiler:who has impersonated deities common to both pantheons and may have had some contact with Egypt and Greece as well, through Phix.]]
* MayflyDecemberRomance: Can definitely apply to any relationship between an immortal or extremely long-lived being with a regular human, such as Jin and Alan or Phix and Monica's boss.
* MeaningfulName
* MeaningfulRename
* MetalDetectorCheckpoint: Monica has a bit of a problem with the metal detector at the airport. She made sure she had nothing metal on her person only to set off the detector with the [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/12062002/ underwire in her bra.]]
* MonsterClown: There are few things scarier than a [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/11282003/ dog in a clown mask.]]
* MsFanservice: Monica and the Golem Girls (especially in their first appearance). Nearly every female character gets a turn at least once. Done very tastefully, especially for webcomics, and not too often.
* MuggingTheMonster: Mugger pulls knife. [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/02242005/ Heather pulls gun]] [[BringMyBrownPants Mugger wets himself.]]
* MundaneFantastic
* MundaneUtility: Shelly was given some clay dolls by her mother [[ChekhovsGun and told that they would be important in the future.]] [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/crackwalnuts/ They crack walnuts really good.]] On top of that, Bud [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/thingslikethat/ has an interesting way of making popcorn.]]
** Tepoz can create any alcoholic drink you can imagine.
*** Actually it's much simpler and open ended than that, he can create 'anything' with alcohol 'in it' or in some cases summon, which was his explanation originally of how he bamfed Bud, Jin and Brandi into Monica's kitchen originally as well as how he was able to poit into existence an entire turkey's worth of mexican mole into existence for Monica, the stipulation being that her grandma used alcohol in the sauce.
* MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning
* NamesTheSame: Heather Mills
* NeverBringAKnifeToAGunfight: A mugger finds himself on the wrong end of this trope in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/02242005/ this]] strip.
* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Monica's first "poit" comes out of friggin' ''[[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/weneedtotalk/ nowhere]]''.
* NoAntagonist: Despite, the save the world plot and complex, overlapping plans, there is no clear antagonistic figure.
* NoNameGiven: Jin's Mother is only known so far as "Jin's Mother"
** Recently revealed to be [[spoiler: "Mayahuel"]].
* NoodleImplements: Alan once mentioned a rather creative use of [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/10222004/ a toilet seat and a rubber chicken.]]
* NoodleIncident: We never do find out how Tina managed to run over her own wrist while parallel parking...
* NothingButSkulls
* NotWhatItLooksLike: Kevin walks into the room and sees [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/12292003/ this.]]
* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: Subverted with the question Phix, the keeper of the Bibliothiki, asks Monica and Shelly.
* OntologicalMystery: Tina, who has only news clippings to remember her life with. [[spoiler:She was a psychiatrist and the daughter of a drug lord, as well as a close friend of Jin's. She remembers none of this.]]
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: although they can be pretty nasty, they are frequently not actually evil.
* OutOfFocus: ''Everyone''. The original cast was Monica, Amanda, Shelly, Jacquelyn, Owen, Darin, and Dietl, and this was the core cast for ''years'', with even the relatively early additions Tina and Tepoz not making the cast page until long after their introduction. Only the first three are even ''on'' the current cast page, and Amanda mostly because of her role as the original {{Foil}}.
* PaintingTheFourthWall
* {{Pettanko}}: Shelly. Makes up for it by an obsessive interest in lingerie despite her tomboyness.
* PingPongNaivete, [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as a coping mechanism
* PlayboyBunny: Bud and Brandi [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/canwebebunniestoo/ once wore this sort of outfit]] during their perpetually drunk phase.
* PlayingSick: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/callinsick/ This]] comic has Dietzel recommending that Monica do this.
* PricelessPaperweight: The trope is discussed in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/whattodo/ this]] strip when Brandi mentions that the portal cloth they just acquired wouldn't make a very good table cloth.
* RoomFullOfCrazy: Used as a partial flashback to Monica's [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/ones-you-should-trust/ rubber room days.]]
* RumpRoast: Monica's rejection of her inner demon Doubt sets Doubt's ass on fire. Doubt eventually finds a way to get her own back on Monica. [[spoiler:Nose flicks!]]
* SecretTestOfCharacter: Never used straight, but the golem girls once mistook something for one. Another time, Bud pretended to mistake Monica's actions for a secret test of character.
** Phix's riddle. [[spoiler: She always asks the same riddle to which *any* answer is technically correct, because the answer chosen always reveal an important aspect of the person who answers it.]]
* SelfMutilationDemonstration: Jin uses a variation to show that she is indestructible [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/screeeee/ here.]]
* SequentialSymptomSyndrome: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/05032005/ Two]] [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/05042005/ consecutive]] strips involve a doctor telling Heather about a specific symptom of a concussion, and Shelly experiencing that symptom off screen.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Jin comes home from Mexico to find out that despite the destruction of the calendar machine, she can never regain her mortality.]]
* SneezeOfDoom: Of the bra-removing kind.
* SoWhatDoWeDoNow: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/back-to-normal/ Monica]] seems to have this problem. [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/no-other-shoe/ Tepoz]] [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it. And, it turns out that [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/herculean-task/ she's not the only one.]]
* SpitTake: Monica [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/curiousquestions/ here]]
* SymbolSwearing: The strip managed to find a way to [[SubvertedTrope subvert]] this trope. What looks like just slightly unusual symbol swearing [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/02132004/ here]] is actually a language known by very few people that becomes a plot point later on.
* TakeMyHand: Monica and Amanda try to haul Shelly back up onto a platform in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/08242004/ this]] strip. [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/08252004/ They drop her.]] [[spoiler: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/08262004/ she doesn't fall very far.]]]]
* TalkAboutTheWeather
* TearsOfRemorse
* TeleporterAccident: Monica is capable of teleporting, but isn't particularly good at it. As a result, she tends to suffer comical but harmless mishaps such as [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/fillmein/ poor]] [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/assledtheway/ arrival]] [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/homeagain/ placement,]] upside down [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/justafewholes/ on arrival,]] and [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/hang-of-this/ switching clothing with the person traveling with her.]]
* TeleportersAndTransporters: "Poit"ing
* TemporalParadox
* TemptingFate: Taunting mother nature is [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/attack-of-the-ic/ a bad idea.]]
* TenderTears: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/04042003/ Why can't he just tell her he loves her?]]
* ThatCameOutWrong: Rare [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/05282003/ double example.]]
* ThereIsOnlyOneBed: Used [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/12112002/ here]] with Shelly and Owen who have known each other since grade school.
* ThinkNothingOfIt
* UndeadTaxExemption: Bud and Brandi are able to acquire modern birth certificates and social security numbers despite being immortal clay golems who predate most known civilizations. However, it is made believable in that it was done by Jin, who has been playing political manipulator in multiple countries for over a thousand years, and probably has more than enough contacts to make someone exist (or cease to exist).
* {{Underboobs}}: Shelly [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/06142004/ doesn't exactly wear much]] when playing basketball with the guys.
* UnsoundEffect: It once [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/08132004/ used]] the sound effect [[ChirpingCrickets cricket cricket.]]
* UnstoppableMailman: The mail will still arrive, even in a [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/oh-hey/ nasty snowstorm.]]
* VFormationTeamShot: Used in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/pack-the-bug-spray/ this]] strip.
* ViciousCycle: The calendar machine puts the world through cycle after cycle, resetting time every time it hits 2012. [[spoiler:Jin]] retains her knowledge through all cycles, and has seen over 80,000 years worth of this cycle.
** [[spoiler: The cycle is now broken after Monica, Shelly and the golem girls disabled and [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer crushed the calendar machine into an itsy little cube which was then hurled into the sun.]] ]]
* VisibleSilence
* WaitHere: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] and promptly played straight in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09042002/ this]] strip.
* TheWatcher: Mayahuel to Monica, disguised as her dead Mexican grandmother.
* WeAreNotGoingThroughThatAgain
* WeirdnessMagnet: Justin mentions to Shelly that he is this and invokes IJustWantToBeNormal, [[spoiler: implying she's not the first supernatural girl attracted to him.]]
** [[spoiler: He later goes into TooMuchInformation territory by mentioning his werewolf ex who liked to be tied to the bed so she could have sex with him while transforming.]]
* WebComicsLongRunners: Over 2000 strips as of January 2011
* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler: Shelly finding an old power source... made of plutonium. Within a few frames, she DIES of radiation poisoning. [[IGotBetter She gets better]]... sort of.]]
* WhenThePlanetsAlign
* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: Bud, being the most destructive of the three golem girls, has worried about this on a regular basis.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Jin, to Tina. [[spoiler:They had apparently once been close friends until Tina's death in the same accident that Monica's family thought was attempted suicide; the "new" Tina has only what she (i.e. her demons) could gather from the news about her identity to remember her old life by.]]
* YouHaveToBelieveMe: [[spoiler: Despite her years of living a life that she knows would make anyone think she's crazy if she revealed any of it, she blurts out to Justin that she's a Sphinx without actually doing anything to ''prove'' it, like transforming into a huge lion-bodied mythical being. Predictably, he reacts badly.]]
----
->''One thing I must remember about my demons...''
->''If I don't do exactly as they say, as they wish...''
->''They become totally... completely... harmless.''
-->-- '''Monica'''
[[http://wapsisquare.com/ Wapsi Square]] is a "slice of supernatural life" webcomic by Paul Taylor, who describes it as "An attempt to combine the cute and tha macabre." It follows the life of Monica Villareal, a busty anthropologist from Minneapolis, as she discovers that it isn't her that's crazy, but rather the world around her.
The comic started out as a simple slice of life comedy, but eventually [[CerebusSyndrome grew into]] a much more complicated story with the introduction of an Aztec deity, three indestructible golems, and a massive, time-spanning plot to save the world. Despite the shift, it still finds time to explore the personal lives of the characters, but with a bit of a supernatural twist.
Has a [[Characters/WapsiSquare character sheet.]]
------
Wapsi Square proves examples of the following:
* ADateWithRosiePalms: Graphically overheard by Dietzel in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/me-time/ this]] strip.
* AdventureArchaeologist: Monica's grandfather was one of these. Monica herself, on the other hand would claim to be an archaeologist of the far more mundane variety. She spends most of her time either in a library, or analyzing things for the museum, and she doesn't do field work. However, that being said, she still did manage to help bring down a smuggling ring in the process of acquiring an artifact.
* AGoodNameForARockBand: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09192001/ Fermented Banana]] is named after [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09172001/ an unfortunate mishap]] by Monica.
* AllBikersAreHellsAngels: [[SubvertedTrope subverted]], when Monica finds a biker bar filled with mostly middle-aged white-collar workers.
* AllMythsAreTrue: At least the Aztec, Greek and Egyptian myths have made a fair showing so far, and Bud may actually be ancient Greek based on how her accent sounds to modern ears.
* AlternateHistory: Jin has lived through numerous of these because of the GroundhogDayLoop, the most recent of which apparently ended in a blind panic at the Calendar Machine site and a gruesome death for Monica, and may have something to do with Jin's refusal to let herself be too friendly with the rest of the crew, particularly Shelly.
* AmbulanceChaser: Bud has an amusing run-in with one starting [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/areyouokay/ here.]]
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: The personal demons
* ApocalypseHow: A class 2 occurred in the distant past caused by [[spoiler:the golem girls.]]
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/notnightmares/ I snore loud but I don't mean to.]]
* ArtEvolution: Compare [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09172001/ this early strip]] to [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/fromalackofsleep/ this one]]. Yes, that's the same girl.
* AshFace: Bud once found herself caught in a massive fiery explosion, and came out with one of these.
* ASimplePlan: The tendency for simple plans to go horrible wrong is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/asimpleplan/ this]] strip. Said simple plan results in being shot at and bringing down a group of smugglers in Cairo.
* {{Atlantis}}
* AuthorAppeal: Paul Taylor seems to have a thing for big and/or strong, sexually aggressive women. All male/female relationships shown have the female as the more powerful or aggressive partner. [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/06072004/ This]] sounds like the Paul talking...
* BackFromTheDead, the Golem Girls
* BadDreams
* BatterUp: Shelly seems to take a baseball bat with her to [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/i-brought-coffee/ answer the door late at night.]]
* BeachEpisode: If you could teleport, wouldn't you meet up on a sandbar somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/that-easy/ sometimes?]]
* BecauseDestinySaysSo
* BedmateReveal: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/whowhatwhere/ Bud and Kevin]] wake up in the same bed after a night of drinking.
* BenevolentBoss: Monica's boss set her up with Kevin, and Heather's once ordered her to go out and have fun.
* BigNo: Monica's takes two (albeit short) lines when [[spoiler:Phyx decides it's time to "tag" Nudge]] on [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/tag/ this page]]
* BiologicalMashUp: The Chimera, Phix
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The demons
* BrainBleach: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/washmybrain/ "Remind me to wash my brain with bleach later would you!"]]
* BringMyBrownPants: See MuggingTheMonster below.
* CallBack: A strip from [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/you-got-that/ December 2009]] featured a reference to the dialogue in the [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09092001/ very first strip]] back in 2001.
* CameBackWrong: The destruction of the Calendar Machine seems to have utterly broken Jin's mind; although she seemed reasonably sane up to that point, she's explicitly referred to as schizophrenic at least once after.
* CelestialDeadline
* CerebusSyndrome: Changing from a slice-of-life comedy, to a save-the-world drama; dropping over half its supporting cast in the process, and leaving multiple unresolved subplots.
* ChangingClothesIsAFreeAction: Jin is able to do this to both herself and Monica through some creative use of teleportation.
* ChekhovsGun: Monica's grandfather, Tepoz (surprisingly), the glyph language
* {{Chiaroscuro}}: Used in a particularly dramatic moment [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/girlwiththekeys/ in the library.]]
* ChirpingCrickets: It even [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/08132004/ used]] the sound effect [[UnsoundEffect cricket cricket.]]
* ClarkesThirdLaw
* ClothingSwitch: Tina and Monica once [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/hang-of-this/ switched outfits]] due to a slight [[TeleporterAccident teleporting mishap.]]
* ColdBloodedTorture
* ComfortFood: Pizza [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/outgrowingyourbras/ is the universal comfort food,]] even to the point where your demons won't bug you when you are eating it.
* CoolestClubEver: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/doyoustilltrustus/ Cerberus Club]]
* CoolGate: The portal cloth is interesting [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/youllberightback/ on its own,]] but it really becomes a cool gate when it is [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/atattoo/ attached to Shelly.]] If you enter it, you come out the other cloth, but you have to be able to teleport on your own to use it. It still does have its uses though.
* CoolPet: Bud and Brandi tamed a creature that could have inspired the Kraken. They named him [[FluffyTheTerrible Stinky.]]
* CosmicRetcon: An in-universe ResetButton that resets time back to the same point. The next reset is due in 2012.
* CowboysAndIndians: Shelly often found herself playing this as a kid. [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/run-rabbit/ She took the suction cups off of her toy arrows.]]
* CreepyDoll: Tina's [[BilingualBonus muñeca para el Dia de los Muertos]] looks somewhat unsettling.
* CreepyChild: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/what-are-you/ Shelly's conscience]] looks like one and [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/missing-the-poin/ she knows it.]]
* CuteKitten: Selenium, except for [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/pretty-amazing/ this instance]] any real-life cat owner would relate to. He does double duty as Amanda's shredder.
* DagwoodSandwich: Monica has been known to eat [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/meet-kris-williams/ these.]]
* DemotedToExtra: Notice the fairly small overlap between the site's current cast page and the one above? In the slice-of-life years, Tina was a moving prop, Katherine was just a weird DropInCharacter, and Tep was such a joke that he wasn't added to the cast page at the time until after the Heather arc, when ''she'd'' been there for months already; essentially, Monica and Shelly are the only two left of the original cast. Even Shelly hadn't been very prominent among Monica's friends until [[GirlOnGirlIsHot the Heather arc]] and her ImportantHaircut boosted her popularity.
* DescriptionCut: They are a staple of the humor. [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/shoeswithwheels/ This strip]] is a good example.
* DidYouJustHaveSex
* DistractedByTheSexy: Monica + LittleBlackDress = ...[[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09242001/ well yeah]]
* DoingInTheWizard: "Magic" is eventually HandWaved as an [[ClarkesThirdLaw unknown form of quantum manipulation]]
* DreamingOfThingsToCome
* EmbarrassingOldPhoto: There's a scene early on where Monica is embarrassed by a bunch of her teenage photos where she's wearing nerdy glasses and hair. Later on she shows one to her friends and they think it's cute.
* EpicFail: Tina describes a previous time [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/parallel-parking/ she had to run the coffee shop with an arm in a cast.]] [[NoodleIncident Somehow]] she managed to back over her wrist while trying to [[ParallelParking parallel park.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/we-have-rules/ We may be demons, but we have rules!]]
* ExpressiveHair: This happened a lot in the early strips, especially with Shelly.
* FacePalm: Dietzel does this [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/next-big-thing/ from time to time.]]
* FallingIntoHisArms: Happens to Monica after a biking accident [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09102003/ here.]] However, in this case, it is purely comedy, and it is not played for romance in any way.
* FlatEarthAtheist: explicitly averted by Monica, who considers all the weird things and people around her to be phenomena that science just hasn't studied yet.
* FluffyTheTerrible: Stinky the sea monster
* ForceFeeding: Bud [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/payattention/ demonstrates]] the incredibly complicated technique of force feeding through [[TeleportersAndTransporters teleportation.]]
** Tepoz also did this to Monica using a large chicken. And what goes in...
* AFriendInNeed
* FunbagAirbag: It happens to Shelly in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/abitawkward/ this strip.]]
* GayConservative: Heather is a conservative lesbian folk singer.
* GenreBusting: It is difficult to describe what genre the comic is currently in. It describes itself as a "Slice of supernatural life."
* GenreShift: Started as a slice-of-life comic, then took a supernatural turn that now dominates.
* GentleGiant: Lakshmi
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Jin
* {{Golem}}: Bud, Jin and Brandy, [[spoiler:Tepoztecal]]
* GrillingPyrotechnics: Invoked by Shelly as part of a plan to meet with and get revenge on a certain [[FairCop attractive police officer]] [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/getting-his-attention/ here.]]
* GroundhogDayLoop: Everyone but [[spoiler:Jin]] has been unknowingly trapped in one of these, due to [[spoiler:a malfunctioning Mayan calendar machine for at least eighty-one thousand years.]] [[spoiler:Jin is trapped as well, but she [[NightmareFuelUnleaded knows what's happening]] and appears to be going somewhat mad from it.]]
** More recently, Shelly has been shown to be stuck in a much stranger version of this trope.
* GroundShatteringLanding: Bud once tried to roller skate down the stairs. She is indestructible. You can imagine the rest.
* GutFeeling: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/agutfeeling/ "I find that when a body part starts making decisions, one must proceed with caution."]]
* HandsOnApproach: The first meeting between Shelly and Justin occurred off-screen when he invoked this trope on the receiving instruction end in her kickboxing class. Eventually, she figured out that [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/gripping-story/ he wasn't as inept as he acted.]]
* HardHead
* HeroicBSOD: Shelly [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/are-you-there-2/ went through one of these]] after [[spoiler:being trapped in another world as a sphinx for 80,000 years, while [[YearInsideHourOutside no time at all passed for her friends.]] She got better surprisingly quickly.]]
* HotAmazon: Shelly, Lakshmi
* HotLibrarian: Phix
* HumanityEnsues: The golem girls, [[spoiler:Tina]]
* HurlItIntoTheSun: Bud's method of disposing of [[spoiler:the calender machine]]
* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: Monica is an [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/dammit-jin/ Anthropologist, not a Psychiatrist.]] She even throws in a [[StarTrek "Dammit Jin"]] for good measure.
* ImagineSpot: Katherine imagines [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/bjarnionice/ seasonally inept Vikings.]]
* ImNotAfraidOfYou
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: A group of smugglers with automatic weapons [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/noplacelikehome/ can't hit Monica]] at all, even at rather close range. [[spoiler:We later find out that there is a slightly more complicated reason than just bad aim.]]
* InnocentInnuendo: Used in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09082004/ this]] strip. The next strip reveals that they were actually talking about [[spoiler:yoga]]
* ItsNotYouItsMe: This is [[InvertedTrope inverted]] when Monica uses this phrase to [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/10212004/ start a relationship.]] The inversion is then promptly [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded.]]
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Jin to [[spoiler:Monica's grandfather]], with the added twist that if she [[spoiler:didn't let him go, Monica would never exist to be the focal point of the ritual to destroy the calendar machine]]. Made substantially worse by the fact that [[spoiler: he was the love of her life and she's had to let him go every time she relives the cycle.]]
* {{Kneecapping}}: In a March 2011 comic there's a distant flashback that shows Jin, before she became part of the Chimera, being shot through the back of the knee with an arrow. {{Squick}}.
* KrakenAndLeviathan: Bud and Brandi have a pet named Stinky who seems to be the Kraken.
* LaserHallway: A [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/11082002/ one shot]] gag shows that apparently there are a few lasers involved in the museum's security system.
* LaymansTerms: Shelly gets an impromptu vocabulary lesson [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/partsvibrate/ here.]]
* LesYay: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/puts-up-with-you/ And the pixie with the rack puts up with you how?]] [[spoiler: Keep in mind that the speaker is essentially Shelly's subconscious. Who refers to Monica as "the pixie with the rack." Yeah.]]
* TheLibraryOfBabel: The Bibliothiki.
* LiteralCliffHanger: One sequence has Shelly hanging from the edge of a [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/08202004/ billboard.]] [[spoiler:Luckily the long fall is only an illusion. She will land on a rooftop not visible due to the angle.]]
* LittleBlackDress: Putting one on [[GagBoobs Monica]] [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09242001/ results in]] DistractedByTheSexy.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: See the [[Characters/WapsiSquare character sheet]] for more info.
* LostTechnology: {{Golem}}s
* MadeASlave
* MagicalRealism: Most of the time, especially in the early strips it seems like just a slice of life strip. And then the Mexican deities started showing up.
* MagicFromTechnology: The Calendar Machine
* MagneticGirlfriend: Kevin makes this observation [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/justweird/ here.]]
* MathematiciansAnswer: Shelly gives one when asked where she [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/onmyfront/ got her tattoo.]]
* {{Mayincatec}}: Aztec and Mayan mythology. Possibly subverted by Jin, [[spoiler:who has impersonated deities common to both pantheons and may have had some contact with Egypt and Greece as well, through Phix.]]
* MayflyDecemberRomance: Can definitely apply to any relationship between an immortal or extremely long-lived being with a regular human, such as Jin and Alan or Phix and Monica's boss.
* MeaningfulName
* MeaningfulRename
* MetalDetectorCheckpoint: Monica has a bit of a problem with the metal detector at the airport. She made sure she had nothing metal on her person only to set off the detector with the [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/12062002/ underwire in her bra.]]
* MonsterClown: There are few things scarier than a [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/11282003/ dog in a clown mask.]]
* MsFanservice: Monica and the Golem Girls (especially in their first appearance). Nearly every female character gets a turn at least once. Done very tastefully, especially for webcomics, and not too often.
* MuggingTheMonster: Mugger pulls knife. [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/02242005/ Heather pulls gun]] [[BringMyBrownPants Mugger wets himself.]]
* MundaneFantastic
* MundaneUtility: Shelly was given some clay dolls by her mother [[ChekhovsGun and told that they would be important in the future.]] [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/crackwalnuts/ They crack walnuts really good.]] On top of that, Bud [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/thingslikethat/ has an interesting way of making popcorn.]]
** Tepoz can create any alcoholic drink you can imagine.
*** Actually it's much simpler and open ended than that, he can create 'anything' with alcohol 'in it' or in some cases summon, which was his explanation originally of how he bamfed Bud, Jin and Brandi into Monica's kitchen originally as well as how he was able to poit into existence an entire turkey's worth of mexican mole into existence for Monica, the stipulation being that her grandma used alcohol in the sauce.
* MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning
* NamesTheSame: Heather Mills
* NeverBringAKnifeToAGunfight: A mugger finds himself on the wrong end of this trope in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/02242005/ this]] strip.
* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Monica's first "poit" comes out of friggin' ''[[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/weneedtotalk/ nowhere]]''.
* NoAntagonist: Despite, the save the world plot and complex, overlapping plans, there is no clear antagonistic figure.
* NoNameGiven: Jin's Mother is only known so far as "Jin's Mother"
** Recently revealed to be [[spoiler: "Mayahuel"]].
* NoodleImplements: Alan once mentioned a rather creative use of [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/10222004/ a toilet seat and a rubber chicken.]]
* NoodleIncident: We never do find out how Tina managed to run over her own wrist while parallel parking...
* NothingButSkulls
* NotWhatItLooksLike: Kevin walks into the room and sees [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/12292003/ this.]]
* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: Subverted with the question Phix, the keeper of the Bibliothiki, asks Monica and Shelly.
* OntologicalMystery: Tina, who has only news clippings to remember her life with. [[spoiler:She was a psychiatrist and the daughter of a drug lord, as well as a close friend of Jin's. She remembers none of this.]]
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: although they can be pretty nasty, they are frequently not actually evil.
* OutOfFocus: ''Everyone''. The original cast was Monica, Amanda, Shelly, Jacquelyn, Owen, Darin, and Dietl, and this was the core cast for ''years'', with even the relatively early additions Tina and Tepoz not making the cast page until long after their introduction. Only the first three are even ''on'' the current cast page, and Amanda mostly because of her role as the original {{Foil}}.
* PaintingTheFourthWall
* {{Pettanko}}: Shelly. Makes up for it by an obsessive interest in lingerie despite her tomboyness.
* PingPongNaivete, [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as a coping mechanism
* PlayboyBunny: Bud and Brandi [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/canwebebunniestoo/ once wore this sort of outfit]] during their perpetually drunk phase.
* PlayingSick: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/callinsick/ This]] comic has Dietzel recommending that Monica do this.
* PricelessPaperweight: The trope is discussed in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/whattodo/ this]] strip when Brandi mentions that the portal cloth they just acquired wouldn't make a very good table cloth.
* RoomFullOfCrazy: Used as a partial flashback to Monica's [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/ones-you-should-trust/ rubber room days.]]
* RumpRoast: Monica's rejection of her inner demon Doubt sets Doubt's ass on fire. Doubt eventually finds a way to get her own back on Monica. [[spoiler:Nose flicks!]]
* SecretTestOfCharacter: Never used straight, but the golem girls once mistook something for one. Another time, Bud pretended to mistake Monica's actions for a secret test of character.
** Phix's riddle. [[spoiler: She always asks the same riddle to which *any* answer is technically correct, because the answer chosen always reveal an important aspect of the person who answers it.]]
* SelfMutilationDemonstration: Jin uses a variation to show that she is indestructible [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/screeeee/ here.]]
* SequentialSymptomSyndrome: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/05032005/ Two]] [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/05042005/ consecutive]] strips involve a doctor telling Heather about a specific symptom of a concussion, and Shelly experiencing that symptom off screen.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Jin comes home from Mexico to find out that despite the destruction of the calendar machine, she can never regain her mortality.]]
* SneezeOfDoom: Of the bra-removing kind.
* SoWhatDoWeDoNow: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/back-to-normal/ Monica]] seems to have this problem. [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/no-other-shoe/ Tepoz]] [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it. And, it turns out that [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/herculean-task/ she's not the only one.]]
* SpitTake: Monica [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/curiousquestions/ here]]
* SymbolSwearing: The strip managed to find a way to [[SubvertedTrope subvert]] this trope. What looks like just slightly unusual symbol swearing [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/02132004/ here]] is actually a language known by very few people that becomes a plot point later on.
* TakeMyHand: Monica and Amanda try to haul Shelly back up onto a platform in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/08242004/ this]] strip. [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/08252004/ They drop her.]] [[spoiler: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/08262004/ she doesn't fall very far.]]]]
* TalkAboutTheWeather
* TearsOfRemorse
* TeleporterAccident: Monica is capable of teleporting, but isn't particularly good at it. As a result, she tends to suffer comical but harmless mishaps such as [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/fillmein/ poor]] [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/assledtheway/ arrival]] [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/homeagain/ placement,]] upside down [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/justafewholes/ on arrival,]] and [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/hang-of-this/ switching clothing with the person traveling with her.]]
* TeleportersAndTransporters: "Poit"ing
* TemporalParadox
* TemptingFate: Taunting mother nature is [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/attack-of-the-ic/ a bad idea.]]
* TenderTears: [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/04042003/ Why can't he just tell her he loves her?]]
* ThatCameOutWrong: Rare [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/05282003/ double example.]]
* ThereIsOnlyOneBed: Used [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/12112002/ here]] with Shelly and Owen who have known each other since grade school.
* ThinkNothingOfIt
* UndeadTaxExemption: Bud and Brandi are able to acquire modern birth certificates and social security numbers despite being immortal clay golems who predate most known civilizations. However, it is made believable in that it was done by Jin, who has been playing political manipulator in multiple countries for over a thousand years, and probably has more than enough contacts to make someone exist (or cease to exist).
* {{Underboobs}}: Shelly [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/06142004/ doesn't exactly wear much]] when playing basketball with the guys.
* UnsoundEffect: It once [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/08132004/ used]] the sound effect [[ChirpingCrickets cricket cricket.]]
* UnstoppableMailman: The mail will still arrive, even in a [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/oh-hey/ nasty snowstorm.]]
* VFormationTeamShot: Used in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/pack-the-bug-spray/ this]] strip.
* ViciousCycle: The calendar machine puts the world through cycle after cycle, resetting time every time it hits 2012. [[spoiler:Jin]] retains her knowledge through all cycles, and has seen over 80,000 years worth of this cycle.
** [[spoiler: The cycle is now broken after Monica, Shelly and the golem girls disabled and [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer crushed the calendar machine into an itsy little cube which was then hurled into the sun.]] ]]
* VisibleSilence
* WaitHere: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] and promptly played straight in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09042002/ this]] strip.
* TheWatcher: Mayahuel to Monica, disguised as her dead Mexican grandmother.
* WeAreNotGoingThroughThatAgain
* WeirdnessMagnet: Justin mentions to Shelly that he is this and invokes IJustWantToBeNormal, [[spoiler: implying she's not the first supernatural girl attracted to him.]]
** [[spoiler: He later goes into TooMuchInformation territory by mentioning his werewolf ex who liked to be tied to the bed so she could have sex with him while transforming.]]
* WebComicsLongRunners: Over 2000 strips as of January 2011
* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler: Shelly finding an old power source... made of plutonium. Within a few frames, she DIES of radiation poisoning. [[IGotBetter She gets better]]... sort of.]]
* WhenThePlanetsAlign
* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: Bud, being the most destructive of the three golem girls, has worried about this on a regular basis.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Jin, to Tina. [[spoiler:They had apparently once been close friends until Tina's death in the same accident that Monica's family thought was attempted suicide; the "new" Tina has only what she (i.e. her demons) could gather from the news about her identity to remember her old life by.]]
* YouHaveToBelieveMe: [[spoiler: Despite her years of living a life that she knows would make anyone think she's crazy if she revealed any of it, she blurts out to Justin that she's a Sphinx without actually doing anything to ''prove'' it, like transforming into a huge lion-bodied mythical being. Predictably, he reacts badly.]]
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