History Webcomic / SluggyFreelance

* EvilIsNotAToy: Torg, maybe carrying around a Zombie Head on A Stick is not such a hot idea. [[spoiler:Especially since said head is only mindless while starved. Once fed, it seems she returns to her original, vindictive, cruel self. [[ItGotWorse And now the villain you wronged earlier has been doing just that, and they're about to team up and hunt down your unaware friends.]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Way to go.]] ]]

** An [[http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/091113 alphabetically named virus]] that [[http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/091116 rapidly mutates a normal human]] [[http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/091118 into a monstrosity]] with eyes in the wrong place and a taste for human flesh. [[ResidentEvil Sound familiar?]]

* AlternateUniverse: In Creator/JohnRingo's ''[[PosleenWarSeries The Legacy of the Aldenata]]'', ''Hell's Faire'' features several Sluggy Freelance strips as if they were created within the novel's setting. This was possibly a favor in return for the {{shout out}}s to SluggyFreelance in the third and fourth books of the series.

** [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/100203 This]] comic manages to do this by presenting ''{{Up}}''... from the balloons' perspective.[[invoked]]

* DoingInTheWizard: The Dimension of Pain is not just a version of hell but is instead [[spoiler:a possible future where the Nofun corporation wins the R&D wars.]]

* DoctorJekyllAndMisterJackDaniels: Bun-bun becomes quite a friendly rabbit once he gets enough booze in him.

** Not really the nudity itself so much as the reaction to it, but Torg's attempt at having a cohesive flashback while Sasha is changing is too funny. Played straight when he finally ''does'' turn his back and Sasha continues to let him think she's changing after she's fully dressed again.

* AWorldwidePunomenon: Abrams loves puns of both the funny and groan-worthy varieties. There's a little background sketch RunningGag known as the 'pun demon'. Notably Torg and Riff once even ''weaponised'' {{Incredibly Lame Pun}}s against K'z'k.

* BadassBoast: "My name is Gunman Stan [=McKurt=]. And I shoot evil in the face."

** "NOTHING DEAD HERE"
** "Nosce te ipsum"

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: '''CRUSHESTRO'''.

* IKnowMortalKombat: During the "Storm Breaker" saga, a time-travelling Torg has to take on the role of Dark Ages warlord [[IdenticalStranger Lord Torgibus]] and attempts this, but falls afoul of CommandAndConquerEconomy.

** Later, Torg appears in one of Gwynn's visions while she's possessed by K'z'k and thinks he's dreaming about being in a FightingGame--''and proceeds to kick K'z'k's ass''.
* InformedAttribute: Parodied with Torg and Riff's "tradition" of exchanging a beer every year for Christmas/Hanukkah. They have never yet managed to pull it off without something going wrong--it's almost Sluggy's equivalent of ''{{Peanuts}}''` annual gag with Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown.

** Bun-bun('s switcblade): [[ac:Ka-click]]

* CatchPhrase: "Let me check my notes."
** "My world is a crotch!"
** "Ooo shiny..."
** Ka-click
** "Stay good, _____! Stay good!"
*** This one has even become something of a fandom/forum catchphrase itself. Whenever someone does or thinks something morally ambiguous, you can bet ''someone's'' going to say it, sometimes even Pete himself, and it pops up in non-comic related conversations occasionally as well.
** "How evil."
** "I '''CRUSH''' you!"

* CatGirl: Kitty-Girl Clowney-Devil!

** For Bun-Bun it's Oceans Unmoving (the Holiday Wars arc was centered on him too, but it wasn't really about character development).

** Zoe got hers early in The Storm Breaker Saga, but it was only partly about her, so she might get a full one later.

* CerebusSyndrome: Perhaps the first webcomic to undergo this process.
** Arguably, the series has always had tones of seriousness amidst humor, and it's not like one can't go for more than a few strips without finding something funny. Yes, even in Dangerous Days Ahead.
*** Though Fire and Rain had very few jokes. Although that was much darker then the usual tone of strip
**** [[spoiler: Possibly the most serious point in the series, in terms of both story and art style, one character ''still'' managed to spend a good part of it as a camel. That says a lot about the overall content.]]
** This has come to a head (so far) in [=bROKEN=]: [[spoiler: Torg is going insane from grief (although he's done a good job of hiding it from his friends so far), Gwynn has forsaken the group due to Torg refusing to accept reality, Zoë was seen bursting into flame and is apparently dead, and Riff was gunned down by a group of dystopian AlternateUniverse police (which he managed to survive through enormous luck, although he's found himself trapped and stripped of the will to escape).]]
*** "Perspective" perhaps ramps it up even more. [[spoiler:Riff, now in with a [=4U=] City Blue squad led by that universe's Torg, discovers that Zoë is alive...but only by the grace of intense life support, and she's so weak that she can't even be given drugs to ease the pain.]]
*** And now we have [[spoiler:[[ManipulativeBastard Bestseid]], a formerly Public Relations Villain, ([[IThoughtItMeant no, not like]] [[VillainWithGoodPublicity that]]) taking control of the Minion Master's organization and shrinking down his own minions to feed to [[OurZombiesAreDifferent a zombie head on a stick]]. All so he can gain immortality from said zombie head.]]

* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Many interdimensional denizens(including humans from the Dimension of Lame, Demons from the Dimension of Pain, and Punyverse people) are english speakers. Aylee's race and Mutagenic spore aliens are also capable of it.
** Subverted by Portuguese-speaking Torg and ''Tentacle-Torg''.

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes?: Riff, the [[{{Badass}} badassest]] member of the team, is mortally afraid of clowns - and motorcycle maintenance department.

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes?: Riff, the [[Badass badassest]] member of the team, is mortally afraid of clowns - and motorcycle maintenance department.

* AffablyEvil: EVERY. SINGLE. VILLAINS. Even {{Knight of Cerebus}} like Oasis and KZK have their funny moments.

* GoodAngelBadAngel: Played relatively straight by Zoë, heavily subverted by everyone else. Especially Riff, both of whose consciences are so apathetic and reticent they forget which side they're meant to take at times.