History Webcomic / Spacetrawler

* BlownAcrossTheRoom: [[http://spacetrawler.com/2010/07/27/spacetrawler-62/ Here]], Pierrot is spacewalking and the recoil from a handgun sends him flying. In the comments below, Baldwin admits that he [[RuleOfFunny sacrificed realism for humor on that count.]]

''[[http://spacetrawler.com/ Spacetrawler]]'' (first page [[http://spacetrawler.com/2010/01/01/spacetrawler-4/ here]]) is a science fiction webcomic by Creator/ChristopherBaldwin, creator of ''Webcomic/{{Bruno}}'', ''Webcomic/LittleDee'', and ''Webcomic/OneWay''.

* FramingDevice: The entire story is being related by Nogg to Mr. Zorilla after the fact.

* MadScientist: Eebs, when given vague instructions to build something, can have some odd ideas. I.e. when Dmitri told a group of them to construct a means of leaving the hotel without being seen adding legs to the hotel and floating it out on a river of lava have to be shot down before one of them suggests a tunneling machine, that makes beer.

* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Growp's thoughts on Emily. [[WorthyOpponent It's his twisted way of saying that he loves her.]] Taken to its logical conclusion - [[spoiler: He takes a laser blast for her.]]
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: What clues Martina in to the fact that [[spoiler: Red-9 is an unclamped Eeb-- she exercises free will, up to and including dishonesty and defying orders.]]

* UpliftedAnimal: Bikke the kangaroo

* WackyParentSeriousChild: Devyat's ''much'' more sensible than her parents, [[spoiler: Dimitri and Red-9]]

* BrilliantButLazy: Yuri. Absolutely useless ninety-nine percent of the time, more interested in BoldlyComing than the actual mission, and drunk one hundred percent of the time... but when he sees something he wants or actually decides to contribute, especially if the situation involves business or politics, you can pretty much consider the problem solved. He casually becomes [[spoiler: the galactic equivalent of a billionaire]] with about half an hour of work, and then [[spoiler: gets elected apex speaker despite there being a sitting apex speaker]] in something like five minutes.

* Sadist: The [[spoiler:unclamped Eebs. Even before the Eebs were enslaved, they had a long history of hurting each other just for fun.]]

* AsteroidThicket: [[http://spacetrawler.com/2011/08/09/spacetrawler-160/ Brograhm's Teeth]], slightly justified in that it's a miniature Big Bang constantly spewing out debris that's often the size of a planet into a black hole.

* 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. It's worth noting that disgusted/horrified as he ''is'', he's still willing to try it out.
* BrainInAJar: Show up in the spacetrawler construction facility.
* BriarPatching: Played straight for a [[http://spacetrawler.com/2010/08/03/spacetrawler-60/ few]] [[http://spacetrawler.com/2010/08/03/spacetrawler-63/ pages]] when Yuri's being "tortured" by the bounty hunters, before being [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] [[http://spacetrawler.com/2010/08/03/spacetrawler-64/ here]].

* ActionGirl: Emily is one from the get-go, while Yuri and Martina evolve into the role.

* AnimalEaredHeadband: Yuri wears one, [[spoiler: until she gets a more authentic version]].
* AnimalWrongsGroup: Pierrot borders on a one-man version of this.
** This is what the rest of the galaxy views Interplanet Amity [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman when it comes to the Eebs.]]
* AnythingThatMoves: Dimitri will [[NotHyperbole literally sleep with]] anything [[http://spacetrawler.com/2010/08/29/spacetrawler-71/ that has a sexual compatibility over 50%]].

* ArmCannon: [[http://spacetrawler.com/2011/07/31/spacetrawler-157/ Emily has one of the arm-mounted wrist blaster types]].
** At one stage in her ongoing upgrade sequence, Yuri had a pair of the in-place-of-hands variant, [[CounterAttack fueled by her opponents' laser fire]].
* ArtificialLimbs: Yuri now has [[strike:six]] four of them. Martina later gets a prosthetic arm and eye to replace the ones the unclamped Eebs burned off, which unlike Yuri's are practically indistinguishable from the originals.

** Dustin. Victim, then asshole, then both simultaneously and continuously for the rest of the comic.

* BadassLongcoat: Emily. She even wears it over her [[LatexSpacesuit spacesuit]]. Later, she upgrades it so that it can also be used as a ''hang glider''.
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Yuri's upgrades include a built-in space suit, allowing her to survive the near-vacuum of space without any external help.
* BerserkButton: Don't hurt animals around Pierrot. Don't talk about hurting animals near Pierrot. And don't try to force Pierrot to eat meat.
* BewareTheNiceOnes:
** Yuri seems sweet, but if you tick her off, she ''will'' mess you up. Just ask Flineous.
** Martina is morally conflicted about killing, even in self-defense--but she's not afraid to stun-gun her own captain to insure that NoOneGetsLeftBehind. [[spoiler:And, when backed into a corner, she is willing to kill if it's the only way to save more lives.]]
*** Earlier, [[http://spacetrawler.com/2010/10/31/spacetrawler-89/ her actions get a nice quip from Yuri]].
---->'''Yuri''': I think I'll avoid ever asking you for identification.

* BioAugmentation: In addition to having her [[ArtificialLimbs limbs replaced with bionics]], Yuri has a cat-like alien's ears and Eeb brain tissue grafted to her. The latter of which allows her to use [[PsychicPowers telekinesis]] and understand Eeb technology.
* BishonenLine: Yuri's cyborg upgrades cause her to look increasingly inhuman--then her most powerful, "AGodAmI" upgrade returns her to humanoid form, just with different skin color.

* BoldlyComing: Dimitri's reason for even staying out there. His [[http://spacetrawler.com/2010/06/02/spacetrawler-46/ first time doing so]] even prompts the female he sleeps with to want to gather up more humans as sex slaves.
-->'''Dimitri:''' ''[regarding a bug-alien he slept with]'' Pheromones and ventral revealing outfits. Way hot.

* {{Catgirl}}: Yuri starts off with costume ears, but eventually surgically implants real cat-alien ears.

* CombatPragmatist: Emily, oh, Emily. Yuri has [[OneManArmy raw firepower]], Emily has raw cunning.
* CovertPervert: Yuri [[http://spacetrawler.com/2010/03/17/spacetrawler-24/ has apparently done some things]] that even ''Dimitri'' finds obscene.

* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Possibly more symbolic than literal, but Yuri's descent into PTSD is accompanied by her cyborg implants becoming less human and more monstrous.
** Inverted at the end: Martina tells Yuri that if they're going to stay friends, she needs to remove all her weapons. This process [[spoiler: along with getting brain-clamped]] brings Yuri more-or-less back to her senses.

* TheDitz: Dustin.

* DumbMuscle: Gurf.
-->'''Nogg:''' He's kind of like a mascot, but can lift things.

* EthicalSlut: Dmitri. When put in a position where he realizes that he'd be exploiting someone for sex, no matter how willing they are and [[BoldlyComing how biologically compatible they are]], he refuses while [[DiscussedTrope saying he tried his whole life to avoid such a situation]]. Later, she seduces him on more equal terms.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: In the story of Brograhm's Teeth's namesake a group of ruthless killers saw the destruction by acid bombs of an entire planet's population, they were so shaken they gave up their life of crime and took low-stress office jobs. The G.O.B. station in the stellar phenomenon known as Brograhm's teeth is staffed by convicted criminals, mostly mass murderers, [[spoiler: and the process of making Spacetrawlers has them breaking down in tears.]]

* FriendsWithBenefits: Dimitri and Choan.

* GeniusDitz: Gurf may act and sound like an idiot most of the time, but he has a [[http://spacetrawler.com/2011/09/27/spacetrawler-172/ hidden talent for space combat]].

* HyperspaceArsenal / WalkingArmory: [[http://spacetrawler.com/2011/07/31/spacetrawler-157/ Emily.]]

* IntelligentGerbil

** Shuar genuinely loves Dimitri; Dimitri doesn't care.
** Dimitri loves Dal, and she might reciprocate, [[spoiler:but she's more committed to the G.O.B.]]
** Dimitri and Haldeyis have a strong relationship until [[spoiler: his new job with the G.O.B. leaves him unable to spend time with her.]]

** Pierrot is briefly courted by a Qiyemp female. He breaks up with her on Carpsellon and leaves her to comfort the dying [[spoiler: Kuu-Drahc]], shortly before [[spoiler: the destruction of the planet]].

* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: Bollyck pirates are immune to lasers. Dimitri's primitive ''bullet-firing'' handgun, however, not so much.

* LaughingMad: Yuri, with her psychotic persona.

* ManipulativeBastard: Dimitri ''piles'' on ranks of this [[http://spacetrawler.com/2012/10/02/spacetrawler-264/ late in the story]] through a mix of TheCharmer and HighSchoolHustler, in his project to [[spoiler:seize control of the GOB]].
-->'''Dimitri:''' "What can I do in 20 minutes, right?"
* AManIsAlwaysEager: "Xenophile" might be a polite word for Dimitri. It's not clear [[AnythingThatMoves how flexible his standards are when it comes to his own species]], but when he's finished trying to chat up all the other abducted human women, he assesses every alien species he meets for compatibility.

* MuggingTheMonster: [[http://spacetrawler.com/2013/03/17/spacetrawler-308/ Specifically]], the BrokenBird DeathSeeker:

* PlayfulHacker: Yuri.
* ThePornomancer: When introduced, Dimitri is entertaining two bikini-clad women in a rowboat. Over the course of the story, he first propositions all the human females, then proceeds to seduce every remotely compatible alien female he can find, regardless of looks or shape.

* RaisedByWolves: Or coyotes, in Emily's case. As a result, coyotes are the only creature she feels any kinship towards, and she prefers a loner's life.

* SarcasticDevotee: Krep has nothing but disdain for everyone around him, but he's 100% committed to the cause.

* SerialProstheses: Yuri.

* SlapSlapKiss: [[spoiler:Emily and Pierrot.]]

* SnarkKnight: Krep, big time.

'''Cardinal62:''' ''(To Emily)'' We're the good guys.\\

'''Cardinal62:''' ''(To Nogg)'' She knows a dozen good seafood recipes you'd go lovely in.\\

* TooDumbToLive: Dustin. [[http://spacetrawler.com/2010/09/19/spacetrawler-77/ Trust in the authorities can be taken too far]].
* TooKinkyToTorture: In the process of trying to [[AcquiredPoisonImmunity immunize himself to stun gun shots]], Dimitri starts enjoying it... a bit much.
* {{Transhuman}}: Yuri.
* TranslatorMicrobes: A brain-implanted language chip.

The comic is now complete...or it was, until in June 2016 Baldwin announced he planned to return to the comic later that year. Updates resumed in late August.

** The truth turns out to be more insidious, Qwahntoo, the founder of the GOB, used the classification to cut off planets he considered to be threats. [[spoiler: For instance humans are related to the Eebs that he enslaved.]]

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: How spacetrawlers work, and the real reason why details on their construction are so carefully guarded. It's so bad, that only the most vicious and horrific criminals in the galaxy are used as (brain-clamped) labor on the space station that creates the trawlers, and they each have a moment when they break down and cry like a baby when they see how it is done.

* 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 considered a "dark planet", and is open to exploitation by any planet in the G.O.B.
* AlwaysNeedWhatYouGaveUp: Yuri's therapist robot erases her memory of torture at Flineous's hand in order to bring her back to sanity. Not long afterwards, she runs into Flineous again, so the therapist is forced to restore Yuri's memories, causing her to revert to her scary, violent self.
* AntiAdvice: Dustin thoroughly establishes himself as a dumbass, so when he tries to warn Pierrot against trusting Curn, it convinces Pierrot to do exactly the opposite.
-->'''Pierrot:''' Dusty thinks it's a bad idea, it must be sensible.
* {{Anticlimax}}: [[spoiler:Kuu-Drahc is played up as a major antagonist and personal rival to Emily, culminating in the CombatByChampion scene described below. A random rockslide crushes Kuu-Drahc before the fight even begins. Even Emily is disappointed by this.]]
** Much later, one of the [[spoiler:unclamped Eebs]] is revealed to have survived. He's found and disposed of within five pages and without any fanfare.

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:How Spacetrawlers are made.]]

* AchievementsInIgnorance: [[spoiler: Yuri's Eeb brain graft should not have been possible. Ears are one thing, but grafted brain tissue from another species should have been immediately rejected. This foreshadows that humans and Eebs are closely related species.]]

The comic is now complete...or it was, until in June 2016 Baldwin announced he planned to return to the comic later that year.

* CovertPervert: Quiet tomboyish Yuri [[http://spacetrawler.com/2010/03/17/spacetrawler-24/ has apparently done some things]] that even ''Dimitri'' finds obscene.

''[[http://spacetrawler.com/ Spacetrawler]]'' is a science fiction webcomic by Creator/ChristopherBaldwin, creator of ''Webcomic/{{Bruno}}'', ''Webcomic/LittleDee'', and ''Webcomic/OneWay''.

The comic is now complete. You should start at [[http://spacetrawler.com/2010/01/01/spacetrawler-4/ the beginning]].

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

You should start at [[http://spacetrawler.com/2010/01/01/spacetrawler-4/ the beginning]].

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