Line #29 Webcomic/TheSorcerersApprentice


1	[[quoteright:211:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/safrontcover-211x300_2149.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:211:[[Administrivia/EntryPimp Volume 1]] [[http://www.comixpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=1834 on sale now!]]]]
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4	''[[http://www.bwillettcomics.com/sorcerersapprentice The Sorcerer's Apprentice]]'' is an original webcomic from the desk of [[http://www.bwillettcomics.com Bwillett]] / [[IHaveManyNames Clowprincess / Nasdreks]], author of other fan webcomics such as ''Webcomic/CardcaptorTorika'' and ''Queen of Games''.
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6	Victoria Evans is a (relatively speaking) [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent seemingly normal 17-year-old girl]] from White Ivy, a [[SmallTownBoredom seemingly-normal town]] in Connecticut. One day, she takes a [[RuleOfThree seemingly-normal]] field trip and stumbles upon a lost Italian Renaissance ring. In an attempt to return the ring to its guardian, college sophomore [[FrenchJerk Renard [=LaFayette=]]], Victoria winds up inadvertently putting it on and releasing its power: a horde of rampaging monsters! To defeat them, Victoria must unite with the spirit of a 700-year-old magician, Allister Magi de Illuminatis, one of the greatest practitioners of "magic" in his day. Except it isn't really magic... but [[ClarkesThirdLaw science!]]
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8	Though the premise is largely very typical for a MagicalGirl series, the series takes a much more [[SlidingScaleOfRealisticVersusFantastic realistic]] (and occasionally [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynical]]) look at many of the tropes present in the MagicalGirl genre, occasionally even [[AffectionateParody poking fun at them]]. Many characters are GenreSavvy (or at least [[WrongGenreSavvy savvy of]] ''[[WrongGenreSavvy something]]''), and many tropes listed below are [[PlayingWithATrope played with]], [[SubvertedTrope subverted]], and [[AvertedTrope averted]] because of it. The drawing style is also [[{{Animesque}} distinctly manga-like]], noteworthy for the [[{{UsefulNotes/Kawaisa}} occasional cutesy panel]] that breaks up an often serious scene. The author also employs a number of [[WriteWhatYouKnow western conventions and pop culture references]], particularly to [[USCanadianComics western comics]].
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10	The series shares many cosmetic similarities to ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'', a series commonly thought ([[AuthorAppeal including by the author]]) to be one of the most [[UrExample codifying]] examples of the entire genre. Much like ''Webcomic/CardcaptorTorika'', the author instead [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructs]] the entire premise, leaving little similarities to its precursor beyond these cosmetic similarities. Unlike the older {{Doujinshi}}, since ''Webcomic/TheSorcerersApprentice'' is a wholly original series, the author is free to take this same deconstruction even further.
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12	[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] [[Film/TheSorcerersApprentice the 2010]] Creator/NicolasCage [[Film/TheSorcerersApprentice movie]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}} the Disney version]], or [[SorcerersApprenticePlot the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" styled plotline]].
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14	%% Better summary & more tropes pending
15	----
16	!!This webcomic provides examples of:
17	* AllPartOfTheShow:
18	** How Victoria hand-waves her fight with the goblins. In a crowded mall.
19	** Victoria uses the same excuse after her fight with the giant spider monster.
20	* AlphaBitch: Lucinda [=McMillan=]
21	** Flanked by her GirlPosse, Jenn and Skye.
22	* TheApprentice:
23	** Victoria, natch'.
24	** Cooper tries to be Victoria's apprentice, [[DisproportionateRetribution only for Victoria to]] [[KickTheDog abuse him for it]].
25	* ArmorIsUseless: Played with. Victoria's breastplate is useful against blade-wielding monsters, but it sinks like lead.
26	* ArtShift: Used every so often for either RuleOfFunny or RuleOfCute, sometimes both.
27	* BadassLongRobe: Victoria when in her battle costume, which incorporates Allister's long robe. Allister as well, of course.
28	* BeardOfEvil: [[spoiler:We're not quite sure yet. All we know is that the beard in question belongs to a guy who knew Allister when he was alive, and who may or may not be responsible for killing him.]]
29	** Subverted by [[spoiler:Victoria's father]].
30	* BerserkButton: Victoria's is revealed when Renard assumes [[MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold Cooper]] is suspicious because of his piercings. [[spoiler:Turns out [[BrokenAesop he was right]], at least [[HeelFaceTurn at the time]].]]
31	* BigBrotherInstinct: Cooper, who typically wants nothing to do with his family, will go to great lengths to protect [[MoralityPet his little sister, Alice]].
32	* BlackMagic: Most magic gets this reputation with non-magic users, particularly with [[spoiler:Cooper's parents]]. {{Subverted}} in that this isn't actually how magic works at all.
33	* BlingOfWar: Allister's (and Victoria's) battle costume has various bits jewelry incorporated into it (most prominently with Allister's ring) that serve solely cosmetic purposes.
34	* BodyguardCrush: Renard to Victoria
35	* BookDumb: Cooper, whose educational accolades include a GED... and that's all.
36	* BoringButPractical: Victoria's combat strategy usually involves [[SpamAttack throwing spells until something sticks]]. Seems to work well enough, given that no monster seen thus far has ever survived [[OneHitKill a clean hit]]. Possibly due to Victoria [[ElementalRockPaperScissors picking the optimum spell to destroy each monster]], skipping the waves of less-effective attacks altogether.
37	* BreastPlate: Though hardly a ChainmailBikini (it's more of a frontal torso plate supplementing a long robe), it's still rather form-fitting. Allister doesn't wear any equivalent armor, though probably [[FragileSpeedster because he never needed to]].
38	* ByThePowerOfGreyskull: Played with. When Victoria asks Allister about her [[PurpleProse lavish and extravagant]] [[TransformationSequence transformation incantation]], Allister responds that it's mostly about showmanship.
39	--->'''Victoria''': "Master de Illuminatis, though your body is dead... [[BlahBlahBlah Blah, blah, blah]]." [[note]]ExactWords[[/note]]
40	* CallingYourAttacks: Not particularly necessary. Incantations don't really do anything on their own, except serve as mnemonic devices. See ByThePowerOfGreyskull.
41	* CastFromHitPoints:
42	** Improperly cast fire magic can drain the caster's life force.
43	** [[spoiler:The last spell Allister ever personally cast, which [[HeroicSacrifice "required [him] to die"]].]]
44	* CatchPhrase: Victoria's is "Normal is overrated.
45	* CatGirl: Victoria is randomly drawn with cat ears when she's embarrassed.
46	* ChekhovsGun: Flashbacks of Allister fighting monsters show a number of monsters that Victoria eventually goes on to fight, including a hellhound and a harpie.
47	* ClarkKenting: In combat mode, Victoria just looks like a blonde version of herself in a different outfit.
48	** It gets even more transparent when [[spoiler:Victoria's battle costume evolves, revealing more and more of her own purple hair.]] Needless to say, [[spoiler:Patrice and Bethany]] are hardly fooled when [[spoiler:they first see Victoria in her battle costume]].
49	* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: After defeating Cooper, Victoria arranges for him to "train his stamina" by cleaning Renard's house. Then she makes him run behind Renard's car when they go to the library. [[AltText Moral of the story: Don't get on Victoria's bad side.]]
50	* CoolCar: Renard's Rolls-Royce.
51	** Victoria has [[TheAllegedCar the other kind of car]].
52	* CompellingVoice: Cooper specializes in hypnotism.
53	* CostumePorn / UnlimitedWardrobe: Very, ''very'' much. Victoria never wears the same outfit two days in a row. Even [[spoiler:her standard battle costume changes as she learns more powers]].
54	** As of Chapter 16, Victoria has re-used all of ''one'' outfit: her SailorFuku, first worn in early Chapter 1 and worn again in Chapter 14. Also seen (carried, not worn) in the cover art for Chapter 3.
55	* DefeatMeansFriendship: [[spoiler:Cooper]]
56	* {{Delinquent}}: Subverted by both Cooper and [[spoiler:Victoria's father]]. Both look like biker thugs with SavagePiercings, but are actually nice guys. [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Unless you happen to be wearing Ed Hardy clothing]], in Cooper's case.
57	** This is the reason for [[spoiler:Victoria's aforementioned BerserkButton.]]
58	* DudeLooksLikeALady: Cooper's first (off-screen) encounter with Ben.
59	* EEqualsMCHammer: The first chapter's cover art.
60	* ExactlyWhatIAimedAt: When Victoria fails to hit Cooper with a water spell, she wasn't aiming for him. [[spoiler: Cooper only knows lightning magic, so [[BatmanGambit she arranged for it to puddle in front of him, so he'd step in it, cast a spell]], and [[ElectrifiedBathtub electrocute himself]].]]
61	* EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench: Renard gets this when he first meets Victoria's friends, who respond to his "Enchantee" with a massive {{Squee}}.
62	* MrFanservice: There's [[DoggedNiceGuy Ben]], [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Cooper]], [[EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench Renard and Allister]]... Y'know, it's faster to list the guys who ''aren't'' this trope.
63	* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Allister, particularly in the BeachEpisode, where [[PleasePutSomeClothesOn he finds the lack of female swimsuit modesty somewhat unnerving]].
64	* FreakyIsCool: Whenever Victoria or her friends are called out for not being normal, their response is "Normal is overrated!"
65	* FrenchJerk: Renard. Though not really [[RefugeInAudacity crude]] per se, he can still come off as inconsiderate and arrogant, especially towards [[{{Foil}} Cooper]].
66	* FunTShirt: Cooper's first outfit, featuring a shirt reading "Shh! I'm hiding from the ninjas".
67	* FunctionalMagic:
68	** Apparently all of it. [[ShockAndAwe Static electricity]] is a very simple version that anybody could do, probably without even realizing it. Even the more exotic spells (mostly involving energy transference) are supposedly within the capabilities of normal people, though training may be an issue.
69	** Subverted with stuff like spiritual possession, creating sentient familiars, and [[spoiler:Allister's final spell]], which tend to toe the line towards the blatantly fantastic.
70	* FunnyBackgroundEvent:
71	** While brushing up on his physics, Cooper can be seen reading "Chemistry for [[{{Noob}} Noobs]]".
72	* GeekReferencePool: {{Defied}} by Victoria, whose nerd specialties are in history and textiles rather than the more stereotypical math, science, and information technology.
73	* GiantPoofySleeves: A feature in many of Victoria's outfits, including the initial version of her battle costume.
74	* GhostInTheMachine: Allister can project his image via computer screens.
75	* GratuitousFrench: Renard, when he's under a lot of stress, including but not limited to being shot at.
76	* {{Headdesk}}:
77	-->'''Renard:''' "Tell me, are you truly that immature? That you would delight in belittling someone 700 years your junior?"
78	-->'''Allister:''' [[BluntYes "Yes. Yes I am."]]
79	-->'''Renard:''' [[{{Headdesk}} invokes trope]]
80	* IHaveNoSon: [[spoiler:Cooper's father]].
81	** Results in [[spoiler:Cooper]]'s ParentalAbandonment.
82	* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Victoria's life-long mission statement.
83	* ImpossiblyLowNeckline: Victoria's version of Allister's battle costume. Not particularly noticeable until [[spoiler:Victoria masters water spells]].
84	** Noteworthy for its otherwise {{Subversion}}: not ''one'' of Victoria's [[CustomUniform hand-designed outfits]] fits this bill, including her swimsuit.
85	* JumpScare: How Victoria gets Allister's ring on her finger in the first place.
86	* JumpedAtTheCall: Victoria. She not only jumped at the call, but she ''[[TakeAThirdOption came up with]]'' [[TakeAThirdOption the idea of studying magic]] as Allister's eponymous apprentice.
87	* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: Cooper, who will do ''[[IdiotBall absolutely anything]]'' to learn magic from Allister.
88	* LargeHam: Bethany, when she ''really'' goes for it.
89	* MadeOfExplodium: Dragons explode rather spectacularly when hit with fire magic.
90	* MagicWand: Victoria's staff is a [[GeniusBonus caduceus]]. [[note]]A StaffOfAuthority, usually associated with alchemy. Also associated with Hermes, the Greek messenger god, as well as other messengers of wisdom. More on Website/TheOtherWiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus[[/note]]
91	* MundaneUtility: Most sorcerers are savvy enough to use their powers for making everyday tasks easier.
92	** Cooper uses hypnosis to keep his employers from firing him, and to ward off bullies when he was younger.
93	** Victoria contemplates the use of magic for self-defense, not against monsters, but against [[BrooklynRage gun-wielding New York muggers]].
94	** Averted when Victoria offers to help Renard by carrying his priceless artifacts with a wind spell. Renard is not amused.
95	* MysteriousPast: Allister always changes the subject when Victoria tries to ask him about intimate details of his life.
96	* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Victoria doesn't so much learn her magic through practice, but by mastering it on the fly. Usually in the middle of a fight, right when she ''needs'' the new power.
97	* NoGuyWantsAnAmazon: Patrice's lament
98	* NoodleIncident: Something involving Allister leaving Victoria (and possibly her friends) unsupervised. [[NoodleImplements A goat was involved.]]
99	* NotSoAboveItAll: Allister. Though he starts out aloof, he becomes progressively [[GoingNative more accustomed]] to 21st century culture and even [[GotMeDoingIt begins to emulate it]].
100	* OhCrap: When Victoria tries to create her own familiar and [[spoiler:winds up creating a monster instead]].
101	* OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: In the past, people thought science was actually magic. In the present day, science has largely caught up.
102	* PowersViaPossession: While symbiotically possessed by Allister, Victoria has all of Allister's raw power to draw on, but she has to learn to cast her own spells. When being [[GrandTheftMe "traditionally" possessed]], Victoria can use Allister's spells, but Victoria herself won't be conscious for the duration.
103	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Allister. ''Literally'', seven hundred years.
104	* RedOniBlueOni:
105	** Cool and composed Renard to the carefree and easygoing Coooper.
106	** Renard is also the blue to his lax roommate's red, who calls him [[TheStoic "Ice Man"]].
107	* RefusalOfTheCall: Victoria flatly refused to let Allister possess her (and spend months of her life unconscious while he cleaned the mess up). In turn, she JumpedAtTheCall to become a magician herself. So...[[ZigZaggedTrope she Jumped At The Call as a means of Refusing The Call]].
108	* RidiculousProcrastinator: Victoria procrastinates at everything, from her schoolwork to her magical studies.
109	* RidiculouslyCuteCritter:
110	** Nix and Umbreo, the successfully-summoned familiars.
111	** Special mention to [[AffectionateNickname Blinky the Narcoleptic Squirrel]]. Bonus points for [[WordOfGod being based on]] [[RealLifeWritesThePlot a real squirrel]].
112	* SealedEvilInACan: Allister's ring
113	* SecretIdentity: Allister suggests that Victoria maintain one so as to preserve the general peace. [[spoiler:Nevertheless, Victoria's family, and later her friends (except [[LoveInterest Ben]]) are actually in the loop about her magic, much to Renard's surprise.]]
114	* ShipTease: Victoria's got a boyfriend, Ben. She's also teased rather thoroughly with Renard and Cooper.
115	* ShootTheDog: When Victoria has to [[spoiler:destroy the familiar she improperly created.]]
116	* ShoutOut:
117	** The name of Victoria's primary electric attack spell is "WesternAnimation/StaticShock".
118	** Victoria mentions [[IKnowMortalKombat having watched]] ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' [[IKnowMortalKombat growing up]] when [[spoiler:Cooper zaps himself by stepping in a puddle and using an electric spell]].
119	*** Another ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' reference: Victoria names her familiar "Umbreo", a name close to Umbreon.
120	** Victoria has a plushie of Kikki or Mimmi (the author's "resident spokeschibis") in her room. Both Kikki and Mimmi reappear (along with the author's logo) as advertisements in Times Square in Chapter 16.
121	** When [[spoiler:Bethany]] imagines what Victoria looks like as a magical girl, she envisions Victoria dressed in [[Manga/TokyoMewMew Mew Ichigo's]] battle costume.
122	*** The same character makes similar remarks that being a MagicalGirl entails [[Anime/SailorMoon "fighting evil by moonlight"]].
123	** A piece of [[AllThereInTheManual bonus art]] in Volume 1 (and on the comic's webpage) shows Victoria and her friends dressing up for Halloween as various characters: Patrice as Franchise/WonderWoman, Bethany as ComicBook/{{Storm\|MarvelComics}} and Victoria as Franchise/SailorMoon.
124	* SorcerersApprenticePlot: Comes up [[NonIndicativeTitle less often than you'd think]], but is the general idea behind [[spoiler:Victoria creating a berserk "familiar"]].
125	* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: Allister notices how the monsters that attack Victoria are getting progressively stronger.
126	* SpitTake: When Bethany tells Patrice and Victoria rumors about a MagicalGirl running around town fighting monsters...
127	* SproutingEars: Victoria, often in a brief single-panel ArtShift.
128	* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Patrice and Bethany, respectively.
129	* TranslatorMicrobes: Victoria explains to [[spoiler:Patrice and Bethany, after they figure out that she knows magic]] that Allister can only speak French, but Victoria can magically understand him.
130	** Possibly {{subverted}} when Allister appears immediately after the above scenario, speaking flawless English and explaining that he's also a quick learner.
131	* WeirdnessCensor: Most normal people who get caught up in a monster fight think little of magical monsters running amok. Newscasters seem to report on them as if they're [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight completely normal, everyday things]].
132	* WaxOnWaxOff: In Cooper's first appearances, [[WrongGenreSavvy he thinks that Victoria's 'training' is preparing him to learn advanced magic]]. [[SubvertedTrope It's actually just]] [[WomanScorned Victoria's petty revenge.]]
133	* [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Why Did It Have To Be Spiders]]: Victoria's greatest fear, revealed when she fights a giant spider monster. Naturally, that issue led to an {{Aesop}} about conquering her fear. [[spoiler:And Renard having a purpose in Victoria's battles.]]
134	* WorldsSmallestViolin: Patrice did this gag in response to one of Bethany's drama queen spiels.

Context Webcomic / TheSorcerersApprentice