Line #84 ComicBook/DeRodeRidder


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2	[[caption-width-right:242:Johan, the Red Knight]]
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4	''De Rode Ridder'' ("''The Red Knight''") is a Belgian-Flemish comic book series set in medieval Europe. It stars the title character Johan, the Red Knight, easily recognizable by his red tunic. The character was originally conceived by Leopold Vermeiren as the main character in his short stories in 1946. Willy Vandersteen (most famous for ''ComicBook/SuskeEnWiske'') adapted the stories and the character into a comic book series in 1959. Other writers took over later, including Karel Biddeloo. Publication of new albums continues to today.
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6	Most of the stories are characterized by subseries and stand-alone albums (i.e. depicting a story which are not related to any other album as they do not impact the story line or are mentioned in other albums), in which Johan travels as a lonely noble knight. There are however also several story arcs, including two in which Johan serves as a knight in King Arthur's court. The first stories were limited to Europe, but later adventures brought him to Egypt, South America, China and even outer space. The exact time period in which the stories are set is also hard to determine, since Johan has both encountered King Arthur from the Dark Ages, as well as having fought in the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302 (although he seems to have time traveled for the latter event at least, by way of TheFairFolk).
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9	!!''De Rode Ridder'' provides examples of the following tropes:
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11	* AnachronismStew: The stories are set in the Middle Ages, but the writers cannot seem to agree what period of the Middle Ages as Johan participates in events that are decades or even centuries apart.
12	* AlliterativeName and AlliterativeTitle: "De '''R'''ode '''R'''idder".
13	* BarbarianTribe: The Picts in ancient Brittan are depicted as being this.
14	* BigBad: Bahaal, the Prince of Darkness, can be considered this for the series. He started out as a mortal yet powerful dark wizard during the King Arthur story arc in which he died, but he later returned as an immortal demonic menace.
15	* BigGood: Galaxa, Bahaal's arch nemesis.
16	* BlackKnight: Johan has gone up against a few of these, including Bahaal and his son Qrandar.
17	* TheCameo:
18	** In the album ''De Heren van Rode'' Flemish comedian Urbanus has a cameo as a court jester. He has another cameo in ''De Slag van Woeringen''.
19	** Comic strip artist Marc Sleen (ComicStrip/{{Nero}}) has a cameo as a knight from Gent in ''De Leeuw van Vlaanderen''.
20	* ChickMagnet: Johan is very popular with the the ladies, and there are some subtle hints that he may not be bound by any oath of chastity...
21	* ClassicalMovieVampire: The vampires appearing in the album "Nosferatu" look either like this or like humanoid monsters.
22	* ComicBookAdaptation: The comic originally started as a series of children's books, before Willy Vandersteen turned it into a comic book series.
23	* CourtJester: King Arthur's court has one: Hugon. He even became the central character in an album named after him.
24	* DarkActionGirl: Demoniah, Bahaal's right hand woman.
25	* DecoyProtagonist: Johan himself in the album "Parcifal". He only has a very minor role in said album, and the focus is entirely on Parcifal, King Arthur's son.
26	* DivineDate: Galaxa is a divine or semi-divine being and Johan's official love interest. Other supernatural women who are clearly romantically interested in him include the Valkyrie Hildegonde, the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, an unnamed moon goddess (who is said to be Athena and several other goddesses in one person) and the "demon in human form" Demoniah.
27	* TheDogBitesBack / HoistByHisOwnPetard: Qrandar, twice. at the end of the album "De Watermolen", he he is eaten alive by a waterdragon he raised himself. He survives this though because the dragon himself dies not much later because of his injuries. Qrandar returns in the album "De verboden berg", in which he is killed off for real by his own dragon.
28	* EldritchAbomination: The story "De Rode Herberg" ("The Red Inn") features a creature that came from space in a meteorite and took up residence in the title inn, feeding on travelers spending the night there.
29	* ElementalPowers: Merlin, as long as he has his staff.
30	** ShockAndAwe: A lightning discharge from his staff is his most frequently used attack.
31	** PlayingWithFire: He has thrown a few fireballs around on several occasions.
32	** MakingASplash: He once drowned an army in a tidal wave.
33	* EnemyMine: Johan and Demoniah, in the album "Gilgamesh".
34	* EvilTwin: Kerwyn the magician, who was the mentor of Bahaal and the big bad of his own album, is Merlin's twin brother.
35	* FantasyKitchenSink: The world in which Johan lives contains dozens of different mythical creatures.
36	* ForgedByTheGods: The main plot in the album "Doodsbrenger" ("Deathbringer"). A villain gets his hands on the eponymous ''Deathbringer'', a sword forged by the old Norse gods. It makes him unbeatable in combat, and the Red Knight is tasked with finding a solution. The solution? [[spoiler:Find a legendary smith, have him forge an equally awesome sword, and use this to defeat the villain. Of course that means there are now two of these swords in the world... This was solved by HeroicSacrifice.]]
37	* GenieInABottle: Johan finds Aladdin's legendary lamp in the album "De Lamp van Aladdin", and the genie (who is portrayed as female in this version) immediately takes a liking to him.
38	* {{Golem}}: Appears in the eponymous 194th album, which is basically a retelling of the Golem of Prague.
39	* GratuitousNinja: Album 111. It's even simply titled "Ninja!"
40	* GuardianAngel: Galaxa to Johan. She knows when his name is spoken in the underworld, she shares his pain when he gets tortured, and she's not shy of showing up in person to kick the asses of those responsible (usually Demoniah and/or Bahaal).
41	* HomeBase: Despite mostly wandering the Earth, Johan does have a home in the form of The Castle of Horst, in Belgium.
42	%%* InnOfNoReturn: The Red Inn from the eponymous album.
43	* KnightInShiningArmor: Although Johan only rarely wears a suit of armor, he fits all the other aspects of this trope.
44	* TheLadysFavour: Lancelot receives this from the queen in "De naamloze ridder".
45	* LawfulStupid: Johan usually avoids this by not being a zealot and tolerating those with other views, but there are a few times where he falls into this trap.
46	** In "Mysterie te Camelot" (Mystery at Camelot), sticking to his knight's code beyond reason makes him a murder suspect, gets him in conflict with Merlin, and indirectly almost gets Guinevere killed. Merlin rightfully calls him out on this at the end.
47	** AvertedTrope: In "Het Spook" (The Ghost), Johan accidentally discovers a smugglers operation, but decides to let it slide because he's not in any official capacity to take action. A very good call, as the smugglers end up saving his life later.
48	* LoopholeAbuse: Johan, being TheFettered, is honor-bound to keep any oath he swears, which villains sometimes try to use against him. He usually finds a way around it.
49	** In "Medusa", the eponymous villain forces Johan to swear loyalty to her. [[spoiler: He does not keep it, as a knight's oath is only valid between two humans and Medusa has just finished a boast in which she stated clearly that she is not human.]]
50	** In "De Schat van Carthago" (The Treasure of Carthago), the main villain tricks Johan into swearing an oath not to use his sword against him. [[spoiler:He circumvents it by giving his sword to his female sidekick, who is not bound by the oath and still carries a grudge against the villain for a KickTheDog moment earlier in the album. The results are... messy.]]
51	* LoveInterest: Galaxa for Johan. Many other women show an interest in him as well, including [[VillainousCrush Demoniah]] and in recent albums Indigo Magiste.
52	* MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter: Astra, Bahaal's daughter. After falling in love with Johan, she plays a vital part in bringing down her brother Qrandar, but [[RedemptionEqualsDeath dies herself as well]].
53	** In a way Indigo as well; she's the daughter of an alchemist researching the PhilosophersStone and the true nature of light and darkness. The only difference is that the alchemist in question is an ally of Johan.
54	* MedievalEuropeanFantasy: What the comic originally started with and still uses from time to time, but locations outside of Europe are also frequently visited.
55	* {{Myth/Merlin}}: Appears as an ally and sometimes mentor of Johan in all the King Arthur-arc stories, and many other albums, making him the most widely used recurring extra character in the series.
56	* NamedAfterSomeoneFamous: Bahaal, the evil wizard, is named after the demon of the same name.
57	* {{Necronomicon}}: Appears in the similar-titled 124th album and also in "De Boeienkoning" (The Escape Artist). Both albums end with the book flying away in search of a new master, so we may not have seen the last of it yet.
58	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: A strange example. Comic book fans know the character mostly under his nickname ''The Red Knight'', yet everyone within the series calls him ''Johan''.
59	* OverlordJr: Qrandar, the son of Bahaal.
60	* OurFairiesAreDifferent: Galaxa, the fairy of light, appears as a human female with white hair.
61	* ThePaladin: Johan is this in all but name.
62	* PopCulturalOsmosis: Mention the name ''De Rode Ridder'' and everyone will say: "Ah the comic strip!". That it was originally based on a popular series of children novels by author Leopold Vermeiren is virtually forgotten.
63	* PoweredArmor: Two SteamPunk versions appear in the album "Het Bronzen Gevaar" (The Brass Danger).
64	* PunchPunchPunchUhOh: In "De Barbaar" (The Barbarian), one mook wisely bolts after Storkas the barbarian pretty much ignores a blow to the head with a mace.
65	* PublicDomainArtifact: {{Excalibur}}, Mjolnir and several others make appearances.
66	* PublicDomainCharacter: King Arthur and Merlin are only the beginning. Johan's best friend is Lancelot, and he has met several characters from Literature/TheBible, Myth/NorseMythology, Myth/GreekMythology and several other sources.
67	* RecurringExtra: The series has many of them. [[http://www.stripspeciaalzaak.be/Toppers/RodeRidder/Opgemerkt07_Top15Personages.htm One website]] lists the top 15 of the most widely used extra characters in the comics.
68	* {{Retcon}}: Album 131 provides a retcon of the meaning of the title: for about 64 books and 130 comic albums, it had been thought that the title referred to the nickname of Johan the protagonist "The Red Knight", based on his red tunic. #130 revealed that actually Johan was the "Rode" Knight because he belonged to the family of the historical(!) Lords of Rode.
69	* RightMakesMight: Johan is canonically unbeatable in a straight fight for justice, as is stated in-universe by an EvilSorcerer doing a mystical examination on his sword. The only way the villains can ever get at him is by treachery or hostages. Even TheGrimReaper himself admitted that he cannot claim Johan as long as he remains true to his ideals.
70	* {{Samurai}}: Johan meets one in the eponymous album.
71	* SandNecktie: Happens to Johan and Lancelot in the album "Excalibur" when they are captured by Moors invading Brittain.
72	* ShoutOut:
73	** In the Comicbook/SuskeEnWiske story ''Wattman'' Suske, Wiske, Lambik, Jerom and Sidonia travel back to the Middle Ages, where they meet De Rode Ridder in a cameo.
74	** Lambik reads a ''Rode Ridder'' album in the Comicbook/SuskeEnWiske album ''De Maffe Maniak''.
75	** In ''De Krimson Crisis'', professor Barabas brings in several famous figures from Belgium's past to help win the battle against Krimson, and we see Johan charging the enemy on horseback in the final confrontation.
76	** In the ''ComicBook/{{Urbanus}}'' series de Rode Ridder has had several cameos too.
77	** In ComicStrip/{{Nero}} in the album ''De Z van Zottebie'' when Nero is confronted with gratuitous nudity he says: ''"You see a lot more in "De Rode Ridder"''. Rode Ridder artist Karel Biddeloo himself had a cameo in two Nero albums: ''De P.P. Safari'' and ''Het Monster van Sarawak''.
78	** ComicBook/DeKiekeboes: A special comic strip in which Fanny interviews characters from other comic strips, ''Bij Fanny Op Schoot'' has her talking to ''ComicStrip/{{Nero}}'', Cordelia, ''ComicBook/{{Natacha}}'', ''ComicBook/SuskeEnWiske'', Cowboy Henk, [[ComicBook/{{Agent 327}} IJzerbroot and Olga Lawina]], ''De Rode Ridder'', ''Series/FCDeKampioenen'' and ''ComicBook/{{Urbanus}}'', among others.
79	* {{Stripperific}}: Galaxa rarely wears more than a rather flimsy and semi-transparent robe. Lampshaded in the album "Catacomben" (Catacombs):
80	-->Abbot: "I prayed for a miracle and the heavens sent me an angel! - Though I had no idea angels dress that way..."
81	* SummonBiggerFish: One album, Galaxa does away with prince of darkness Bahaal by summoning what is hinted to be {{Satan}} himself. (Yes, ''De Rode Ridder'' is that much of a FantasyKitchenSink.)
82	* SuperStrength: Several examples:
83	** Johan himself in the album "Moloch", by means of a SuperSerum a local wizard provides to help him overcome the eponymous MonsterOfTheWeek. It gives him enough strength to effortlessly wrestle a bear to the ground, tie a knot in an iron bar, cleave a tree in half, and throw large boulders. [[TimedPowerUp But it only works for so long...]]
84	** In the album "De Barbaar", Storkas the barbarian lifts Johan's horse over his head when he is first introduced and serves as a LoadBearingHero near the end.
85	** In "De Magische Scepter" and "Gilgamesh", Johan's ally is an alien being named Gorrax who easily bends the bars of a prison cell with his bare hands.
86	* StockNessMonster: Several of them appear in the album "Loch Ness".
87	* TheGrimReaper: Appears in person in "De Boeienkoning" (The Escape Artist). [[spoiler: He's actually on Johan's side.]]
88	%%* TheTourney: Several of them are held throuhout the series.
89	* TrueCompanions: Johan and Lancelot during the King Arthur story arcs.
90	* VillainousCrush: Demoniah is very much interested in Johan, to the point where she shows genuine sorrow when she thinks he is dead and harshly punishes any underlings who treat him more roughly than they have to. Although he has shown to have some feelings for her as well they remain sworn enemies.
91	%%* WalkingTheEarth: Johan does this most of the time.
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Context ComicBook / DeRodeRidder