| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/de-cape-et-de-crocs.jpg]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[DashingHispanic Don Lope]], [[HotGypsyWoman Doña Hermine]], [[CunningLikeAFox Armand de Maupertuis]], and [[RascallyRabbit Eusèbe]].]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | A 12-volume French ''[[FrancoBelgianComics bande dessinée]]'' (the last two volumes are a prequel focusing on one character) written by Alain Ayroles (also author of the FracturedFairyTale comic ''ComicBook/{{Garulfo}}'') and illustrated by Jean-Luc Masbou. |
| 5 | |
| 6 | In Europe of the 17th century, two noblemen united by [[HeterosexualLifePartners an indestructible friendship]], Don Lope de Villalobos Y Sangrin, a rash and impulsive Spanish wolf, and Armand Raynal de Maupertuis, French Gascon fox poet, dash into an epic adventure in search of the treasure of the Tangerine islands. During their trip, which will lead them to the borders of the world, and even elsewhere, they will meet their companions of adventure: Eusèbe, a naïve but cunning rabbit, Raïs Kader, who hides a generous personality under surly airs, and promises Lope a duel to the death but becomes his friend, Doña Hermine, Don Lope's lover, who hides [[SlapSlapKiss a similar feeling]], Séléné, Cenile's adopted child, who lives an idyll with Armand, and Bombastus, learned German so cultivated as to be annoying. Besides this heterogeneous troupe, they will also meet Andreo, Séléné's brother and his servant, Plaisant, a troop of pirates without scruples, a ruthless ''capitàn'' and strange exiles from the moon... |
| 7 | |
| 8 | ---- |
| 9 | !!''De Cape et de Crocs'' provides examples of: |
| 10 | |
| 11 | * AccidentalAimingSkills: The pirate Captain shoots the rope Don Lope was dangling from, then comments to one of his subordinates who compliments him on the shot that he was actually aiming for Don Lope. |
| 12 | * AccidentalAstronaut: A variation towards the end of the comic. The cast is already on the Moon but needs to get back to Earth. MadScientist Bombastus helps them build a new ship, but stays onboard during the countdown and only realizes the problem ''after'' the ship has launched. |
| 13 | -->'''Bombastus:''' I wanted to stay on the Moon! |
| 14 | * ActionGirl: Hermine. She does not fight often, due to lacking in combat skills (at least compared to the other main characters), but never hesitates to jump into the action, and manages for instance to steer a large galleon to safety in the middle of a storm, and on the Moon becomes quite skilled at driving a house. In a FunnyBackgroundEvent, she forces Don Lope to ''sew'' in her stead while she replaces him... at cutting logs with an axe. Later on, she asks Kader to teach her how to fight. |
| 15 | * ActualPacifist: Most of the selenite population (except the mimes). |
| 16 | * AlasPoorVillain: Cénile’s last scene is played tragically as it is highlighted that his greed has developed into a mental dependence. His son Andreo tries to drag him out of a forest of gold but he refuses. |
| 17 | --> '''Cenile:''' No! I cannot get away from my gold ! It is mine! I belong to it!... You do not understand!... My gold ! I love it! |
| 18 | * TheAllegedSteed: On the Moon, Armand and Don Lope find themselves out of horses and forced to ride giant ducks to cross the land, walking at a snail’s pace because of that. Subverted when after they switch ducks with horses again, Don Lope discovers that the ducks could have flown all the way, they just didn’t know how to make them fly. |
| 19 | * AlliterativeName: The Spooneristic Smugglers (contrebandiers contrepeteurs), and Captain Boney Boone are examples of this. |
| 20 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: The Maître d'Armes is as good a swordsman as Don Lope, as good a poet as Armand, and in addition is said to be a great scientist and philosopher. Armand and Lope can't help feeling jealous when they first hear the Selenites gushing about him. |
| 21 | * AmbitionIsEvil: Among Mendoza’s many faults is his boundless ambition. As soon as the opportunity presents himself, Mendoza decides to become a lunar conqueror, plotting to steal the throne of the Moon and even planning to invade earth and become the most powerful king of Earth. |
| 22 | * AnachronismStew: Among many other things, the HeavyMetal concert onboard a pirate ship (with period instruments to boot). |
| 23 | * AndTheAdventureContinues: The last page of the main series ends up with Armand, Don Lope and Eusèbe in Venice (where the whole story began in the first place) about to interfere with what seems to be the kidnapping attempt of a beautiful masked woman by sinister masked figures. |
| 24 | * ArchEnemy: Armand and Mendoza are mortal enemies ever since Armand gave him a nasty scar on the cheek. Mendoza hates the fox for this and swears to personally kill him. They feud climactically ends in the final volume of the main adventure. |
| 25 | * AristocratsAreEvil: Eusebe's backstory takes place in Paris under Louis XIII, so naturally we encounter lots of them. |
| 26 | %%** Prince Jean and [[TheVamp his sister]]. |
| 27 | * ArtEvolution: |
| 28 | ** In the first book, Rais Kader looks like an Arabian [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]], but in later books he looks more the badass he's supposed to be. |
| 29 | ** Hermine and Séléné are drawn slightly differently in the first book, in particular with fuller lips than the other human male characters. This disappears later on. |
| 30 | * AsYouKnow: Several plot points or description are presented as this, for the readers to have context for what is happening. Notably, Armand openly laments that they must wander Europe together because of a previous duel, explaining why a French and a Spanish nobleman are doing in the streets of Venise. |
| 31 | * {{Atlantis}}: Mentioned (as being a myth). At one point, our heroes are stranded on a tiny patch of rock in the middle of the ocean, which is later shown to be the roof of a drowned Greek-type building with statues. It is later referenced as having been in contact with the Selenites at some point in the past. |
| 32 | * AtTheOperaTonight: On several occasions, the characters disturb a theatrical representation organized by Prince Jean. They actually meet him that way by wreaking havoc on scene during a farce and ultimately defeat him when he presents his own play. |
| 33 | * AwesomenessByAnalysis: How Armand wins against [[spoiler:Mendoza]] (though shutting up probably helped). |
| 34 | * BadassBandolier: The Rais carries four pistols like this during the YouShallNotPass moment. |
| 35 | * BadBoss: Mendoza is one, as he readily inflicts cruel punishments and summary execution on the galley slaves of his ship. He even forces the slaves to row despite a favourable wind just to hear them struggle. |
| 36 | * BaitAndSwitch: |
| 37 | ** Armand finds "absurd" Prince Jean's order to his musicians to play a minuet while the heroes are fighting the mimes guards - he thinks a rigaudon or a passepied would have been more appropriate. |
| 38 | ** On the Moon, the heroes encounter a hellish sight of horrible creatures and terrible giants whose body are filled with seemingly miserable souls. They are convinced to be in hell but then it is suddenly revealed that it is Carnival, when the human and affable Selenites only celebrating in disguise. |
| 39 | * BalconyWooingScene: Armand attempts this at night in the tenth volume. He tries to woo Séléné, who cannot see her interlocutor and declares her love for [[spoiler:the Maître d’Armes]], which breaks Armand’s heart. |
| 40 | * BambooTechnology: Anything Bombastus builds. The guy managed to build a multi-storey tree-house, including an observatory and a winch-powered lift chair, using parts from shipwrecks. He eventually builds with TWO friggin' MOON ROCKETS. |
| 41 | * BarbarousBarbaryBandits: Subverted with the Raïs (Arabic for "leader") Kader, an ex-janissary and corsair captain seeking a treasure that will allow him to raise a fleet big enough to conquer Maracaïbo (a port in modern-day Venezuela). He's introduced as willing to be a BadBoss (threatening to impale a dozen of his sailors for losing the treasure map) and is at first seen as an evil heathen by the staunchly Catholic Don Lope, but eventually it's revealed his plans for conquest are fueled by his desire to find his daughter who he last saw there [[spoiler:and turns out to be Hermine]]. Kader keeps getting into fights with Don Lope (despite, or because, both are honorable to a fault), but eventually accepts him as [[spoiler:his son-in-law]]. |
| 42 | * BeleagueredAssistant: Plaisant to Andreo; also Cigognac to Cap'n Boone. |
| 43 | * BelligerentSexualTension: The love life between Don Lope and Hermine. They are both very proud in their own ways and refuse to compromise despite their clear love for each other. It results in most of their dialogs beginning well until one of them perceives a slight and they walk out angrily. [[spoiler:They actually come around and become bethrothed for good.]] |
| 44 | * BerserkButton: The Maître d’Armes has one: mentioning his very big nose. In fact, he’s so touchy that even alluding to noses makes him draw his sword to cut down anyone unlucky or foolish enough to have done that. |
| 45 | * BilingualBonus: Downplayed. Other than a few foreign words here and there (some of the Rais Kader's exclamations, Captain Boone's attempted mannerisms), the work is entirely in French. |
| 46 | * BigBad: Prince Jean for a good chunk of the story. |
| 47 | * BigBadEnsemble: There are separate villains in the series, first of all Mendoza who represents the greatest physical threat to the heroes because of his group of thugs, but then there is Prince Jean, who is relatively harmless but whose status as prince gives him the scope to be a lunar threat through his many servitors. |
| 48 | * BigBadWannabe: Prince Jean fancies himself the conqueror of the Moon, but he's a pampered noble who poses little threat by himself. The only reason his forces are a credible threat is because Mademoiselle does all the thinking for him and Mendoza leads his army. |
| 49 | * BigDamnHeroes: Happens several times during the course of the series. When Armand and Don Lope are cornered by superior forces, it is regularly Eusèbe who comes to the rescue. In Volume 9, the Maître d’Armes also enters the scene as an army of mimes approaches to off the heroes; thanks to the mimes accompanying him, the Maître d’Armes convinces the mimes to lay down their weapons. |
| 50 | * BittersweetEnding: The prequel books about Eusèbe's past, as expected, since they recount how he ended up being sent to the galleys. In addition, they feature a rather sad HeelFaceDoorSlam and [[spoiler:the meaningless murder of a harmless poet, Lisière]]. On the other hand, [[spoiler:Eusèbe and his brother Fulgence]] part on rather good terms, [[spoiler:Fagotin]] eventually turns away from his murderous grudge, and [[spoiler:Lisière's works will be published under his name]]. |
| 51 | * BlackCloak: Mendoza sports a black cape which completes his black coat, boots and black everything actually, befitting his sinister nature. |
| 52 | * BookEnds: The series begins with Armand and Don Lope wandering in Venice and getting entangled into the plot after trying to help Cenile saving his son (or so they thought). The series ends with Armand, Don Lope and Eusèbe in Venice again and about to interfere with a seemingly sinister plot against a beautiful masked woman. |
| 53 | * BloodKnight: A very downplayed one: Colin is suffering from bellicism, very rare among the peaceful Selenites, and it makes him attempt to pick fights with everyone he meets. It'd deconstructed when Colin gets a taste of modern warfare with guns instead of swords. Hit with a bullet and agonizing, his last words are asking Armand if battles are like this on Earth. |
| 54 | * BoardingParty: Boarding actions are recurring action scenes in the story, justified since it features many ships of different kind. |
| 55 | * BrainsAndBrawn: The two main characters are both excellent swordsmen, but Don Lope is notably more hot-blooded and eager to go into a fight, when Armand is more intellectual and diplomatic. |
| 56 | ** Lope has also proven to be physically stronger and a better fighter than Armand, he has been able to fight and even win against the Sword Master. It even becomes a plot point near the end of the series. |
| 57 | * BrainyBrunette: Hermine (in stark contrast with [[DumbBlonde Séléné]]), as a HotGypsyWoman, is a brunette, and one of the most clever characters in the cast. Among other things, she successfully [[GuileHero manipulates the pirates captain]] and is the first to guess that [[spoiler:Séléné is the daughter of the king of the Moon]]. She is also shown to be able to perfectly operate the Selenite equivalent of a television, which Armand had failed to do. |
| 58 | * BreakingSpeech: The philosophers on the Moon bring the pirate crew into a metaphysical ground, leading them to question their own being. |
| 59 | * BreakUpMakeUpScenario: In volume 10, Armand and Don Lope temporarily end their friendship because Don Lope seemingly “insults” Armand by telling him that Séléné loves the Maître d’Armes and that he must fight him, because he’s the strongest swordsman of the two; angry about the perceived slights, Armand slaps Don Lope with his glove, making the wolf leave. However, they soon regret their words and actions and reconcile during [[spoiler:the final battle against Mendoza]]. |
| 60 | * BrickJoke: In the second book, the protagonists infiltrate the pirate ship's powder magazine, intending to use its contents to frighten the pirates into submission. They have an OhCrap moment when Eusebe lights a couple of candles, thinking they are all about to blow up, but Eusebe just wanted them to see that they have accidentally infiltrated the ship's larder instead. Much later, in the fourth book, Kader and Eusebe enter a shipwreck intending to raid its larder for provisions. Eusebe is holding a lit candelabra... |
| 61 | --> '''Kader:''' "[[OhCrap This isn't the larder!]] It's the powder mag–"\ |
| 62 | ''(SmashCut to Armand and Bombastus being almost thrown off a rope bridge by an unseen explosion)'' |
| 63 | * BrutalHonesty: Don Lope has a moment of this when he begs Armand not to fight [[spoiler:the Maitre d'Armes]] and let him go in his stead, because he's simply the better swordsman. Armand, who's already dealing with [[spoiler:Selene possibly preferring the Maitre d'Armes to him]], does not take it well. |
| 64 | * BullyingADragon: Invoked. Colin insults the first people he sees carrying swords, because he really does want to fight them. |
| 65 | * TheButcher: Mendoza is nicknamed the “Butcher of the Cyclads” by the ottomans, who fear him for his skills in warfare and cruelty. Even hardened pirates get disheartened when they see it is him they are attacking. |
| 66 | * BookEnds: [[spoiler:The series begins and ends with Don Lope and Raïs Kader duelling]]. |
| 67 | ** Also, the first and last pages of the series involve [[spoiler:the heroes attending a play in Venice and stumble upon a shady plot.]] |
| 68 | * CallBack: In volume 8, the heroes sneak onto the ship in exactly the same way as the first book (down to the mimes making the exact same gestures as their Turkish counterparts). |
| 69 | * CallForward: Many in volumes 11 and 12, which are a prequel focusing on Eusèbe. |
| 70 | ** Eusèbe learning to squeak like a rat. |
| 71 | ** While selling hats, he stumbles under a pile containing not only Bombastus' hat but Armand and Don Lope's. |
| 72 | ** A gypsy fortune teller manages to predict events happening to Eusèbe in the first three books, although in a way that makes the prediction more or less useless. |
| 73 | ** When he first drops in Brioché's house, he gets entangled into puppets strings, between the puppets of a wolf and a fox that look a bit like Lope and Armand. |
| 74 | * CampfireCharacterExploration: While Armand and the rais Kader are held prisoner, Armand starts lamenting that he'll never see his beloved again. Kader tells Armand that once they break out and they get the treasure, Armand will get part of it, as Armand had previously stated that he'll help Kader find the treasure and rescue his daughter. This helps Armand wake up and start plotting escape. |
| 75 | * CannibalTribe: Subverted. The tribesmen do not eat other humans, they are simply fond of dog meat. On the other hand, they don't seem to mind that [[FunnyAnimal their food is clearly sentient]]... |
| 76 | * CantHoldHisLiquor: On the two occasions Armand indulges in drinking, he always ends up being heavily drunk. |
| 77 | * CapturedByCannibals: Subverted. In the Tangerine Isles, Don Lope, Armand and Bombastus meet a tribe of savages who capture the trio but only put Don Lope and Armand in their stew. However, they escape and scare the inhabitants with a moonstone until Sabado clears the misunderstanding and reveals that although the tribe are faultless, they eat dogs, hence their confusion about Don Lope and Armand who are a wolf and a fox respectively. |
| 78 | * CardCarryingVillain: Mendoza. Especially obvious when he rants about how Eusebe's appareance, personnality and behaviour represent everything he hates. |
| 79 | * CarnivoreConfusion: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] several times for laughs. |
| 80 | * CavemenVsAstronautsDebate: When our heroes are stranded on a small island in the middle of nowhere, Don Lope and Kader are once again arguing, this time insulting their respective country's military ability. When Armand wearily asks what started it ''this'' time, Eusebe replies "A periwinkle". |
| 81 | %%* TheCatCameBack |
| 82 | * TheCavalierYears: Set in the 17th century Mediterranean, Italy and Malta, and France for the Eusèbe-centered books. |
| 83 | * CharacterDevelopment: Don Lope manages to overcome his fear of rats when [[spoiler:a giant rat is about to eat Eusèbe]]. This is illustrated later where he imitates a rat while sneaking on board a ship: in the exact same circumstances, at the beginning of the series, he had imitated a cat instead, and Armand had mocked him for it. |
| 84 | * ChaseScene: The most memorable one occurs in book 2 when they are in Malta, and involves Armand chasing Plaisant for the map, then being chased along with Kader by the pirates, Don Lope chasing Andréo for Hermine, and Mendoza and the guards chasing them all. It ends in a gigantic collision involving a religious procession that had the misfortune of passing by. |
| 85 | * ChekhovsGun: The moonstone pendant Séléné gives to Armand. It ends up being relevant on two levels, first because it is a moonstone and allows the heroes to go to the moon. Secondly, it reveals that Séléné is actually from the moon since she was found with the pendant as a baby. |
| 86 | * ChurchgoingVillain: Subverted. It looks like Mendoza is at least a devout Catholic, but when ambition goes to his head, he even ambitions to overthrow the Catholic Church, using the “Archdeacon of Canterbury” to gain the religious authority he needs to rule. |
| 87 | * CityOfGold: Gold and jewels grow on trees on the Moon, and the Selenites mainly see them as annoying weeds, since their currency is poetry. |
| 88 | * ClockPunk: Most of the Senelites' technology is based on this. |
| 89 | * {{Cloudcuckooland}}: The Moon. Its peaceful inhabitants live in moving houses, trade with poems, have cheese, eggs, gold and jewel growing on trees, and their fauna is composed of living music instruments and other more fantastical creatures like the chimeras. |
| 90 | %%* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: [[spoiler: The pirates.]] |
| 91 | * ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Musketeers wear blue, guards wear red. |
| 92 | %%* CombatPragmatist: Mendoza |
| 93 | * CommediaDellArte: Hermine and the Pirates are forced to perform one of these in Volume 4 for the benefit of their Selenite captors. The performance is rather lackluster until Don Lope and friends burst on the scene to confront their rivals. Fortunately for all involved, the audience thinks it's AllPartOfTheShow. |
| 94 | ** The entire series is written in this style as well. |
| 95 | * CompositeCharacter: Although never explicitly named, the Maître d'Armes is clearly Cyrano de Bergerac, but his character borrows as much from the historical character (a playwright, who among other things wrote a book about visiting the Moon and a play that may have been ripped off by Creator/{{Moliere}}) than his portrayal in [[Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac the play]] (an expert swordsman and poet who is extremely sensitive about his GagNose). |
| 96 | * CorruptCorporateExecutive: Cénile Spilorzio, a ship owner from Venice. He’s already a scrooge but doesn’t hesitate to bribe a court to condemn Armand and Don Lope to the galleys. |
| 97 | * CunningLikeAFox: Armand de Maupertuis, of course, although he rarely displays actual cunning, but he is one of the most clever, quick-witted and cultured member of the cast. |
| 98 | * CutenessProximity: Eusèbe is a cute little rabbit and women all react accordingly. Even hardened thugs find Eusèbe too cute to torture on several occasions. Mendoza is the only one who doesn’t react well to Eusèbe’s proximity, even despising him for it. |
| 99 | * DarkActionGirl: Mademoiselle is perhaps Prince Jean’s greatest agent, an able manipulator at the court but also taught by the Maître d’Armes who notes she is a gifted swordswoman. She is one of the few characters who have got the better of Don Lope during a duel. |
| 100 | * DarkestHour: End of volume [[spoiler:8]]. [[spoiler:Mendoza conquered the Moon, the Moon Cadets are dead, the Maître d'Armes is captured, and Don Lope has been shot.]] |
| 101 | * DarkerAndEdgier: Although they remain fairly light-hearted, the prequel books centred on Eugene are noticeably darker than the original series. They contain no fantasy elements and involve a lot of corrupt politicians and rogues fighting for dominance. See also BitterSweetEnding above. |
| 102 | * DashingHispanic: Don Lope & [[EvilCounterpart Mendoza]]. |
| 103 | %%* DeadpanSnarker: Armand. |
| 104 | * DeathByMaterialism: Cénile refuses to take cover during a gold-dust storm, and ends up as a golden statue for it. |
| 105 | * DeliberatelyMonochrome: The war at the end of volume 8, in red. |
| 106 | * DeliberateValuesDissonance: Bombastus claims that the white-skinned savages are obviously more open to discussion than their copper or ebony-skinned brethren. |
| 107 | * DefeatMeansFriendship: |
| 108 | ** Averted when Eusèbe meets the musketeers. Leading the Cardinal's guards, Eusebe attempts to arrest them, but the new BigBad de Limon arrests them all. The musketeers declare him a WorthyOpponent in prison and cease all hostilities. |
| 109 | ** It is the backstory for Armand's and Lope's friendship. |
| 110 | ** The Maître d’Armes meets the heroes on bad terms and they duel, but when he is defeated by Don Lope and learns that he’s the son of one of his friends Don Pedro, he immediately makes peace with them. He also actually became friend with Don Lope’s father after a duel too, which he lost because of the “un-deux-trois” botte.. |
| 111 | * DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Everything [[MeaningfulName Aldrin de Redondie]] says only describes what he is doing and thinking at the moment. Including when [[spoiler:he dies]]. |
| 112 | * {{Determinator}}: |
| 113 | ** All the heroes, to some extent, but the Rais gets a good one at the beginning: when it seems the map has been stolen (and so all hope of obtaining the treasure to raise his fleet), he declares it to have been written, and so will continue to scour the seas until they run red with blood. |
| 114 | ** Fagotin proclaims he never breaks off a contract, even when he isn't paid for it. |
| 115 | * DidntSeeThatComing: [[spoiler:Mendoza]] would have never imagined that [[spoiler:Armand could counter his secret and fatal move]]. |
| 116 | * DidNotGetTheGirl: [[spoiler: Armand]] sadly doesn't get together with [[spoiler:Séléné]] at the end. [[spoiler:Séléné]] always mistook him for a loyal friend and not a romantic option and ends up falling in love with the [[spoiler:Maître d'Armes]], to [[spoiler:Armand's]] sorrow. |
| 117 | * DirtyOldMan: Cénile is old and quite lecherous, as Séléné laments that his touches get more and more “tactile”; we’re not shown any of that however. He even plans to marry Séléné, although it's partially to save on the dowry. |
| 118 | * DisneyVillainDeath: Mendoza perishes like this. Stabbed in the gut by Armand, a shocked Mendoza falls off his ship into the void of space. Although people can survive in space, it is likely that if his stab wound doesn’t kill him, [[AndIMustScream he’d wish it did]]. |
| 119 | * DisproportionateRetribution: |
| 120 | ** When the Rais' men lose the map, he orders his ship's mast to be sharpened, so he can impale a dozen or so sailors as an example. |
| 121 | ** Mendoza is ready to execute a bench of rowers for talking back to him. |
| 122 | * TheDitz: Séléné, especially in the last books. She is shown to enjoy watching mindless soap operas on the Sélénite equivalent of a television, and complains of being unable to understand poetry. However, she ''does'' understand enough to not want to be the prize in CockFight by proxy, telling off both participants. |
| 123 | * DopeSlap: One pirate [[MinionWithAnFInEvil who doesn't realize they don't need to keep up the honest merchant act]] anymore gets one. |
| 124 | * DoorstopBaby: Séléné was found in a well by the Spilorzio during a full moon night. Cénile didn’t want her but his wife pleaded so much he had to eventually relent and adopt her as his ward. |
| 125 | %%* DragonInChief: Mendoza |
| 126 | * DramaticUnmask: As the heroes try to find the Maître d’Armes, Prince Jean sends a mysterious agent named “The Marquis of the Three Craters” after them, said Marquis’ identity is hidden until it is dramatically revealed that [[spoiler:Captain Boone]] has sold his service to Prince Jean, becoming said Marquis in the process. |
| 127 | * TheDreaded: |
| 128 | ** One character's mere presence is enough to send a crew of hardened pirates into a verbose frenzy. [[spoiler:Eusebe]]. |
| 129 | ** Another Selenite is terrified of the Marquis des Trois Cratères and his EvilLaugh. |
| 130 | * DressedToPlunder: Captain Boone’s attire in a nutshell, as well as that of his crew. They all wear the stereotypical accessories of a pirates, with the exception of the “parrot”, which is in reality a chicken that Boone believes to be hoarse. |
| 131 | * DrivenToSuicide: When Armand learns that Séléné is in love with [[spoiler:the Maître d’Armes]], in the middle of his wooing no less, he is heartbroken. Thinking that he’s lost everything, including his friendship with Don Lope, almost jumps off a cliff. Thankfully, he’s distracted by Eusèbe's sentient pet rock. |
| 132 | * DudeWheresMyRespect: Bombastus feels like this. Despite coming off as a KnowNothingKnowItAll and InsufferableGenius, he’s also resentful and sad over being asked to invent new contraptions so often without so much as a “thank you” for his inventions, which for the most part work. Armand finally thanks him for his help and congratulates him for his genius, bringing the old man to tears. |
| 133 | * DuelToTheDeath: They happen every so and then, usually for matters of honor. |
| 134 | ** Don Lope and Armand had to flee France after the wolf duelled and killed the wrong nobleman for instance. |
| 135 | ** There is also the case of Armand’s feud with Mendoza which is fought seriously. However, most duels end up well, with both parties becoming friends. |
| 136 | ** It's also subverted in one instance where Don Lope and the Maître d'Armes almost fight each other but Séléné forbids them to do something as stupid as killing each other for her. |
| 137 | ** Don Lope and Rais Kader keep putting theirs off for pragmatic reasons, so when it seems they finally have no choice, [[spoiler:Hermine tells them to hold a duel in the Selenite fashion]], consisting of [[spoiler:keeping a straight face while the others are clowning around.]] |
| 138 | * DumbBlonde: |
| 139 | ** Séléné thinks herself to be one, being a pampered woman who was denied a great lot of education. However, the Maître d’Armes reassures her since he tells her that she’s not dumb enough not to worry about it and that her mastery of perfume concoction reveals a subtle mind. |
| 140 | ** Andreo also counts, but he also wisens up by the end of the story. |
| 141 | * EasilyForgiven: It seems the squid doesn't hold grudges for cutting off one of his tentacles and using him as a carrot. |
| 142 | ** It seems to have regenerated, [[JustifiedTrope so...]] |
| 143 | * EatTheRich: Fulgence resents the wealth gap between Paris’ poor and the rich and nobles. His end goal with De Limon’s assassination is to provoke chaos from which his army of beggars and criminals will prevail over the rich. |
| 144 | * ElaborateUndergroundBase: Prince Jean lives in "La Sérénissime"[[note]]which is one of the nicknames for the city of Venice, Italy[[/note]], an underground base hidden in the middle of one of the Moon’s seas. |
| 145 | * EnemyMine: |
| 146 | ** In the first book, Spaniard ("and therefore bastion of Christianity") Don Lope has to team up with the Ottoman (and Muslim) Rais Kader. They get over it - [[VitriolicBestBuds mostly]]. |
| 147 | ** In a darker tone, Armand and Mendoza. |
| 148 | * EnemyMime: The Mimes are assumed to be ferocious savages. The "wild" ones are a FantasyCounterpartCulture of Amazonian natives. |
| 149 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: Mendoza has one, when he orders Eusèbe be whipped for causing trouble, and well Eusèbe is a little rabbit who was innocent in the matter. When Armand and Don Lope express their contempt, Mendoza even says that he actually welcomes the rebellion because that gives him an excuse to oppress the galley slaves. He thus orders Armand’s row to be summarily shot. |
| 150 | * EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: |
| 151 | ** The Maître d'Armes, even though he's obviously (for the audience) [[spoiler:Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac.]] |
| 152 | ** Also the Rais Kader, which translates to Boss Kader. |
| 153 | * ExactWords: Cénile frames Armand and Don Lope for assault and coerces then into giving him their treasure map. In exchange, he promises that the trial will be fast and that they will be seeing the blue sky shortly. The trial is indeed very fast as a KangarooCourt condemns them to the galleys, guaranteeing that they’ll be seeing the sea sky for a long time. |
| 154 | * ExpressiveHair: The Rais Kader's mustache. Droopy when depressed or confused, horizontal otherwise. |
| 155 | * EvilTwin: Prince Jean to the King of the Moon, and Fulgence to Eusèbe. |
| 156 | * {{Expy}}: |
| 157 | ** Cap'n Boone is Blackbeard. |
| 158 | ** Aldrin, Colin and Fort-à-Bras are [[Literature/TheThreeMusketeers Aramis, Athos and Porthos respectively]] and also musketeers JustForFun/InSpace: Fort-à-Bras translates as Strong-of-Arm or [[ShoutOutThemeNaming Armstrong; Colin and Aldrin are for Michael Collins and Edwin Aldrin]]. |
| 159 | ** Colvert and Souchet, while both ducks, are based on Colbert and Fouquet. |
| 160 | ** Several characters are inspired by famous character from French plays. |
| 161 | *** Cénile is an Expy of Harpagon from Molière's The Miser. |
| 162 | *** The Maître d'Armes is a clear lift of Cyrano de Bergerac's character. |
| 163 | *** Séléné is at first an Expy of every Classical French play's young maiden character, but she then becomes an Expy of Roxane, a character from Cyrano de Bergerac. |
| 164 | * FaceDeathWithDignity: Armand and Don Lope are courageous gentlemen who will face death with dignity although they can be saddened at the prospect of their imminent demise. On the contrary, Eusèbe tells that “a rabbit doesn’t die well at all”. |
| 165 | * FantasticRacism: The Sélénites against the mimes. Because of their relatively primitive ways and mutism, the Sélénites believe the mimes to be savages that are best kept away from them. It is revealed that all of these prejudices are false of course. |
| 166 | * FashionableEvil: Prince Jean. He is dressed in beautiful clothes that rival the best courts of Europe in fashion. He’s actually modelled after Louis XIV, who was very fashionable. |
| 167 | * FeedItABomb: Don Lope defeats the giant rat by throwing a barrel of powder in its mouth and shooting it. |
| 168 | * FemmeFatale: |
| 169 | ** Hermine is one, although unquestionably on the side of the good guys. She’s no swordsman and so by her own admission has to fight with her own weapons: her good looks and acting ability. That way, she manages to both fool Boone and Prince Jean into believing she’s working for them while she’s actually undermining their plans. |
| 170 | ** Mademoiselle is another one but on Prince Jean’s side. She’s also a beautiful woman who feigns being the repentant lady to make her way into the King’s court again, fooling the Sélénites although Hermine doesn’t buy her story. |
| 171 | * FlyingDutchman: The eponymous Ship makes an appearance but unlike most depictions, it's an ordinary GhostShip who only periodically resurfaces because the horned fish it is impaled on also resurfaces. |
| 172 | * FoodPorn: The scenes where the characters are eating will feature at least one panel focusing on the food with minute detail. There is also a whole page dedicated to the feast Armand, Don Lope and Kader are having while barricaded in the pirate's ship larder. |
| 173 | * ForegoneConclusion: Montmorency was mentioned in a single line in the first book as having been killed by Don Lope in a duel, which caused their expulsion from France. Eusebe runs into him and rubs him the wrong way. [[spoiler:Montmorency ends up being killed off screen right before his appointed duel with Eusèbe, which would probably have turned badly for him]]. |
| 174 | * ForScience: Bombastus’s endgame is to study the world and discover the mechanisms behind every mysterious phenomenon. He’s mostly harmless as a result but he’s also neutral to all of the ongoing conflicts. This means that he readily told Prince Jean that Armand had a moonstone just to have the opportunity to go to the Moon and study it, and when he’s left behind, he associates with Mendoza to build a rocket. |
| 175 | * FunnyAnimal: The world of De Capes et De Crocs is sparsely populated by talking sentient animals who dress and speak like humans, and no difference is being made. The most prominent examples are Armand de Maupertuis and Don Lope Villalobos Y Sangrin, a fox and wolf who are part of the nobility, dress like humans and speak like humans despite identifying themselves as animals. Eusebe is rather a TalkingAnimal. |
| 176 | * FunnyBackgroundEvent: All the time, and often spread over multiple panels. |
| 177 | ** One of the earliest examples is the living roots (?) escaping from the vats of the Kabbalist that Kader visits at the beginning in Venezia [[GullibleLemmings and falling to their deaths]]. |
| 178 | ** A lot of these occur when they are on the savage island, including a dog resisting attempts to being slaughtered for food and Hermine asking Don Lope to sew a sail while she cuts logs in his stead. |
| 179 | ** On the Moon, Eusebe can often be seen interacting with his pet pebble, including playing fetch or trying to prevent it from disrupting a game of croquet. |
| 180 | ** Eusebe doesn't watch where he's going while carrying a large spit, to the chagrin of a cook's backside. |
| 181 | %%* FurryConfusion: Lampshaded several times. |
| 182 | * FurryReminder: |
| 183 | ** When very pissed off, Montmorency (a dog) gets on all fours with teeth bared. |
| 184 | ** Armand has no problem swallowing a live rat, and occasionally yelps when hurt. He also has difficulties controlling himself in the proximity of hens. |
| 185 | ** Don Lope scratching his ear like a dog scratching a flea, and sleeping on a bed curled on himself. |
| 186 | ** PlayedForDrama when Armand muses sadly over [[spoiler:Séléné falling in love with the Maître d'Armes instead of him]]. He seems to think that this happened because he's a fox, mentioning for instance that, unlike him, [[spoiler:his rival]] can stand on two legs without going against his nature and can discard his fur in summer. |
| 187 | * GagNose: The Maître d'Armes proboscis is quite comparable to a bird's beak. Mentioning it within earful of him is also his BerserkButton. |
| 188 | * GambitPileup: Eusebe's story has multiple plots centering around the duc de Limon, a potential successor to Richelieu as Prime Minister. Eusèbe manages to get on both de Limon and Montmorency (who's opposed to Limon)'s bad sides. |
| 189 | * GeniusBruiser: |
| 190 | ** One of the three recurring pirates comes up with the theory of gravitation. Note that he comes up with it after Bombastus hit him on the head with [[UsefulNotes/IsaacNewton an apple]]... |
| 191 | ** The two guards in the Turkish ship are discussing philosophy when they get knocked unconscious. |
| 192 | * GettingCrapPastTheRadar: |
| 193 | ** Just about everything the spooneristic smugglers is stupefyingly vulgar when decoded. |
| 194 | -->"Je connais cette pinasse" -> "Je pinais cette connasse" (I know that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full-rigged_pinnace pinnace]]" -> "I plowed that dumb bitch")\ |
| 195 | "La fière altesse et son soudard" -> "La fesse altière est sous son dard" ("The proud highness and his henchman" -> "The haughty ass under his prick"\ |
| 196 | "A deux, ils font cent calculs" -> "Ils s'enculent à fond de cale" ("[the Prince and Mendoza] make hundreds of plans together" -> "they're buttfucking down in the ship's hold") |
| 197 | * GoldFever: Cénile goes mad in a forest of gold, overwhelmed by the riches in front of him and dying in said forest. |
| 198 | * GoodCopBadCop: The pair get a spy to talk by having Armand pretend to hold Don Lope, who is playing RabidCop, back so he doesn't stab him. |
| 199 | * GratuitousIambicPentameter: Armand occasionally speaks in alexandrins, the French equivalent of the iambic pentameter. Sabado also does it, but comments he's not very fluent in this and so speaks normally. |
| 200 | * GratuitousSpanish: Don Lope is Spanish and often uses exclamations or insults in Spanish. |
| 201 | * {{Greed}}: Cenile is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Miser Harpagon]] turned up to eleven. |
| 202 | * GreedyJew: Averted. In volume 1, Rais Kader seeks help from a Jewish savant who deciphers Cananean for him but then only asks Kader for a dagger. When Kader says he expected a higher price from these sorts of people, the savant notes that Kader has travelled a lot yet has not seen much. |
| 203 | * GrowsOnTrees: There is an island where cheese and eggs grow on trees. It's later revealed they come from the moon, where almost ''everything'', including precious gems and gold, grows on trees. Selenites think of gold as annoying weed. The only currency on the moon is ''poetry''. |
| 204 | * GuileHero: Hermine. While prisoner of the pirates, she manages to drive a wedge between the Captain and his crew and ends up freeing herself, along with Andreo and Plaisant (too bad they get soon [[spoiler:captured by the Selenites]] afterwards). |
| 205 | * HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: Zigzagged. Eusèbe goes completely naked without attracting comment, while Armand and Don Lope go half dressed, not wearing pants. |
| 206 | * TheHeavy: Mendoza is the series' most iconic and recurring villain. Much like [[ComicBook/BlakeAndMortimer Olrik]], he usually works as the DragonWithAnAgenda / TheStarscream for other villains. |
| 207 | * HeelFaceDoorSlam: [[spoiler: De Limon]] in the prequel books. Just after Eusèbe's constant optimism, honesty and trusting nature managed to convince him to try amending his ways, [[spoiler:Fagotin shoots him]]. |
| 208 | * HeelFaceTurn: The pirate crew ultimately go from opponents and rival in the search for the treasure to being Armand’s allies during the final battle against Mendoza’s crew. Although they have a bad history together, the pirate crew and heroes find common grounds against Prince Jean and become FireForgedFriends. |
| 209 | * HeroesActVillainsHinder: Armand and Don Lope are the second side to go for the treasure of the Tangerine Isles and consistently have Mendoza behind them for the treasure, at least until they go to the Moon. Again, the heroes decide to go look for the Maître d’Arme, with the agents of Prince Jean trying to hinder their efforts. |
| 210 | * HeroicLineage: Don Lope is quite proud of his lineages, who comprises his father Don Pedro who was also a great swordsman and another ancestor who fought in the war against the Saracens. |
| 211 | * HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Eusebe's pet pebble]] [[TakingTheBullet jumping in front of Mendoza's gun]] to save [[spoiler:Eusèbe]]. It is sadder than it sounds [[spoiler:as the pebble is actually "killed" by the bullet]]. |
| 212 | * HeterosexualLifePartners: Lope and Armand. Also, Andreo and Plaisant. |
| 213 | * HoldTheLine: The battle of the Thyropyles in a nutshell. To protect the capital, the heroes can only muster a dozen men at best, including Andreo, Plaisant and Eusèbe. They do find a chokepoint and reinforce it but are pitted against thousands of mimes commanded by Mendoza. Ultimately, they lose the battle when Mendoza’s men use their rifles. |
| 214 | * HoldYourHippogriffs: The Selenites refer to someone being not quite right in the head as being terratic (where we would use lunatic). |
| 215 | * HorseOfADifferentColor: While there are horses and pegasi on the Moon, giant ducks are an alternate form of transportation. |
| 216 | * HotBlooded: Don Lope, the Maître d’Armes and to a lesser extent Armand. All three are hot-blooded gentlemen quick to draw their swords against any insult but as quick to become friends with the people they like. Armand does say this for Don Lope: |
| 217 | --> ''Armand'': You'll have to excuse him, it's in his nature to think with his arteries. |
| 218 | * HotGypsyWoman: Hermine is a hot-tempered Gypsy girl with brown skin and black hair. She spends the first half of the series barefoot and doesn't hesitate to use her charms to get her ways. She is quite chaste, though, and deeply in love with Don Lope. |
| 219 | * HowDareYouDieOnMe: When Don Lope believes Kader to be lost at sea, his reaction to the loss of his [[VitriolicBestBuds enemy turned adventuring companion]] is to let out an angry scream: "We were supposed to have a duel!" |
| 220 | * HurlItIntoTheSun: [[spoiler:Prince Jean's]] fate. Though it's mentioned that [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrano_de_Bergerac_(writer) the sun is an inhabited planet like the moon]]. |
| 221 | * HurricaneOfPuns: Armand is particularly fond of this trope. |
| 222 | * HypocriticalHumor: |
| 223 | ** Armand sees Don Lope barrel past on an amputee's cart waving his sword, chasing a sedan chair blinded by Eusebio, asking how one can engage in such farcical behavior. Then he points his sword at Plaisant, on which are skewered several vegetables and a squid. |
| 224 | ** When the pirates threaten to eat the remaining captives, Lope says they wouldn't hesitate to feed on human flesh... [[SavageWolves while looking as realistically rabid wolf-like as you please.]] |
| 225 | ** Bombastus is introduced as overjoyed that finally has listeners who can critique his theories (the island only has parrots otherwise). However, when someone contradicts his theory he ignores it completely. |
| 226 | * IAmSpartacus: Subverted when the musketeers and the Cardinal's guards are facing the police: |
| 227 | --> '''Limon:''' Who are the leaders here? |
| 228 | --> '''Musketeers:''' Us! |
| 229 | --> '''Guards (pointing at Eusebe):''' Him! |
| 230 | * IAteWhat: Don Lope seems to quite enjoy the meal the savages on the island offer him, until he happens to see a very fat dog being taken out of its pen and slaughtered off-panel and realises the islanders eat dogs (which also explain why they first tried to cook him and Armand). He then spends the next panels looking absolutely horrified. |
| 231 | * IKissYourHand: All gentlemen characters do that whenever they greet a pretty lady, usually with a compliment on their stunning beauty. Don Lope attempts this with Mademoiselle but is embarrassed when Hermine surprises him, leading to yet another instance of misunderstanding and jealousy. |
| 232 | * IllNeverTellYouWhatImTellingYou: Eusèbe inadvertently tells Mendoza about the treasure this way, which results in Mendoza also trying to take it after he escapes and becoming a recurring thorn on the heroes’ side. |
| 233 | * ImpoverishedPatrician: At the beginning of the story, Armand and Don Lope only have four maravedis (the Venitian currency of the time) to their name. Justified as they had to flee France and couldn’t bring much of their stuff with them. |
| 234 | * InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler:Armand]] is about to jump from a cliff in despair from [[spoiler:losing Selene to the Maître d'Armes and being stranded on the Moon without his friends]] when [[spoiler: the Rock arrives to warn him that his friends have been captured by Mendoza]]. |
| 235 | %%* ItsAllAboutMe: Prince Jean |
| 236 | * InsigniaRipOffRitual: Done to Eusèbe after he gets arrested for participating in a duel (in fact trying to prevent it). |
| 237 | * InsistentTerminology: Boney Boone wants to be called ''Captain'', but nobody seems to remember to call him that. Later inverted since he's trying to pass for a civilian, leading to: "Captain Boone!" "That's '''Mister''' Boone!" |
| 238 | * InterserviceRivalry: A three-way version. While the musketeers and Cardinal's guards [[Literature/TheThreeMusketeers is well known]], the actual police force harasses both of them, leading to the musketeers making friends with Eusebe. |
| 239 | * InterspeciesRomance: Don Lope and Hermine, Armand and Séléné ([[spoiler:at least from Armand's part]]). Nobody seems to see anything wrong with them, so they must be rather frequent in this universe. |
| 240 | * IslandOfMystery: The Tangerine Islands, a quasi-mythical archipelago plagued by frequent sea storms and linked to the mysterious Atlantide. Many sailors know about it because of the many bottles written in various languages talking about the supposed treasures hidden there but the storms have prevented them from reaching it safely. The pirates reach it first and discover that the inside of the volcano is weirder than they can imagine, with cheese trees, giant crustaceans and water running slowly. The heroes eventually discover that the Isles are influenced by the Moon and that the resident Sélénites have left seeds here and there. |
| 241 | * IsleOfGiantHorrors: The Tangerine Isles harbour giants crustaceans. |
| 242 | * ItRunsOnNonsensoleum: Bombastus' flying machine and moon rockets fly because of the noise generated by explosions... at least, that's how he explains it. |
| 243 | %%* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler:Armand]]. |
| 244 | * JumpedAtTheCall: Armand and Don Lope are very enthusiastic adventurers. In the first volume, they readily accept to infiltrate a xebec to free a hostage and when they discover a treasure map, try to reach it as soon as possible. The series ends with them [[spoiler:[[BookEnds about to dive into another adventure]], now with Eusèbe at their side]]. |
| 245 | * KickTheDog: Mendoza does this regularly. From condemning Eusèbe to be whipped for causing trouble (although Eusèbe escapes the punishment before it can be enacted) to shooting a wild animal from the Moon to make a point about conquest, to going out of his way to make Eusèbe jump into the void of space, just because he hates how cute the rabbit is. |
| 246 | * KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: The panicky pirate, the Moon Cadets, the Pebble, Mendoza.]] |
| 247 | ** In the prequel, [[spoiler: Lisière and De Limon.]] |
| 248 | * LameComeback: Subverted. Eusèbe, unaware as always that he's being insulted, replies that Montmorency's ears are very large as well. This is considered a devastating comeback by the present company. Also counts as one of the multiple shout-outs to the play Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac. |
| 249 | %%* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Cenile]] |
| 250 | * LargeHam: |
| 251 | ** Captain Boone, but the others show some signs as well, especially during the theater sequence. |
| 252 | ** The resident MadScientist's name is [[LargeHam Bombastus]]. |
| 253 | * LetsGetDangerous: Armand stops rhyming and starts fighting in the final battle. It works. |
| 254 | * LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy: With no explanation whatsoever. |
| 255 | * LongList: |
| 256 | ** "... les cornemuses, mais aussi les luths, les violes, les violons, les harpes, les clavecins, les hautbois, les bombardes, les flageolets, les pipeaux, les binious..." |
| 257 | * LongingLook: Armand has one whenever he takes out a memorabilia from Séléné and is reminded of her. |
| 258 | * LongLostRelative: Double subverted. Séléné was a DoorstopBaby and is initially supposed to be the princess of the moon but then the queen reveals that the baby she lost didn’t have a moonstone with her. However, it is then revealed that [[spoiler:Séléné was still ConnectedAllAlong with the King and Queen because some of the weird crystals on the moon show that Fier-à-Bras put a moonstone necklace on the royal baby during the battle in which she was lost,]] explaining the discrepancy. |
| 259 | * LoveAtFirstSight: Both Armand and Don Lope fall in love with Séléné and Hermine respectively. |
| 260 | * LoveTriangle: There are two main ones set in the story. |
| 261 | ** First there's the love triangle between Armand, Séléné and Cénile, the latter of which is replaced by the Maître d'Armes. |
| 262 | ** Secondly the love triangle between Don Lope, Hermine and Andreo. Don Lope and Hermine are attracted to each other (after some SlapSlapKiss), with Andreo'sl ove for Hermine being unwanted by either. |
| 263 | * MacrossMissileMassacre: The heroes' aerial escape route ends up taking them ''through'' Bombastus' extravagant fireworks show. |
| 264 | * MadBomber: Bombastus tends to put a little too much gunpowder in his fireworks. |
| 265 | * MadScientist: Bombastus |
| 266 | * ManHug: Between Lope and Armand, all the time. Fellow badasses Cap'n Boone and the Rais Kader share one. |
| 267 | * ManiacMonkeys: Fagotin, who is an intensely creepy-looking chimpanzee who's gone from street artist to hired killer. |
| 268 | * ManlyTears: Don Lope breaks down when he think the Rais Kader is dead. Later, Don Lope starts telling Armand about his first marriage and the death of his beloved wife. Armand is welling up by the middle. |
| 269 | * MeaningfulName: Everybody. Sometimes with a BilingualBonus: Spilorcio for instance, means ''miser''. |
| 270 | * MessageInABottle: In French, English, Latin, Cannanean... |
| 271 | * MediumAwareness: Sort of. The beginning of the third book has Armand and the Rais on an curtained elevated platform reading documents, then three sharp raps are heard. They look up, clear their throats, and then start talking, as if they were on a stage. (The raps coming from Don Lope hammering on a shell to crack it open). |
| 272 | * MilkingTheGiantCow: Many characters are seen gesticulating wildly in the background. |
| 273 | ** The pirates and their panic attacks. |
| 274 | ** When Armand gets a little too caught up in his poetry and starts ChewingTheScenery, Don Lope starts imitating him for a laugh. |
| 275 | * MightyWhitey: Inverted. The NobleSavage finds a tribe of primitive white-skinned men and is treated as a god before he convinces them otherwise. |
| 276 | * TheMillstone: Eusèbe, the rabbit. A small frail rabbit is hardly useful in an adventure story, but because Eusèbe is also naive and gentle, every bad guy play him like a fiddle against the heroes. |
| 277 | * ModestRoyalty: The King and Queen of the Moon live in a small house, do not have a particular protocol around them and their authority is only moral among the placid Sélénites. |
| 278 | * MoneyForNothing: On the Moon, gold, jewels and other precious objects grow on trees. They use poems as currency. |
| 279 | * MoodSwinger: Prince Jean, who can go from happy to angry to happy again in a matter of seconds, with his acquaintances noting that he’s “terratic” (read: lunatic but from the point of view of a Sélénite). |
| 280 | * MrExposition: Bombastus is the resident savant and among his functions is to provide exposition about how some of the fantastic phenomena the heroes observe work or how something is going to be done. |
| 281 | * MoralityPet: Eusèbe comes close of becoming this for [[spoiler: Limon and his brother Fulgence]] in the prequel book. Sadly, [[spoiler: Limon is murdered and Fulgence decides to flee, though not before trying to help his brother escape prison]]. |
| 282 | * MotivationOnAStick: How the Flying Dutchman is moved. It involves a giant octopus and a really big fish. |
| 283 | * MultinationalTeam: On the heroes' side, we have the French Armand, Eusebe, the Spanish Don Lope, the German Bombastus, the Turkish Rais Kader, the Venitians Andreo and Plaisant, and the gypsy Hermine. The villains are Venitian (Cénile), Spanish (Mendoza), and English ([[strike:Mister]] Captain Boone). |
| 284 | * MyInstinctsAreShowing: |
| 285 | ** Armand has some trouble refraining from chasing chickens, and has nightmares involving hens. |
| 286 | ** When feverish, Don Lope sits with his tongue hanging out like a dog would. He also mentions later having behaved like a normal (feral) wolf for some time after his wife died out of despair. |
| 287 | * NiceGuy: Eusebe, bordering on ThePollyanna in the prequel. The most scathing criticism he can find about an enemy is to say that he is "not nice" or "mean". He actually feels sorry for [[spoiler:[[BigBad Mendoza]] after his death]]. |
| 288 | * NobleSavage: Double subverted; the members of the savage tribe are caucasian. The only black-skinned member of their village is very educated. |
| 289 | * NobleWolf: Don Lope is this in two ways. One, he greatly values friendship and he's part of the hero group; two, he's literally a noble wolf by virtue of his nobleman status. He is happy to slip into {{Savage Wol|ves}}f mode when required, and says he was one after his first wife died. |
| 290 | * NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: [[http://www.kicswila.com/article-3706986.html Capitan Mendoza is the French actor Guy Delorme,]] who wrote the foreword to book 6 confirming it. |
| 291 | * NonActionGuy: Eusèbe, as he’s just a little rabbit with little to no combat experience pitted against mostly normal humans. However, he manages to earn his place as TheHeart and his interventions often save the heroes. |
| 292 | * NonHumanSidekick: Eusèbe (himself Non-Human Sidekick of two Non-Human Main Protagonists) has a pet animated rock. |
| 293 | * NonIndicativeName: Colvert and Souchet's respective right-hand-men are named Lesecq (the dried-up one) and Legros (the fat one), the first is obese and the other skinny. |
| 294 | * NoodleIncident: In the main story, how Eusèbe was sent to the galleys in the first place: he always gets interrupted when he is about to explain it. The two prequel books cover this in detail (and, amusingly enough, end with Eusèbe endlessly recounting his whole story to his fellow galley slaves, to their utter boredom). |
| 295 | * NotSoStoic: Don Lope, upon the Rais Kader's disappearance. |
| 296 | * ObliviousToLove: [[spoiler: Séléné]] to [[spoiler: Armand]] |
| 297 | * OmnidisciplinaryScientist: Bombastus and the Maître d'Armes. |
| 298 | * OneManArmy: Don Lope is able to fend off a dozen men alone thanks to his superb swordfighting skills, and the Maître d’Armes is said to have defeated a hundred assassins alone. |
| 299 | * TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Don Lope and Rais Kader to each other. When Don Lope believes the Rais Kader gone, he cries out that [[HowDareYouDieOnMe he didn't have the right]] to deny him their duel. Later, the Rais tells a badly-wounded Lope that they still have their duel to fight. |
| 300 | * OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: The Maître d’Armes is never addressed as anything else than this title, and there’s even a TheUnreveal moment when Séléné asks for his real name and he deflects the subject to her Sélénite name instead. However, It’s all but stated he is the “Cyrano de Bergerac” who is offhandedly mentioned throughout the series since he screams about being stolen his work when he sees Andréo and Plaisant acting out a scene that was said to be from de Bergerac. |
| 301 | * OperationJealousy: Hermine, seeking to get Don Lope to act on his feelings, flirts with Andreo in front of him. It backfires spectacularly as Andreo is madly in love with her, and instantly grabs her and hauls ass for the church to get married. |
| 302 | * OpportunisticBastard: Mendoza always takes advantage of every opportunity that presents itself, from hearing about a treasure and illegally gathering a crew to take it to readily allying himself with Prince Jean, seeing that the Prince is actually a fool he can easily overthrow. |
| 303 | * OrphansPlotTrinket: PlayedWith with Séléné's pendant. It is embedded with a Moon Gem, which is the first hint that [[spoiler:she is a Selenite]] (though the fact that she [[spoiler:gets attracted by the Moon like everything Selenite]] is the definite proof). Hermine and Armand later wonder if this would also prove that she is [[spoiler:the Selenite King's]] long-lost daughter, but her parents deny having equipped her with such a trinket. It is later revealed that [[spoiler:one of the Moon Cadet gave his Moon Gem to the Selenite King's daughter before she was thrown into space]]. |
| 304 | * OverlyLongName: Don Lope de Villalobos y Sangrin (who always tries to use his full name when introducing himself and is always interrupted before he can get to the end to the point where one character ends up thinking his last name is "de Villalobos Y"), Messire Armand Raynal de Maupertuis, but the award goes to Herr Bombastus Johannes Theophrastus Almagestus Wernher [[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus von Ulm]]. |
| 305 | * PapaWolf: Rais Kader to Hermine, making sure she's safe for when Lope gets back and telling [[BoyfriendBlockingDad Colin to stop flirting with her]]. [[spoiler:Appropriately enough, Hermine is his long-lost daughter Yasmina.]] |
| 306 | * {{Pirate}} |
| 307 | * PirateParrot: Averted with Captain Boone's... chicken, which he bought for three pieces of eight at St-Domingue, thinking it's a hoarse parrot. On the Moon he acquires what is essentially a mechanical parrot, which the Selenite call... a chicken[[note]]"Poulet" in French. In archaic French, a "poulet" meant a love note people would send each other.[[/note]]. |
| 308 | ** And corsairs, and freebooters... |
| 309 | * PirateSong: The pirate crew have a distinctive and catchy sea shanty they sing whenever they feel happy. The song is good enough to be of worth on the Moon, where the currency is poetry. The crew subvert their own song when they turn it into a “corsair song” as they reveal they work for Prince Jean and change the lyrics accordingly. |
| 310 | * PrecisionFStrike: Only once in the whole series, addressed to a fish, and [[BilingualBonus it's in Spanish]] ([[SonOfAWhore but not even hard to figure out]]). |
| 311 | ** Later, the (other) Porthos {{expy}} demands food in a Gascon accent, and just as easy to read. |
| 312 | * PlanetOfHats: Every region of the Moon has a different manner of speaking based on a figure of speech (Palindromians dress symmetrically and say the same thing backwards and forwards, Litotians understate everything, Redondians rephrase what was just said or state what they're doing out loud, etc.). |
| 313 | %%* QuirkyMinibossSquad: The pirates. |
| 314 | %%* RascallyRabbit: Eusèbe. |
| 315 | * RedFilterOfDoom: Tome 8's battle sequence is colored only in bright red and white to accentuate the drama and violence of the battle. |
| 316 | %%* RedOniBlueOni |
| 317 | * ReferenceOverdosed: From literature, theater, tv shows, cinema, comics, science, history... |
| 318 | * RenaissanceMan: The Maître d'Armes, as described by the Selenite: |
| 319 | -->'''Selenite Senators''': An exceptional being! At the same time a poet... a philosopher... an erudite... a scholar... brilliant... valiant... gallant... |
| 320 | -->'''Colin''': And what a swashbuckler! |
| 321 | * RegalRinglets: Séléné; [[TheVamp Mademoiselle]]. |
| 322 | * RhymesOnADime: Armand has the habit of frequently breaking into poetry, especially during his fights. The characters also sometimes rhyme for a few sentences during a discussion (usually when Armand is involved). See also GratuitousIambicPentameter above. |
| 323 | ** Mendoza does it once, to mock Armand after stabbing him. |
| 324 | ** In the prequel books, Lisière does it all the time, except when things get really bad for him. Eusèbe comments on it. |
| 325 | --> '''Eusèbe''': When you speak, it does not rhyme anymore. |
| 326 | * RodentsOfUnusualSize: When facing chimeras (Lunar creatures that turn into your worst fear), the ship's rats coalesce into a single giant rat the [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} Skaven]] would be proud of. |
| 327 | * RousingSpeech: |
| 328 | ** Captain Boone does this repeatedly as a morale-inducing method, always promising treasure and reminding them that they are pirates and should act like it. |
| 329 | ** Cigognac's speech, also a CMOA in its own right, especially since his previous attempt to emulate Captain Boone failed miserably. As the pirate crew faces existential dread, Cigognac reminds them about their dreams of liberty and disdain for authority, waving the black flag to turn the pirates to the cheery cutthroats they were before. |
| 330 | ** On the evil side, Mendoza is good at this. When his crew crashes on the Moon, he focuses on the yet to be discovered riches and lands ready to be conquered with their guns. Funnily, he closes his speech by literally "promising them the Moon". |
| 331 | * RunningGag: |
| 332 | ** Don Lope de Villalobos y Sangrin never gets a chance to fully introduce himself, the closest he ever gets is "De Villalobos y". |
| 333 | *** Turned on its head when Sabado introduces himself as "Sabado. That's all.", Lope calls him "Señor Thatsall". |
| 334 | ** Also, variations on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Fourberies_de_Scapin "What the devil was he doing in that galley?"]] |
| 335 | ** Bombastus missing each opportunity to travel to the Moon. [[spoiler:When he finally gets there, he ends up accidentally boarding the ship bringing our heroes back to Earth.]] |
| 336 | ** Eusèbe being used as a grapnel. |
| 337 | * SandIsWater: The non-dark side of the moon. |
| 338 | * SavedByThePlatformBelow: After the heroes are made to WalkThePlank, Don Lope comes up gasping when he hears his friends calling to him, seeing that they've somehow managed to find a tiny platform in the middle of the Atlantic. They never figure out what it is, but the reader gets to see that they're standing on the highest rooftop of a sunken city (bonus points for the characters coincidentally discussing the existence of {{Atlantis}}). They eventually escape thanks to the FlyingDutchman (actually a ship impaled on a ''massive'' fish). |
| 339 | * ScarsAreForever: Andrea keeps the one he got from his [[spoiler:very nearly]] suicidal attack on Mendoza. Mendoza himself gets one courtesy of Armand in their first battle. |
| 340 | * ScaryShinyGlasses: Bombastus gets these a lot in the last book. |
| 341 | * SceneryCensor: Briefly, when Hermine is bathing naked near the island. |
| 342 | * SceneryPorn: |
| 343 | ** Gorgeous views of the sea and the Moon landscapes. |
| 344 | ** In the prequel books, 17th century Paris is lovingly rendered as well. |
| 345 | %%* TheScrooge: Cenile |
| 346 | * SecretArt: The “un-deux-trois" sword technique. Created by Don Pedro, Don Lope’s father, the technique consists in waving the sword in the face of the enemy, invite a straightforward stab while the user evades on the right and switches sword hand behind their back to finally have a clear opening to the throat of the enemy. Don Lope initially believes himself to be the only one knowing about the technique but soon learns that the technique is shared among several other swordsmen. |
| 347 | * SelectiveObliviousness: |
| 348 | ** Captain Boone flat-out refuses to believe the chicken he carries on his shoulder is not, in fact, a parrot. |
| 349 | --> This is a parrot! I bought it for three pieces of eight in Saint-Domingue, and the reason it doesn't speak is because it has a sore throat!!! |
| 350 | ** He also does not (or pretends not to) recognise an actual parrot when he encounter ones. |
| 351 | ** Bombastus refuses to acknowledge the pirate's theory of "gravitation" over his own. With ScaryShinyGlasses no less. |
| 352 | * ShootTheRope: Subverted. [[spoiler: "Well, I was trying to shoot him in the head..."]] |
| 353 | * ShoutOut: Too many to count, including references to ''Literature/ReynardTheFox'', classical French theater and literature, but also Creator/WilliamShakespeare, ''Literature/MobyDick'', the works of Creator/JulesVerne, and popular culture like ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'', Creator/MontyPython, Creator/WaltDisney, ''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}'', Franchise/{{Rambo}}, Franchise/{{Batman}} and Robin... |
| 354 | ** The whole arc about the Moon borrows a lot from Cyrano de Bergerac's satirical novel ''"Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon"'': reaching the Moon thanks to fireworks, the Selenites using poems as currency, living in mobile houses and using speaking books, etc. And of course, the Maître d'Armes is Cyrano himself (though never named as such), though his portrayal borrows mainly from [[Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac the eponymous play]]. |
| 355 | ** Cenile's gold scene is likely a ShoutOut to a similar scene in ''La Folie des Grandeurs''. |
| 356 | ** Armand reads in a Selenite chronicle that Prince Jean tried to exile the Moon royal family into space, [[Film/{{Alien}} "so that they would not be heard screaming"]]. |
| 357 | ** A musical one: when [[spoiler: Séléné]] tells the Weapon Master that she would like to be called [[Theatre/CyranodeBergerac Roxane]], she stands under the glow from the Earth which is [[Music/ThePolice red]] because of an eclipse. |
| 358 | ** While they have different names, the three Musketeers met by Eusèbe are the usual caricatures of Athos, Porthos and Aramis. The name of the book? [[Literature/TwentyYearsAfter Twenty Months Earlier]]. |
| 359 | ** In the prequel, while Eusèbe is on trial for the murder of [[spoiler:de Limon]], one of the attendees comments that they did not follow the theory of [[WhoShotJFK the second rabbit]]. Amusingly enough, [[spoiler:the actual murderer is not a rabbit]]. |
| 360 | ** A stealthy one to ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'': [[https://www.decape.askell.com/impromptu.php Armand and Lope's first meeting is written as a play]], during which a suspicious Lope keeps sniffing around a disguised Armand. |
| 361 | -->'''Armand:''' I wasn't expecting...\ |
| 362 | --Three inquisitors wearing cardinal purple run past them in the background-- |
| 363 | * ShoutOutThemeNaming: See {{Expy}} above. |
| 364 | ** The last part of Don Lope's last name, "y Sangrin", refers to the wolf's name in ''Literature/ReynardTheFox'', Ysengrin (whose wife is called Hermine by the way). Similarly, the fox's estate in this tale is called Maupertuis. |
| 365 | ** Bombastus Johannes Theophrastus Almagestus Wernher von Ulm calls out to UsefulNotes/{{Paracelsus}} (full name: Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), the Greek astronomer Ptolemy (whose main work is the ''Almagest''), Wernher von Braun, and Creator/MontyPython. Also probably either to [[Myth/{{Faust}} Johann(es)]] [[Theatre/DoctorFaustus Faust]] or UsefulNotes/JohannesGutenberg. Oh, and Ulm is home to the unlucky early flying/gliding pioneer [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_Berblinger Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger ("the Tailor of Ulm", 1770-1829)]] and the birthplace of UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein. |
| 366 | * TheShowMustGoWrong: Hermine, Andreo and some of the pirates are forced to act in a play for the Senelites' benefits. It gets interrupted by Armand and Don Lope barging in fighting mimes, and the play soon degenerates in utter chaos. Fortunately, the Senelites think everything is AllPartOfTheShow and like it (the whole scene is also a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}} for the reader). |
| 367 | * SiblingYinYang: Eusèbe is an affable and naïve rabbit but his twin Fulgence is a hardened criminal who can actually fight and defeat humans in a brawl. |
| 368 | * SillyReasonForWar: Armand and Don Lope themselves met when they were fighting over a flag. The Maître d'Armes even snarks that the battle was actually important since it was about "being a servant of a king with a ruff or a king with a tie". |
| 369 | * SlaveGalley: With the requisite [[AllDrummersAreAnimals lunatic drummer]], [[WhipOfDominance whip-toting guards]], and slave uprising when the ship is attacked. When the ship's crew is put on the lifeboat, the drummer is still banging away. Also, due to the RunningGag of referring to every ship as a galley, we get this exchange, as Don Lope and Armand have snuck onto the Rais Kader's ship: |
| 370 | --> '''Don Lope:''': Ola, amigos! We are Christians, like you! We've come to rescue you from the Barbary scum!\ |
| 371 | '''Armand:''' Once again, Don Lope, this is not a galley, but a zebec. A zebec is a sailboat...\ |
| 372 | '''Don Lope:''' So these people in the hold are not galley slaves?\ |
| 373 | '''Armand:''' No!\ |
| 374 | '''Don Lope:''' But Turkish sailors?\ |
| 375 | '''Sailors:''' YES! |
| 376 | * SlaveRevolt: Mendoza is so cruel to his galley slaves that Eusèbe easily starts a revolt on board by simply freeing the slaves who run to fight off Mendoza’s soldiers. |
| 377 | * SpacePirates: Boone’s pirate become a precocious and weird version of those, using 17th Century science to navigate between the Moon and the Earth to attack Mendoza’s ship during the trip. |
| 378 | * TheSpeechless: The Mimes, and indigenous people of the Moon, are mute, befitting their names. They communicate through gestures and instead of writing and reciting poetry, they use music instruments and pantomimes. Funnily enough, miming shouting somehow enables Mimes to communicate from a distance. |
| 379 | * StealthExpert: Eusèbe is one, by virtue of being very small and unremarkable compared to Armand and Don Lope. He gets to infiltrate several ships and fortresses or even escape prison, with the crews and guards being unaware or mistaking Eusèbe for a rat. |
| 380 | * StewedAlive: The locals of the Tangerine Islands capture Armand and Don Lope, then throw them both into a pot to be stewed. They easily get out though. |
| 381 | * TheStoic: Lunar duels are fought by each duellist grabbing the other's chin and reciting a sing-song, the loser being the first to crack up. [[spoiler:When Don Lope and Kader agree to resolve their duel this way, they're at it all day without flinching, leading to Armand, Eusebe and Hermine making ridiculous faces, ending in a mutual loss.]] |
| 382 | * StupidCrooks: The three pirates Captain Boone handpicks as his underling when he temporarily betrays his crew. They are particularly stupid, instantly believing Captain Boone’s claim that he will make them Duke of York, Duke of Westminster and most funnily, Archdeacon of Canterbury. The “Archdeacon” was actually normal during his first appearance, but he was used as a battering ram and suffered some brain damage apparently. |
| 383 | * StrappedToAnOperatingTable: Used on a living stone. It seems like a parody, but then they start using acid.... |
| 384 | * SuddenlyShouting: It doesn't take much to set Cenile off. |
| 385 | --> '''Cenile:''' You come to account for your mission's failure, having found no prisoner on the Turkish ship.\ |
| 386 | '''Don Lope:''' Even so. How came you to learn of it?\ |
| 387 | '''Cenile:''' I learned of it... BY DISCOVERING THE ABOMINABLE CONSPIRACY PLOTTED AGAINST ME BY MY QUASI-PARRICIDE OF A SON AND HIS DEMONIC SERVANT! THEY NEVER SET A SINGLE FOOT ON THAT STUPID GALLEY!\ |
| 388 | '''Armand:''' [[RunningGag Xebec.]]\ |
| 389 | '''Cenile:''' It was a plot to steal money from me! [[Theatre/TheMiser My money! My dearest money!]] They wanted to bankrupt me! They wanted to backstab the heart of a man on his knees! |
| 390 | * SuperstitiousSailors: The pirate crew. As a parody of the many superstitions and legends born in this period, the pirates are easily panicked at the mere thought of stuff like the Flying Dutchman, demons on an island, or a rabbit on board (although having rodents aboard a wooden ship that could gnaw at the oh-so-precious planks and ropes was a very bad idea indeed). Finally, they even panic when confronted with existential dread. |
| 391 | * {{Swashbuckler}}: The serie's main genre, following two adventurous swordsmen who rescue women, fight bad guys, and generally have exciting adventures. The title refers to the genre's name in French ("swashbuckling" translates as "De cape et d'épée"[[note]]Of cape and sword[[/note]] in French). |
| 392 | * SwordFight: Swordfights are everywhere since the series is set in the 17th Century's cavalier years. Armand, Don Lope, Rais Kader, most of the main antagonists and some of the minor characters are accomplished swordsmen and love duelling, leading to many conflicts being resolved through sword fights. The one instance swords were disdained for firearms, those wielding swords had a very bad time. |
| 393 | * TakenForGranite: [[spoiler:Cenile's fate]], refusing to take cover in a gold forest results in him being coated in it during a storm. |
| 394 | * TakingTheBullet: When Mendoza decides to shoot Eusèbe as an act of spite, the rabbit is saved by his little rock companion who jumps in the way of the bullet. The rock tragically dies, protecting its first friend but Eusèbe is safe and sound. |
| 395 | * TechnoBabble: Bombastus' theories. |
| 396 | * TimmyInAWell: With a ''[[ExaggeratedTrope rock]]''. |
| 397 | * TitleDrop: Kind of, capes and fangs are mentioned in the same sentence. |
| 398 | * TooDumbToLive: Andreo is not able to see that the "honest merchants" he tries to hire on a treasure hunt are pirates. |
| 399 | * TreasureMap: Prince Jean and his court, exiled on Earth, hides in the Tangerine Isles and has launched many treasure maps in all Terrian languages insisting that any wannabe-looter brings a Moonstone so he can one day return to the Moon. |
| 400 | * TribalCarry: When captured by the savage tribe. |
| 401 | --> '''Armand:''' Degrading! This is degrading! |
| 402 | * TrueCompanions: The main cast gradually becomes this [[FireForgedFriends through the story]]. |
| 403 | * {{Understatement}}: The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litotes Litotiens']] hat. The [[BigFancyHouse enormous palace]] of the no less gigantic [[TheBigGuy Fort-à-Bras]] on the other side of a mountain is described as "the scrawny guy's hut behind the hill". |
| 404 | ** When everyone else is delivering {{Pre Ass Kicking One Liner}}s / {{Badass Boast}}s, he claims he's going to "[[CurseOfTheAncients scold these rascals]]" [[SlasherSmile with a great big smile]] and an even bigger haldberd. |
| 405 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Eusebe repeatedly does this, often without realizing it later, such as bringing a lit candle in a powder room, or a discussing the fearsome rats in a ship's hold while next to Don Lope (who has a crippling fear of rats) and surrounded by mist that turns into a person's worst fears, resulting in a bus-sized rat made of normal rats. |
| 406 | %%* TheVamp: Mademoiselle |
| 407 | * VictoryByFirstBlood: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]]. While on the Moon, Armand is challenged to a local form of dueling called rixme, a portmanteau of rixe (brawl) and rime (rhyme) where the loser is the first to lose his flow. It's essentially an Enlightenment-era rap battle. |
| 408 | -->'''Armand:''' Until first blood?\ |
| 409 | '''Adynaton:''' Until the last word. |
| 410 | * ViewersAreGeniuses: You need a good knowledge of French literature and theater to spot all the references. |
| 411 | ** And movies and music and comics and English literature and... |
| 412 | ** Even before that, you need a very good vocabulary. The poetry battle and the encounter with the philosophers were especially bad. |
| 413 | * VillainExitStageLeft: At the end of Album 9. |
| 414 | * VillainousCrush: Mendoza is quite taken with Selené. He muses to himself that he will make her "the richest battered wife in Europe". |
| 415 | * VillainSong: The pirates and the Prince get one. |
| 416 | * VisualPun: A court clerk is seen writing with a cat on his desk. In French, "greffier" refers to the job but it is also a cat in argot. |
| 417 | * VitriolicBestBuds: Don Lope and the Rais Kader grow into this. |
| 418 | * VolleyingInsults: The aforementioned rap battle. |
| 419 | * WalkThePlank: |
| 420 | ** [[spoiler:Mendoza]] inflicts this to [[spoiler:Eusebe]]. |
| 421 | ** The pirates do this to Don Lope as well. When Armand sees blood and jumps off... it turns out Lope had bitten one shark and was getting ready to stab another. |
| 422 | * WarriorPoet: Armand and the Maître d'Armes are good (in the Maître d'Armes' case, excellent) swordsmen who also appreciate poetry and arts, and can compose verses as they fight. |
| 423 | * WhamEpisode: [[TearJerker The end]] of [[DarkestHour Volume 8]]. [[spoiler:Mendoza successfully conquered the Moon, the Maitre d'Armes was overrun after a LastStand with Eusèbe at his side, and Don Lope has been shot unconscious, possibly dead. And all the Moon Cadets have been killed during the battle]]. |
| 424 | * WhamLine: Séléné saying "[[spoiler: I love you... Maître d'Armes!]]". |
| 425 | * WhatsUpKingDude: The Selenites' King lives in a modest cottage that is thoroughly dwarfed by the Academy of Arts and Sciences and anybody who wishes to see him can enter. Prince Jean is a madman by Selenites standards since his idea of royalty is closest to that of Earth (i.e. living in a large palace protected by guards). |
| 426 | * WideEyedIdealist: Cigognac aspires to [[ThePiratesWhoDonTDoAnything the pirates who don't do anything]] lifestyle, so the repeated betrayings of that ideal come close to breaking him. |
| 427 | * WorldOfHam: Given how often they seem to be actual theatrical performers... |
| 428 | * WorthlessYellowRocks: On the moon, gold and gemstones grow on trees. The Selenite chamberlain gets confused when he hears Earthlings attribute any value to them. |
| 429 | * WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Don Lope is afraid of rats. |
| 430 | ** The pirates are afraid of rabbits, ghost ships, and even ''[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking metaphysics]]''. |
| 431 | * WretchedHive: Paris, which it pretty much TruthInTelevision when hygiene was limited to emptying the chamberpot out the window. |
| 432 | * YouFightLikeACow: Armand's first battle against Mendoza and against the Maitre d'Armes. In the other battles, it's mostly him monologuing (in rhyme no less). |
| 433 | * YouKilledMyFather: Fagotin's reason for turning to murder-for-hire is to pay scientists enough to build him a flying machine with which to pursue the man who killed his father by accident. Fagotin's father was a performing chimpanzee who waved a wooden sword around, his murderer thought it was a provocation and killed him. |
| 434 | * YouShallNotPass: "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fontenoy Messieurs les mimes, tirez les premiers!]]" "These dogs will know the fury of a janissary!" "''[[BadassCreed No pasaran!]]''" |
| 435 | * YoungerThanTheyLook: Plaisant, despite looking like he's in his forties, is actually the same age as Andreo and Selene. |
| 436 | * YourMimeMakesItReal: The mime guards (later revealed to be members of a tribe of mute [[spoiler:Selenites]] communicating only through gestures) call for help by miming the action of shouting, which successfully attracts the attention of other mimes who were a room away and definitely not in line of sight. |
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