| 1 | %% |
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| 3 | %% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them. |
| 4 | %% |
| 5 | %% |
| 6 | [[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/subnormality_3.png]] |
| 7 | |
| 8 | ''Subnormality'' is a webcomic with [[SpeechCentricWork a whole lot of words]] created by Winston Rowntree. Created in 2007, this comic is a [[DeconstructorFleet Deconstruction parade,]] where the author deconstructs everything from video game characters to tropes themselves, such as CannotSpitItOut. Most of the events appear to take place in the city of Toronto, although other locales are used, such as Hell or some undefined time in the past. Some of his works are hilarious, some are depressing, and others are all over the spectrum, where the comic and your reactions change by the panel. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | Rowntree also writes the irregularly updated sister comic ''Webcomic/{{Abnormality}}'' for Website/{{Cracked}}; [[http://www.cracked.com/members/WinstonRowntree/ it's accessible from Rowntree's author page.]] Its strips are narrower (to fit the website's layout), generally shorter and rarely plot-driven. Many of them are humorous infographics. For convenience all page images taken from ''Abnormality'' link to this page. He also contributes to Cracked's ''WebVideo/AfterHours'' series, providing illustrations for Michael's brain. Also on Cracked's Youtube channel is Winston's animated web-series ''WebAnimation/PeopleWatching'', which deals in similar themes. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ''Subnormality'' can be found [[http://www.viruscomix.com/subnormality.html here]]. |
| 13 | ---- |
| 14 | !!Provides examples of: |
| 15 | * AdamWesting: Cited [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page434.html here]], as "The Emperor has no clothes -- and he knows it. But he's not pretending to have clothes, and he plays to the crowd, who appreciate his honesty." |
| 16 | * AffablyEvil: The Sphynx is an unapologetic man-eater, but is ''usually'' rather polite. (And she [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page467.html got upset once]] because [[WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency no-one appreciated it]].) |
| 17 | * AfraidOfBlood: Roundtree [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-responses-to-sexism-that-just-make-everything-worse declares]] that he "faints at even the ''description'' of blood." This factoid is also incorporated in [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page571.html this strip]] in reversed text. |
| 18 | %%* AltText: Occasionally. |
| 19 | * AlternateHistory: Various popular counterfactual scenarios are displayed in the [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page533.html Museum of the Theoretical]], such as what humans would look like if Neanderthals had become Earth's dominant species or a map of Operation Downfall, a land invasion of Japan that in real life was scrapped in favor of the atomic bombs. |
| 20 | * AlternateUniverse: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page338.html One where your size is proportional to your intelligence.]] |
| 21 | %%* AndIMustScream: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page421.html Apparently the source of those little figurines]]. |
| 22 | * AngryChef: In [[https://viruscomix.com/page424.html comic 424]], the waitress describes the restaurant's cook as a huge skinhead with a hair-trigger temper and a tendency to headbutt people and throw kitchen appliances at waiters who get on his nerves. |
| 23 | * AnthropomorphicPersonification: Various times. Hollywood is a giant brightly colored man who steals books, television is a woman who tells amazing stories before suddenly screaming at her friends for all their imperfections for two minutes, and the News Media is a really depressing and weirdly spiritual boyfriend. |
| 24 | * ArtisticLicence: All in the name of humor of course. One of the early comics shows the Sphinx killing Theatre/OedipusRex, then when Jocasta comes running [[EvenEvilHasStandards being outraged at the fact that she stooped to marrying her own son]]. Aside from the DeathByAdaptation bit, neither character was aware of their blood relationship until TheReveal, and they didn't get married until after Oedipus solved the riddle of the Sphinx. |
| 25 | * AuthorAppeal: Most of the comic's women are drawn with hairy arms and legs. |
| 26 | * AssholeVictim: In [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page430.html this strip]], one wonders why ''anyone'' would agree to pay five dollars for a snow removal service that will heavily damage the property in the process -- then you see who the house ''belongs'' to. |
| 27 | -->'''Mrs. Smith''': Five dollars?! Well it's coming out of your pay! Clearing the walk is supposed to be '''your''' job, Luisa! Did you weasel out of your snow shoveling in La Paz, too?\ |
| 28 | '''Luisa''': Come here, Janey! Let's go to the basement for a second! |
| 29 | * BaitAndSwitch: |
| 30 | ** [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page529.html This strip]] begins by focusing on a suave, James Bond-esque figure while the narration describes the life of a spy. The ending shows that the man being focused on is just some guy, and the spy is a very forgettable man in the background. |
| 31 | ** [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page558.html This strip]] starts out looking like it's about how society turns a blind eye to the homeless, but is actually about how it's LonelyAtTheTop. |
| 32 | * BeautyEqualsGoodness: Characters with selfish and mean interiors have wrinkled faces, snout noses, and/or pointed teeth. Characters meant to be bland and generic will look exactly that. Sympathetic characters, even those employed by hell, will either be beautiful or UglyCute. Curiously, this actually works well within the comic's style. The artist clearly enjoys drawing grotesque, insane things. One notable exception to this is the author self-insert comics, Rowntree seems to be happy to depict himself honestly. And, well, for the sake of politeness lets just say he's not exactly a super-model. |
| 33 | * BeneathNotice: One strip begins by focusing on a glamorous James Bond-like man while the narration describes the lifestyle of a spy. The ending reveals that the actual spy is a very plain, forgettable man that nobody really pays attention to, aiding him in his job. |
| 34 | -->And I don't [[HiddenInPlainSight hide in plain sight]]. I don't hide at all. I just live in the blind spots that everyone has -- the places you would never look because you assume -- you '''know''' -- nothing could be there. You can fit quite the little career in a blind spot. |
| 35 | * BeliefMakesYouStupid: Let's just say that Winston is definitely one of ''those'' atheists, though it doesn't come up much. |
| 36 | * BenevolentBoss: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page477.html Deconstructed]]. They're actually the ''worst'' kind when you have a terrible job, since they make you feel good about it in spite of things. |
| 37 | %%* BlackComedy: Pretty much the whole idea of the strip. |
| 38 | * BlatantLies: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page517.html The Sphynx, after saving a woman's life]], tries to pass it off as an attempt to show that she's evil after all because she, uh, can recognize the value of human life and just chooses to ignore it when she's hungry. The woman doesn't buy it. |
| 39 | * BlueAndOrangeMorality: The Sphynx, apparently. It's fine for her to kill and eat people since she's not human, whereas a human cannibal is shown to have ended up in Hell. Her "reasoning" [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page517.html is that she's simply higher on the food chain]]. Of course, the Sphynx isn't actually dead yet. |
| 40 | * BreadEggsMilkSquick: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page403.html In one strip]], a spa employee is giving a new visitor an introductory speech in which she quickly slips in a mention that, if you through the wrong door in the spa, they sacrifice you to a dark god. |
| 41 | * BreakingTheFourthWall: |
| 42 | ** [[GratuitousNinja The Truth Ninja]] [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page455.html helps a couple avoid a serial killer]] by tossing a throwing star at a sign the killer is using to lure people. This forms an asterisk, creating a footnote beneath the comic that says what the killer is doing and alters the passers-by. |
| 43 | ** After a pair of friends discuss how small changes can change the timeline in [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page556.html "Consequences"]], one of them pokes her head through the side of a panel to look at the rest of the strip where the aftereffects of her action of throwing an apple core into the bushes are mapped out. |
| 44 | * BrickJoke: |
| 45 | ** [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page499.html Sexy Theodore Roosevelt]]. [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page557.html We know. He was sexy to begin with.]] |
| 46 | ** Bernard and his red-haired accomplice from "Bernard" (comic #69) reappear as the men running the booth in "The Superconvenient Nonreligious Confessional" (comic #203). A throwaway line establishes that Bernard's first business had made him independently wealthy. |
| 47 | ** One of the biggest ones [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page586.html when the Joleco Pet Store owner finally returns for his "dog."]] |
| 48 | * BrutalHonesty: |
| 49 | ** Exemplified by a great many of the characters in [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page466.html "The Service."]] |
| 50 | ** ''Every single thing'' that appears in the [[MeaningfulName appropriately titled]] [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page439.html "Not Worth It!"]] |
| 51 | * ButterflyOfDoom: Present in [http://www.viruscomix.com/page556.html "Consequences"]] literally as the mark of possibilities. Also along one of the pathways; if the apple core distracts the butterfly then a typhoon is averted for now. |
| 52 | * CasualTimeTravel: Among other instances, to AncientEgypt. [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page475.html "People will travel back in time to previous eras and blend in with the locals because even a theocratic Bronze Age dictatorship seems more sophisticated than their own society sometimes."]] |
| 53 | * CerebusSyndrome: The comic's gotten far less lighthearted and more serious as it went on. Nowadays it is rare to see the campy style of the early comics. |
| 54 | * CharacterDevelopment: Exhibited by a few of the recurring characters. Compare the Sphinx [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page332.html here]] and [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page521.html here]]. |
| 55 | * CrapsackWorld: Well, it does seem like roughly half the population of this place consists of evil beings who try to lure the other half to their doom. But not all of them are mean about it. |
| 56 | * CurseCutShort: The damned soul in "[[http://www.viruscomix.com/page518.html This Job Is Hell]]" displays one of these on his ''shirt'', which shows what he's [[OhCrap currently thinking]]. |
| 57 | * CuteMonsterGirl: Some of the demons in hell. Except when they find out the damned souls are liking it, at which point they can turn frumpy just to screw with them. And the Sphynx, who looks awfully cute even as she thinks up new ways to devour humans. |
| 58 | * DeconstructorFleet: As stated above. ''Tons'' of tropes are deconstructed. |
| 59 | * {{Demonization}}: Apparently, UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher is a [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Xenomorph]] who is [[SincerityMode obsessed with nuclear weapons]]. UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan, on the other hand, prefers to express himself through [[VillainSong freestyle rap]]. The joke being that both were run through an "exaggeration engine" thus apparently explaining their grotesque forms and bizarre behavior... only to be revealed that said engine wasn't even turned on, which only somewhat destroys the point. |
| 60 | * DespairEventHorizon: Aside from "Not Worth It!", [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page452.html the Sphynx]] opts to use this as a means of calming her meals, making them DrivenToSuicide. Those poor baby chicks... And she [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page467.html gave up this tactic]] because people [[ConditionedToAcceptHorror no longer found her stories depressing]]. |
| 61 | * DistractedByTheSexy: The demon-date, an intellectual version. |
| 62 | * DisturbingStatistic: There's a game show called "Not Worth It" which uses this trope in its quiz questions. |
| 63 | * DominanceThroughFurniture: In a comic, an average joe goes to multiple job interviews, but keeps getting turned down. These constant failures wear him down and his posture gets worse with each new interview until he's finally so slumped over that the last manager uses him as a footrest. |
| 64 | * {{Easter Egg}}s: |
| 65 | ** The almost insane number of visual eggs that are in pretty much ''every single comic''. A very good example of this trope in action is [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page434.html The Metaphor's New Clothes]] ('''warning''': contains nudity). You can very easily use this strip as a roadmap to Rowntree's views on politics, religion, and media. |
| 66 | ** [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page533.html The Museum of the Theoretical]] has a bunch in every panel. |
| 67 | %%* EqualOpportunityOffender |
| 68 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: Sure, the Sphinx kills and usually eats passerby, but she would never dream of [[Theatre/OedipusTheKing having sex with her own son]].[[note]]Serial killers ''can'' be civic-minded, after all. [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page462.html "I may have killed and eaten five people, but I damn well cleaned up after my dog!"]][[/note]] |
| 69 | * ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: |
| 70 | ** Characters that are meant to embody an archetype, many, many names of businesses and products in the background signage, and the awards in [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page482.html this comic]]. |
| 71 | ** See also [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page410.html the No-Bullshit emporium]]. |
| 72 | * ExpositoryHairstyleChange: |
| 73 | ** In [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page522.html this strip]], the pink-haired girl's decision to quit her soul-crushing waitressing job results in her instantly getting her pink hair back. |
| 74 | ** And in [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page544.html this strip]], applying for the flight attendant job switches it back to brown. |
| 75 | * ExtremeDoormat: The Pink-Haired Girl - see TooDumbToLive for more, plus The Boardgame! |
| 76 | * FailureIsTheOnlyOption: |
| 77 | ** The entire point of "[[http://www.viruscomix.com/page518.html Can't Win]]", where a sinner insists he'll be the one to best Hell, much to the annoyance of Devil #76. [[spoiler:He doesn't.]] |
| 78 | ** The TV game show parody ''[[http://www.viruscomix.com/page439.html Not Worth It]]'' has a twist: it's actually easy to win, but it's so soul-crushingly depressing that the winners wish they hadn't played. |
| 79 | --->'''Game host:''' ''You've done it!! You've won the maximum prize money!!'' A dollar for every 50 dead Armenians! |
| 80 | * FalseReassurance: Sure, she was lying about the skinhead cook, rat poison in the soup, and rival biker gangs wrecking the place - [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page424.html but the table legs ARE made of frozen rats]]. |
| 81 | * ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself: As the demon girl puts it, "God, Halloween's fantastic. For one day you can wander around freely and everyone just thinks you're wearing a costume. It's really rather nice." Frankenstein's Monster is also showing up as himself on that occasion. |
| 82 | * FourthWallObserver: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/thugs.html This pair]] have a habit of doing so. |
| 83 | * FunnyBackgroundEvent: Rowntree likes to fill the background with various signage and headline gags. As with ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'', these are often funnier than the main dialogue or situation of a given comic, and are stuffed with GeniusBonus. |
| 84 | ** Here's a [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page502.html good example]]. Note the guy taking a picture and what happens to him. |
| 85 | ** The background of the comic under NiceJobBreakingItHero has "Pizza Building", presumably due to [[LiteralMinded Sphynx]] complaining. |
| 86 | * GenreBlind: The man in [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page404.html this strip]] thinks it a good idea to buy a newspaper with the headline "Local Man Devoured by Newspaper Box" ''from a newspaper box''. No points awarded for guessing what happens next. |
| 87 | * GodwinsLawOfTimeTravel: In full force in [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page417.html this strip]]. [[spoiler:In fact, it's used as instantly recognizable evidence that time travel has occurred.]] |
| 88 | * GoingCommando: [[MsFanservice Justine]] [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page487.html casually admits]] she lost her underwear while trying on a swimsuit and just decided to go without. "But is underwear even really necessary these days?... Maybe I'll just go ahead and 86 the panties in the future." |
| 89 | * HeroicComedicSociopath: The Sphynx kills humans all the time, but it's played for laughs. It helps that she seems to dine mainly on [[AssholeVictim Asshole Victims.]] |
| 90 | * HilariousInHindsight: InUniverse. Pointed out in the AltText for the [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page410.html 43rd strip]] concerning the appearance of one of the characters: |
| 91 | -->(for the record, this comic was drawn before i knew [[spoiler:[[{{Irony}} who sarah palin was]]]]) |
| 92 | * HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: Hitler gets frequent attempts on his life from time travelers -- all fail. However, the guard assigned to his chambers starts to wonder if maybe this is a sign that they aren't on the side of good after all. |
| 93 | -->[[http://www.viruscomix.com/page382.html "I mean, you kind of have to wonder!"]] |
| 94 | * HorsemenOfTheApocalypse: Subverted, as the Horsemen presented turn out not to be the biblical ones, but the [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page433.html Horsemen of the "Atheist" Apocalypse]], respectively [[BeliefMakesYouStupid Science, Progress, Reason, and Equality]] (UsefulNotes/RichardDawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Creator/ChristopherHitchens). Rather than heralding the end of the world, [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions they create a utopia.]] |
| 95 | * HumanityOnTrial: In [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page554.html strip #187]], the pink-haired girl is summoned to speak on her galaxy's behalf before THE EMPEROR OF THE UNIVERSE, who threatens to blow it up after getting a complaint from the next galaxy over. He spares the Milky Way galaxy after rewriting reality to make himself everyone's obnoxious boss and clients. |
| 96 | * HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Expressed by many characters, especially the Sphinx. However she does mention they have redeeming qualities in [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page521.html Monsters Playing Poker]]. |
| 97 | * IllFatedFlowerbed: {{Exploited|Trope}} in-universe in {{Hell}}: in "[[http://www.viruscomix.com/page518.html Can't Win]]", a damned soul's punishment consists of being put in an area where, no matter what he does, he will always end up enraging a large, violent man who is standing right behind him. The soul figures all he has to do to avoid this is not do or say anything... until the last panel reveals that he's standing on top of said man's flowerbed. |
| 98 | -->'''Large, violent man:''' ''MY PRIZE PETUNIAS!'' |
| 99 | * ImAHumanitarian: A guy that ends up in Hell admits to having been a cannibalistic serial killer, but [[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne denies not cleaning up after his dog]]. |
| 100 | * ImplausibleHairColor: The pink-haired girl... unless she's working at a soul-crushing job in which case it spontaneously shifts to a dull brown. |
| 101 | * InfiniteCanvas: Most entries prefer to be the standard vertical scroll. The occasional comic extends several screen-widths, in addition to several screen-heights. |
| 102 | * InnocentFanserviceGirl: There's a recurring female character (later revealed to be named Justine) who is both incredibly attractive and tends to wear very tight-fitting clothing, low-cut tops, daisy dukes, etc. However, she seems to be [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page429.html largely oblivious to the effect she has on men]], who are usually so gob-smacked by her geeky interests that they [[SpontaneousHumanCombustion spontaneously expode]]. |
| 103 | * IronicHell: On one occasion a misfile causes a guy to be signed up for the wrong ironic punishment, which is immediately corrected when he takes offense to being buried in dog feces (having always made it a point to clean up after his dog, even if he did kill five people). In another one, Hell's latest tenant frustrates the demon assigned to him for orientation because here, yet again, is some dipshit who thinks a single lifetime of being a dull little guy has given him the guile to outwit millenia-old beings who have honed the craft of eternal suffering; then his attempt to prove his point ends up seriously screwing his pooch. |
| 104 | * ItsAllAboutMe: this fitness center owner is [[https://viruscomix.com/page464.html bothered by the Sphynx's mass killing spree]] - because it's ruining his business. |
| 105 | * JackassGenie: |
| 106 | ** [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page428.html "I would like everything I could ever need!"]] |
| 107 | ** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]: "So you're one of ''[[LiteralGenie those]]'' genies." |
| 108 | * KaleidoscopeHair: The pink-haired girl switches between neon pink and brown, once in the middle of a conversation with another character. Her explanation is just "I do this a lot." |
| 109 | * LaserGuidedKarma: Occurs in an [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page576.html appropriately titled strip]]. |
| 110 | -->'''General Pete:''' So yeah, cheers! Fuckin' cheers. Here's to karma. And here's to the bullied. Because they don't need to inherit the Earth -- it's already theirs.\ |
| 111 | '''Redheaded Fan:''' Man... I fully came over here to just intensely hit on you, but now I'm too distracted by that story.\ |
| 112 | '''General Pete:''' [[LampshadeHanging So much karma...]] |
| 113 | * LikeParentLikeSpouse: Parodied in a comic which featured various mutations on spousal archetypes. The "spouse who resembles your opposite-sex parent" panel humorously insinuates that women want an affectionate man while men want a woman who manages their lives. |
| 114 | %%* LiteralMinded: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page535.html Another problem the Sphynx has with modern life]]. |
| 115 | * MedievalMorons: Lampshaded in [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page533.html this comic]]. "These are the pyramids had ancient people actually been as stupid and primitive as people assume they were". |
| 116 | * MediumAwareness: |
| 117 | ** [[http://www.viruscomix.com/thugs.html These guys]] know the title of the comic they appear in. |
| 118 | ** And [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page507.html these guys]] know what trope is being used in the comic. |
| 119 | * MeetCute: {{Deconstructed}}, then [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstructed]] in the [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page548.html comic of the same name]]. |
| 120 | * ModelScam: |
| 121 | ** [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page421.html This]] strip, which ''does'' feature a deserted warehouse. The girl in question is turned into a figurine for the Franklin Mint. |
| 122 | ** Played with [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page456.html here]], though it turns out it's not about a modeling job. It's actually [[IAmAHumanitarian much worse]]. |
| 123 | ** And the Sphynx, of all beings, [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page579.html is approached by a painter]] for this... [[spoiler: he opted to paint her as a human]]. |
| 124 | * MonsterClown: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page325.html "Heyyy kids! It's me, Sweeny the fuckin' clown! Who wants to see what the inside of a larynx looks like?"]] Also, Emil the Dancing Clown from Hell. |
| 125 | * MortonsFork: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page518.html Hell is like this]] for anyone who goes there, but apparently, there are [[KnowNothingKnowItAll always a few guys]] who won't take the staff's word for it... |
| 126 | * MsFanservice: Justine, who was initially unnamed. Found [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page429.html here]], [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page487.html here]] and [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page526.html here]], but has since shown up almost as much as Sphinx and Pink-Haired Girl at this point. Although, because she seems unaware of her effect on the opposite sex, it overlaps with InnocentFanserviceGirl. In the third one, it shows that she is saddened by the fact that every man she might like disappears. She's wearing the man's hat when she sighs at the bus stop. |
| 127 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page464.html Eddie gets fired]] for giving the Sphynx a case of FridgeBrilliance. |
| 128 | * NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page433.html The embodiment of Equality]] looks a lot like DavidDuchovny, for whatever reason. |
| 129 | * NoKillLikeOverkill: The guys who clear snow from people's houses with '''''[[http://www.viruscomix.com/page430.html the freaking Tsar Pushka]]'''''. |
| 130 | * NoNameGiven: |
| 131 | ** One of the central characters, initially pictured with pink hair, has always gone unnamed, and according to the artist in one comments string, always will. Her official moniker is Pink Haired Girl, abbreviated as PHG. |
| 132 | ** Most of the other characters have been named, but only very subtly. Sometimes so subtly that their names are only found in the titles of the comic's image files--a good example: MsFanService is named Justine, seen only in the [[http://www.viruscomix.com/justineneverknewtherules.jpg filename of this comic]]. |
| 133 | * OddFriendship: |
| 134 | ** The Sphinx and Pink Haired Girl. It's working out quite well for them. |
| 135 | ** Also Ethel and Pink Haired Girl. Their first impressions of each other would've prevented each other from ever talking to each other in the first place. |
| 136 | * OnlyUsefulAsToiletPaper: The No-Bullshit Emporium sells copies of L. Ron Hubbard's ''Dianetics' pre-printed on rolls of toilet paper, available in both regular and quilted. |
| 137 | %%* OrganAutonomy: Played straight [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page509.html here]], [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page420.html here]], and a variation can be found [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page494.html here]]. |
| 138 | * OurSphinxesAreDifferent: The Sphinx is about three thousand and four hundred years old, and around the size of a small elephant. She also eats people -- she doesn't seem to eat anything else -- and gets very prickly when people object. |
| 139 | * OvertOperative: Subverted [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page529.html here]], in which [[spoiler:the actual spy is sitting behind the Franchise/JamesBond {{expy}}]]. |
| 140 | * PeriodPieceModernLanguage: Discussed; the comic points out that all the characters in fantasy and historical films tend to speak in FloweryElizabethanEnglish... except the [[TokenMinority token black sidekick]], who always talks like they're from Atlanta circa 1995. |
| 141 | * PeripheryDemographic: Discussed InUniverse in [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page500.html a strip on the omnipresence of subtle weirdness]], which gave that page its picture. |
| 142 | * PersonalRaincloud: Played with in [[https://viruscomix.com/page528.html one strip]]. One panel, labeled "how fortunate you might feel", shows a morose monster sitting under a small localized raincloud, and being drenched in rain. The next, labeled "how fortunate you might be", shows that the monster is surrounded by fire and being kept safe by the cloud. |
| 143 | * PlatonicProstitution: |
| 144 | ** In [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page473.html this strip]], a man hires a woman to write a short horror story on commission in a manner otherwise written exactly like streetwalking prostitution. |
| 145 | ** Downplayed [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page505.htmlin strip 505]]. The client visits a "sex stop" for precisely the reasons one would expect and he and the worker there end up doing the deed at the end, but he spends most of the strip venting about a very traumatic tour of duty. |
| 146 | * PointyHairedBoss: The [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page554.html Emperor Of The Universe]] is the ''ultimate'' pointy-haired BadBoss. ''"[[NoIndoorVoice YES!!! AN OPPORTUNITY TO INFLICT SUFFERING!!]]"'' |
| 147 | * PostModernism: Experiments with everything from GenreSavvy characters (as seen [[http://viruscomix.com/page507.html here]]) to [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page474.html bizarre, artistically-inclined layouts]], and {{Deconstruction}} of say, [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page479.html videogames]]. If this comic doesn't qualify as "Post-modern" then somebody has redefined "Post-modern" behind my back. |
| 148 | * PragmaticVillainy: The Sphynx has spared humans a few times, claiming it's because they're small and not worth the effort. (She doesn't eat children for the same reason. "Barely a meal", as she says.) |
| 149 | * ProtagonistCenteredMorality: InUniverse. The Pink Haired Girl states outright that she's okay with the Sphynx killing people as long as the Sphynx is nice to her personally. Though this isn't to say she didn't [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page586.html agonize at length]] over the dissonance of her acceptance of the Sphynx as a friend all the while knowing that the Sphynx eats people and is perceived as a dangerous menace. |
| 150 | * PsychologicalHorror: Used for plot basis on occasion, notably in [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page473.html Ethel Blackmoore; Horror Fiction Lady of the Night]], [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page505.html A Christmas Eve in the Future]] and [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page525.html Choose Your Own Adventure]]. |
| 151 | * RealLifeWritesThePlot: The Covid-19 epidemic causes the Pink-Haired Girl to lose her job as a stewardess as airlines cut back. |
| 152 | * RealityBreakingParadox: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/amtaham.html This strip]] features a scientist who creates an "anti-Gandhi" who is dressed in a fancy business suit, has thick red hair and a beard, and practices "violent nonresistance." The idea is so stupid that [[EarthShatteringKaboom the Earth blows up]]. |
| 153 | * RiddlingSphinx: Lampshaded. As [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page332.html this early strip]] shows, the Sphynx was actually ''the original'' one, but she gave up that routine a long time ago (and a few strips clear show that nowadays, she tends to look back on it as something dumb she did when she was young). |
| 154 | * SchmuckBait: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page404.html "Local Man Devoured By Newspaper Box".]] You can just guess what happens when a guy tries to buy a paper to find out about this story... |
| 155 | * ShoutOut: |
| 156 | ** A subtle one- [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page440.html the letters hanging from Princess Washburn's skirt]] (IEAIAIO) is the title of a song by Music/SystemOfADown. Her skirt itself is very reminiscent of [[ExpressiveShirt The]] [[NewspaperComics Yellow]] [[OlderThanTelevision Kid]] |
| 157 | ** The first panel of ''Monsters Playing Poker'' is ArtImitatesArt of C.M. Coolidge's "Art/DogsPlayingPoker". |
| 158 | ** The time machine in [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page451.html this]] comic. Do the math and you'll see that 142 kilometers per hour equal [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture 88 mph]], and that's if you didn't see the flux capacitor. |
| 159 | ** [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page566.html This comic]] has a guy wearing a blue ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' T-shirt (the scene with the bus stop). |
| 160 | ** The line "knee-deep in the dead on the shores of Hell" in [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page502.html "The Date from Hell"]] references the names of ''{{VideoGame/Doom}}'s'' first two episodes. |
| 161 | ** [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page472.html This strip]] claims that ''The German Guns'' recitation [[Series/{{Blackadder}} ("BOOM BOOM BOOM...") is copyrighted by a certain S. Baldrick, 1917]]. |
| 162 | ** The file name[[note]]"youcantfightinhere.jpg"[[/note]] of [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page581.html this comic]], as well as Ethel's subconscious having a war room, a shirking president, a British captain and an ex-Nazi adviser, as well as the fact [[SplitPersonality that they're all the same person]], are all allusions to ''Film/DrStrangelove''. |
| 163 | ** [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page591.html This strip]] has human versions of [[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} Alphys and Undyne]] in the background of one panel. |
| 164 | * ShownTheirWork: Moscow Metro is [[http://viruscomix.com/page488.html portrayed]] rather accurately, with proper Russian words and even with an allusion to a cult Russian film. |
| 165 | * SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Meanders all over the scale, often multiple times within a single comic. |
| 166 | * SmarterThanYouLook: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page451.html Here]] a scruffy blue collar woman gives a lengthy, philosophical discussion on a rich person speeding. |
| 167 | * SpeechCentricWork: It frequently lampshades its tendency to rely on walls of text and copious dialogue, and even provides the page image for this trope. |
| 168 | * StableTimeLoop: A man is selected by his religious organization to travel back in time in order to conduct an experiment in storytelling. He eventually comes to the realization that he was the founder of this religion. |
| 169 | * StaticCharacter: "Character Evolution" illustrates CharacterDevelopment [[https://viruscomix.com/abno30.html by medium]], depicting Comic Strip characters as so unchanging that they're gathering cobwebs. |
| 170 | * StealthPun: |
| 171 | ** The algebra teacher puts a nice one in his torrent of drug-fueled nonsense: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page491.html 4+5 is German for NO]]. [[spoiler:nein]] |
| 172 | ** The Sphynx's "[[http://www.viruscomix.com/page426.html super-obscure joke about classical music]]" is also a Stealth Pun: [[spoiler:the Wagner festival is in Bayreuth, but Rafic Hariri International Airport is in Beirut]]. |
| 173 | * StrawCharacter: Saturates the entire comic. If Rowntree has an Anvil to drop, it will usually be dropped on a misrepresented effigy of that which he dislikes. |
| 174 | * TakeThat: Hell [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page518.html features]] the music of Music/{{KISS}}, not because KISS is satanic, but because their music "sucks". |
| 175 | * TemporalParadox: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page550.html "We're going to [time-travel] to the year 2204 to prevent the invention of time-travel]]!" |
| 176 | * TerribleIntervieweesMontage: It doesn't get more terrible than the [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page549.html Dating (Russian) roulette]]: Six speed dates in a row, you ''have'' to settle on ONE mandatory date without seeing the others after you make your choice or being allowed to pick someone you already rejected. Hope you don't land on ''the bullet!''[[note]][[spoiler: There is no bullet. The organizer keeps reusing the same five horrible people over and over, "accidentally" matching two contestants at interview number six who then bond over their shared experience and become new friends, running away together before meeting the so-called bullet.]][[/note]] |
| 177 | * {{Textplosion}}: Several instances go beyond WallOfText and straight into this trope. |
| 178 | * ThoseTwoGuys: Bernard and his associate, who start out small but eventually work their way into helping people for its own sake. |
| 179 | %%* ThoseWackyNazis: [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page484.html Neo-Nazi Time Traveller Adventures!]] |
| 180 | * ToServeMan: The monsters -- most notably the Sphinx -- have a taste for people and are not remorseful about it. The weirdest part is, human witnesses seem to take this in stride; one guy who gets angry at the Sphynx is mad ''not'' because he thinks it's evil, but because she's hurting his business by preying on his customers! (Still, that ''would'' be kind of bad for business...) |
| 181 | * VillainProtagonist: The Sphynx is likely the closest thing the strip has to a protagonist. She's an ancient monster who eats people, although she isn't without redeeming traits, like her unspoken friendship with pink-haired girl. |
| 182 | * VitriolicBestBuds: Best Friends Who Hate Each Other variety [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page507.html gets]] [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]]. |
| 183 | %%* VocalMinority: [[invoked]][[http://www.cracked.com/article_17267_the-truth-behind-obnoxious-assholes-4-pie-charts.html Gave that page its picture.]] |
| 184 | * WallOfText: The most prominent feature of the comic. It's even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by the comic's subtitle, "Comix with too many words". [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page505.html This one]] has to take the cake. |
| 185 | * WhatHaveYouDoneForMeLately: The Chimera [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page521.html fails to understand what people are good for]], aside from meals. |
| 186 | * WhenIWasYourAge: Parodies the "Uphill Both Ways" line in [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page533.html this comic.]] Turns out it ''is'' possible to walk to school and back uphill both ways, if you have a ridiculously tall house. |
| 187 | * WikiWalk: Utilized in the upper-right portion [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page556.html of this strip]], where a man goes from Wangari Maathai, to coral reefs, to torture in the span of an evening. |
| 188 | * WrenchWench: MsFanservice appears to like a good lawnmower as much as a skimpy outfit. |
| 189 | * YouBastard: Rowntree still appreciates it when bastards read his webcomic, though. |
| 190 | * YourCostumeNeedsWork: At Halloween, Frankenstein's Monster gets criticized because he's "trying too hard" to get his costume right. |
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