Line #62 Webcomic/Marilith


1	''Marilith'' is a work by Krazy Krow, the author of ''{{Webcomic/Krakow}}'', ''{{Webcomic/Spinnerette}}'', and ''Charliehorse''. It is split into two series, which are quite different in art style and tone.
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3	''Krakow 2.0'' is full of CrossesTheLineTwice BlackHumor. Marilith Millions is an assassin who plans to get rich by kidnapping a wealthy heiress. But what seems like ASimplePlan soon goes off the rails, and Marilith finds herself the target of not just the police, but also bounty hunters and her own boss.
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5	''Marilith'' is a much [[CerebusSyndrome darker and more dramatic]] continuation of the story. Marilith has grown tired of the trade and is looking to retire to Argentina. However, her retirement plans face an obstacle: an old nemesis who will stop at nothing to kill her before she has the chance to slip away.
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7	Read ''Krakow 2.0'' [[http://www.marilith.com/krakow2/archive.php?date=20011106 here]].\
8	Read ''Marilith'' [[http://www.marilith.com/archive.php?date=20041215 here]].
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10	----
11	!!This work contains examples of:
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13	* AlliterativeName: Marilith Millions (though she admits in ''Marilith'' that Millions isn't her real last name).
14	* ArtEvolution: The art improves dramatically from ''Krakow 2.0'' to ''Marilith''.
15	%%* AxeCrazy: Valentino
16	%%* BackAlleyDoctor: the Doctor
17	%%* BaldOfEvil: Stark the bodyguard
18	* BodyguardBetrayal: Stark killing his old boss and joining Valentino
19	* TheCasanova: Whenever Marshall Hunter appears, there's usually a woman fawning over him
20	* CerebusSyndrome: ''Marilith'', though it has moments of comedy, is on the whole far more dramatic than ''Krakow 2.0''.
21	* ChurchMilitant: The Nazi-killing nun from whom Marilith and Christi inherited their guns of choice.
22	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Kimiko's response to Marilith pulling a butterfly knife out of her "pants" and stabbing a guard to death? Pointing out she's wearing a skirt not pants.
23	* CowboyCop: Mark Wong has a reputation as this, leading his boss to assign Christi to be his partner in the hope she'll rein him in.
24	%%* CuteBruiser: Aiko
25	%%* DeadlyGraduation: Valentino
26	* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler:Valentino is implied to be one, probably at least since her DeadlyGraduation. She actually thanks Marilith for pumping her full of lead.]]
27	* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Marilith is dismissive upon hearing about a female teacher who raped a male student. Kimiko knows better.
28	* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:Christi O'Reilly, to persuade Marilith to give up her life of assassination.]]
29	* FiveFingerFillet: When Dim and Vics are introduced, Vics stabs himself while doing this.
30	%%* FriendlySniper: Kimiko
31	* GirlsWithMoustaches: Marilith wears a fake beard and moustache as part of her Colonel Sanders disguise during a bank robbery.
32	* GloryHound: Marshall Hunter, head of the Hunter Knights. He thinks of himself as one of the good guys, but he's really in the business for the media attention, and it shows when it drives him to do stupid, dangerous, and illegal things.
33	* GratuitousJapanese: Kimko's outburst of kawaii on meeting Minh, she is Japanese so possibly justified.
34	* HitmanWithAHeart: Marilith, though she only rarely shows it.
35	* HospitalHottie: Nurse Wendy
36	* IgnoredEpiphany: Marshall Hunter realizes he's no longer in the business to do the right thing, and has become a [[GloryHound "media-whore"]]. He decides to disband his mercenary group and join the police, and encourages his comrades to do the same. Well, at least until ten seconds later when he hears that Marilith is still around, and proceeds to lie, torture, and otherwise break the law in order to bring her down.
37	* ImprovisedWeapon: When she's not using a gun or axe, Valentino can kill with a belt or a pencil. Marilith herself is no slouch with gumballs or baby Jesus. ItMakesSenseInContext.
38	* InLoveWithYourCarnage: Valentino to Marilith. Kimiko to Marilith too, for that matter.
39	* InterrogatedForNothing: Marshall Hunter's men torture Minh for information of Marilith's whereabouts, which he genuinely doesn't know.
40	* ItsPersonal: Valentino deliberately [[InvokedTrope invokes this]] to prevent Marilith from running away without a final confrontation. It doesn't work on Marilith, but it does on [[spoiler:Kimiko]], and [[ConscienceMakesYouGoBack Marilith loves her more than she fears death]].
41	* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Mark Wong has a reputation for this, though he claims he's put those days behind him. This history comes in quite handy when he needs to intimidate [[his corrupt boss]], who is finally convinced and starts spilling the beans when while [[DigYourOwnGrave being forced to dig his own grave]] he uncovers a skeleton.
42	* JumpedAtTheCall: Kimiko is nothing less that delighted when Marilith shoots some of her teachers and kidnaps her, claiming the teachers were harsh and the students bullied her. Not even ''[[AnArmAndALeg losing her arm]]'' (hit by a truck when she wouldn't pull it inside the car window) is enough to dampen her spirits, and she continues to try to convince Marilith, Vic, and Dime to let her be an assassin too, stealing guns to play with at every opportunity. [[spoiler:She finally gets her wish at the end of ''Krakow 2.0'', when Marilith accepts her as a partner. In ''Marilith'' she gets trained in pistols and sniper rifles, and plays a pivotal role in most of Marilith's fights and plans.]]
43	* LaughingMad: In the flashback to Valentino's childhood, you can see the moment she completely snaps.
44	* LesYay: Kimiko is explicitly in love with Marilith in ''Krakow 2.0''; this is toned down to subtext in ''Marilith''.
45	* LimaSyndrome: While StockholmSyndrome is clearly not the main influence on Kimiko (see JumpedAtTheCall above), its counterpart LimaSyndrome definitely seems to be in play on Marilith. Over the course of ''Krakow 2.0'' she goes from unceasingly annoyed by her hostage Kimiko to [[spoiler:willing to sign on with [[InLoveWithYourCarnage Valentino]] if she'll wait long enough for Marilith to get Kimiko's arm fixed, giving up on her dream of retirement. And then when Valentino explains she's just going to kill Kimiko, Marilith flings herself back into the fight despite being down a toe, gushing blood, and armed only with the two halves of baby Jesus (ItMakesSenseInContext).]]
46	* LovelyAngels: Marilith and Kimiko.
47	* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: In ''Krakow 2.0'', Kimiko's response to having her arm torn off by a truck is to ask a question about Marilith's threat to tear off said arm a few moments before.
48	* MexicanStandoff: Occurs several times. Marilith notes her dislike of them.
49	* MyFistForgivesYou: Well, technically she used her [[http://www.marilith.com/archive.php?date=20080424 rifle butt]].
50	-->'''Kimiko''': Apology accepted.
51	* NeverHurtAnInnocent: '''Averted'''. Marilith charges less to assassinate people she regards as villainous, but she ''will'' kill innocents if paid enough. [[spoiler:Or if tricked into doing so.]]
52	* NoKillLikeOverkill: [[spoiler:Valentino is sniped in the head and then shot about 15 times.]] May be justified, since that person survived [[spoiler:Kimiko slitting her throat]] before, and did in fact live long enough to give a few more lines.
53	* NothingPersonal: Stark says this when he betrays Krystiyan.
54	* ObliviousToLove: Minh is either this or trying to let [[spoiler:Aiko]] down gently, as he's already head-over-heels for Marilith.
55	* PayEvilUntoEvil: Marilith is fond of this, charging less to assassinate evil people.
56	* PreMortemOneLiner: To a school shooter attempting to surrender.
57	-->'''Marilith''': Gimme your driver's license. It says here you're an organ donor, Nick. Congratulations, you're going to ''save'' a few lives today.
58	* ProfessionalKiller: Marilith
59	* PsychoForHire: Valentino
60	* RapeAsBackstory: [[spoiler:Valentino was raped as part of the training to turn her into a perfect assassin.]]
61	* RidiculouslyHumanRobot: Aiko. Looks just like a human, has nerves in her 'flesh', and appears to be capable of both grudges and infatuation. And goes down when hit by a taser.
62	* ShoutOut: Several. Valentino explicitly references the torture scene in ''Film/ReservoirDogs'', and the church where the final gunfight takes place is identical to the one from episode 5 of ''Anime/CowboyBebop''.
63	* ASimplePlan: A persistent and frequent problem. Really an entire page could be dedicated to this.
64	** Kidnap the heir to a major corporation, ransom her back to her father, and [[OneLastJob use the money to finally retire in Argentina]]. What could go wrong? Well, the subject could [[AnArmAndALeg lose her arm]] in a freak accident, forcing you to take more jobs to buy her a new one. And the time this costs you could result in cops, mercenaries in their employ, and a PsychoForHire who's InLoveWithYourCarnage all coming after you and her. And that could cause multiple shoot-outs, [[MexicanStandoff Mexican stand-offs]], and general drama and chaos, culminating in [[spoiler:a climactic series of battles where you get sliced with a fire ax, shot in the stomach, attacked by the hostage's father wielding a katana, and ultimately adopt the hostage and flee for your lives, leaving behind the man who loves you before he can [[CantSpitItOut spit it out]]]]! [[BlatantLies Hypothetically speaking]].
65	** Rob a bank to quickly solve your financial woes? Would have gone off without a hitch, except [[spoiler:Marshall Hunter visits that same bank while they're still there, effectively preventing their retreat and actually intervening when a hostage decides ''now'' is the ideal time to commit suicide]].
66	** Contract on an unarmed homeless guy who is nonetheless too sick and twisted to be put into words? [[spoiler:[[LuredIntoATrap Not only was the guy innocent, turns out your employer was actually Valentino]], a PsychoForHire who's InLoveWithYourCarnage and a firm believer in JoinOrDie]].
67	** Take out a contract on a teacher who molests her students? [[spoiler:Three teenagers have chosen ''today'' to [[FameThroughInfamy become famous by shooting up the school]]]].
68	** One of Marilith's employers is smart or GenreSavvy enough to have contingency plans for this, namely Marilith herself purchased as "insurance". Sure enough, the car-bomb fails to kill the target, and while Marilith is more than capable of finishing the job, she has to shoot through quite a lot of people, including [[spoiler:the partner of Christi]], who goes on to become a [[ItsPersonal persistent thorn in Marilith's side]] [[spoiler: but eventually also teams up for EnemyMine, so this one actually worked out okay.]]
69	** It's simple. Rob the head of the local Russian Mafia; you've literally done this before. Except [[spoiler:it results in a MexicanStandOff, and then the guy has a heart attack right in front of you.]] And he was poor anyways, because [[spoiler:Valentino]] has been taking over the organized crime so as to better [[ItsPersonal hunt you down]]. [[spoiler:This one also results in an EnemyMine team up against BigBad Valentino]].
70	** Rob the BigBad's armored car. Goes off without a hitch, and the BigBad even shows some previously unseen BenevolentBoss traits, telling her men not to sacrifice their lives for nothing. [[spoiler:Because this is AllAccordingToPlan, and she is ''inside the back of the fucking car, with a machine gun.'']]
71	* SociopathicHero: Marilith kills without remorse.
72	* StartOfDarkness: "Chapter Zero" shows Valentino's.
73	* StockholmSyndrome: Most assume Kimiko has this for Marilith, but see JumpedAtTheCall above. The way Minh's parents fell in love is a straighter example, bonding over "little things" like how she arranged his gruel into a smiley face, but they are in love and happily (and apparently healthily) married decades later, so ThePowerOfLove may be a better explanation.
74	* TooDumbToLive: Kimiko's father claims this [[InTheBlood runs in the family]]. His father charged an American army with nothing but a katana. He spent all his time building his company for Kimiko to inherit, [[ParentalNeglect rather than being there for her as a father]]. And Kimiko [[spoiler:loves Marilith]].
75	* TrainingFromHell: Valentino underwent this.
76	* {{Tykebomb}}: Valentino was raised from childhood to be an assassin, in a way reminiscent of ''Film/NakedWeapon'', complete with rape and DeadlyGraduation. No wonder she turned PsychoForHire!
77	* VillainProtagonist: Marilith, but again, she isn't the most evil character in these comics.
78	* WorldOfActionGirls: Marshall does get his share of the spotlight, but Valentino, Marilith, and even the barely-trained Kimiko overshine him.
79	* YouAndWhatArmy: Aiko demands this of Marshall Hunter. Of course, he calls in the Hunter Knights by way of response.
80	* YouHaveFailedMe: [[spoiler:How Marshall Hunter meets his end, after unwisely [[TooDumbToLive allying with Valentino]] and then being unable to deliver. She claims she would have forgiven that, but he also gets cold feet]].
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Context Webcomic / Marilith