Line #40 ComicBook/TheMetabarons


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/56300.jpg]]
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3	''The Metabarons'', also known as ''The Saga of the Metabarons'' (French: ''La Caste des Méta-barons'') is a [[{{Tragedy}} tragic]] SpaceOpera comic book series written by Creator/AlejandroJodorowsky and illustrated by Creator/JuanGimenez. It expands on a supporting character who appeared in ''ComicBook/TheIncal'' to flesh out the backstory of his entire family. Like the rest of the [[ComicBook/MetabaronsUniverse Jodoverse]], ''The Metabarons'' draws heavily on ideas Jodorowsky developed for his failed ''[[Film/JodorowskysDune Dune]]'' film project.
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5	The series follows the five Metabarons of the Castaka family -- perfect warriors sworn to victory at all costs. Each Metabaron (after the first) is maimed, usually by their father, has the maimed part replaced or technologically altered, and eventually kills their father in single combat.
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7	!!''The Saga of the Metabarons'' provides examples of the following tropes:
8	* AbsoluteXenophobe: In "Oda", the kangaroo-like Pthagureans hire Anghar to wipe out all other sentient life in the galaxy so that they can take over.
9	* AntiHero: All the Metabarons. Steelhead in particular tends more towards VillainProtagonist in his darker moments.
10	* {{Antimatter}}: Among the Metabarons's abilities, they all gain incredible insight in inventing new weapons that are beyond the standard technology of the setting. Among these weapons are the tiny Ock-ock bombs. These antimatter-based explosives are so small that three of them can fit in the palm of Aghora's hand. But the matter-antimatter explosion from these three are powerful enough to [[EarthShatteringKaboom blow up a planet]].
11	* AnotherDimension: In the world of the Metabarons, the universe is finite in space and borders other universes. Sometimes inhabitants from these other universes come to visit ours.
12	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: The robot Lothar asks this of fellow robot Tonto, "If I'm a robot, why do I feel so much anger!!" [[spoiler:Tonto is terrified to answer, it's because Lothar isn't a robot. He's a mindwiped Steelhead.]]
13	* AwesomeButImpractical: Techno-Admiral Wilhelm has massive bionic arms that end in four-pronged power claws. They are devastating in combat, but they're so heavy that it takes a massive injection of anti-gravity fuel Epiphyte just so that he can move his arms.
14	* BadassCreed: The Castakas practice Bushitaka, a warrior code that only allows victory or death in any conflict.
15	* BadassFamily: The Castakas generally.
16	* BadassTransplant: The Castakas take to grafting cyborg parts into their bodies which grants them greater combat skill. The Metabaron Steelhead stands above them all by getting his ''head'' shot off, and having a metallic head transplanted on him.
17	* BigCreepyCrawlies: When Steelhead assaults the headquarters of the Technopope, a massive "technoscarab" is activated to stop him.
18	* BrotherSisterIncest:
19	** Sisters Nan Nan and Ohouya have an incestuous relationship after Othon von Salza loses his genitals in combat. Othon "allowed them the right to satisfy each other's desires as long as they never spoke another word..."
20	** [[spoiler:Technically No-Name was a product of Aghora and her brother, the latter's DNA from Aghora's brain being used to impregnate herself.]]
21	** The info source book for the Metabarons tabletop rpg mentions that the Emperor and Empress are siblings descended from the ancient astrologer Nostradamus.
22	* ByronicHero: All the Metabarons are these.
23	* CameBackWrong: [[spoiler:In his efforts to atone for his crimes as Steelhead, Melmoth clones the dead Don Nicanor Rosamel de Rokha, but fails to completely restore the Don's memories, and thus Nicanor does not realize that Vicenta is his daughter and tries to rape her in a frenzy of lust.]]
24	* CaptainErsatz: Concepts that Jodorowsky recycled from his aborted ''[[Film/JodorowskysDune Dune]]'' adaptation include the following:
25	** The Shabda-Oud hooker-nuns are based on the Bene Gesserit (and the Honored Matres from the later books), while their name borrows from "Shai-Hulud", the Fremen name for the {{Sandworm}}s.
26	** The Techno-Pontificate is the Spacing Guild.
27	** Mentreks are Mentats.
28	** The Maganats are the Landsraad.
29	** The Ekonomat is CHOAM.
30	** The Endoguard are the Sardaukar.
31	** Epiphyte is a highly sought-after type of {{Unobtainium}} like the spice melange.
32	** The Metabarons' rite of passage, where their fathers maim parts of their bodies while they must show no pain under penalty of death, is reminiscent of the Bene Gesserit test of humanity.
33	** The requirement for the Emperoress to be a physical "sacred androgyne" may be derived from the Kwisatz Haderach's ability to draw from both the male and female aspects of his mind.
34	* CompensatingForSomething: Othon himself cheerfully acknowledges that his personal SpaceFighter, the long, cylindrical Metacraft, was designed as a replacement for his lost penis and it even links with his nervous system via a cable plugged into his cybernetic pelvis.
35	* ConjoinedTwins: Janus-Jana, the Sacred Androgyne and Emperoress of the Galaxy.
36	* CoolStarship: Metabunker, the impregnable fortress which serves as mobile headquarters for the Metabarons. Few things can damage it, and just mere mention of it scares Metabarons' enemies ''shitless.''
37	* {{Cyborg}}: All of the Metabarons are cybernetically enhanced after being ritually maimed. Many other characters appear to have other cybernetic enhancements, but the Metabarons seem to have the most powerful augmentations. Steelhead has been augmented to the point of having only a few organs being biological (and no his brain isn't one of them).
38	* CuteMonsterGirl: More sexy than cute, but Queen Diophante is an attractive giant bug woman with NonMammalianMammaries.
39	* DiabolusExNihilo: [[spoiler:The battle of the story is between Nameless and Steelhead, after that resolution out of nowhere comes a giant louse that's going to devour our universe. This is a threat that only the Metabarons can handle.]]
40	* EvilIsPetty: The Techno-Techno cult/Technoclergy. They blew up the Castaka family's homeworld out of pure spite, because the leaders refused their offer of installing a protonic defense system on the planet (which would also conveniently provide the Techno-Techno cult with political influence over the planet's ruling government).
41	* FantasyCounterpartCulture: House Castaka's original homeworld Ahour bears a strong resemblance to [[JidaiGeki Feudal Japan]]. People follow a warrior code known as "Bushitaka", the warring noble houses used red and white banners like those of the Taira and Genji clans during the Genpei War and their isolationism and use of primitive weapons is based on the policies of the Tokugawa shogunate.
42	* FramingDevice: The saga of the Metabarons is told by a robot named Tonto to another named Lothar. The parts of the book featuring the two interacting is where most of the humor comes from.
43	* FriendlyFire: [[spoiler:Othon goes out into a misty night to fight off some pirates, and accidentally kills his son, Bari]].
44	* FromNobodyToNightmare: Queen Diophante's species evolved from Earth's common head lice, and they are a threat to the whole universe.
45	* FutureSlang: The prefixes paleo- and bio- are frequently attached to words without any real rhyme or reason, resulting in absurd terms like "Paleo-Christ!", "bio-crap," "paleo-wedding," and even "bio-infant". Tonto and Lothar attach robo- to the beginning of many words when they're referring to each other.
46	* GenerationalSaga
47	* GrandTheftMe: [[spoiler:Honorata transfers her consciousness into the body of Oda, her son Aghnar's wife. Aghnar isn't aware of this until after Oda-Honorata already bears him a son. Things get worse from there.]]
48	* GuardianOfTheMultiverse: It's the phoenix that quietly watches over our universe, when something awful comes over to invade it, the phoenix sends out its champion, the Metabaron to save the day.
49	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: After losing to Nameless, Steelhead happily sacrifices himself to kill the cosmic louse that is threatening to eat the universe.]]
50	* IncurableCoughOfDeath: [[spoiler:Othon von Salza takes terminal damage to his lungs when he destroys the Shabda-Oud cetacyborg. He coughs up blood for the rest of the issue until he dies.]]
51	* LastOfHisKind: The Metabaron who appears in ''ComicBook/TheIncal'' is this, voluntarily. [[spoiler: At least until a child was conceived between him and a Techno-Cardinal, Orne-8, in the 3rd issue of Meta-Baron 2015 volume.]]
52	* MightyWhitey: In a sequence borrowing heavily from Paul Atreides among the Fremen, Aghnar befriends an ape-like alien while hiding from the Shabda-Oud on Perdita and eventually becomes head of their tribe by defeating their cruel patriarch. In a rather absurdly blunt acknowledgment of the [[EvilColonialist cruel, exploitative worldview]] behind this trope Aghnar promptly feeds the entire tribe to a cetacyborg to distract it long enough for him to ambush the crew (though most of them do avoid getting digested and later help Aghnar defeat the Shabda-Oud).
53	* MoodWhiplash: The robots in the framing device often make unintentionally humorous comments on the tragic or dramatic events in the actual story of the Metabarons. They also use ludicrous robo-slang, giving us gems like "bio-crap", "robo-idiot", and "meca-gulp".
54	* {{Motifs}}: Physical gender combinations or changes, including androgyny, hermaphroditism and castration. Othon is castrated by a laser blast. The galaxy is ruled by conjoined male and female twins. Honorata is supposed to give birth to a hermaphrodite to usurp the Empire. Aghora is a male brain in a female body.
55	* NakedFirstImpression: Honorata first appears before Othon wearing nothing but a flimsy cloak and a veil that hangs in such a way that her face and crotch are obscured while everything else is exposed.
56	* NoNameGiven: The last Metabaron actually doesn't have a name at all.
57	* NotQuiteDead: Aghora defeated Steelhead by entombing him in ice and dumping him into space. [[spoiler: This isn't even close to being enough to kill him. As such Steelhead has the right to still proclaim himself as a Metabaron, so No-Name has to fight him for the title.]]
58	* PeopleOfHairColor: All of the Metabarons either have silver hair or no hair.
59	* PhysicalGod: What the Metabarons actually are. They are endowed with powers of the Guardian of this universe.
60	* PowerFist: In the first Metabaron volume "The Techno-Admiral and the Anti-Baron", Techno-Admiral Wilhelm has his arms replaced with power claws so large that they reach the ground.
61	%%* ProudWarriorRace: The Metabarons.
62	* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Pops up frequently throughout the series, including things like a "hospital-planet" and of course the standard PlanetVille and {{Single Biome Planet}}s. Sometimes played for self-aware humor, especially during the robot storytelling FramingDevice.
63	* SharingABody: Steelhead shares his body with Krleza the poet. Implanting Krleza's head creates a composite personality that they name Melmoth. Melmoth refers to himself as "I/we," and combines Steelhead's warrior ethos and skills with Krleza's poetic genius and ability to love. Of course, since Steelhead is a Metabaron, this does not end well at all.
64	* ShoutOut: In addition to the various ''[[Film/JodorowskysDune Dune]]'' references, Steelhead's origin is heavily inspired by [[UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}} the story of how Ganesha got his elephant head]].
65	* ShowyInvincibleHero: Starting with Aghnar, the Metabarons become godlike in their powers. They are able to win against impossible odds, like when Aghora slaughters an entire ''universe'' in a mirror dimension. The dramatic tension of the series comes largely from the horrible tragedy that continuously befalls the Metabaron clan.
66	* SingleLineOfDescent: Very much the case with the Castakas. A couple of Metabarons actually end up having more than one child, but no collateral family lines are ever formed. [[spoiler:Othon's first son, Bari, is accidentally killed by him when still a teenager, and Steelhead's son (Aghora's twin) dies at birth.]]
67	* SpaceWhale: The Shabda-Oud cetacyborgs. They're no peaceful beasts, though, but WeaponsOfMassDestruction able to raze a planet singlehandedly.
68	* TomatoInTheMirror: Lothar really is [[spoiler:Steelhead]].
69	* TrainingFromHell: Honorata does this to Aghnar, essentially attacking him as if he were a full adult when he's only a toddler in order to strengthen him.
70	* TrulySingleParent: [[spoiler:Aghora, to the last Metabaron.]]
71	* TouchedByVorlons: When Othon declares it better to leave him to die than reveal the secret of Epiphyte, his father-in-law officially declares him worthy of being a Castaka and mystically transfers the phoenix marking from his chest to Othon's. This is the beginning of the empowerment that makes the Metabarons so mighty.
72	* {{Unobtainium}}: Epiphyte, an anti-gravity oil and the original source of the Castaka family wealth.
73	* WarriorPoet: Melnoth, the combination of the fearsome warrior Steelhead and the poet Zaran Krelza.
74	* WomanScorned: Honorata is nearly killed by Nan Nan and Ohouya, who are jealous that Honorata managed to give Othon a son.
75	* TheWorfEffect: The Endoguard exist to get slaughtered en masse by the current Metabaron to show off how powerful he is.
76	* WorldOfBuxom: The planet of Ulkmar-Eight-Moon is a literal example. The females of the local proto-anthropoid species all have huge breasts.
77	* WorldsBestWarrior: From the moment the Emperor and Empress knighted Othon, each Metabaron is the greatest warrior in the universe.
78	* YouCantFightFate: The long-suffering robot Tonto, servant of the Metabarons, specifically says that the Metabarons are fated to never be happy.
79	* YouKillItYouBoughtIt:
80	** Each Metabaron must kill his father in ritual combat to succeed him as the next Metabaron.
81	** Also, Aghnar kills the patriarch of the space monkeys to become their leader and raise an army against the Shabda-Oud.
82	* YourHeadAsplode: Happens to Steelhead ''twice'', once as an infant and once [[spoiler:when he does it to ''himself'' out of Zaran Krelza’s self-loathing and desire not to see the slaughter Steelhead will unleash on the invading Technocrusade]].
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Context ComicBook / TheMetabarons