Line #105 ComicBook/Rork


1	[[quoteright:215:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rork_couleur.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:215:”Everything that we are doing here is just a cheap mysticism”]]
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4	A semi-surreal, [[PunkPunk dieselpunk-ish]] comic book series written and drawn by German artist Andreas Martens. The story focuses on the enigmatic white-haired wizard Rork and his Verne-esque adventures. It started off as a collection of short stories originally serialized in the Belgian edition of Tintin magazine, then - after the magazine was cancelled - published as a graphic novel series in Le Lombard. After that, the comic began introducing a long term StoryArc, which included, among many other things, [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]], [[LostTechnology Lost Technologies]], StarfishAliens, [[TimeTravel Time Travels]], [[DimensionalTraveler Dimensional Travels]] and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking owls]].
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6	There are eight volumes in the Rork series:
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8	* 0. Les Fantômes (The Ghosts) - prequel
9	* 1. Fragments
10	* 2. Passages
11	* 3. Le Cimetière des Cathédrales (The Graveyard of Cathedrals)
12	* 4. Lumière d'Etoile (Starlight)
13	* 5. Capricorne (Capricorn)
14	* 6. Descente (Descent)
15	* 7. Retour (Return)
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17	The Rork series is (in)famous for his complex, MindScrew-level KudzuPlot, many unexplained plot points and [[SugarWiki/AwesomeArt just glorious, jaw-dropping art]]. It’s also a CultClassic among many European comic fans.
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21	!!This comic provides examples of:
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23	* AllThereInTheManual: In ''Capricorn'', Astor finds a book that explains Rork's powers and even ''spoils the last two volumes of the series''. [[spoiler:It self-destructs when Rork attempts to read it, but not before a crucial piece of information prevents his possession by the Numerical Cube.]]
24	* AngstySurvivingTwin: [[spoiler:Manga]], via CainAndAbel situation, no less!
25	* AmbiguouslyEvil: [[spoiler:Yosta]]. In his first appearance he absorbed one of the expedition members (although apparently not intentionally) to regenerate himself from a semi-coma state. He's pretty enigmatic and, although he is one of Rork's allies, his motives are rather unclear. Finally, he was one of the HorsemenOfTheApocalypse (...well, sort of), so in the grand scheme of things it's really hard to say anything about his true nature.
26	* AmnesiacHero: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. Rork remembers his past, but [[spoiler:not ''what'' he is.]]
27	* ArbitrarySkepticism: Capricorn doesn't believe in astrology (although he is an {{Astrologer}}) despite the fact that he lives in a world full of FunctionalMagic, miracles, [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]], [[HumanoidAbomination Humanoid Abominations]], StarfishAliens, [[DimensionalTraveler Dimensional Travelers]], [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever Giant Monsters]] and all sorts of other weird things. Bonus points for him being BlessedWithSuck [[MindOverMatter telekinetic]].
28	* ArtShift: From quite realistic to a somewhat cartoonish style after ''Fragments.''
29	* ArtifactOfDoom: Quite a few of them.
30	** The Numerical Cube [[PocketDimension is bigger on the inside]] and inhabited by a demonic spirit that will attempt to possess anyone foolish enough to enter. On top of that, its shell is so incendiary that the Cube ''melts through several floors'' after its scaffolding fails.
31	** The [[MagicMeteor Luminous Stone]] has the power to skew the course of events through the machinations of the [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Liars of Vree]] who live in its [[PocketDimension pocket dimension]], and people who get stuck while crossing between worlds can be abducted into it.
32	** A red typewriter discovered by Bernard Wright in ''Passages'' somehow controls a sand-like substance that traps Wright in his own house and ages him to death.
33	** A spider-shaped amulet in Pharass' possession maps out [[MetaFiction the entire course of Rork's story]], letting its holders intervene with [[DeusexMachina deus ex machina]] precision. Being stuck in a stable time loop, it also has [[TemporalParadox no point of origin]].
34	* {{Astrologer}}: Capricorn.
35	* BackForTheFinale: Almost every named character (with the [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse mysterious exception]] of Adam Neels).
36	* BigApplesauce: Rare non-american example (the author is German).
37	* BigBad: Dahmaloch.
38	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Dahmaloch may have been thwarted, but Deliah, Wilbur and Yosta are dead, Rork has left the universe, and there will be no more adepts of the crossings.]]
39	* BodyHorror: Shamah gets a dose of this in ''Starlight''.
40	* CanonDiscontinuity: The short story ''Forgotten''.
41	* CoDragons: Pharass and Gott to Dahmaloch.
42	* CreepyCathedral: Exaggerated in ''[[Main/ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Graveyard of Cathedrals]]''
43	* {{Crossover}}: With ''Capricorne'', another Andreas series.
44	* DealWithTheDevil: Mordor Gott strikes one with Dahmaloch.
45	* DecompressedComic: ''Descent.'' ''Starlight,'' to a lesser extent.
46	* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:In ''Capricorn'', Sy-Ra gets a bad case of the demons when she's brought inside the Numerical Cube by Mordor Gott. Rork narrowly avoids the same fate.]]
47	* DiabolusExNihilo: Barely averted with little {{Foreshadowing}} here and there, but essentially [[spoiler:Dahmaloch]] is one.
48	* DimensionalTraveller: Adepts of the crossings can pass between different worlds at will, with some stipulations: they can only do this three times before they forget the secret forever, and they cannot initiate others without the help of a magical creature called the Passmaster. [[spoiler:True adepts are allowed ten crossings, but this turns out to be a [[RedHerring red herring]].]]
49	* DirtyCoward: Mordor Gott will flee at the slightest whiff of danger. Borders on PragmaticVillainy in that it actually does save his life both times he's shown to do this.
50	* DistressCall: [[spoiler:Rork was sent out from another universe to help the world against some kind of great danger. It was a trap.]]
51	* DreamWithinADream: Used to eerie effect in [[spoiler:the finale.]]
52	** [[spoiler:[[WhamLine "The gate belongs to the Dreamer."]]]]
53	* EldritchLocation: The Starship from ''Descent.''
54	* EmptyShell: Sy-Ra becomes one after attempting to cross between worlds without having undergone a proper initiation.
55	* EternalRecurrence: Directly invoked by Dahmaloch in [[spoiler:[[LampshadeHanging ''Return'']].]]
56	* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Captain, Guardian of Light and Carrier (whale-like EldritchAbomination).
57	* TheFaceless: Rork becomes this after surviving an explosion at the end of ''Fragments''. [[spoiler:When Raffington Event meets Rork, he assumes him to be disfigured from the blast, but Rork is actually projecting his spirit from another location.]]
58	* GainaxEnding: Seriously, what the Hell actually happened there?
59	* GuardianOfTheMultiverse:
60	** Pharass [[spoiler:or, at least, he claims to be one.]]
61	** Actually, [[spoiler:Rork]] is implied to be one.
62	* HorsemenOfTheApocalypse: In the GrandFinale.
63	* HumansAreBastards: [[Main/DiscussedTrope Discussed]], [[PlayingWithATrope played straight]] and, eventually, [[spoiler:[[Main/SubvertedTrope subverted]]]] in ''Starlight''. [[spoiler:Some humans indeed are bastards, but not all of them]].
64	* IdentityAmnesia: Deliah loses her identity in her first appearance. [[spoiler:She gets better.]]
65	* KudzuPlot: So, there's Rork himself and his mysterious powers, strange young woman named Deliah Darkthrone with her psyhic powers, weird race of [[TheChessmaster Chessmasters]], that enigmatic demon Dahmaloch, oh and MadArtist Milton Burke, lost and apparently sentient EldritchStarship... and don't even get started with [[HeroOfAnotherStory Capricorn]].
66	* LargeHam: Mordor Gott takes it up to eleven.
67	* MadArtist: Milton Burke.
68	* MagicalNativeAmerican: Andreas really like this trope. There's at least two [[MagicalNativeAmerican Magical Native Americans]] in ''Rork'' (Blue Face and Guardian of Light) and many more in ''Capricorn.''
69	* MasterOfDisguise: [[spoiler: Pharass is eventually revealed to have adopted several identities over the course of the series.]]
70	* MasterSwordsman: Manga.
71	* MetaFiction: The series swerves into this in the final volume.
72	* MindOverMatter: Deliah is a powerful telekinetic, at one point even ''lifting a skyscraper'' with her psychic powers.
73	* TheMultiverse: [[spoiler:In ''Return'', it's revealed to include the reader's world.]]
74	* MysticalWhiteHair: Rork.
75	%%* MindScrew:
76	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Mordor]] [[GodIsDead Gott]] and [[FemmeFatale Deliah Darkthorn]]. [[spoiler:Neatly [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in the latter case.]]
77	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: One of Capricorn's telekinetic fits causes the Numerical Cube to start a catastrophic fire that eventually overruns the New York City sewers. Technically he couldn't control it, but ''damn''.
78	* NiceGuy: Despite his mysterious appearance, Rork is pretty nice, helpful person.
79	* TheNotLoveInterest: Deliah has an outstandingly platonic relationship with Rork.
80	* OccultDetective: Rork occasionally helps out with cases that are too unbelievable for professional detectives. ''The Ghosts'' is entirely focused on one of those.
81	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Capricorn ([[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in his spin-off series]]).
82	* TheOwlKnowingOne: Or rather two, in this case.
83	* ParanoiaGambit: [[spoiler:Dahmaloch's plan essentially relies on [[ConMan selling the belief]] that the Devil has launched an apocalyptic plot against humanity. After his original goal is thwarted, he turns it around as a nasty [[FailureGambit Failure Gambit]] that would have succeeded had Rork not [[TakeAThirdOption refused to play along]].]]
84	* PeoplePuppets: [[spoiler:In ''Fragments'', Deliah and Ebenezer get bodyjacked by alien life forms. The same happens to a team of scientists in ''Return''.]]
85	* PhysicalHell: Seen in Fay's and Levec's hallucinations in ''The Graveyard of Cathedrals''. [[spoiler:Later revealed to be located beneath Cordimer Skiffel's mansion.]]
86	* PrisonDimension: Rork is caught in one following the events of ''Passages''.
87	* PsychicPowers
88	* RealWorldEpisode: [[spoiler:In ''Return'', Dahmaloch's minions manipulate Rork's powers to open a passage to the real world. Deliah and Yosta briefly explore it before the portal is shut down.]]
89	* Really700YearsOld: Rork himself, [[MentorArchetype Tanemanar]], [[AmbiguouslyEvil Yosta]], [[DimensionalTraveler Captain]] and [[TheDragon Pharass]].
90	* RecursiveReality: In tandem with [[MetaFiction metafiction]]. Notably, [[spoiler:Ash and Capricorn realize that the signs on Tanemanar's tombstone are a visual guide to how the story is constructed.]]
91	* SanitySlippage: Wilbur rapidly undergoes one exploring his grandfather's mansion.
92	* SapientShip: The setting of ''Descent''.
93	* SealedEvilInACan: [[spoiler:Dahmaloch.]]
94	* ShoutOut: Bernard Wright is a shout out to Bernie Wrightson. Adam Neels is one to Neal Adams.
95	* SpannerInTheWorks: Deliah unwittingly messes up the Liars' ability to manipulate events by irradiating the Luminous Stone they inhabit.
96	* SpinOff: ''Capricorn'' (somewhat DarkerAndEdgier, action-oriented series) and one-shot ''Raffington Event.''
97	* TheStoic: Rork stays calm in situations where most people would drop everything and run, but there are a few times when he panics in the face of danger. Deliah is a more straightforward example.
98	* TemporalParadox: In ''Return'', a mysterious amulet stolen from Pharass' laboratory is transported to the 17th century, where it's [[StableTimeLoop discovered by Pharass]].
99	* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler:Rork commits suicide to stop Dahmaloch's machinations, but while this act allows Rork to complete his task and [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence return to his home dimension]], Dahmaloch all but promises that [[HistoryRepeats the next time]], the odds will be in his favor.]]
100	* TimeCrash: [[spoiler:Rork's use of the Dreamer's gate is implied to have created an alternate timeline where Tanemanar has no magical powers. [[MindScrew Or something.]]]]
101	* TheWatchmaker: Cordimer Skiffel's mansion contains a grandiose clockwork mechanism that sends out "vibrations of time" once activated.
102	* TheWatson: Raffington Event fills this role in ''Passages''.
103	* WeirdnessMagnet: Rork, obviously. Capricorn, too.
104	* WorldOfBadass: Nearly every named character is badass in some way. To name a few:
105	** [[TheHero Rork]]: Mysterious Really700YearsOld AmbiguouslyHuman mystic with strong psyhic powers and BadassLongcoat.
106	** [[HeroOfAnotherStory Capricorn]]: Adventurer, {{Astrologer}}, BadassInANiceSuit.
107	** [[PunchClockHero Manga]]: Mercanery DualWielding MasterSwordsman with - strongly implied - DarkAndTroubledPast.

Context ComicBook / Rork