History Webcomic / PoppyOPossum

** Steel Wool is an "ovine-supremicist" group that doesn't like anyone but other sheep. They were the only gang that didn't try to recruit Poppy, and one of them attempts to [[spoiler: assassinate High Queen Vix Darling.]]

** A particular comment [[http://www.poppy-opossum.com/comic/poppy-4-page-5/ from Ms. Chort]] makes Hallia[[note]]who is a very bright yellow[[/note]] [[TransSexual rather uncomfortable]].
---> '''Ms. Chort''': Like most birds, the female Gogo has much duller plumage than the male.

* TakeThat: The leader of a weird, creepy bald fetish cult is a female canine, probably a fox, [[Webcomic/OzyAndMillie named Millie]]--a shot at author D. C. Simpson's tendency to have her characters shaved or otherwise randomly get de-furred so often one tends to suspect ulterior motives.

** Queen Darling can see everything at its most basic, atomic level as well as all potential reactions. This makes her fantastic as an alchemist and a chemist. [[spoiler: ...but [[PowerIncontinence she can't turn it]] ''[[PowerIncontinence off]]'', meaning she sees nothing but abstract bundles of particles (except for common opossums, who cancel the power and thus can be seen normally by her, which is part of the reason she empathizes with them so much). It requires substantial effort and special glasses to simply read. She can't see her own reflection]].

* AffablyEvil:
** Chicadino. He's quite polite and level-headed, having a similar demeanor to a jolly businessman, and is surprisingly a decent boss to his henchmen, all things considered...but he's also a ruthless, incredibly cunning mob boss who employs exceedingly dangerous and intimidating individuals that do his dirty work in ''very'' gruesome ways if he thinks it's necessary.

** He also has very skewed priorities. He largely laughed off Poppy's fight with Valente, but was later ready and willing to enact some unspecified horrific revenge if she didn't pay him back for '''flowers''' that she damaged.

* PokeThePoodle: [[TheDon Mr. Chicadino’s]] favorite method of [[YouHaveFailedMe punishing subordinates who have failed him]] is to [[spoiler: have them babysit [[BrattyHalfPint his daughter]].]]

--> AltText: ''Nothing says "Look how rich I am" like a miniature sun on your dress.''

* TakeThat: The leader of a weird, creepy bald fetish cult is a female canine, probably a fox, [[Webcomic/OzyAndMillie named Millie]]--a shot at author D. C. Simpson's tendency to have his characters shaved or otherwise randomly get de-furred so often one tends to suspect ulterior motives.

* ThemeNaming: All the Darling family members revealed this far have three-letter, fox-themed names: Kit, Vix[en], Ren[ard].

* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: [[ZigZaggingTrope It zig-zags]]. Poppy is ''well aware'' of her own strength, and treats it like no big deal (to the incredulity of everyone around her). That said, she sometimes misjudges the amount of strength needed for a given situation (like when opening the heavy iron door to Eggton, accidentally unhinging it and sending it ''flying'' off into the nearby countryside, or when Lily is threatened by Valente).

* ShippersOnDeck: Complete with SpeechBubbleCensoring hiding the imaginary kissing.

* AffablyEvil: Chicadino. He's quite polite and level-headed, having a similar demeanor to a jolly businessman, and is surprisingly a decent boss to his henchmen, all things considered...but he's also a ruthless, incredibly cunning mob boss who employs exceedingly dangerous and intimidating individuals that do his dirty work in ''very'' gruesome ways if he thinks it's necessary.

* AntiClimax: It seems pretty clear that as Ewe-lala keeps getting more and more belligerent with Poppy and Lily, she's planning on using a hammer to bash them in. [[spoiler: Turns out, it's a prop, and she's actually not really a fighter at all.]]

* AntiMagic: Common long-tailed opossums can't use magic, spells don't work on them, and can drain or negate magic by touch. A shopkeeper kicks Poppy out, fearing that she would ruin any magical antiques in his store. Queen Kit, on the other hand, wants to provide opossum equality, while having a personal gain of having one [Poppy] around to negate the magic that is been blinding her since birth.
** In contrast, short tailed opposums such as Friedrich (who call themselves "Gamba") are perfectly capable of using it, despite having small reserves. This creates another layer of FantasticRacism: Friedrich refers to Didelphi as the 'traitor goddess' and suggests she stole the magic out of malice. Poppy suggests his version of things is fradulent.
* AnythingThatMoves: '''Mary.''' Her standards are precisely this.
* ArtEvolution: Between Chapter 1 and Chapter 2, lines become thicker, details are more distinct, and colours become bolder while the character designs for Petunia and Poppy are changed somewhat. (The change is rather sudden--compare [[http://www.poppy-opossum.com/2013/09/06/poppy-page-24/ Chapter 1 Page 24]] to [[http://www.poppy-opossum.com/2013/09/09/poppy-page-25/ the very next page]].)

* BilingualBonus: Not a huge one, but Ewe-lala's emoticon logo uses the greek letter Theta to give the impression of a sheep's eyes. [[spoiler: In ancient greek, theta was considered a symbol of death.]]

* ChekhovsGun: The candles Poppy buys [[http://www.poppy-opossum.com/2013/10/07/poppy-2-page-4/ early in Chapter 2]]. Almost exactly four months later, [[spoiler:Poppy reveals that they're to count down the time until she dies.]]

* CurbstompBattle: With the sole exception of Boris, ''everyone'' Poppy fights in the tournament.
** [[spoiler: Poppy is practically crippled by Fazzi in just one page, and is saved only by Chicadino calling his enforcer off.]]

* [[CutHimselfShaving Cut Herself Shaving]]: Petunia and Poppy tell Lily that her mother's injuries are from 'falling down the stairs'. Lily doesn't [[ChildrenAreInnocent seem to even notice]], and is more confused by Petunia's panic trying to maintain the blatant lie than anything.
-->Poppy: [[BadLiar Oh, uh...I...fell down the stairs.]]
-->Lily: I learned about Tardigrades!
-->Poppy: ...into this large sack of money.
-->Mary: And I helped!
-->Petunia: stop

* DeathGlare: Best explained by the AltText:
-->Alt Text: If you can count the rings in Poppy's eyes, you are probably [[OhCrap about to die.]]

* FantasticRacism: Opossums are considered the lowest of low classes on Flora. Poppy claims it's because of the CreationMyth at the beginning of the story, but regardless of whether it is or isn't, there's definitely racism toward opossums going about, primarily due to their anti-magic capabilities. On the flipside, racism against other species isn't particularly evident.

** Following Poppy's [[one-sided]] fight against Fazzi the sheep, the latter had regarded Poppy's kind as anything but "people", surprising her after hearing news that changes this[[http://www.poppy-opossum.com/comic/poppy-3-page-28-2/]].

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Nearly any page with Lily has her doing something adorable, like [[http://www.poppy-opossum.com/2014/02/07/poppy-2-page-30/ doing dives into the pillows]] while Petunia and Poppy discuss finances. [[spoiler: ...at least until her whimsical spirit is crushed, anyways...]]

--> '''Ms. Chort''': Like most birds, the female Gogo has much duller plumage than the male.

* {{Funny Animal}}s
** WorldOfFunnyAnimals

* HandicappedBadass: Friedrich. He lost his dominant sword arm (how, we don't know yet); he is still '''more''' than capable of destroying people, with his tail and his feet if necessary.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Chicadino abandons his extortion racket in Eggton after finding out how [[{{Curbstompbattle}} Mr. Valente's last trip went]], deciding to focus on a much bigger plan.

* ALizardNamedLiz: There are a few examples. Notably, the Eggton gatekeepers, both dogs, are named Bow and Wow.

* NaughtyNuns: Mary enjoys dressing as and pretending to be one (because she lives in an old converted church), but she actually can't even remember the names of all three of [[CrystalDragonJesus the Mothers of Magic]], [[spoiler:despite being the descendant of one]].

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Whoo boy, where to begin. The Egon Monastary is built right on top of a still living dragon, which in this universe can power whole cities with it's blood, grows eyes to cover all its blind spots once it starts getting too big, grows A WHOLE OTHER DRAGON if its heart starts beating too fast....It's pretty much an [[EldritchAbomination elder god with a power plant on it's back.]]
** [[http://poppy-opossum.tumblr.com/post/119340765494/probably-a-dumb-guess-but-is-that-animal-a Also they're cephalopods.]]
** Poppy is told about her epic efforts against a dragon by a fading ghost, "...not enough to kill a dragon." [[spoiler:Not 'that's not enough'. IT'S not enough.]]

* PrecociousCrush: Lily has one on Friedrich...who Poppy immediately tells.

* ShoutOut: Among others, the spectators at the tournament include [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing Isabelle and Digby]], {{ComicStrip/Pogo}}, and [[{{VideoGame/Undertale}} Toriel]].

* SpeciesSurname: A not-remotely-subtle case with the title character: "Poppy O'Possum", an opossum.
** NonIndicativeName: Subverted. Her birth name was just "Odeletta", and she was adopted by a family of cats named "Possum".

-->'''Madame Fantomet''': The leaves are a lovely ''color'' this year, wouldn't you agree, Kit?
-->'''Kit, grinding her teeth''': They're...yes, honorable stepmother.

* TournamentArc: In the second chapter, in an attempt to pay off the debts Poppy has rapidly accrued.
** ShoutOut: The tournament bears a resemblance to DragonBall's Tenka'ichi Budōkai events.

* WeaksauceWeakness: Boris Glorius is nearly invulnerable. He can take a blow that would shatter metal and just shrug it off. He can swell to immense size and bulk--his strength might potentially be infinite. [[spoiler: But if you expose him as a ClosetGeek]], he'll fold like a deck of cards.

* AffablyEvil: Chicadino. Is actually quite polite and level-headed, having a similar demeanor to a jolly businessman, and is surprisingly a decent boss to his henchmen, all things considered...but he's also a ruthless, incredibly cunning mob boss who employs exceedingly dangerous and intimidating individuals that do his dirty work in ''very'' gruesome ways if he thinks it's necessary.

** In chapter 3, Poppy goes to confront Chicadino over his fraud insurance scheme, while a henchmen of his goes to the Mayor's house. And he informs her halfway through the threatening process about this. [[spoiler:Said henchmen was handing over a termination of contract notice to the mayor personally. And Poppy ran all the way home for nothing but a condescending phone call.]]

* BarefootCartoonAnimal: Most of the cast. Everyone wears human clothing, but while shoes ''do'' exist in the world, and some characters ''are'' seen wearing them, the vast majority do not. Poppy's character bio explicitly points this out, contrasting it with her interest in collecting socks (which she ''also'' doesn't wear). This even extends to the comic's only human character.

* CallingYourAttacks: Subverted. One of the announcers during the tournament calls out attack themed nicknames for different combatants, hoping to see Poppy try out these attacks, which she obliges.
* CatNinja: Of all people ''Petunia''.

* Chessmaster: Magi Lila is shaping up to be a master one.

* CurbstompBattle: With the sole exception of Boris, ''Everyone'' Poppy fights in the tournament.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: Master Mouf (possibly) dies when [[spoiler: A dragon appears and smashes the Monastary]]. He takes it well.

* FantasticSlur: The most common one for Possums is "Clockbelly". The artist comments that if you understand why it's used, "You know way too much about opossums."[[labelnote:note]]It's because opossums have twelve nipples, and presumably breasts in this setting, arranged like the numbers on a clock in their pouches.[[/labelnote]]

** On the other hand Poppy seems to display as much racism towards Friedrich the short-tailed (and magic-using) opossum as he does to her.

-->''"Well, I read it for the articles, of course...The articles about [[LesYay naked ladies]]."''
* KarmaHoudini: Boris. Poppy manages to [[spoiler: win the tournament through a touch of subterfuge]], but Boris doesn't seem to have lost anything for it, despite being a thundering egomaniac.
--> Sheep Cheerleader: Aw, you're so tiny now!
--> ''*one panel later*''
--> Sheep Cheerleader: Icalldibs.
--> Armadillo Cheerleader: '''Excuse me?!'''
--> Sheep: I came to his aid first!
--> Armadillo: But I'm his biggest fan!
--> Dog Cheerleader: No way!
--> Boris: (smug) Still got it.
** Mitigated by the reveal that he's more a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. He's even babysitting for Lily in his [[http://www.poppy-opossum.com/comic/poppy-3-page-1/ next appearance]].

* MagicKnight: Friedrich, though his magic may be limited.
** In the commentary, Morbi mentioned off-hand that he takes magical booster tabs. Presumedly for anything stronger than one or two monsters at a time.
* MagicMusic: Superstar singer Ewe-Lala appears to have this as part of her Lucky Star power. [[spoiler:Perhaps even MindControlMusic.]]

* NonMammalMammaries: Poda has quite the, ah, blessing.
** Subverted; they are actually tentacles positioned to look like that.

* PaperThinDisguise: [[spoiler: Ewe-Lala is a wolf. Poppy notices it immediately and Lily, while not completely aware, notices there's something wrong with her appearance.]]

** [[spoiler: comes back in a big way, as the money he wins ends up being way more than Chicadino would get for terminating an insurance contract with the Mayor, so Chicadino cancels the contract.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Chicadino, Valente, and the entire bird 'mafia' have been completely unheard of since the end of Chapter 1.[[note]]Morbi has said on Twitter this was his own fault: in rushing to introduce Queen Darling and Friederich, the birds got pushed aside; they'll be returned to eventually.[[/note]]
** And rectified in 2015, when the plot "rewound" and released ''Poppy Incites A Gang War'' to fill in the holes. Chicadino and Valente feature fairly prominently in current storylines.