History Webcomic / Spacetrawler

''[[http://spacetrawler.com/ Spacetrawler]]'' is a science fiction webcomic by Christopher Baldwin, maker of ''Webcomic/{{Bruno}}'' and ''Webcomic/LittleDee''.

* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Dmitri is convinced that he can condition himself to be stun gun resistant... by repeatedly shooting himself with a stun gun. [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight It works.]]

* BoldlyComing: Dmitri.
-->'''Dmitri:''' ''[regarding a bug-alien he slept with]'' Pheromones and ventral revealing outfits. Way hot.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Dmitri gives Dal many opportunities to sever her G.O.B. ties and prove her loyalty to him. Every single time, she uses the opportunity to try to kill Dmitri.

* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:Dmitri]] uses holograms to convince the G.O.B. that their assassin succeeded in killing him.

* ItTastesLikeFeet: Dmitri points out that the coffee tastes like asteroids. After all, it was synthesized from space debris.

* KlingonsLoveShakespeare: Dmitri licenses his recipe for Russian tea cookies. It becomes wildly popular on multiple planets, and Dmitri makes a fortune.

** When it becomes undeniable that [[spoiler:Dal]] is dangerous to Interplanet Amity and simply cannot be trusted, [[spoiler:Dmitri]] kills her.

* VodkaDrunkenski: Dmitri.

* AnythingThatMoves: Dmitri

** Shuar genuinely loves Dmitri; Dmitri doesn't care.
** Dmitri loves Dal, and she might reciprocate, [[spoiler:but she's more committed to the G.O.B.]]

* AManIsAlwaysEager: Dimitri is a basically the trope incarnate. "Xenophile" might be a polite word for him.

* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Growp's thoughts on Emily. [[WorthyOpponent It's his twisted way of saying that he loves her.]]

* AscendedFanon / AudienceParticipation: Christopher Baldwin responds to reader comments below the comic, and material from these dialogues occasionally makes its way into the comic itself. For example, fans came up with a semi-logical explanation for Qwahntoo's ability to survive being shot--and that same explanation was canonized on the very next page. Also, some of the Kickstarter backers were allowed to influence the comic in specific ways: one reward tier allowed the backer to specify how one of Dusty's clones died, and another tier allowed the backer to determine the name and appearance for one member of Norg-Forth's doomed human crew.

* ManipulativeBastard: Dimitri is ''piling'' on ranks of this [[http://spacetrawler.com/2012/10/02/spacetrawler-264/ quite recently]] through a mix of TheCharmer and HighSchoolHustler, in an effort to [[spoiler:seize control of the GOB]].

* MoodDissonance: The style is a colorful, classic "space-adventure"-look, but the world and events are rather darker.

** [[http://spacetrawler.com/2012/07/10/spacetrawler-240/ Shocking revelations]] on [[spoiler:shared heritage]] stun Dimitri;

* OmnicidalManiac: The [[spoiler:unclamped Eebs]], apparently.

* PostscriptSeason: "Book 4: Darkhuenium Pandemonium", a bonus chapter set after the finale of the main story, which Chris created as a reward for the third Kickstarter fundraiser.

* PowerStrainBlackout: Eebs (and Yuri with her Eeb brain implants) will black out if they strain their telekinesis by moving objects that are too massive. Too much of this strain can outright kill them. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that this limitation is a result of brain-clamping--we've yet to see an upper limit on how much matter an unclamped Eeb can move telekinetically.]]

* SlaveLiberation

* SpaceOpera

'''Nogg:''' Well, you tell ''her'' that-

The comic is now complete and the artist has started a new comic called [[http://baldwinpage.com/ one way]]

Six humans from six continents get knocked out and abducted by a fish-like alien named Nogg. When they wake up aboard his ship, Nogg explains that he's [[PressGanged shanghaied them into Interplanet Amity]]--a galactic activist group aiming to [[SlaveLiberation end the exploitation of]] [[SlaveRace the Eebs]]. It won't be easy: the Eebs are the only species capable of understanding and building the technology on which the entire galaxy depends, so attempting to liberate them will quite literally tick off every single government in the Galactic Organizational Body.

* PostscriptSeason: "Book 4: Darkhuenium Pandemonium", A bonus chapter set after the finale of the main story, which Chris created as a reward for the third Kickstarter fundraiser.

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: How spacetrawlers work, and the real reason why details on their construction are so carefully guarded.

* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Growp's thoughts on Emily. [[LoveMakesYouEvil It's his twisted way of saying that he loves her.]]

* BrainBleach: Yuri seem to give Dimitri reason to ask for some [[http://spacetrawler.com/2010/03/17/spacetrawler-24/ here]]. Or at least some... uncomfortable cleaning implements.

* AscendedFanon / AudienceParticipation: Christopher Baldwin responds to reader comments below the comic, and material from these dialogues occasionally makes its way into the comic itself. For example, fans came up with a semi-logical explanation for Qwahntoo's ability to survive being shot--and that same explanation was canonized on the very next page. Also, some of the Kickstarter backers were allowed to influence the comic in specific ways: one reward tier allowed the backer to specify how one of Dusty's clones died, and another tier allowed the backer to determine the name and appearance for one member of Norg-Forth's doomed human crew.

* ApocalypseHow: [[{{ApocalypseHow/Class6}} Planetary Extinction]]: The [[spoiler:unclamped Eebs]] melt the surface of planet Carpsellon to slag.

* ChekhovsGunman: The ManBehindTheMan hides in plain sight, well before his true importance to the plot is revealed.[[note]]He's that nameless guy standing behind Kuu-Drahc at G.O.B. meetings.[[/note]]

** The Eebs are a species of telekinetic gadgeteers with zero willpower.[[labelnote:Major spoilers!]]Eventually justified--Eebs are artificially brain-clamped at birth, which completely destroys their willpower.[[/note]]

* AssholeVictim: [[hottip:Major spoiler:The Eebs. Back when they had free will, they were violent and capricious; their own laziness and the other species' lack of challenge was the only thing keeping them from ruling the galaxy with a telekinetic crush-grip.]]

* ChekhovsGunman: The ManBehindTheMan hides in plain sight, well before his true importance to the plot is revealed.[[hottip:*:He's that nameless guy standing behind Kuu-Drahc at G.O.B. meetings.]]

** [[hottip:Major spoiler:The Eebs invented the brain clamp technology, and they were the ones who started using it on themselves. By the time the rest of the galaxy decided to enslave them, only a half-dozen of them remained unclamped.]]

** The Eebs are a species of telekinetic gadgeteers with zero willpower. [[hottip:(Major spoilers):Eventually justified--Eebs are artificially brain-clamped at birth, which completely destroys their willpower.]]

* AnythingThatMoves: Dmitri, who really ''will'' sleep with anything that has over 50% compatibility.

* AlienNonInterferenceClause: The undoing of Nogg's Plan A. If the humans claim Earth's seat at the G.O.B., then Earth is no longer protected by the non-interference clause.

* ExtremeDoormat: The Eebs.
** Also Qiyemps, due to being {{Suicidal Pacifist}}s.

* PowerStrainBlackout: Eebs (and Yuri with her Eeb brain implants) will black out if they strain their telekinesis by moving objects that are too massive. Too much of this strain can outright kill them. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that this limitation is a result of brain-clamping—we've yet to see an upper limit on how much matter an unclamped Eeb can move telekinetically.]]

* [[spoiler: {{Ultraterrestrials}}: The Eebs diverged from humanity a couple hundred thousand years ago and used their telekinesis to leave earth when they got tired of dealing with non-telekinetics. The obvious physical differences are due to Eebongbong's [[HeavyWorlder higher gravity]] and something in the food.]]
* WeaponsGradeVocabulary: When some Eebs were asked to "tell us a joke", they built a computer to synthesize the funniest joke ever. The result is so hilarious that the punchline wiped out the asker's entire species. Fortunately, no one else gets it.