| 1 | [[quoteright:264:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Luann1_2326.gif]] |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Created in 1985 by Greg Evans, ''[[http://comics.com/luann/ Luann]]'' is a comic strip about the life of Luann [=DeGroot=], a typical high school student, with her trials and tribulations. She has [[FamilyMan typical]] [[{{Housewife}} parents]], a lazy, annoying older brother named Brad, and her best friends nerdy Bernice and [[FlawlessToken Delta]]. Her main rival is [[AlphaBitch Tiffany the cheerleader]], and the men in her life are nerdy Gunther and handsome Aaron Hill (and his {{Suspiciously Similar Substitute}}s). |
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| 5 | Sometimes funny, and occasionally poignant, it's known for capitalizing on current trends, and dropping {{Anvilicious}} subplots about various subjects (e.g. marijuana use) in an attempt to be modern and legitimate. Most of the characters seem to exist as two-dimensional archetypes, with rare glimpses into more aspects of their personalities, so you will find a ''lot'' of tropes in here played totally straight (though Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad). It also gained a new focus, as lazy brother Brad shifted into becoming a co-main character of sorts, gaining nearly as much page time as his sister thanks to a subplot where he joins a fire department and falls for the beautiful Toni Daytona. Since the strip's early days, Luann's idealized crush Aaron has left the strip entirely, while Bernice, Gunther and Tiffany were later promoted to viewpoint characters as well. |
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| 7 | Has a rudimentary [[{{Characters/Luann}} character page]]. |
| 8 | ---- |
| 9 | !!Examples of Tropes: |
| 10 | * AbortedArc: |
| 11 | ** The storyline where Aaron was hiding his relationship with Diane was ''supposed'' to be Aaron [[StraightGay and another boy]]. Evans bailed out, fearing too great a backlash and not having the subscriber base [[ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse Lynn Johnston]] had to pull the same thing off without a significant loss in readership. |
| 12 | ** After Aaron was [[PutOnABus put on a plane to Hawaii]], the strip signaled his reunion with Luann in a storyline where she wins a contest flight to Hawaii. What happens when she reunites with Aaron there? She sees him once with another girl, doesn't even bother to confirm she's his girlfriend, and then doesn't speak to him again after that. Aaron's return was teased ''again'' with a strip where he sends Luann a Website/{{Myspace}} friend request and a message suggesting he's single now, but nothing came of it after that. |
| 13 | ** The entire situation with Ben York, Bernice's long-lost brother. Luann had a crush on him and Bernice was jealous of the attention (because her own feelings towards him were rather complicated). At one point Luann planned to make a special Valentine's Day dinner for him, but he called her saying he couldn't come because he was going out of town. And then his entire character just disappeared completely, not returning until a 2020 story arc saw him move in with his birth parents while Bernice moved into Brad's old room in the [=DeGroot=] house. |
| 14 | ** There was a storyarc where Brad and TJ make some alterations to their home without consulting Frank (the owner). Frank finds out and tells them off, warning them that they are to seek his permission before doing any alterations, so Frank can ensure they are "done right." A year later Brad and TJ decide to add a whole new room to the house, but Frank's admonition is never mentioned, the boys once again don't tell him, and the work is so shoddy it has to be redone by professionals (which was the exact reason Frank wanted to be informed in the first place). To date there has been no mention of whether or not Frank found out Brad and TJ disobeyed him again; it's as if the whole telling-off never happened in the first place. |
| 15 | ** The unrequited LoveDodecahedron between Tiffany, Gunther, Bernice, and Piro (who was strongly implied, but never outright stated, to be homeless) fizzled out without going much of anywhere; Gunther hooking up with Bets has cooled Tiffany's interest in him and his interest in Bernice, while Piro disappeared from the strip until re-surfacing in 2022 as a creative writing classmate of Luann's. |
| 16 | ** Stef's interest in getting Ox and Tiffany together stopped as soon as it started, with Tiffany giving the lame excuse of "not being interested in dating right now". [[{{Hypocrite}} This didn't stop her from trying to seduce Kip later on]]. |
| 17 | ** The supposed break-in at Tiffany's mansion has been forgotten about, with any attempts to continue it being ignored in favor of Tiffany being obsessed with trying to seduce Kip. |
| 18 | * AesopAmnesia: Since the strip took her to college in 2014, Bernice has learned at least three times not to be overly obsessive about enforcement of the dorm rules. She always snaps back to her previous characterization by the next time she appears. This was eventually "solved" by just having her get fired as RA due to budget cuts so she could move in with Luann. |
| 19 | ** Luann has to repeatedly learn that Tiffany has gone through CharacterDevelopment since high school, and isn't as mean. Once the storyline that shows it is over, she's right back to her "[[SlutShaming Tiffany is a slut]]" mindset. |
| 20 | * TheAllegedCar: Brad's perpetually worked-on Chevy Nova. |
| 21 | * AllGirlsWantBadBoys: |
| 22 | ** Frequently discussed, with female characters often lamenting that all nice guys are painfully dull but all exciting guys turn out to be jerks. |
| 23 | --->'''Luann:''' Where are all the nice, exciting guys? |
| 24 | --->'''Toni:''' [[ThisIsReality In movies.]] |
| 25 | ** The justification given for Toni's continued relationship with the blatantly terrible Dirk. He was muscular, but rude, nasty and disrespectful. She does claim that the same passionate nature that makes him act like a jerk when angry also makes him a lot of fun to be around when he's in a good mood, but the reader never gets to see that side of him. |
| 26 | ** Oddly enough, averted with [[{{Jerkass}} Les]]. He's a complete jerk, yet has never had a girlfriend. His dates always end badly, and his ShipTease with Tiffany never went anywhere. |
| 27 | ** Utterly (and finally) averted, as both [[NiceGuy Brad and Gunther]] are in long-term relationships with [[WrenchWench Toni]] and [[SelfieFiend Bets]], respectively. |
| 28 | * AllGuysWantCheerleaders: Tiffany is Head Cheerleader, and thus easily attracts Aaron Hill, much to Luann's chagrin. |
| 29 | * AllLoveIsUnrequited: |
| 30 | ** Luann's obsession with Aaron Hill, in the strip's earlier years; Brad's interest in Toni, before they became an item; Gunther's pining for Luann. |
| 31 | ** Averted for about 2 minutes with Quill and Luann, until Quill's dad called him to tell him he's moving back to Australia next week. |
| 32 | ** As of 2016 Tiffany was interested in Gunther, who was too busy being interested in Bernice, who was too busy being interested in Piro. The roles ended up reversing for Bernice and Piro: he finally kissed her, but then she decided that she didn't feel any chemistry from it, and ghosted Piro as a result. |
| 33 | ** Ox has a (so far) one-sided crush on Tiffany. |
| 34 | * AllTakeAndNoGive: |
| 35 | ** Toni Daytona's brother Jonah treats her as an on-call free daycare, to the point of demanding that she reschedule any commitments that might prevent her from watching Shannon (including preparations for her own wedding). When Toni finally tried to refuse, stating that Jonah needed to take some responsibility for his own life, he replied that he would have an easier time doing so [[WhatHaveYouDoneForMeLately if he had ever received any help from her]]. It's not limited to his own family members either: upon meeting Nancy and Pru for the first time (and finding out that Nancy's son was engaged to Toni), he ''immediately'' left Shannon with them and hightailed it out the door with the excuse that "Toni will pick her up in a few hours." |
| 36 | ** Stef's other roommates bend over backwards for her ''constantly''. She kept inconveniencing them by wanting to have sex with her boyfriend in the dorm, so they partitioned off a special area for someone wanting privacy. Then she got upset that others wanted to use the area too, so they gave it to her for her sole use. Eventually she started demanding that one of them give her $600 so she could attend a cheer camp, and finally Dez complied. Stef never reciprocates this treatment though, and even [[YouAreFat blatantly fat-shamed]] Dez the next time she saw her. |
| 37 | * AllThereInTheManual: The characters page on the [=GoComics=] website reveals some details that haven't been mentioned in the comic, like both Tiffany and Shannon's mothers having left when they were young, or Gunther majoring in engineering. |
| 38 | ** The only way to find out what the heck happened between Gunther and Bets was to buy a novella sold through the website for only one week, in physical form, and only available in the U.S. |
| 39 | * AllWomenAreLustful: Tiffany, Luann and Bernice perv on Kip because he's hot, even though he's in a relationship. |
| 40 | * AlmostKiss: Luann and Gunther [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2019/02/11 do this]] before pulling back on their own, then lampshading the MomentKiller that would have otherwise stopped it. |
| 41 | * AlphaBitch: Tiffany the Evil Cheerleader pretty much defined this during the high school years, at least as much as the previous trope namer [[Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch Libby]] herself did. Shallow, vain, beauty-obsessed and hateful of the main character 90% of the time. Unlike Libby she doesn't have a two-GirlPosse, just one friend who barely tolerates her and she even lost a beauty pageant she'd set up for ''herself''. She received some CharacterDevelopment after entering college though, finally admitting how lonely she really was and making an effort to treat the people around her better. She has since taken to spending more time with Gunther, attempting to help him with his romantic life while possibly [[ShipTease developing feelings of her own for him]]. |
| 42 | ** Stef has replaced Tiffany as this since the move to college. |
| 43 | * AmbiguouslyBrown: Miguel; although he's stated to be Spanish. Other colored strips show TJ as being AmbiguouslyBrown, but it's later averted when he explains his parents were Italian and South American -- it's entirely possible for ''both'' his parents to have been brown. (If the Italian half was Sicilian.) |
| 44 | * AmbiguouslyGay: |
| 45 | ** TJ. The guy's well-dressed and a good cook. We've never seen him with a girlfriend. Josh's commentary on Comics Curmudgeon occasionally lampshades this. |
| 46 | ** Also, for a brief period, Aaron Hill. He seemed oblivious to Luann's and Tiffany's attraction to him. Evans was originally going to make Aaron come out of the closet, but backed out. |
| 47 | * AndCallHimGeorge: Luann used to babysit a toddler named Lindy. She usually ended up a BadlyBatteredBabySitter, until she started bringing Puddles along to occupy Lindy. Poor Puddles. |
| 48 | * ApatheticTeacher: Mr. Fogarty, though he's portrayed as the OnlySaneMan in comparison to the students in his class. When the main cast graduated high school is when he finally decided to retire from teaching altogether. |
| 49 | * ArtEvolution: |
| 50 | ** The art style in the strip has changed ''a lot'' since 1985. The characters debuted with huge heads and tiny, pudgy bodies, and maintained these cartoonish proportions for the first decade of the strip. In the second decade, they started to evolve towards more realistic proportions. Frank is probably the closest to his old look, but Luann and Brad are almost unrecognizable. The banner for the comic at [[http://www.gocomics.com/luann GoComics]] shows the evolution of Luann's appearance over the years. The author will also occasionally draw characters in their older designs for [[http://www.gocomics.com/luann/2011/08/07 flashbacks]]. |
| 51 | ** Delta was consistently seen with sunglasses and a huge smile on her face in the early years -- she is similarly unrecognizable. |
| 52 | ** Defied with Puddles the dog, whose look hasn't changed at all since his introduction. Animals in the strip have gotten more realistic-looking as the time has gone on, but Puddles still maintains his original design of "a football with legs." This becomes more jarring when other characters bring their more accurately-designed pets to meet him. |
| 53 | * AuthorAppeal: Greg Evans is clearly into cars, which reflects on Brad, and later Toni. |
| 54 | * BaitAndSwitch: It seems like [[GranolaGirl Dez]] is selling weed... but it turns out to be tea ingredients. |
| 55 | * BettyAndVeronica: |
| 56 | ** Luann is the nice (sometimes), interesting Betty, and Tiffany is the skanky, skimpily-dressed Veronica. |
| 57 | ** Also count sweet, nerdy Gunther (Betty) and [[BrainlessBeauty Hot But Airheaded Aaron]] (Veronica) as a male example of this trope. |
| 58 | * BigBeautifulWoman: Tiffany gains a noticeable amount of weight while depressed and self-isolated at college. The change in appearance actually works for her and isn't much remarked on after the initial storyline. |
| 59 | %%** Dez also counts as this. |
| 60 | * BitchInSheepsClothing: Stef is this, sort of. She doesn't pretend to be nice, but she says really mean things in a nice way, without ever losing the smile on her face. |
| 61 | ** Diane was this. She seemed nice and refined, but constantly played around with Brad's heart without remorse. |
| 62 | * BookDumb: Luann is definitely not known for her academic achievements, especially since she's noted to be up to over a month late on assignments and even just gives up on the work when it's too hard. |
| 63 | * BoyfriendBlockingDad: Frank became this when Luann's relationship with Quill began to get much more serious than any of her past flings. |
| 64 | * BrainlessBeauty: |
| 65 | ** Cheerleader Tiffany is shown as one of the most negative types of this trope, who doesn't try at much of anything and is seen as completely shallow. |
| 66 | ** Stef has replaced Tiffany as this, but Tiffany still has some ditzy moments. |
| 67 | * BrattyHalfPint: Shannon, Toni's niece. She's gotten a bit better over time, but still reverts to this behavior whenever things don't go her way. She gets it from her father, who seems to have severe [[EntitledBastard entitlement issues himself]]. |
| 68 | * BreakoutCharacter: |
| 69 | ** Brad had his own storylines occasionally, but was more often seen through Luann's eyes as an annoying older brother. By the time of the "Firefighter/Toni Daytona" storyline, Brad had basically earned equal footing to his sister in the strip, with a whole new supporting cast to play with. |
| 70 | ** Once Tiffany stopped being simply Luann's AlphaBitch rival and became a viewpoint character in her own right, she exploded in popularity. Nowadays it's not unusual for the strip to spend several weeks following her story, with scarcely an appearance from Luann herself. |
| 71 | * BrokeEpisode: Tiffany started college living in a gigantic dorm suite by herself. Once [[TheVamp Ann Eiffel]] started dating her father, Tiffany found her funds cut off, culminating in her having to sell all her clothes and move into a tiny shared dorm room. But once Ann was PutOnABus again, Tiffany got all her money back and moved into her father's mansion (the strip moved away from the dorms altogether as an indirect acknowledgement of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic). |
| 72 | * BurgerFool: Brad is this not once but twice with a job at Weenie World. The second time, he has to deal with Ann Eiffel as his boss after being laid-off from his career as a firefighter. This is soon averted when Brad returns to the station and his best friend T.J. takes his place and makes Ann Eiffel's life a living hell by being much better at the job than her. |
| 73 | * ButNotTooGay: Prudence the self-described "lesbian thespian." The subject of her being gay has only really come up twice: to reassure [[ClingyJealousGirl Luann]] that she wasn't a romantic rival for Quill's affections, and to warn Les off from his [[IncompatibleOrientation doomed crush on her.]] But she's never portrayed as being attracted to any woman who's appeared in the strip. Over four years after her first appearance, she finally mentioned that she has a girlfriend back in New York City. [[EnforcedTrope And two months after that, Pru was written out of the strip for good.]] |
| 74 | * CaliforniaUniversity: Played straight by Bernice, Quill, Gunther and Tiffany, who attend the fictional Moony University in their town. Averted with Delta (who went away to Howard University) and Luann herself (who attends the local junior college and continues living at home). |
| 75 | * CastHerd: Once the main cast graduated high school, the storylines have been divided between the junior college (Luann), Moony U. (Bernice, Gunther and Tiffany), and Brad and Toni's house. Any mixing of the group tends to happen at "The Fuse", the coffee shop co-owned by Luann's parents and Mr. Gray (Gunther's stepdad). |
| 76 | * CerebusSyndrome: Boy howdy. Can you believe that this used to be a gag-a-day strip without the deep, anvilicous {{Story Arc}}s it's now known for? |
| 77 | ** Hints of CerebusSyndrome have been shown in the early strips, but over time it started to kick in much ''much'' harder. |
| 78 | * CharacterDevelopment: |
| 79 | ** Brad moves from a lazy, slovenly generic older-brother figure who harasses his sister all the time, to becoming dedicated to firefighting, spending several years of our time (not ComicBookTime) working towards his classes. |
| 80 | ** Tiffany went from being a HateSink AlphaBitch meant to serve as Luann's foil, to a sympathetic viewpoint character with her own issues to work through. |
| 81 | * CheshireCatGrin: TJ's default expression. The near-permanent grin indicates his shifty HighSchoolHustler nature, and it takes a ''lot'' to wipe it off his face. |
| 82 | * ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: |
| 83 | ** Brad's first crush, Diane, puts him through the wringer over and over, and then vanishes without a trace after it's revealed she hooked up with Aaron Hill, and she hasn't been mentioned in over two decades. She had a non-speaking cameo in the background at [[spoiler:Brad and Toni's wedding]], however. |
| 84 | ** Elwood, the creepy "Mini-Elvis" who had a crush on Luann. After a few years of throwing money around in the hopes of getting Luann's attention, he eventually proposes to her with a ring that he claimed cost him $15,000, but which the girls discover is worth less than $50. They confront him about it and he says he'll look into the pricing discrepancy... but is never seen or referenced again. |
| 85 | ** Knute and Crystal. |
| 86 | ** Shannon's dad has disappeared from the strip, leaving her to be raised by Brad and Toni. |
| 87 | * ClingyJealousGirl: |
| 88 | ** Luann to Aaron Hill sometimes. Bernice ''especially'' does this to wheelchair-bound Zane, freaking out if he so much as talks to another girl, and asking him to ''marry her'' while she was still in high school. |
| 89 | ** Bernice to her ''brother'', which some critics chalk up to the strange "attraction" that occasionally develops between long-lost parents and children (basically you want to love the long-lost person as family, but since you just met and never knew each other that way you're stuck with ''romantic'' love). |
| 90 | ** Luann ends up getting this way with Quill once his old friend Pru moves to their town, to the point where her jealousy contributes to their breakup. Luann didn't find out until too late that Pru and Quill [[IncompatibleOrientation never felt that way about each other]] in the first place. |
| 91 | * ComedicSociopathy: Luann and Bernice to Tiffany in high school when she wasn't being mean to them. |
| 92 | * ComicBookTime: Zig-zagged because Luann and company ''have'' aged over the years, bit by bit. They were in high school since 1985, and as of September 2014 they finally hit college. However, the seasons within the strip (as well as the events within) have kept pace with the real world, so the characters have dozens of stories about the school year beginning or ending without them actually advancing to the next grade level. |
| 93 | * ComicallyMissingThePoint: When Tiffany tells her dad that she was dusting and found a sonogram belonging to Ann, his response is "Wait--you were dusting?" |
| 94 | * TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: Subverted in one arc where Luann wants to adopt a cat, and Brad and Nancy are completely on board, with only Frank objecting because he's allergic to cats. Frank eventually gives in and lets them keep the cat, making it seem like this trope. However, Luann comes to realise that if the rest of the family had insisted on doing something that caused ''her'' constant misery, she'd have been furious at the injustice. She therefore gives the cat away. |
| 95 | * CongestionSpeak: In one strip, Bernice has a congested-sounding voice when she says to Luann, "Your bom sed you're doi'g an ard projeck."[[note]]"Your mom said you're doing an art project."[[/note]] She claims that it's because she met her new roommate Dez, or as she puts it, "I bet my boombate, Dez." |
| 96 | ** Dez had this when Tiffany found Puddles lost and brought him to their dorm. This was from her [[PlotAllergy allergy to dogs]]. |
| 97 | * CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority: Tara Starr's ''raison d'etre'' besides adventure seeking. |
| 98 | * {{Cosplay}}: Gunther. In the cast's younger days, he loved making costumes for Luann's library readings. Now that they're all grown (or growing) up, the same skill gets him together with cosplay and con enthusiast Bets. |
| 99 | * CreatorCameo: [[http://www.gocomics.com/luann/2014/09/28 Greg Evans and his daughter Karen]] are the "total strangers" who wish Luann a happy 18th birthday. |
| 100 | * CruelCheerleader: |
| 101 | ** Tiffany played the trope completely straight during the high school years. Bitchy, stupid, shallow, and slutty (as much as permitted in a G-rated comic). Also the most popular girl in school ([[InformedAttribute supposedly]]). It's notable that her CharacterDevelopment didn't begin until long after she was kicked off the squad. A rare case of SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: the school faculty didn't take kindly to one of their cheerleaders mercilessly bullying another student. |
| 102 | ** Stef has replaced Tiffany as this now that the cast is in college. |
| 103 | * CurseCutShort: Bernice is about [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2016/02/20 to accuse Prudence and nearly calls her a name.]] |
| 104 | * DarkHorseVictory: When Tiffany staged her beauty pageant, all the main characters who are high school girls competed: Tiffany, Luann, Crystal, Bernice, Delta. Most of the focus was on the rivalry between Luann and Tiffany. The winner? The new kid in town, Rosa. |
| 105 | * DeadpanSnarker: Luann, Bernice and Brad. Tiffany became this, usually in response to Stef. She also had a pretty good zinger against Crystal's SlutShaming of her. |
| 106 | * DisappearedDad: Gunther's father left him and his mother when he was little. TJ's father moved to Argentina and TJ hasn't seen him since. |
| 107 | * DistractedByTheSexy: Tiffany (and later, Luann and Bernice) by Kip in the Summer 2023 arc. |
| 108 | * TheDitz: Tiffany was this in high school. Stef has replaced her as this after the move to college. |
| 109 | * TheDogWasTheMastermind: PlayedWith and Subverted during the chaperone arc. One of the teachers suspects that Luann was the one who did the anonymous caller due to this trope (which the teacher deconstructs by pointing out that the other teacher is just as applicable for that trope as well). It was Tiffany all along, and Luann only acted like she was the anonymous video recorder to Tiffany in order to trick her into admitting it. |
| 110 | * DoggedNiceGuy: |
| 111 | ** Brad is this most of the time, chasing crushes Diane and Toni. ''Especially'' true for the latter. Though at times he's been shown as angry and loud-mouthed towards his sister, he's largely completely sympathetic the entire time. |
| 112 | ** Gunther is also one of these to an extent. [[CharacterDevelopment He grows out of it.]] |
| 113 | * DoubleStandard: The comic has at least one example. If a man leers at and lusts after a woman, that's creepy and wrong. If a woman does the same to a man, that's funny and A-OK. [[LampshadeHanging Brad called this out once]]. Compare the story's treatment of Les creeping after Tiffany in high school, versus Tiffany (and Luann and Bernice) leering at Kip in college. |
| 114 | * DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: |
| 115 | ** PlayedForLaughs -- Gunther tries to do the classic sawing-a-woman-in-half trick, and the counselor says that it's violent towards women. When Bernice suggests doing it to ''Gunther'', the counselor finds no problem with it. He immediately says "HEY!" |
| 116 | ** Averted when it comes to Ann Eiffel -- she's certainly abusive to her workers, and we're clearly supposed to dislike her. |
| 117 | * DoWrongRight: [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/1993/09/13 In this strip,]] Mr. Fogarty is very offended by someone having written "FOGERTY IS A FRUMP" on the blackboard... because his name is spelled with an A, not an E. |
| 118 | * DumbBlonde: Tiffany, who has blond hair but is totally dumb and egotistical, as shown by [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2009/03/08 what she'd do if she ruled the world]]. |
| 119 | * DumbJock: Jack is this, but wants to shed this image by studying to be a veterinarian. |
| 120 | * EroticEating: Les does the "tie a cherry stem into a knot with your tongue" variant to impress Tiffany. |
| 121 | * ExtremeDoormat: |
| 122 | ** Toni has a very hard time saying no to her brother Jonah (and by extension, Jonah's daughter Shannon). Even when she attempts to stand up to them, she caves in fairly quickly. |
| 123 | ** Both Brad and Toni are this to Shannon, doing absolutely nothing to stop her tantrums. |
| 124 | ** Stef's roommates are this, bending over backwards to placate her while making no attempt to call her out for her poor treatment of them. |
| 125 | * TheFaceless: |
| 126 | ** Tom Farrell, Tiffany’s dad. The few times he’s seen he normally has his back to the viewer, but at one point his face was concealed by his own [[SpeechBubbles word balloon.]] His face finally gets revealed in June 2020. |
| 127 | ** Luann's parents in the early years. |
| 128 | * FakePregnancy: Ann Eiffel was going to pull this as a backup plan in case Tiffany's dad, Tom, didn't propose to her during the vacation they were on. However her plan fell apart when Tiffany, who was house-sitting, found her ultrasound in an envelope addressed to Tom (actually of her estranged son, Les), forcing Ann to go along with it despite already getting the marriage proposal. Ann's plan was exposed when Tiffany found a copy of the same ultrasound in Les's possession. |
| 129 | * FlawlessToken: |
| 130 | ** Delta, the only black cast member, is of course one of the smartest and most level-headed of the entire group. In a cast where every other character has a swack of flaws, she only has the flaw of being a workaholic perfectionist. It landed her in the hospital once, but is pretty much the kind of "fake insult" someone would give at a job interview. Her friends think she's too much of a goody two-shoes, though, and preachy to boot. Whether we're supposed to agree with them or not is not clear. Evans has since admitted that Delta's lack of flaws made her too hard to write for, and so she eventually left the strip. |
| 131 | ** Zane, the only disabled character in the strip to date, was similarly mature, high-minded, moral and positive. The closest he came to human frailty was being in a bad mood over his disability, ''once.'' |
| 132 | ** Pru, the only gay character, was even more perfect than Delta. At least Delta could be a bit [[RightlySelfRighteous self-righteous,]] while Pru was defined solely by being the perfect bubbly, friendly, all-around wonderful human being. |
| 133 | ** Averted with Bets. Not only does she have flaws, she isn't written to just be the black character. |
| 134 | * ForgotICouldntSwim: Tiffany does this in [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2009/01/19 this strip]] while preparing for a dunk tank. [[LampshadeHanging Bernice points out she doesn't need to swim, as the tank is only 3 feet deep.]] |
| 135 | * FranchiseKiller: In-universe example with the ''Eyez Of Zeye'' movie, which Elwood financed and which turns out to be horrible (and immediately shelved). Unfortunately for Tiffany (not that this stops her from bragging about her appearance in the film for several years thereafter). |
| 136 | * FullNameBasis: Aaron Hill very rarely gets referred to as simply "Aaron." If Luann and her friends know any other Aarons to justify them having to differentiate, those characters have never been revealed. More recently, Ann Eiffel has been subject to this. |
| 137 | * GentleGiant: Oxford (Ox for short) a character introduced in 2012. A tough, muscular guy who looks like the typical school bully, he actually doesn't like bullies, and defends Gunther from them; he later tells Ann Eiffel off when she tries to get revenge on Shannon, figuring she's a bully too. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking He also has the most adorable crush on Tiffany]]. |
| 138 | * TheGlassesGottaGo: Gunther. |
| 139 | * GoofyPrintUnderwear: After Tiffany recorded a video of Luann changing in the locker room to use as blackmail material, Luann wished she hadn't been wearing her [[Franchise/WinnieThePooh Pooh bear]] underwear. |
| 140 | * GoshDangItToHeck: Whenever any character has a BigOMG, they always say "OHMYGAW" (one word, all-caps) due to Evans's disinclination to use "God." |
| 141 | * GradeSchoolCEO: Elwood, teenage creator of the ''Eyez of Zeye'' video game and self-proclaimed multimillionaire. Though Bernice suspected his wealth was fake and in his final arc he proposed to Luann with a ring that he claimed was worth $15,000 but turned out to be a $49 cubic zirconium. |
| 142 | * GranolaGirl: Bernice's (then later Bets') college roommate Dez. |
| 143 | * HandsOffParenting: The [=DeGroots=] towards Luann. About the only time they deign to notice her presence is when she does something to displease them. Especially glaring in light of how [[MyBelovedSmother Nancy is obsessed with keeping Brad]] from going to first base. However; whenever there's a major decision such as getting a car or a house, they are there. One strip that's PlayedForLaughs has Luann ground ''herself'' because she knows she did something wrong. |
| 144 | ** They were even worse in the strip's early days as they weren't even actual characters, just [[TheFaceless voices from off-panel]] yelling at Luann for one reason or another (forgetting to do a chore, talking too long on the phone, etc.). |
| 145 | ** TJ appears to have somewhere between this and ParentalAbandonment. |
| 146 | ** Brad and Toni's approach to raising Shannon is to basically sit back and watch her do whatever she wants. No matter what she does, they never admonish or discipline her. |
| 147 | * HateSink: |
| 148 | ** Jonah Daytona and Ann Eiffel exist only to mistreat, swindle or take advantage of the other characters. Neither of them are ever presented in a sympathetic light, and the rest of the cast can barely tolerate them ''at best.'' |
| 149 | ** Tiffany during the middle-school and early high-school years, Leslie Knox during the later high-school years. |
| 150 | ** In college Tiffany met Stef, her ReplacementFlatCharacter, whose only purpose in life is to make Tiffany and the rest of her roommates regret living with her; for example, she once used Tiffany's hand towel without permission to clean up after she and her boyfriend had sex. She didn't even wash it afterward, but just handed it back to Tiffany with it [[{{Squick}} still visibly dripping fluids.]] Hopefully it was just water from post-sex showering, though that seems unlikely due to the way [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2021/11/30 Tiffany was holding it afterward as well as the "stink lines" coming off of it.]] |
| 151 | * HeelFaithTurn: Dirk's cleaned up his act ''spectacularly''. Not only is he a lot nicer, he's now HappilyMarried to a girl he met in one of his classes, and apparently is a very good father. |
| 152 | * HeroicFireRescue: Brad, while working for the fire department, rushed in to save a character. He was complimented for being successful, but also reprimanded and suspended for putting himself at risk to do needless heroics. |
| 153 | * HighSchoolHustler: TJ is a young adult version of this. He's aged out of school, but the personality remains. |
| 154 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: As noted in the FakePregnancy entry, Ann Eiffel had a fake ultrasound stashed away as her backup plan to get a marriage proposal from Tom Farrell. But Tiffany found it during their vacation (where Tom had proposed anyway), and revealed it to them both forcing Ann to pretend she was pregnant. But once the deception became known, Tom dumped Ann, meaning that the ultrasound she hadn't even needed became her own undoing. |
| 155 | * HumiliationConga: Many story arcs have people go through this. Tiffany, in particular, is often a victim. |
| 156 | * HurtFootHop: In [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2017/05/18 this]] ''ComicStrip/{{Luann}}'' strip, a bowling ball is dropped on Luann's foot and the jumping (and cursing) ensues. |
| 157 | * {{Hypocrite}}: Brad and Toni complain about how Shannon's dad foists her on them just so he doesn't have to take care of her, yet they have no problem doing the exact same thing to Luann with no remorse. |
| 158 | ** Tiffany throws herself at every guy with a pulse, but when it comes to Ox's crush on her, suddenly she "isn't interested in dating." Though this could be because Stef was the one who wanted to get them together, and Tiffany just didn't want her interfering in her life. She hasn't said anything to Ox herself though. |
| 159 | * HypocriticalHumor: |
| 160 | -->'''Frank:''' Why'd you buy three kinds of lotion? |
| 161 | -->'''Nancy:''' Because they work together. One tones, one firms, one hydrates. It's a system. |
| 162 | -->'''Frank:''' Oh! Well, if it's a ''[[SarcasmMode system.]]'' |
| 163 | -->'''Nancy:''' Are you being a smarty? |
| 164 | -->'''Frank:''' Honey, these companies hustle money by selling multiple products as a "system." It's a big scam. |
| 165 | -->'''Nancy:''' Like your hair treatment products? |
| 166 | -->'''Frank:''' That's not a system! That's a ''program!'' |
| 167 | * IDontKnowMortalKombat: Despite being in a band once, in [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2009/02/23 these strips]] Luann's Dad can't play ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' well at all. She actually does better than him, to his dismay. He does eventually succeed in clearing a song on Medium, though. |
| 168 | * INeedToGoIronMyDog: Luann once claimed to be unable to work on a project with [[AbhorrentAdmirer Gunther]] because she had her bullfighting lesson that day. |
| 169 | * ImportantHaircut: Invoked (but ultimately subverted) by Bernice. She has gotten a new hairstyle at least twice as part of some plan to become a better version of herself (the most recent change premiered at her high school graduation). But the hairstyle ended up being the ''only'' change: her personality remained [[StatusQuoIsGod just as it was before.]] |
| 170 | * IronicEcho: Frank throws Nancy's derisive [[http://comics.com/luann/2009/11/19/ earlier remarks]] back in her face [[http://comics.com/luann/2009/11/24/ here]]. |
| 171 | * IncompatibleOrientation: After Luann got jealous of Quill and Prudence spending a lot of time together, Prudence revealed herself to be lesbian to assure Luann she wasn't romantically interested in him. She later had to reveal her sexuality to Les in order to warn him off from his crush on her. |
| 172 | * InformedAttribute: |
| 173 | ** Dez is apparently a nudist, but we don't actually see this in action (as much as we can "see" of it, being a PG-13 comic strip). |
| 174 | ** Tiffany was constantly stated to be the most popular person in high school, yet everyone (including teachers) constantly ridiculed her, and her OnlyFriend Crystal spent most of their time together tossing barely-concealed insults at her. |
| 175 | * IntimateLotionApplication: One strip has Tiffany trying to flirt with Quill (while Luann is right beside him) at the beach by offering to rub sunscreen on him, but he refuses. So she tries asking if he could put sunscreen on her, and he relents... but unbeknown to Tiffany it's Luann who ends up being the one that puts the sunscreen on her back. ''Blog/TheComicsCurmudgeon'' [[https://joshreads.com/2012/06/today-in-comics-tales-of-teen-sex-shaming/ (rightfully) calls this out as bullying]]. |
| 176 | * ItsAllAboutMe: Tiffany has a bad case of this, as does Luann herself (though her case isn't ''quite'' as bad as Tiffany's). |
| 177 | %%** Stef is even worse about this than Tiffany. |
| 178 | * JerkassBall: Brad and Toni grab this with both hands whenever Shannon is involved. |
| 179 | * JerkassHasAPoint: Nancy's dislike of Toni is well-founded, since Toni openly admitted to playing mind games with Brad, and constantly went back to her [[{{Jerkass}} abusive boyfriend Dirk]]. |
| 180 | * JerkassToOne: |
| 181 | ** Bernice is generally polite and friendly (albeit a bit of a wet blanket) to most people. But to her [[WithFriendsLikeThese supposed best friend]] Luann it's a different story. There is almost ''nothing'' Luann can say in Bernice's presence that isn't met with a snide remark or passive-aggressive putdown, to the point where Luann's already tenuous self-confidence has been shattered numerous times merely by confiding in Bernice. This trait wasn't so pronounced in the strip's early days, making it appear to longtime readers that Bernice's patience with Luann simply ran out over the years, and now they stay friends mostly out of habit. |
| 182 | ** Luann is this to Tiffany, as noted below in SlutShaming. Practically every sentence out of her mouth when talking about Tiffany is how she's a bad person for having dated a lot of guys. This continued even after Tiffany underwent CharacterDevelopment. |
| 183 | ** Both Bernice and Luann were this for Tiffany in high school. On the rare occasions she wasn't mean to Luann and Bernice, they still bullied her. |
| 184 | ** Brad and Toni are this to Luann when Shannon is involved. Toni even admitted to Luann that they leave [[BrattyHalfPint Shannon]] with her because [[ItsAllAboutMe they]] don't want to deal with her. |
| 185 | * KickTheDog: It's hard to see Bernice's constant insulting of Luann as anything but this. Thankfully, [[TheDogBitesBack Luann is capable of insulting Bernice right back]]. |
| 186 | ** Toni admits to Luann ''to her face'' that she deliberately leaves Luann stuck with [[BrattyHalfPint Shannon]] because she doesn't want to deal with her. |
| 187 | ** Stef's every action towards her roommates is this. Special mention goes to fat-shaming Dez and Tiffany. |
| 188 | * KnightInShiningArmour: What Brad yearned to be towards Toni, to "save her" from boyfriend Dirk the Jerk. Also later, when he is nearly killed saving her life during a fire. |
| 189 | ** What [[ShipTease Ox imagined himself as being for Tiffany]]. |
| 190 | * KnightOfCerebus: Derek the manipulative pothead had the distinction of being the subject of the strip's first long-running plot arc, and also its first attempt at dealing with [[VerySpecialEpisode important issues.]] |
| 191 | * LaserGuidedKarma: Tiffany skips out on studying to go to a party with Stef... and immediately begins failing her classes. |
| 192 | * LastResortTakeout: One strip is displayed as a step-by-step guide to enjoy a summer barbecue. However, the meat didn't thaw out enough, and the propane tank was empty. The last panel shows the family ordering burgers from a drive-thru. |
| 193 | * LeaningOnTheFourthWall: |
| 194 | ** [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2012/07/29 This]] installment had Luann and Gunther commiserating over their lack of intimate relationships, with Luann stating that her life feels like it's in a family comic strip. |
| 195 | ** [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2014/01/19 This]] strip had Luann and her father mention that it feels like she'd been a teen for 29 years already (remember, it began in 1985 and this one is from 2014, making it 29 years since the strip debuted.) |
| 196 | * LimitedWardrobe: |
| 197 | ** In every single one of his appearances, Mr. Gray has only ever worn the same drab gray suit/black necktie combo. Even for his own wedding, all he did was add a boutonnière. |
| 198 | ** Brad gets a ''lot'' of use out of his black jersey, and even had an exact duplicate on hand to loan to Shannon when she slept over. |
| 199 | ** Stef is usually only shown in her cheerleading outfit. |
| 200 | * LongLostSibling: Bernice discovered she had a brother given up for adoption years ago, now a soldier in Iraq. |
| 201 | ** Piro turns out to be Tara's long lost Cousin Walter ([[OneSteveLimit No, not]] [[Film/{{Clerks}} that]] [[Film/{{Mallrats}} one]]). |
| 202 | * LongRunner: Thirty-five years. Though given that it's part of NewspaperComics, it's virtually a baby amongst its peers. Still its progress is noticeable (Luann was a ''pre-teen'' when the series started and is in college at the time of this writing). |
| 203 | * LotsOfLuggage: In the 15 December 2011 strip, [[RichBitch Tiffany]] brings so much luggage for a one-week trip that Luann's boyfriend remarks, "We need a semi." |
| 204 | * LovableJock: Jack is this. What little personality Kip has suggests he might be this, too. |
| 205 | * LoveTriangle: Aaron, Luann and Tiffany. Also Toni with Brad and Dirk. And a budding one between Luann, Gunther, and creepy little gnome Elwood. Averted with Luann, Quill, and Tiffany since Quill was never attracted to her, despite her best efforts. Though once Tiffany tried one too many times to make Luann jealous and received a ''very'' public telling-off by Quill, she finally backed off completely. |
| 206 | ** 2022 introduced one between Bernice, Luann and Piro. [[UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo Piro has feelings for Bernice after her ghosting him, Bernice wants nothing to do with him]], and Luann is interested in Piro. |
| 207 | * MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: That may or may not be the reason TJ's food truck exploded. The strips leading up to the explosion set up the possibility, but it's never explicitly stated. |
| 208 | * MarsAndVenusGenderContrast: A frequent source of both humour and serious commentary. Unusually, the subject is shown from both sides, with male and female characters both getting their turn to lament how frustrating and incomprehensible the opposite sex is from their perspective. |
| 209 | * MasterOfTheMixedMessage: |
| 210 | ** Toni admits to doing this to Brad to keep him at arm's length while he pined over her. She would say something that ''could'' be construed as flirty, making him obsess over it, and then turn it to something more innocent several times. During her relationship with Dirk, she made ''both'' of them think she "might" be interested in Brad as something more than a pal. |
| 211 | *** "Is she kissing me or ''Santa''?" |
| 212 | ** Luann towards Gunther in middle/high school. She considered him an AbhorrentAdmirer, disparaging him to her friends as "the creepiest guy in school" multiple times. That is until it looked like he got the message and would move on, at which point she realized she'd lose her ''only'' admirer and the ego boost that came with it. Then she'd start doing whatever it took to make Gunther think he still had a shot with her. Once his attention was back on her she would resume treating him like an annoyance. |
| 213 | ** Bernice towards Piro. At first she was a StalkerWithACrush, abusing her authority as dorm RA to manipulate him into liking her (as opposed to simply telling him how she felt.) The second he returned her affections she ghosted him, saying she didn't feel any sparks. Then years later she saw him do a public reading of a story he'd written about how much she meant to him, at which point she engaged in a heartfelt reunion with him. Afterwards, he sent (through Luann, who was in his creative writing class with him) a letter pleading to meet up and talk, to which she didn't respond. It was only after she saw Tara and Luann competing over his attention that she went up to him and began dropping not-so-subtle hints that he should be spending time with ''her'' instead. Only time will tell how it ends. |
| 214 | * MinorFlawMajorBreakup: Bernice dumped her boyfriend Zane because he failed to immediately notice her new glasses. Keep in mind that Bernice was a ClingyJealousGirl who proposed marriage to him while she was still in high school, and also accused him of cheating on her with [[PerkyGoth Crystal]] just because she kept bringing her little brother to visit him at his work (Crystal's brother was in a wheelchair like Zane, and Zane was bonding with the boy), so Zane might have dodged a bullet there. |
| 215 | * MissingMom: TJ's mother died in Italy around 2005. |
| 216 | ** Tiffany and Shannon don't have mothers, either. |
| 217 | * MommasBoy: Gunther, to a certain extent. He seemed to be growing out of it by going to Peru with Rosa, but one of the reasons he came back is that he was upset his mother started dating again. Bets may be helping him break out of it, though. |
| 218 | * MotiveDecay: Luann and Bernice go from trying to convince Tiffany to stop perving on Kip, [[HypocriticalHumour to perving on Kip themselves]]. |
| 219 | * MrFanservice: |
| 220 | ** Jack, appearing naked ''twice'' in the series. |
| 221 | ** Kip as well, being a fit jock who wore a speedo (offscreen). |
| 222 | * MsFanservice: Tiffany, until the gang got to college and her depression kicked into high gear. |
| 223 | ** She had moments of fanservice after her weight gain, though. Like being a plus-size model, wearing a sexy outfit for her first day at Kafe Kablooie (before being given the conservative work uniform), even [[NakedPeopleAreFunny being naked in one story arc]]. |
| 224 | * MyBelovedSmother: Nancy towards Brad (but really only where Toni is involved); she won't let him stay over at Toni's house, seemingly rejecting his relationship growth when she was egging him on before, and tried to keep Brad from her at first because she saw Toni as a "bad girl". |
| 225 | ** When Brad hosted Thanksgiving at his and TJ's place Nancy was very chilly towards Toni but [[HypocriticalHumor immediately warms up to Quill]], Luann's handsome "date". Her husband quickly [[WhatTheHellHero calls her out on her behavior]]. |
| 226 | *** We could make the point that [[JerkassHasAPoint she simply doesn't like Toni because of all of her baggage (Dirk is a massively violent person, and seems quite able to gut Brad like a fish) and the mind games she played on Brad before they became a couple]]. |
| 227 | * {{Nephewism}}: Played with. Brad and Toni aren't technically Shannon's legal guardians, as she still has a father. But he's always off doing his own thing (and hasn't even appeared in the strip in years) and she is ''always'' staying with them, to the point where if they want to do anything as a couple they first need to find a sitter for Shannon. It's Nephewism in practice, just not in name. |
| 228 | * NiceGuy[=/=]Gal: Gunther, Brad (though not, of course, to his sister), [[GentleGiant Ox]]; Luann (except to Tiffany), Prudence and Dez. |
| 229 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: No one points out how Tiffany bailing on the dunk tank fundraiser was as much Luann and Bernice's fault as it was Tiffany's. She made a pretty reasonable request for the water to be heated, and [[{{Jerkass}} Luann and Bernice filled it with cold water just to spite her, and lied to her face claiming the water was heated]]. [[KarmaHoudini They never get called out on this]]. |
| 230 | * NerdsAreVirgins: Averted with [[OfficialCouple Gunther and Bets]], played straight with Bernice (who may be asexual, or it could be a case of the [[SlutShaming "If you have sex, then you're a slut"]] attitude that Luann has). |
| 231 | * NoAccountingForTaste: Why Kip, a jock who seems like a nice guy, and Stef, a narcissistic sociopath, are a couple is a mystery. |
| 232 | * NotAllowedToGrowUp: Barely averted. When the strip began in 1985 Luann and her friends were approximately thirteen years old; in the ensuing three decades they've advanced to roughly 18 or 19. |
| 233 | ** Played straight with Shannon, who remains six years old despite the rest of the cast slowly getting older. |
| 234 | * TheNotLoveInterest: Jack for Luann, surprisingly. |
| 235 | * ObfuscatingStupidity: Aaron Hill's obliviousness towards Luann's (and Tiffany's) attraction was mostly to duck admitting he was taken. [[AuthorsSavingThrow Or at least that's the way it turned out.]] |
| 236 | * ObliquelyObfuscatedOccupation: TJ has actually had lots of jobs, but most of them have some motive in mind other than making money (such as finding evidence of Ann Eiffel abusing employees). He seems to have a lot of money that he gets from an unknown source, which he won't divulge. It has caused suspicion both in-universe and out. |
| 237 | * OddFriendship: Tiffany, the strip's resident AlphaBitch and cheerleader was best buds with PerkyGoth Crystal. It helped that Tiffany was oblivious to most of Crystal's insults. Plus, [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2005/09/28 they each liked to dress in colours that matched the other one's well.]] |
| 238 | -->'''Crystal:''' So we accessorize each other. |
| 239 | -->'''Tiffany:''' Exactly. A good friend is like a perfect handbag. |
| 240 | * OfficialCouple: Crystal and Knute, Brad and Toni. Gunther and Bets are this, despite their RelationshipRevolvingDoor.. |
| 241 | * OminousAdversarialAmusement: T.J. grins at Ann Eiffel before telling her that her incriminating admissions (which she thought she had erased) had been backed up elsewhere. |
| 242 | * OnlyFriend: TJ is Brad's, and vice-versa. Mostly because nobody else in the strip (other than 6-year-old Shannon) likes TJ, but him and Brad are inseparable and nobody wants to befriend Brad if it means having to put up with TJ as well. |
| 243 | * OppositesAttract: Serious, gloomy goth Crystal, fun-loving goofball slacker Knute. |
| 244 | * OutOfFocus: There was a ''major'' reduction in stories centered on Brad and Toni once they finally got married. Since then, they've mainly been a vehicle for keeping Shannon in the strip (they spend so much time watching her that she has her own bedroom). |
| 245 | ** With so many supporting characters having story arcs of their own, Luann herself has disappeared from the non-Sunday strips for months at a stretch. |
| 246 | * PaperThinDisguise: After Brad, Toni, and TJ learn that Dirk is their new garbage man, Brad and TJ hire the cheapest actress they can find -- Tiffany -- to convince Dirk that Toni moved away. It doesn't work (they fail to take into account that maybe Toni would've taken her stuff with her if she moved) but Dirk says he gets it and won't bother them anymore. |
| 247 | * ParentalAbandonment: Most characters' parents aren't shown other than Luann's, but are often mentioned. However; TJ's parents are never shown nor mentioned, until 2008 when he heavily implies that they might have abandoned him. Later confirmed. |
| 248 | * TheParodyBeforeChristmas: This comic had a Sunday strip where Luann's older brother Brad forgot to get her a Christmas present until the last minute, and shopped for auto parts for her on account of everywhere else being closed. The strip was narrated in the style of "The Night Before Christmas", to wit: |
| 249 | -->''Twas the Night Before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, [[BaitAndSwitch except for one louse]].'' |
| 250 | * PerkyGoth: New Agey-type Crystal, a tertiary classmate of Luann and the others, occasionally fits this, but is often rather bitchy and sardonic as well. Essentially, the "Goth" look is merely a costume. She does write gothic poetry, though. |
| 251 | * PerpetualSmiler: TJ, as noted above in the CheshireCatGrin entry. |
| 252 | * PetTheDog: |
| 253 | ** Tiffany in high school was a complete AlphaBitch. Yet there were moments where she actually ''does'' appear to be nice to others. Among these include helping Gunther with his design, trying to hook up a couple teachers together for the heck of it, and later on, volunteering to help pay for Delta to go on the class trip to D.C. In the case of the latter, she agrees to let people dunk her so they can see her wet, but leaves because the water is "too cold", essentially sabotaging the fundraiser. (No one points out this was actually [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Luann and Bernice's fault, as they filled the tank with cold water instead of heating it like Tiffany had asked]]). A few strips later, she walks back in having found another option to pay for it, while stating she felt guilty. |
| 254 | ** ''Dirk'' even gets one. |
| 255 | ** Stef trying to get Ox and Tiffany to hook up. |
| 256 | ** Luann and Bernice trying to convince Tiffany to stop attempting to seduce Kip is this, considering [[JerkasstoOne how they usually treat her]]. |
| 257 | * PowerTrio: Luann (id), Bernice (ego), and Delta (super ego, TokenMinority replacing redhead). |
| 258 | * ProgressivelyPrettier: Brad, originally very cartoonish and round (though not as much as his father), shifted to a slightly-more in-shape character with a less comically-round head (ie. he has a jawline!). Part of this is also in-character, as Brad got in better shape and cleaned up once he decided to become a firefighter. Many female characters went through the ArtEvolution by gaining thinner physiques with feminine curves (instead of portly cartoonish bodies), such as Luann and her mom. |
| 259 | * ProtagonistCenteredMorality: The July 2013 strips where Quill finally tells Tiffany to back off of him... In the middle of a dress rehearsal. No one calls Quill on his inappropriate behavior, even though we don't know if any of the other drama campers know him or Tiff or the history between them, so for all they know Quill just threw a tantrum on stage for little reason. |
| 260 | ** Luann and Bernice's treatment of Tiffany in high school was this. Because they were the main characters, it was supposed to be funny when they bullied Tiffany. |
| 261 | * PutOnABus: |
| 262 | ** Aaron Hill, a rare ''major'' character example, having moved away, once the love triangle story got tired. Odd for such a major part of the strip. It also happens to ''a lot'' of the replacements for Aaron over the years, as various new love interests show up, allow Luann to obsess over them for a while, and then vanish. A few other characters like Zane, Elwood and Fay have vanished without a trace after a particular storyline focusing on them has ended. |
| 263 | ** In a move that no one (everyone) predicted, Quill had to suddenly move back to Australia as soon as he and Luann decided to start a real relationship and stop worrying about him suddenly moving back to Australia. And then Luann's dad had to be a massive jerk and rub it in with Australia jokes ''not even an hour after Quill's plane left''. |
| 264 | *** [[TheBusCameBack In a move that no one really did predict,]] Quill continued to court Luann over cellphones and laptops, and he eventually returned to keep up his relationship with Luann, moving in with Gunther and his mom. |
| 265 | *** Quill is Put Back on The Bus after his breakup with Luann on Valentine's Day 2016. |
| 266 | ** Delta went off to attend college in the east and hasn't been seen or mentioned since November 2014. |
| 267 | ** Bernice spent months (in-universe) obsessing over the handsome Piro, even going so far as to [[StalkerWithACrush abuse her position as RA in order to dig up information about him]]. Then he finally kisses her, but Bernice admits to her roommate the next day that [[NoSparks she felt no "sparks" from it]], and we haven't seen or heard anything from Piro since. |
| 268 | ** [[TheBusCameBack Piro has returned]], and is now in the middle of a love triangle with Luann and Bernice. |
| 269 | ** [[PerkyGoth Crystal]] and [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Knute]] were DemotedToExtra after high school, and eventually stopped appearing in the strip altogether. |
| 270 | ** Prudence spends a few years [[DemotedToExtra making sporadic appearances in the strip]] after Quill's departure, but then finally decides to move back to New York in April 2020. |
| 271 | ** Shannon's dad disappeared, leaving her to be raised by Brad and Toni. |
| 272 | ** Bets broke up with Gunther and quit school to go on a road trip indefinitely. She ended up returning a few months later, moving right back into her old dorm room as if nothing had happened. |
| 273 | * RealLifeWritesThePlot: |
| 274 | ** Bernice's LongLostSibling was based directly on the child Evans and his wife (then girlfriend) gave up in college, and reconnected with. |
| 275 | ** The events of September 11th 2001 inspired Brad to become a firefighter. |
| 276 | * TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Delta's final appearance on-panel (barring flashbacks). After spending high school as a SoapBoxSadie and leaving town to attend Howard University, Delta phoned to congratulate Luann on voting for the first time (they had all recently turned 18 and just experienced their first election). After Luann starts rattling off excuses as to why she hadn't found time, Delta simply responded with "Y'know, maybe it's better that you didn't vote, Luann. Only serious, mature citizens should vote" and hung up. It left Luann asking around if she was really ''that'' bad for not bothering to vote, and even her own boyfriend Quill seemed to agree with Delta ([[{{Anvilicious}} it turned out that Luann was the only one in her friend group who never got around to voting]]). |
| 277 | * ReformedButRejected: ''Possibly'' Dirk, who claimed he found Jesus when he was imprisoned for beating Brad and would be leaving town (Brad got the feeling he's dying; readers thought he's joining the priesthood). It didn't help that the characters find out about this when they discover he's working as a garbage man on the same block as the [=DeGroots=] and Toni. Even when he saves Mrs. [=DeGroot=] after a bookshelf falls on her she refers to him as a "creepy, evil superhero". Dirk's latest appearance showed that he was happily married with a child, which quickly led to a... |
| 278 | * RelationshipUpgrade: |
| 279 | ** Brad crushed openly on Toni Daytona upon meeting her, but couldn't win her away from her then jerky boyfriend, Dirk. It would take years of storylines for them to eventually start dating once she lost Dirk. It took longer still for them to get more than a handful of playful kisses. Finally, Toni admitted she loves Brad, and a few strips made it relatively obvious they were sexually active. Thanks to a surprise run in by Toni with a reformed Dirk, she has ''finally'' accepted Brad's marriage proposal. |
| 280 | ** Luann and Quill, who had put off having a relationship for years (in real-time) in fear that he'd suddenly have to move back to Australia. Guess what happened next (literally ''right after'' they had their first kiss together): Quill's father calls to say that they're moving back, and he has to come home immediately as they only have a short time to pack. Though he eventually returned and they resumed their relationship until breaking up on Valentine's Day 2016. |
| 281 | %%** Gunther and Rosa. |
| 282 | * {{Retcon}}: |
| 283 | ** In 2021 we got some new attempts to move Luann's long-term story arc forward. This required undoing much of the characterization previously in effect since Luann and her classmates graduated from high school and entered a new perpetual 19-year-old status quo in 2014. Instead of working a few hours a week at a day care because otherwise she would just be hanging around the house as an unemployed adult for most of the time, Luann now always has been planning a career in teaching and was gaining significant income and experience from working nearly full-time. Instead of being generally unimpressive as a student and somewhat left behind by friends like Delta and Gunther who were more gifted academically (which was originally the whole reason she is a part-time community college student while all her peers among the main cast went to university), Luann is now a teacher's pet who tutors English and is a TA in her art class. |
| 284 | ** [[BrattyHalfPint Shannon]] was originally introduced as the older cousin of Lindy, a toddler that Luann babysat in middle school. After Toni was introduced, Shannon re-entered the comic as her niece, with no mention of Lindy. |
| 285 | ** A blink-and-you'll-miss-it one for Tiffany. One ''very'' early strip had Delta mention Tiffany's parents. Years later Tiffany is only shown living with her father, with no mention of all at having a mother. |
| 286 | ** As noted in the UnPerson entry, when Bernice moved into the Degroot house in 2020 Frank mentioned how strange it was having a woman unrelated to him living in the house now, somehow ignoring the fact that he'd just spent the last 5 years with Prudence (a woman also not related to him) living in the exact same room. In a follow-up strip Luann even acts like the room had been completely unused (and not even cleaned up) since Brad originally vacated it, officially wiping Pru's entire stay from existence. Notable in that the retcon was a mere 3 months after Pru exited the strip, meaning she was still fairly fresh in readers' minds. |
| 287 | ** Tiffany's inability to swim, brought up as a throwaway line during the dunk tank fundraiser, was forgotten about and officially retconned in Summer 2023, with Tiffany and Luann talking about her as if she could swim. |
| 288 | * RhymingNames: Avoided for characters in the strip (except for Jonah Daytona), but this gets used for nearly everything else; locations, products and events all get the treatment. Café TJ, Moony Uni, Quibbling Siblings, Soufflé Lingerié, Chateau Trio... and all these were just since 2014 (the strip was created in 1985 for those who wish to search for less recent examples). You'd have better luck finding something ''not'' named in this style. |
| 289 | * RoommateDrama: |
| 290 | ** Gunther and Les's domestic situation should be very familiar to fans of ''Theatre/TheOddCouple.'' |
| 291 | ** Bernice and Luann, after the former moved into Brad's former bedroom. |
| 292 | ** Tiffany and Stef are the college dorm version of this. |
| 293 | * RunningGag: The late 1990s and early 2000s featured multiple strips per year in which, in the first panel, someone (usually Diane) would greet Brad while he was bent over the engine of the car he was trying to restore, causing him to stand up and bonk his head on the underside of the hood. |
| 294 | ** A more recent one is [[GranolaGirl Dez]] being mistaken for [[TheStoner being a stoner]], just because she's a hippie. |
| 295 | ** Tiffany spending an entire storyarc trying to seduce Kip. |
| 296 | * SatelliteLoveInterest: |
| 297 | ** Aaron Hill, who often shows little physical attraction in anyone. Which is odd, because there was a really weird story arc the end of which revealed that the "Gunther" Luann had spent most of the arc interacting with had been Aaron in disguise (possibly collaborating with the real Gunther -- it was years ago) in an effort to get Luann to think past physical appearances now and again. Rather than cottoning to the lesson, Luann asked to "try on Gunther" (Aaron's mask). |
| 298 | ** An EnforcedTrope in the case of Quill. He started out as even blander than Aaron, with his main personality traits being that he was handsome... and Australian. He ended up developing a passion for theater, but then Luann dumped him for focusing too much on his career [[ItsAllAboutMe instead of her]]. |
| 299 | ** Both of Bernice’s major love interests, Zane and Piro. Made evident by the fact that each of them vanished from the strip altogether the second Bernice was done with them, as they had no personality or function other than serving as her object of obsession. [[TheBusCameBack Piro has returned]] just as personalityless as ever, now caught in a love triangle with Bernice and Luann. |
| 300 | ** Ben York. Once Luann stopped having a crush on him he vanished without a trace, despite being Bernice’s long-lost brother and therefore having a reason to stick around. ThickerThanWater does not apply in this universe, apparently. [[TheBusCameBack He did return, having spent some time away, and coming back as a hippie]]. |
| 301 | ** Kip is one for [[HateSink Stef]]. He's attractive, Asian, plays football, gets lusted after by Tiffany, is kind of a jerk (never apologizing to Tiffany for him and Stef borrowing her towel without her permission and using it [[{{Squick}} for post-sex cleanup]], making mean comments with Tiffany about Dez) and... that's it. |
| 302 | * SaveTheVillain: In one arc, Brad had to apply CPR to Dirk after Dirk's car crashed, Dirk having disabled his airbag and neglected to wear his seat belt ''while chasing Brad and Toni''. (And Dirk didn't learn - ''that'' time.) |
| 303 | * TheScrooge: Frank is pretty bad about this. He balks at the price of nearly everything, yet had the money to purchase an abandoned warehouse on a whim in order to start his own business (The Fuse). Then when Prudence offered to work there ''for free'', he still wanted to charge her rent for living in his house. On the other hand he's perfectly happy to spend others' money. When his dishwasher Les asked him to a business dinner to discuss how to expand The Fuse, not only did he not offer to pay for dinner as the owner/employer (which could then be written off as a business expense), he invited his entire family to the dinner and ended up spending $300 of his own employee's money. |
| 304 | * SeductionProofMarriage: Or relationship in this case. Kip is oblivious to Tiffany's multiple attempts to seduce him away from Stef. |
| 305 | * SexyShirtSwitch: Implied by Bets in [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2021/12/13 this strip]]. |
| 306 | * ShamelessFanserviceGirl: Not shown, but Tara casually mentions having posed nude for art class. |
| 307 | * ShipperOnDeck: |
| 308 | ** Stef becomes this for [[ShipTease Ox and Tiffany]]. |
| 309 | ** Tara was also this for Luann and Jack. |
| 310 | * ShipTease: ''Tons'' over the years. [[LongList Luann and Aaron Hill, Tiffany and Aaron Hill, Luann and Gunther, Tiffany and Gunther, Tiffany and Les, Jack and Luann, Ox and Tiffany]]... A common point of criticism is that it usually never moves past this. |
| 311 | * ShouldersUpNudity: Any nude female characters are shown as this. |
| 312 | * ShoutOut: |
| 313 | ** Shortly after ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' ended one strip had Luann and Delta riding down a hill in a red wagon. In the first panel, Delta asks, "[[GenreSavvy We're not going to flying off a cliff are we?]]" Of course they do. |
| 314 | ** In the week leading up to ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' final comic, Luann pretty much visited Charlie Brown's neighborhood and basically tried to reenact several of his famous scenes as a cute little send off. The Sunday strip of that week, which focused back on the current story arc, even had a poster of Charlie Brown in the background. |
| 315 | * TheShrink: Miss Phelps falls under the "Well-Meaning, But Dopey And Ineffective" category. As the high school guidance counselor she's regularly described as inept, by both WordOfGod as well as the other characters. After the cast graduates she becomes a therapist and is shown as being just as terrible at that job. |
| 316 | ** Bernice want to be this, and is shaping up to be just as bad as Miss Phelps. Case in point, she told Tiffany that if she couldn't afford to stay in her dorm, than she should move back in with Ann Eiffel. Who, it should be noted, ''sexually harassed Bernice!'' |
| 317 | * ShutUpHannibal: For years, almost every character in the strip was willing to take Tiffany's crap. Quill, however, would not. In July of 2013, after her latest attempt to make Luann jealous, he told her off in the most direct way possible. |
| 318 | ** Luann ''finally'' calls out Shannon for being a brat. |
| 319 | * SiblingRivalry: A major part of the strip for years, with Brad and Luann's constant arguing and harassing each other. |
| 320 | * SinisterShades: Toni's thuggish ex-boyfriend Dirk is always depicted wearing these. |
| 321 | * SkeletonKeycard: Shannon uses this to [[ItMakesSenseInContext get out of a closet she accidentally locked herself into]]. |
| 322 | * SlasherSmile: When Frank asks Nancy if she could've at least ''smiled'' at Toni during Thanksgiving, she breaks into one of these (actually more akin to 4chan's [[MemeticMutation "Cool/Troll Face"]]). Frank concedes that it's probably better that she doesn't. |
| 323 | * SlutShaming: [[AlphaBitch Tiffany]] tends to get this from Luann a lot; the go-to insult is some variation on "Tiffany is dating the entire football team." Interestingly enough, Tiffany has less sexual experience than Luann or any of her friends; she's never had a boyfriend or even properly kissed anyone (she gave one person a quick peck on the mouth and another a peck on the cheek, but that's it). Doesn't stop [[{{Jerkass}} Luann]] from constantly implying that Tiffany is the [[ReallyGetsAround village bicycle]] though, even after Tiffany receives some CharacterDevelopment and becomes friendlier with the main characters. Since the 2014 status quo reset, this aspect has largely been dropped; not only is every character except Luann herself [[note]]as well as Bernice, as confirmed by [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2022/04/27 this strip]] where she says that "I would never go there" when she feels that she's being suspected of having sex.[[/note]] sexually active, it's treated pretty much exactly as people in the real 21st-century world would react to adult college students having sex with their monogamous romantic partners - in other words, as fully expected and usually unremarkable. |
| 324 | ** The "perpetual virgin Luann" stuff is still going on indefinitely though: unlike everyone else, she treated the idea of Gunther and his girlfriend Bets being sexually active as a huge scandal, and started asking around behind his back to try and confirm if it was actually happening. Most of the people she asked failed to see why it was such a huge deal (while Gunther himself was annoyed at Luann's invasion of his privacy). Emotionally, Luann is still basically a 1950s "boy crazy" 12-year-old who spends all her waking time obsessed with the abstract idea of making every male she meets into her boyfriend, but rarely dates and never would even consider having sex. Juxtaposing this with everyone else in the strip being a realistic 21st-century adult has made her character even more jarringly weird than it was before. |
| 325 | * SmallNameBigEgo: Vanity, thy name is Tiffany Farrell. |
| 326 | * SmallReferencePools / GeekReferencePool: Played straight. Any pop culture references are mainstream, with any more obscure ones used because a Hollywood film about it came out recently. Anything Gunther and Bets reference falls under this as well. |
| 327 | * TheSnackIsMoreInteresting: A non-food variant: Tiffany is constantly shown touching up her makeup during conversations instead of giving the other person her full attention, just to emphasize what a shallow AlphaBitch she is. This trait of hers has seen less use since she entered college and gained some CharacterDevelopment. |
| 328 | * TheSociopath: Ann Eiffel is definitely this. Stef shows signs of this as well. |
| 329 | * SpecialGuest: ClayAiken, [[Series/TheTonightShow Jay Leno]], Creator/BenAffleck, [[Magazine/{{Playboy}} Hugh Hefner]], President UsefulNotes/BarackObama, Creator/LukePerry, UsefulNotes/BillGates, and Music/RickyMartin have all made cameo appearances in the strip. |
| 330 | * SpitTake: Bernice does one after hearing that Brad's boss at Weenie World is Ann Eiffel, her old bad boss at Borderline Books. |
| 331 | * SpoiledBrat: Shannon is a [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed Example]]. Her father leaves her with Toni every chance he gets, and since Toni is an ExtremeDoormat in regards to her brother and niece she just lets the kid do whatever she wants. As a result, Shannon has become fairly well-behaved over time... but only because everyone caters to her whims. The few times she ''doesn't'' get her way she throws a massive tantrum, but all the adults in the strip merely grit their teeth and suffer through it (or simply cave in to her) rather than admonish or discipline her. So it's downplayed in that nowadays she only acts like a brat during those times where she's not being spoiled. |
| 332 | * SpotlightStealingSquad: |
| 333 | ** After 2001, Brad started playing a much more major role in the strip, leading to several case(s) wherein weeks would pass and the titular character doesn't even appear. However, the Brad shown [[CharacterDevelopment after 2000 is NOT the same Brad seen in the 80s and 90s]]. Granted, Brad-centric arc(s) had existed before the 00s, but they became much more common after Brad started training to be a firefighter. After he got married and thus concluded his WillTheyOrWontThey with Toni, that changed. Shannon has since inherited the position from him, dominating every storyarc featuring Brad and Toni, and even frequently appearing in Luann's home (presumably being babysat by her, but an explanation is rarely given for her presence). |
| 334 | ** Since 2015 Bernice has surpassed Luann herself as the primary viewpoint character of the strip: even storyarcs that start with Luann as the focus tend to shift over to Bernice's viewpoint by the end. Odd for a character so underdeveloped that her own home life and parents have never been seen, as her primary function in high school had been to serve as a snarky sounding board for Luann's various problems (though the "unseen home life" problem was solved in 2020 by having her [[StayingWithFriends move in with the Degroots]]). |
| 335 | ** Tiffany gained more focus after her CharacterDevelopment in college, even having longer story arcs focusing on her. |
| 336 | * SquashedFlat: |
| 337 | ** A week long story focuses on Luann getting run over by a skateboard and her classmates playing with her flattened form. [[spoiler: It ended up [[ItWasAllADream being a bad dream]].]] |
| 338 | ** Also used for a VisualPun in this [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2003/02/23 strip]]. |
| 339 | * StalkingIsFunnyIfItIsFemaleAfterMale: Bernice's stalking of Piro is played for laughs, as is Tiffany's spying on Kip. |
| 340 | %%* StepfordSmiler: Possible that TJ may be a male example. |
| 341 | * StillbornFranchise: In-universe example with the Elwood-backed ''Eyes Of Zeye'' movie which Tiffany auditions for (she eventually gets a very small role which lands on the cutting room floor, but she does get to model as Zeye at the screening); it previews so disastrously -- in addition to the implications of a TroubledProduction -- that it's immediately shelved. |
| 342 | * StringingTheHopelessSuitorAlong: Luann did this to Gunther in high school, as she didn't want to date him but still enjoyed the ego boost of having an admirer. She would get extremely possessive and jealous if it looked like Gunther might find love elsewhere. |
| 343 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Whenever Aaron Hill moves out of the picture (moves away or just has a falling out with Luann), there will be some other new boy. A lifeguard (who turns out to be married) or an exchange student (who eventually moves back), or something like that. In high school Luann was simply incapable of ''not'' obsessing over some boy. Quill, an Australian transfer student, was Aaron's replacement in terms of looks and attractiveness. He was also the closest to starting a real relationship with Luann, and almost immediately put on a plane back to Australia the minute they started kissing. They did become a couple when he returned to the States and started living at Gunther's house. |
| 344 | ** Averted with Jack, who wasn't a carbon copy of Aaron Hill, and, as such, [[TheNotLoveInterest wasn't Luann's love interest]]. That honor went to [[TheBusCameBack Piro]], who is now involved in a love triangle with her and Bernice. |
| 345 | * TakeBackYourGift: When Quill and Luann started becoming serious as a couple (and while he was still worried about suddenly being called back to Australia) he gave her a necklace with a boomerang pendant, signifying in his words "I'll always come back to you." When she later broke up with him he insisted that she'd eventually be back, to which she responded by throwing the necklace in his face and walking out the door. |
| 346 | * TamerAndChaster: The main female cast began dressing a lot more conservatively after starting college (possibly due to Karen Evans's influence as writer.) Best illustrated when looking at the main cast's choice of swimsuits in [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2011/06/05 high school]] versus [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2023/08/02 college]]. |
| 347 | * TechnicalEuphemism: When Luann questions [[{{Jerkass}} Bernice]] about why she's claiming she just wants to be friends with her past LoveInterest Piro yet is ignoring him completely (not even responding to a letter he asked Luann to deliver, inviting her for coffee), Bernice says "I'm not ignoring. I'm responding with constructive selectivity." |
| 348 | * TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Most male characters other than Aaron Hill are given dots for eyes, big round noses and simplistically-shaped bodies. The women almost always have full figures, pouty lips, droopy/sexy eyes, etc. Unusually, Luann herself doesn't share this, having a big round head and nose with a line for a mouth. |
| 349 | * ThisLoserIsYou: Luann is depicted as a bit of an [[TheEveryman every-teen]], which apparently makes her self-centered, insecure, lazy, messy, nosy, indecisive, competitive, arrogant, inconsiderate and somewhat dimwitted, not to mention with a swack of body issues. Which is, of course, pretty accurate for a lot of teenagers. |
| 350 | * TinySchoolboy: Elwood. Even with his gigantic pompadour, he barely reaches Luann's shoulder (and Luann is of average height). |
| 351 | * TokenMinority: |
| 352 | ** Friend Delta James is black (which never plays into her character at all), and Zane, Bernice's wheelchair-bound crush. |
| 353 | ** For a while, there used to be a foreign exchange student from Spain named Miguel, who was depicted as AmbiguouslyBrown. |
| 354 | ** Rosa, the girl who won the school beauty pageant, is not only pretty but (for some reason) attracted to Gunther. Gunther, who's been attracted to Luann (for some reason) for so long, has no idea what to think. They eventually became an OfficialCouple but later broke up. |
| 355 | ** Stef's boyfriend Kip is the only Asian member of the cast. |
| 356 | * TookALevelInKindness: |
| 357 | ** Toni took this when she finally broke up with Dirk and started dating Brad, no longer playing mind games with him. |
| 358 | ** Tiffany experienced this after the move to college, and especially after her weight gain. |
| 359 | * ToxicFriendInfluence: |
| 360 | ** TJ fulfills this role with Brad. He has gotten Brad into trouble with his borderline illegal schemes and other inappropriate behavior. However, he has done other things that were nice, and it's been implied he has ParentalAbandonment issues... doesn't justify the borderline illegal schemes, though. It should be noted that sometimes those schemes crossed over from "borderline illegal" into [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/1994/12/13 full-on criminal behavior]]. |
| 361 | ** Tara is this for Luann, constantly getting her to commit petty crimes, even getting her fired from her daycare job. |
| 362 | * TrashOfTheTitans: Luann's bedroom. Downplayed in that while her room is littered with clothes, uneaten food and various clutter, it's not entirely unlivable. Even so, it causes Luann's parents no end of grief and is the subject of ''many'' standalone SundayStrip gags. |
| 363 | * TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: When Shannon is practicing her dance routine for the talent show, Tiffany says her dance should be more sultry, and even dresses her up like a Toddlers and Tiaras contestant. When Luann questions her about this, she says she was doing that when she was Shannon's age. Shannon is ''six''. |
| 364 | * UglyGuyHotWife: Frank and Nancy [=DeGroot=], Luann's parents, qualify because of TertiarySexualCharacteristics (she has eyelashes, lipstick and a feminine physique, while he is pudgy, bald with a big cartoony nose and dots for eyes). But the crown of this trope definitely goes to Brad and eventual wife Toni Daytona, for similar reasons, but also the sheer unreal beauty Toni's given beyond just lipstick and eyeliner. She's tall, thin, pouty-lipped and droopy-eyed beyond every other character, and Brad until recently has been a cartoonishly pudgy guy with a big round head and "scribble hair". |
| 365 | ** Actually gender-switched with Luann and Aaron Hill slightly, as she more resembles the males in terms of cartoonish features for the most part (unless she dolls herself up), and he's a stereotypical dewey, flaxen-haired teen idol look-alike. |
| 366 | * UnlimitedWardrobe: You rarely see any female character in the same outfit twice. |
| 367 | * UnPerson: Prudence was wiped from the cast's collective memories after she moved out of the Degroot house in April 2020. Not only was she never mentioned again after the immediately-following storyarc (where Frank and Nancy looked for a way to generate income to replace the rent they'd been getting from Pru), but then a mere 3 months later when Bernice took over Pru's bedroom, everyone acted as if nobody had lived in there since Brad moved out. Frank even remarked on how weird it was to now have a female living in his house who wasn't related to him. |
| 368 | * UnseenNoMore: Tiffany's dad is finally shown in full in a 2020 storyline after years of being TheFaceless. |
| 369 | ** Luann's parents also had this happen. |
| 370 | * UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Luann and Bernice can drift into this at times. Tiffany is ''definitely'' this, though slightly less so after her character development. Trying to steal her roommate's boyfriend away from her (multiple times even!) is a prime example. |
| 371 | ** All three of them are this during Summer 2023. They all perv on Kip, with only Tiffany showing any signs of guilt. Luann and Bernice even try justifying this by saying that [[InsaneTrollLogic they can get away with it because they're single!]] |
| 372 | * VagueAge: After the first semester of college passed in 2014, the strip has avoided ever stating what year Luann and her friends are actually ''in''. It's led to a few questions from readers about how Bernice could be an RA if ComicBookTime means she's still supposed to be a freshman, and about how long Luann plans to attend junior college before attempting a transfer to a 4-year university. |
| 373 | * WeightWoe: Tiffany gains a ''lot'' of weight in college, mainly due to unhappiness with her home life stemming from ParentalNeglect. It gets so bad that she starts taking all of her courses online so she won't have to leave her dorm room. |
| 374 | * WeWillMeetAgain: After T.J. got Ann Eiffel out of her job at Weenie World, her parting words were "You haven't seen the last of me!" It would take a while, but she returned to the strip in 2017. |
| 375 | * WhamLine: [[http://www.gocomics.com/luann/2010/04/17 "Tiffany, have you ever had a boyfriend? A real one?"]] (she confirms the impact three strips later to Crystal) |
| 376 | * WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Why Tiffany wants to seduce Kip, besides jealousy of Stef and Kip being hot, is a mystery, as Kip has no real personality. |
| 377 | * WhatTheHellHero: Tiffany calls out Luann and Bernice for perving on Kip when they already have love interests. |
| 378 | * WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: It's never been stated where the comic takes place, but several clues (no snow during winter, proximity to Las Vegas) suggest it might be in California. Later this was seemingly confirmed when Brad and Toni have dinner at [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2013/04/01 Le Petit Château]], a (former; it has since closed down) [[https://foursquare.com/lepetitc2157775 Los Angeles landmark.]] |
| 379 | * WhoWouldWantToWatchUs: In [[https://www.gocomics.com/luann/1993/05/04 this strip.]] |
| 380 | -->'''Luann:''' You don't think my life would make a good comic strip? |
| 381 | -->'''Bernice:''' Luann, I'm your best friend, and ''I'' wouldn't even want to read it. |
| 382 | * WithFriendsLikeThese: |
| 383 | ** Luann occasionally enters into this territory with Bernice and Delta (especially Bernice, who usually gets the last word). Bernice is definitely this to Luann, never once saying a nice thing about her. |
| 384 | ** Crystal and Tiffany's friendship consists mainly of Crystal making sarcastic and/or insulting comments in response to whatever Tiffany is talking about at the moment. To be fair though, Tiffany seems to use Crystal [[ItsAllAboutMe only as a sounding board for her own problems, never once showing interest in what may be happening in her best friend's life.]] However, one comic shows that Crystal and Tiffany actually have moments of supporting and complimenting each other, contrasted with Bernice constantly cutting down Luann's confidence. |
| 385 | *** Though it should be noted that Luann and Bernice have remained friends even while attending different colleges, with Bernice eventually moving into Luann’s house. Meanwhile, Crystal and Tiffany (whose school situation mirrored Bernice and Luann) eventually drifted apart after high school. |
| 386 | * WomenAreWiser: Not as an absolute thing; there are some very mature guys and some very flawed girls. However, if you put the characters into male-female pairs who often interact, you usually find that the woman is more sensible and less ditzy than the man. Luann and Toni are both wiser than Brad, Nancy is wiser than Frank, Ms. Phelps is wiser than Mr. Fogarty, etc. The only aversion to this is Gunther and Bets. Gunther has more of a head on his shoulders, while Bets is more flawed. |
| 387 | * WorldOfJerkass: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. Being written like a sitcom, everyone has moments of cruelty. The only exceptions to this are [[FlawlessToken Delta]], [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Knute]], [[GranolaGirl Dez]] and [[GentleGiant Ox]]. |
| 388 | * YankTheDogsChain: When he was first starting to court Toni, Brad got her to agree to meet him at an auto show, but when he got there, he freaked out and left without meeting her when he saw her with a handsome guy. Toni later explained the guy was her brother. Then Brad got to meet for the first time Toni's ''real'' boyfriend, Dirk. |
| 389 | ** Gunther and Bets finally get to go on a road trip together and have some time to themselves... and then Bets dumps him. |
| 390 | * YouAreFat: [[HateSink Stef]] blatantly fat shames Dez and Tiffany on at least two separate occassions. |
| 391 | * YouJustToldMe: This is how Luann found out that Tiffany was the anonymous student who recorded her teachers dancing on chaperone duty during the dance, as she "claimed credit" for it to see her reaction. After Tiffany blurted out that she did it and not Luann, Luann quipped that her tricking her was very easy. |
| 392 | * YouthfulFreckles: Tara sports these. Luann had these too, in the early years. |
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