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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lincal_9053.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:'''Top:''' Difool, Animah; '''Middle:''' Deepo, Metabaron, Tanatah; '''Bottom:''' Kill]]
3
4''The Incal'' (''L'Incal'') is a sci-fi [[ComicBook comic series]] by writer Creator/AlejandroJodorowsky and artist Creator/{{Moebius}} and is the center-piece of the former's ComicBook/MetabaronsUniverse. The project was born out of, and recycled many concepts from, the two's failed attempt to make a [[Film/JodorowskysDune film adaption]] of ''Literature/{{Dune}}''. Despite Jodorowsky having every major event of the comic planned out beforehand, and the series only being 6 volumes long, it took 8 years to complete.
5
6John Difool is a low-ranking private investigator in the slums of the dystopian planet Terra 21. After escaping the aftermath of a butchered job, he encounters a Berg, a member of an once imperial alien race that has now passed into myth. The Berg reveals that it had been looking for him and entrusts him with a mystical object, the Light Incal. This naturally makes Difool the target of multiple interplanetary factions that seek to use the artifact's powers for their own goals, not the least of which include the Incal itself.
7
8A 6-part prequel '''ComicBook/BeforeTheIncal''' (''Avant l'Incal''), detailing episodes from Difool's life prior to the events of The Incal, was published between 1988 and 1995. It was illustrated by Zoran Janjetov in a style very similar to Moebius'. (Although the recoloring of the first, censored English release gave it a more distinct look). A sequel to both the original Incal and Before, entitled '''After the Incal''' (''Après l'Incal''), began in 2000 with Moebius back as artist, but the series only lasted one volume before it was discontinued. The project was rebooted with Mexican artist José Ladrönn (ComicBook/{{Elephantmen}}) in 2008 as '''Final Incal''' and finished with 3 volumes in 2014.
9
10In November of 2021 it was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DkxB75CNvA announced]] that a live-action film of ''The Incal'' was in the works, to be directed by Creator/TaikaWaititi.
11
12''For other spin-offs and related media see: the ComicBook/MetabaronsUniverse.''
13
14----
15[[folder:The Incal]]
16!!The Incal provides examples of:
17* TwoDSpace: The Berg ships and the Incal surround Technogea in a ring with none above or below it.
18* AnimatedAdaptation: Canadian animator, Pascal Blais wanted to direct a movie back in the '80s but it never got past the [[https://youtu.be/c4Vkyzrs1Fk trailer]].
19* AntiHero: Difool is both a ClassicalAntihero and KnightInSourArmour. Kill Wolfhead walks the line between PragmaticHero and UnscrupulousHero depending on his mood. Both he and Tanatah started out as [[NominalHero Nominal Heroes]] before CharacterDevelopment and HeelRealization hit in. The Metabaron is clearly one too, but is a bit harder to pin-point.
20* AntiMatter: The Shadow Eggs are made from it, making them indestructible.
21* AristocratsAreEvil: Averted with the Emperoress, more-or-less played straight with pretty much everyone else.
22* AssholeVictim:[[spoiler: Iman Horlog and Stirlog. They're totally deserved it for hurting Greyfield's daughter.]]
23* AsteroidsMonster: The Shadow Eggs split into a thousand smaller eggs when destroyed.
24* AuthorTract: The series is largely a disquisition of Jodorowsky's "Psychomagic" belief system.
25* BeneathSuspicion: One of Difool's greatest assets, and arguably why his teammates keep him around against his will, is that he's the perfect diversion due to how unassuming and slight he is as a character.
26%%* BigBad: The Great Darkness.
27* BirdPeople: The Bergs. It's later revealed that they're all duplicates of their father. The next wave of Berg's look like [[spoiler:Difool]].
28* BodyBackupDrive: The president can have his spirit moved into younger cloned bodies if he's dying or alien bodies idlf the mood takes him.
29* BookEnds: Starts [[spoiler:and ends]] with John falling from Suicide Alley.
30* ButtMonkey: John Difool, subject to injuries both comical and horrific.
31* ChummyCommies: The Troglosocialik Bloc is one the the few major factions of TheEmpire to be usually presented in any sort of positive light in the Metabarons Universe, often fighting the others politically or militarily for the rights of the common people; here, they're the only ones to stay loyal to [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure the legitimate Emperoress]] [[spoiler: until a virus corrupts them (the Emperoress, that is) into a monstrous servant of [[BigBad the Darkness]]]].
32* ClippedWingAngel: The President's final Necrobot form. Although it still has its uses.
33* CrapsackWorld: Difool's homeplanet Terra 2014 (especially in ''Before'') and Technogea. The rest of the universe too, to some degree.
34* DarkIsNotEvil: The Black Incal. While it's used to construct the Shadow Eggs and was originally in the possession of the brutal Tanatah, it's a necessary component to form the complete Incal with its Light twin.
35* DeusExMachina: In-universe. The Incal has a tendency to bail the heroes out when their task proves insurmountable, though it's quite iffy on when it lends its help.
36* DittoAliens: The Bergs all look like their father. Their Protoqueen gave birth to billions of duplicates of their father, bird person called Trilys. She later gives birth to billions of [[spoiler:John Difool copies.]]
37* DrivenToSuicide: Difool lives and grew up near a suicide spot so popular it has just been named Suicide Alley.
38* TheEmpire: The human empire rules our galaxy and is at war with the extragalactic alien Berg Empire.
39* EternalRecurrence: The comic ends with [[spoiler:John in a new universe falling from Suicide Alley like he did in the beginning. It was implied he lived through several versions of his life before.]]
40* EvilMakesYouUgly: Difool's natural handsomeness faded over the years along with his innocence and nobility, leaving the reader with the pointed, scowling private detective they are introduced to in the first book.
41* ExtinctInTheFuture: Deepo impresses Rsimo by using his power to create a rose which was extinct for generations.
42* TheFool: John emphasises the less rosy aspect of this archetype. In that, he manages to progress through the story and triumph in spite of how he essentially stays the same all throughout and barely has (or wants) agency.
43* FutureFoodIsArtificial: John's drink of choice is synthetic whiskey.
44* HeelFaceTurn: Outside of Deepo, most of the allies Difool picks up are people who have exploited or tried to have him killed in the past.
45* HolographicDisguise:
46** The aristo John takes to the rough area turns out to be an old woman using one to look young. It wears off after a while hence she wanted John to get her home by a certain time.
47** John later uses one to mimic Luz's father to get sneak into a hospital with her.
48* HoneyTrap: How Animah keeps compelling Difool to stay and help the Incal. To his chagrin, he's always aware that he's being played, but is too infatuated with her to refuse.
49* ImDyingPleaseTakeMyMacGuffin: John gets the light Incal off a dying Berg.
50* JerkWithAHeartofGold: John Difool,Luz.
51* MeaningfulName: John Difool. Yes, his name alludes to the fact that he's kind of a dumbass, but in [[TarotMotifs the Tarot]], [[UsefulNotes/TarotCards the Fool]] is the first of the Major Arcana, and symbolizes chaos, infinite possibility and the beginning of a journey, which are all motifs that apply to John.
52* MindScrew: Gradually becomes this toward the end of the original series, and pops up from time to time in the prequel and sequels.
53* {{Mutants}}: Difool gets chased by a race of large ones living in his planet's lower levels.
54* NoNavelNovelBirth: The Protoqueen gave birth to 78 billion duplicates of [[spoiler:Difool]]. The only way the Bergs can tell the difference between the original and all the "Jondiffs" is the fact that he has a bellybutton.
55* NonHumanSidekick: Deepo, Difool's talking "concrete seagull".
56* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: John gets rescued by some Cybo-cops just before he hits the acid lake.
57* RedLightDistrict: John frequents one on his home planet called the Red Ring.
58* ReligionOfEvil: The Techno-Technos (short for the Techno-Technocracy, formally the Church of Industrial Saints) after they start worshiping the Darkness. They are a more neutral CorruptChurch otherwise.
59* RememberTheNewGuy: A number of important cast members in ''Final Incal'' appear to come out of nowhere despite being familiar to Difool, as they were introduced in ''Before the Incal''.
60* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Attempted by John multiple times.
61* ShapeshiftingSeducer: The Berg Protoqueen reads John's mind and shapeshifts into Animah.
62* SmallUniverseAfterAll: The setting comprises two galaxies, the Human Galaxy and the Berg Galaxy. Each ruled by their titular race/empire.
63* SpiritualPredecessor: Like [[Franchise/{{Dune}} its inspiration]], a lot of this series' ideas ended up being reused in other works, most notably ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' and ''Film/TheFifthElement''.
64* SubspaceOrHyperspace: Some Berg ships are mentioned leaving hyperspace early on but afterwards subspace is mentioned as the method of FasterThanLightTravel.
65* SufficientlyAdvancedTechnology: Some of the tech is really out there in terms of what it can achieve, like the [[AlienGeometries "interior exterior"]], a chamber that, when you enter it, you end up on the ''outside'' of a big sphere surrounded by a seemingly endless black void.
66* SuicideAsComedy: InUniverse people find it hilarious to watch people dive off Suicide Alley.
67* TarotMotifs:
68** [[WordOfGod According to Jodorowsky]] Difool (and Deepo) is the Fool trump, Solune is a combination of the Sun and the Moon trumps, the Emperoress is a combination of the Emperor and Empress trumps. [[MeaningfulName The names said it all really.]] The Techno-Pope is also meant to correspond with the Hierophant trump and the Technos' tower with the Tower trump. Strangely the ThemedTarotDeck based on the original series was a French-style one and thus didn't utilize the symbolism Jodorowsky based the characters on. There was however an Italian-style one based on Final Incal, but it was only available as a promotional item at Comic-con 2014.
69** He also described thinking of the series as corresponding to a triptych-layout as used in tarot divination.
70--->"You first look at the central picture (the present / The Incal). Then you look at the picture to the left (the past / Before the Incal). Then to the right (the future / After the Incal)."
71* UpliftedAnimal: Deepo, after being [[{{touched by|Vorlons}} the Incal]], becomes intelligent, talkative and ''very'' opinionated.
72* UsedFuture: On of the earlier examples of this. Used to contrast the gritty conditions of the lower classes and the ancient coldness of the Technos with the aristocratic upper classes and the [[CrystalSpiresAndTogas vibrant new age aesthetics]] of everything related to the Incal itself. Especially noticeable in ''Final Incal'' due to Ladrönn's more realistic style.
73* WolfMan: Kill Wolfhead, who resembles a dog despite his name in the English translation, and a few others. The sequel and prequel reveal that they are actually [[LegoGenetics genetically modified humans]].
74[[/folder]]
75
76[[folder:After The Incal]]
77!!After The Incal provides examples of:
78
79* AllJustADream: Starts with John falling to his death before waking up in bed.
80* AmnesiaMissedASpot: The LaserGuidedAmnesia from the prequel is quickly undone with John now remembering Luz and Kolbo-5.
81* BigCreepyCrawlies: John nearly gets eaten by a giant insect in the battle between bios and technos.
82* CanonDiscontinuity: ''The Final Incal'' retells a new version of this story.
83* CutShort: Only lasts one issue, ending with John going into space to look for Luz.
84* ImmediateSequel: Starts with John falling from Suicide Alley muttering that he must remember just like the ending of the original series.
85* ImMelting: The Biophage 13X virus makes people melt.
86* IWantMyMommy: John says "Mommy save me!" when a techno soldier grabs him.
87* LastOfHisKind: One of the people in line to be roboticised says they hope their Arcturan cat gets converted as it's the last in the galaxy.
88* UnwillingRoboticisation: The Benthacodon wants to turn the population of the universe into robot spiders.
89* VillainousHarlequin: Diavaloo is dressed and painted to be more like a clown but the story isn't long enough for him to be any more than KentBrockmanNews.
90[[/folder]]
91
92[[folder:The Final Incal]]
93!!The Final Incal provides examples of:
94
95* JustForFun/FortyTwo: The number appears twice on the side of a building in the beginning.
96* AngelicAbomination: The white archangels are white lights with several tentacles.
97* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove:[[spoiler: Luz tearfully confesses her feelings for Difool after he performs a HeroicSacrifice near the climax. It helps in bringing him BackFromTheDead.]]
98* AngelicTransformation: Seraphim, a version of John who became an angel after reincarnating millions of times.
99* AllianceOfAlternates: John teams up with three future or AlternateUniverse versions of himself:
100** A handsome version of himself who has just completed a variation of the original series.
101** An enlightened Zen master.
102** A version of him who has become an angel after living millions of lives.
103* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler: Happens to Difool and Luz at the end, as they're taken by the Light and Black Incal to "help spread love throughout the universe."]]
104* AsteroidThicket: The space pirate base, Tortuga Island is situated in one.
105* TheCorruption: Kaimann's mutation which originally gave him a prehensile lizard tail has now turned him into an anthropomorphic crocodile and will Rob him of his sentience on a few months.
106* DefiledForever: Angel John declares himself a FallenAngel with no powers after being raped.
107* DeflectorShields: Kaimann activates multiple "hyper-shields" around Tortuga Island to defend from the Gounas but they eventually get through. The Gounas' shields were impenetrable.
108* DudeLooksLikeALady: The angel John gets mistaken for a woman on Tortuga Island. When they realize their mistake they decide to close their eyes and pretend he's female.
109* EnlightenmentSuperpowers: Sami Siri Johnanda Difool can hypnotize Deepo to apparently be invincible.
110* ExtremeOmniGoat: A goat on Tortuga Island tries to eat Sami Siri's clothes.
111* EyeBeams: Deepo asks the Incal for help saving Luz from Gorgo and ends up shooting lasers out of his eyes at him.
112%%* {{Faceship}}:
113* FallenAngel: The seraphim John declares himself one after being raped.
114* FeelNoPain: Sami Siri hypnotizes Deepo not to feel lain so he can be swung as a weapon.
115* FungusHumongous: The Johns find Tortuga Island overgrown with giant mushrooms.
116* FusionDance: The Incal let's the ugly John absorb the other incarnations, making him smarter, faster and stronger.
117* FutureBadass: Two of the alternate Johns due to reincarnating countlessly more times;
118** Sami Siri has become a Zen master with EnlightenmentSuperpowers.
119** The angel is vastly more powerful again due to living millions of lives.
120* GenesisEffect: All organic life gets restored to Terra 2014 by the Tree Of Life at the end.
121* GrievousHarmWithABody: Sami Siri hypnotizes Deepo to make him as hard as a rock so the main John can swing him at pirates.
122%%* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:John
123* ImAHumanitarian: Most of the SpacePirates are cannibals.
124* ImMelting: The Biophage 13-X virus melts people.
125* ImmediateSequel: Again starts with John falling to his death and saying he must remember like the end of the original series.
126* INeedAFreakingDrink: When riding the giant rats, John says he wants a hit bath and a tall glass of whiskey.
127* LegoGenetics: The Techno-surgeons can reverse Kaimann's mutation.
128%%* TheMultiverse:
129* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: Some Cybo-cops catch John just before he hits the acid lake like in the original comic.
130* PercussivePrevention: Luz knocks Kaimann out and goes to negotiate with the Gounas in his place.
131* PerformanceAnxiety: When the other Johns ask the angel why he can't use his powers to fight off his rapists, he says he's paralyzed with fear.
132* ThePowerOfLove: John and Luz's restores the tree of life.
133* RodentsOfUnusualSize: John and Luz ride one of the giant psychorats in Center Earth.
134* StopOrIShootMyself: Luz hold a knife to her own throat when negotiating with the Gounas saying she'll slit it if they try to rape her.
135* VirginPower: The angel John complains that he's lost his powers after being gang-raped.
136* WorldHealingWave: At the end, the Tree Of Life restores all organic life to Terra 2014 and converts the robots back into humans.
137%%* WorldTree

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