Line #85 Webcomic/TryingHuman


1	[[quoteright:184:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tryinghuman.png]]
2
3	''[[http://www.tryinghuman.com/ Trying Human]]'' is a science-fiction webcomic by Emy Bitner.
4
5	Rose Marie Williams is a secretary and filing clerk for a New York City police station. She frequently suffers from nosebleeds and what she thinks are episodes of sleepwalking, but actually, she has been being abducted by a [[TheGreys group of aliens]]. One of the aliens, Hue, is not like the others. Also, he's smitten with her.
6
7	The story also [[PlotThreads follows]] Roger, Rose's on-again off-again boyfriend who winds up as the newest recruit to the [[TheMenInBlack Majestic 12]], and Phillis, an Air Force translator in the 1940s whose mysterious connection with [=EBE1=], the castaway alien (later Hue's genetic father) somehow [[ForegoneConclusion resulted in her death]].
8	----
9
10	!!These tropes have been deemed classified:
11
12	* AbusiveAlienParents: [[JerkassWoobie EBE1]] towards Hue.
13	* ActionGirl: Pigment kicks ass and takes names. [[spoiler: In the fight against Roger, it's her who does most of the kicking, while her partner, after dishing out the first hit, restricts himself to [[IShallTauntYou verbal lashing]] and looking cool]].
14	* TheAgeless: Glasner is implied to have acquired this form of immortality through contact [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-12--374 with alien technology]], since he's been around since the 1940s and seemingly hasn't aged a day.
15	* AlienAbduction: TheGreys abduct humans for research. That's how Rose ([[spoiler: and Roger]]) ends up in the plot.
16	* AlienAutopsy: Happened (off-page) in the forties storyline. Glasner also [[BullyingADragon threatened]] [=EBE1=] with it.
17	* AliensStealCattle: For food, mainly.
18	* AllLoveIsUnrequited: 6 has a thing for 8, who has a thing for Roger, who may or may not still have a thing for Rose. Also, Glasner (and every other guy in her storyline) lusts after Phillis, who's fairly disgusted with him. She also [[spoiler: rejects Walter's proposal.]]
19	* AncientAstronauts: According to Fatima, the Nordics "shaped humanity", which may or may not mean that they seeded Earth with life. Or possibly were just {{Precursors}}.
20	* AnimeHair: [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-14--459 Human Tone.]]
21	** Justified as his chip has a glitch in it, causing his hair to appear like a "torch."
22	* ArcWords: "Red" is important for as-of-yet undisclosed reasons. It's implied that it has to do with Shade, who has red eyes, or Rose, who has red hair.
23	** [[spoiler:The catatonic Phillis has red pupils. This appeared for the first time when [=EBE1=] initiated their telepathic bond and seemed to become [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-20-750 more frequent]] since then. Phillis also appears in a nightmare / vision of Hue with blank, completely red eyes.]]
24	** When [=EBE1=] joins Phillis in the base's chapel, one of the candles' flames turns red for no apparent reason.
25	** [[spoiler:Abigail's journal has red covers.]]
26	** In every vision she appears to Rose, Phillis tells her something regarding "red", i. e. trying to sell her a red watch or showing her a red ''rose'' that fell out of its flower pot.
27	---> '''Phillis''': Every time a ''red'' cloud appears, I can't seem to keep the earth in my pot from falling into the darkness.
28	** Rose's hair is shown to have been blonde, not red, when she was a child. This change is [[spoiler: revealed to be due to her Nordic half. Like the Greys, their race is dying out, albeit much slower, so they edited their DNA so that their hair will grow out red if and when they're fertile. Rose's hair has been red since she turned 13, presumably when she had her first period, and has remained such ever since.]]
29	** [[spoiler:Upon meeting Rose, [=EBE1=] asks her to "let him see her red".]]
30	** Pigment mentions a "red room" which holds some secrets.
31	* ArtEvolution: The difference between the early pages and the new pages is actually quite astounding, the artist has even begun to go back and redo the older chapters in her new style. A very impressive example can be seen [[http://tryinghuman.tumblr.com/image/14447384921 here]].
32	* ArtificialHuman: 6 is explicitly called [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-10--300 an engineered lifeform]], but [[BerserkButton don't]] [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-10--301 call him "half" anything]].
33	** [[spoiler:All the current Greys are this, not just Hue. See Last of Their Kind.]]
34	* ArtificialLimbs: [=EBE1=] has an artificial arm, made for him by Phillis. Notably, when [[spoiler:Rose encounters Phillis or something resembling her on the spaceship, she says that she "makes arms" as an introduction]].
35	* AssholeVictim: Some pretty nasty stuff happens to Walter in the flashbacks [[spoiler: such as getting [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-16--524 pimp-slapped by EBE1]] and [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-18--631 injected with... green stuff by Dr Glasner]] ]] -- but honestly, he was kind of asking for it, taunting Glasner about his past or yelling at Philis in [=EBE1=]'s presence.
36	* AsTheGoodBookSays: A Bible verse is used as FlavorText for the opening scene, and [=EBE1=] later drops another verse to royally diss his son.
37	* BaitAndSwitch: During John and Pigment's escape, 8 helps them, even giving John her access card when his isn't working, only to yell at the top of her lungs for Glassner. [[spoiler: She does it in order to distract Glassner from the escapees, which buys them ''just'' as much time as they need.]]
38	* BattleCouple: We don't know just how romantic their relationship is, because the author [[ShrugOfGod won't tell]], but [[PunnyName Guinea and Pig]] function as one of these, rescuing and protecting the opressed together.
39	* [[BetaCouple Beta, Gamma, Delta Couple]]: Phillis and [=EBE1=] and possibly ''more'' depending on how things play out.
40	** 8 and Roger might have something going on (and 6 seems infatuated with her), Longus and Don definitely have.
41	*** And Quazky and Gracelis too.
42	* BetweenMyLegs: [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-14--443 This page]] when [[spoiler:8 and Glasner have their extracurricular activities]].
43	* BigDamnHeroes: Guinea and Pig's introduction in chapter 19, where they kick Roger's ass six ways 'til Sunday, saving both Hue's and Quazky's lives.
44	* BlackSite: More than one. They're conveniently connected with a super fast [[ETGaveUsWiFi alien-tech]] train.
45	* BodyMotifs: Eyes and eye symbolism are all over the place.
46	* BullyingADragon: [[HerrDoktor Dr. Glasner]] has a disturbing tendency to bully Greys. Who are telepathic and telekinetic, and, in case of [=EBE1=] at least, [[IKnowWhatYouFear not afraid to use it]].
47	* ChickMagnet: Non-canon examples but [=EBE1=], 7, and Hue. With dashes of EvenTheGuysWantHim. In canon, Longus, ironically [[HilariousInHindsight enough.]]
48	* CloseCallHaircut: Rose gets one [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-13--408 here]].
49	* ContrivedCoincidence: The fact that Roger just happens to be hired by an organization dealing with aliens while Rose is abducted by those same aliens. [[spoiler:Later revealed to not in fact be a coincidence, since both Roger and Rose were abducted and that automatically put Roger on the watch list of potential agents.]]
50	* CrazyJealousGuy: [[spoiler: Roger]] becomes increasingly abusive and paranoid towards [[spoiler: Rose]].
51	* CreatorCameo: More than once. [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-8-243 Here]] [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-12--392 are]] [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-15--512 a]] [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-16--556 few]] [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-19--683 examples.]]
52	* CreepyCute: Hue (having bigger eyes than most Greys helps), and most noticeably, the Reptoids as a whole. They are human-eating lizard aliens, but have CuteLittleFangs and amusing dialogue that makes it hard to think they're creepy at all. Even Magnus manages a few humorous lines, usually targeted at [[PluckyComicRelief Quazky]].
53	* CrypticConversation: Phillis appears to Rose ever again in visions and dreams; unfortunately, what she says usually doesn't make much sense to Rose. The "Mothman" is purposefully cryptic.
54	* DeadpanSnarker: Rose, Quazky and [=EBE1=].
55	** Don't forget Guinea and Pig, whose very [[PunnyName names]] show much propensity for BlackComedy snark.
56	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The 1940s scenes eventually settled on appearing this way. With [[ArcSymbol red]] [[SplashOfColor details]].
57	* DittoAliens: The Greys are all physically identical other than eye color. Justified in that they've been genetically streamlined for deep-space travel and unique phenotypes were probably seen as superfluous and dropped from their genetic code.
58	* EarlyBirdCameo: [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-1--17 In Chapter 1]] guess who's sitting behind Roger on the plane?
59	* EasterEgg: [[spoiler: Phillis]] is hidden in several pages of the comic.
60	* [[EmotionlessGirl Emotionless Aliens]]: The Greys have emotions, but they're very different from human ones, and Hue is considered defective because he acts like a human. However, if anything, the other aliens are sometimes more emotional and expressive than the human characters.
61	* EmptyEyes: When a Grey is unconscious or dead, its eyes appear dull and reflectionless.
62	* EnergeticAndSoftSpokenDuo: Guinea is a chatty, quippy guy with a lot of panache who [[TheMcCoy wears his heart on his sleeve]] and can't quite hide his anger when evil occurs. Pig is an EmotionlessGirl who can only communicate telepathically and with no emotional inflection. They fight, well, injustice.
63	* EyesOutOfSight: The Majestic 12, except 6 and new 12 (Roger). Then again, when Roger is acting evil, shadows or his own hair hide his eyes, and when 8 is being friendly or vulnerable, her eyes peek out from behind her bangs. Generally, the hiddenness of the eyes seems to symbolise TheMenInBlack inhumanity.
64	* ForcefulKiss: [[spoiler:[=EBE1=] has a message for Phillis. Unfortunately, only Rose is around to deliver it, so...]]
65	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Roger seems to be undergoing one during the latest chapters, going from easy-going goofball fish out of water to almost sadistic glee at chasing down and hurting Hue, possibly justified slightly due to Hue not actually leaving Rose alone. And then he starts behaving [[SanitySlippage increasingly paranoid and abusive]] towards Rose, [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-20-777 culminating in slapping her hard across the face.]]]]
66	* FakeMemories: Standard issue for all the abductees. Some [[AmnesiaMissedASpot retain a vague sense of having been kidnapped]], but the effect just ''won't take'' with Rose [[spoiler: because she's a half-Nordic]].
67	* FieryRedhead: Rose, at least when hanging around [[spoiler:[=EBE1=]]]. Except her hair is dyed. [[spoiler: Except it's not dye. It's due to her being Half-Nordic, their hair grows red while fertile. Rose's has been red since she was 13]]
68	* FlashbackBPlot: The 1940's storyline, with [[FlashbackEffects sepia colouring]] and an occasional [[ArcSymbol red]] detail.
69	* {{Foil}}: The three Majestic 12's are foiling each other: the by-the-book Walter, the DefectorFromDecadence John and [[SanitySlippage increasingly violent]] Roger. They're all ex-military or police (in Roger's case), thrust into the position of the [=MJ12=] leader with no regard for their wishes, and uncomfortable with all the things going on in Area51. While Walter, despite misgivings, is never shown disobeying orders, John hates how Greys are abused, forms a tight InterspeciesFriendship (possibly romance) with one and finally escapes with her to go vigilante, and Roger needs little time to begin abusing and personally hating Greys.
70	* ForegoneConclusion: Phillis is shot trying to escape from the base with a baby. The question is how she got there.
71	* FunWithAcronyms: In the case of the '''D'''eep '''U'''nderground '''M'''ilitary '''B'''ase'''s'''.
72	%% debatable* GenerationXerox: [=EBE1=] and Phillis in the forties, Hue and Rose present-day.
73	* {{Goth}}: 7, with a hint of AxCrazy.
74	* GreatOffscreenWar: Is why the Nordics are so rare and reclusive now - they were attacked by the Draconian Reptoids.
75	* GreenEyedMonster: Roger, who's already rather stressed, [[SanitySlippage reacts]] ''very'' [[MurderTheHypotenuse violently]] when he sees his girlfriend with Hue. Bit of a DoubleStandard, really, as he has blatantly flirted with his colleague 3 (and possibly with 8) during the time he and Rose were apart.
76	* TheGreys: Hue and [=EBE1=]'s race. [[HumorlessAliens Dour]], described as [[MechanisticAlienCulture creatures of rigid habits]], reproduce by [[DittoAliens cloning]]. [[spoiler: Also a DyingRace that's trying its hardest to preserve at least some of their legacy]].
77	* HalfHumanHybrid: It's confirmed that 6 is a lab-built Grey-human hybrid, though he [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-10--301 vehemently denies being "half"-anything]].
78	** [[spoiler: It seems Rose also is one -- her mother is a Nordic.]]
79	** [[spoiler: Ovni, created from Guinea and Pig's genes.]]
80	* HandshakeRefusal: Seems to be a Reptoid thing -- Longus declines a handshake with Roger, Quazky with Don. In Quazky's case, it may be him not understanding human customs, but Longus has lived on Earth among humans for a long time and seems seriously put off by the idea of shaking Roger's hand.
81	* HandsOffMyFluffy: [[spoiler: Rose standing up to [=EBE1=] in Hue's defense.]]
82	* HerrDoktor: The German Vernon Glasner, who used to be in the [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi party]] (willingly) and remains a MadScientist.
83	* HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier: Abigail wrote her diary in English to keep Glasner from reading it. He learned later and read it after her death. Also, Gracelis and Quazky argue in their native language to keep Rose out of the fight.
84	* HughMann: None of the real humans running around [[WeirdnessCensor seem to notice that Trying Human circuits don't actually work all]] ''[[WeirdnessCensor that]]'' [[WeirdnessCensor well]]. 7-foot-tall albinos? Normal! Guys with greenish skin, yellow-and-red slit pupil eyes, fangs, claws, forked tongues, and strangely spiky hairstyles, who demonstrate the ability to jump outrageous distances? Nothing to see here!
85	%% how's that this trope? * HumanityEnsues: [[spoiler:[=EBE1=] causes Rose's mind to screen image him as a human. [[ForcefulKiss He then kisses her.]]]]
86	* IChooseToStay: In chapter 23 [[spoiler: [=EBE1=] gets a chance to go back to his people, but decides to stay with Phyllis]].
87	* IfICantHaveYou: Glasner (coldly and sinisterly) towards Phillis, Roger (hotly and [[DomesticAbuse abusively]]) towards Rose.
88	* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum: Since the 1940's, [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-21-791 there's the idea]] to use Grey technology to build a US-own spaceship on Area 51, but the acquired tech knowledge of several races is also used in other ways, for example the hyper-speed subway that Majestic uses for travelling.
89	* InnocentAliens: In contrast to the Greys who abduct humans for painful experiments and the Reptoids who hunt, kill and eat humans, the [[spoiler: Nordics']] worst traits seems to be their vanity and obnoxiousness and they seemingly have only good intentions for humanity.
90	* InSeriesNickname: [=EBE1=] always refers to Phillis as "Philena", a contraction of her first name and her last name, "Lennox."
91	** The "Philena, queen of the moon" implies some mythological association he's having.
92	** Also, Guinea and Pig, to the point Rose is confused when she hears Pig referring to her partner by his actual name, John.
93	* InterspeciesFriendship:
94	** Hue and Quazky.
95	** 8 and 6, although he might be thinking of her more in terms of InterspeciesRomance. He's rather sweet towards her (buying her that picture frame was adorable), although she's been assigned to him more as a handler/caretaker and words "mothering skills" were used. But she does seem to trust 6 above everyone else.
96	** Pigment and John are also good friends with Cervicis, a Reptoid, and her kids.
97	* InterspeciesRomance: All over the place, in many different flavours.
98	** Grey [=EBE1=] and human Phillis definitely had ''something'' going on, though the exact nature of their relationship is still a bit unclear.
99	** Hue is in love with Rose, and recently, it seems she has begun reciprocating. Hue is a Grey, Rose [[spoiler:half Nordic, half]] human.
100	** Guinea and Pig, human and Grey respectively, have either this or a profound InterspeciesFriendship. [[spoiler: They have a [[HalfHumanHybrid child together]], although this was done without either's consent, and Guinea didn't even know Glasner used his genes to impregnate Pig until the baby was born. But they took the kid with them, escaping, and raise him together.]]
101	** Longus, a Terran Reptoid, and Don, a human teenager.
102	** Quazky and Gracelis, since he's a Terran Reptoid and she's Draconian. [[spoiler: They too have a kid together, but have left him in terran jungle to fend for himself, because this sort of thing is strictly forbidden.]]
103	** [[spoiler: Rose herself]] is a product of a rather one-sided one. Her Nordic mother doesn't seem to care a lot for her human father. He pined after she left [[spoiler: to the point of drinking himself to death]].
104	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: The Greys use a type of memory altering that [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-2--51 lets the abductee fill in the blanks as to what happened to them]].
105	* [[LastOfHisKind Last of Their Kind]]: [[spoiler: The Greys' home planet burned up in one of its two suns. [=EBE1=] was born/created shortly before it happened as a prototype form for deep space travel. The original Greys were much more expressive and colorful.]]
106	* LizardFolk: ''Two'' species on them, one of which is actually [[UpliftedAnimal bred from]] Earth ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Troodon]]''. And has prehensile tongues.
107	* LoveMakesYouCrazy: [[spoiler: Dr. Glasner]], though it's debatable how sane he was to begin with.
108	* MadScientist: Glasner is... [[SoftSpokenSadist lower in decibels]] than most, but he is quite insane. Exhibit A: [[spoiler: an OnlyMostlyDead woman in a [[PeopleJars glass tank]] ]].
109	* MarsNeedsWomen: Hue's attraction to Rose parallels [=EBE1=]'s attraction to Phillis.
110	** A ''lot'' of aliens in this series seem to be partial to humans, as well.
111	*** Eventually we find out that, ''yes,'' Mars really ''[[JustifiedTrope DOES]]'' [[MateOrDie need women.]]
112	* TheMenInBlack: Majestic 12, not that Roger knew when he signed up.
113	* MercyKill: In Guinea's chapter 24 {{flashback}}, he kills a Grey [[spoiler: that was being casually used for ''target practice'' by the Majestic 12]]. He's very, very angry about that.
114	* MindOverMatter: TheGreys. They can also make walls and other objects temporarily intangible.
115	* MrFanservice: [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-15--511 Longus]]. Seriously, lizard men were NEVER meant to be that sexy.
116	** But [[IncompatibleOrientation he doesn't even like women]]!
117	* MsFanservice: 8 is TheTease expert, especially towards Roger. It [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl used to be her job]].
118	* MyCard: [[PunnyName Guinea]] (the AWOL agent formerly known as 12) and [[PunnyName Pig]] (his grey companion Pigment) have these. Guinea gives one to Hue [[spoiler: who can't read English]] in case he needed more of their badassery in the future.
119	* NeverLearnedToRead: Hue, because his people have (somehow) lost language and don't use writing (it remains an open question what the purple symbols on their metal are). Rose offers to teach him. [[spoiler: Pigment is shown to have knitting magazines in her and John's flat, so presumably he taught her.]]
120	* NonMammalMammaries: Averted, although not very clear. [[http://introducingemy.deviantart.com/art/TH-Reptoid-Me-Embolism-162427601?q=gallery%3AIntroducingEmy%2F378704&qo=37 It is more evident in this image]]
121	* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: 8, [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-10--315 repeatedly]] and [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-10--304 not just]] to Roger.
122	* NoSuchAgency: The Majestic 12 is so secret they [[YouAreNumberSix don't even use personal names]] (unless talking about someone who's already left the service). And don't tell the prospective recruits they're going to be shipped off to a top secret instalation in the middle of nowhere, completely incommunicado, say bye-bye to your loved ones forever, you're a Man (or Woman) in Black now. Wear your [[HiddenEyes shades]].
123	* OlderThanTheyLook: Besides Glasner, TheGreys don't really seem to age -- Pigment first came to Earth about thirty years before the present day plot started and she looks the same. [=EBE1=] is probably older than she is and hasn't aged a day, either, since the 1940's.
124	* OnlyMostlyDead: [[spoiler:Despite being shot in the opening scene, Phillis is still somehow alive and conscious in the modern day, albeit imprisoned in a jar by Dr. Glasner (see below).]]
125	* PaintingTheMedium: Telepathic "speech" bubbles are black with white lettering (occasionally also font effects and the word "red" appearing in red).
126	* PeopleJars: [[spoiler:Glasner keeps Phillis' body in one.]]
127	* PleaseIWillDoAnything: When Dr. Glasner and the commanders of Area 51 suggest that [=EBE1=] will be euthanized due to his hostile behavior, Phillis pleads with Glasner, saying she'll do anything to stop this. Glasner ominously repeats "anything", then concedes to her wish. Whether or not her current condition is the price she had to pay is yet to be seen.
128	* PerpetualFrowner: All the Greys, save Hue, have a permanent little frown and only really change expression to show surprise at sudden contact.
129	* {{Precursors}}: Fatima explains that the very first intelligent race, the Archaic Ones, are antcestors of all who came after them and Precursors to other civilisations, including Earth, if maybe by proxy of the Nordics.
130	* PsychicDreamsForEveryone: [[spoiler: 8 dreams of the events from the prologue, with herself and Travis in place of Phyllis and her baby.]] There's also the self-called "Mothman" who gives Rose some cryptic hints about the future (part of which already happened), then says he needs to sleep and get some more visions. Rose gets very odd, very symbolic dreams, often featuring Phillis.
131	* PsychicLink: [[spoiler: [=EBE1=] develops one with Phillis. [[BlessedWithSuck It transmits pain]], and with it, even [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-17--584 physical injuries]].]]
132	* PunnyName: Guinea and Pig [[spoiler: escaped Area51 after Glasner used them for a particularly vile experiment -- it involved making a HalfHumanHybrid out of their genes (without as much as by-your-leave) and inflicting a WoundThatWillNotHeal on Pigment]].
133	* RapeAsDrama: The flashback at the beginning of chapter 26. [[spoiler:Dr. Glasner got intrusive with Phillis, knocked her unconscious when she resisted, and raped her. When Phillis regained her consciousness, she appeared to be deeply in shock and just staggered off, her clothes disheveled and blood on her face.]]
134	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Shade [[https://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-22-930 delivers]] a ''devastating'' one to [[spoiler:Fatima]] when she gives her reasons for [[spoiler:abandoning her daughter]]:
135	-->'''Shade''': When [=EBE1=] brought [Hue] to me, I was a mother. When you left for your home and I came to take [[spoiler:Rose]] every month after that, I was a mother. I continue to mother hybrids that die endlessly, never finding a foothold in this world. I will continue to mother until I am successful. [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Will you?]]
136	* RemovedFromThePicture: Rose's mom has been ripped out of a family photo. [[spoiler:Which she did herself, to hide from her daughter that she's indeed a Nordic.]]
137	* RescueRomance: [[spoiler:8 seems to be trying to induce this with Roger, since he helped her out years ago, and says that she was the one who recommended him for the job.]] It's not really working.
138	** Though it's not their first meeting, Longus rescues Don from a couple of thugs, which kickstarts their relationship.
139	* RoswellThatEndsWell: [=EBE1=] is a survivor of a Roswell or Roswell-like event. His shipmates got killed in the crash.
140	* SanitySlippage: It seems Roger is cracking under the strain of his new MIB job... He turns paranoid, violent and the CreepyShadowedUndereyes he develops only serve to reinforce this.
141	* ScarfOfAsskicking: [[PunnyName Guinea and Pig]] both sport these -- he gets a classy red silk one, she has a pale yellow one [[LittleMissBadass over twice as long as she's tall]].
142	* ScaryShinyGlasses: Dr. Glasner [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-5-169 has]] [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-18--676 these]] [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-21-799 occasionally]].
143	** Also [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-8-244 a recurring]] [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-15--512 theme]] [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-19--683 with]] [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-16--556 several]] [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-16--557 background]] [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-19-730 characters]].
144	* SexDressed: 8 [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-10--303 here]], and Dr. Glasner [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-10--308 a few pages later]] (note the unbuttoned shirt and lipstick stain).
145	* SexyPriest: [[spoiler: [=EBE1=] first appeared to Phyllis as a Catholic priest, and years later takes this form again to persuade her to follow him into space. He's described as looking old, but Phyllis clearly finds him attractive enough to kiss.]]
146	* SpicyLatina: 8, judging by her last name and use of Spanish in a flashback, and she's more than willing to use her sexuality to get her way. In fact, [[spoiler:she used to be a streetwalker]].
147	* StalkerWithACrush: Longus had apparently taken to "keeping an eye" on Don whenever he was off work.
148	** Hue also fits the description. Abducting Rose in her sleep when it's not her turn to be taken, showing up at her apartment uninvited... though the surroundings he's grown up in have abductions as a daily porcedure, and he cannot possibly know human social norms.
149	* StayInTheKitchen: [[http://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-5--141 Walter's attitude]] towards Phillis, though it fits with the 1940s setting.
150	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Rose to Phillis, despite the former being redheaded and the latter being blonde. [[spoiler:[=EBE1=] has noticed.]]
151	** In her childhood picture (and one dream sequence), Rose is blonde... [[spoiler: This is because she's half Nordic. The race as a whole edited their DNA so any newly grown hair is red while fertile, and once this period ends, new hair becomes blonde again, leaving patches of red years later. Being half human, Rose has been able to have kids since she was 13 so her hair continuously grows red and will likely revert to blonde when she hits menopause.]]
152	* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler: Rose for Hue, [[https://www.tryinghuman.com/comic/chapter-23-996 here]] ]], although it's actually a stunner.
153	* TelepathicSpacemen: TheGreys, very much (they've lost the use of their mouths). Later we learn they don't even have language, can't read or write and communicate with others by "reflecting on their minds" (which is how Pig speaks French to [=MJ12=]).Reptoids, to smaller extent, and the Nordics as well.
154	* ThemeNaming: The Greys are named Hue, Shade, Tone, [[spoiler:and Pigment]]. Only [=EBE1=] doesn't fit this pattern, but it's because his "name" is actually a designation given to him by the U.S. Government (his real name hasn't been revealed).
155	** According to Glasner, the practice of using names is a foreign concept to the Greys, so presumably their common names were also given to them by humans. (Shade is also referred to as [=EBE3=] in one scene.)
156	** [[spoiler: The HalfHumanHybrid Ovni]] was named by John. Pigment's entire reaction:
157	-->'''Pigment''': It's a name.
158	** Barring Quazky, all the Reptoids are named after (human) muscles or muscle groups.
159	* TinMan: The Greys. Even more apparent when they use the ''Trying Human'' units.
160	** Exemplified with [=EBE1=]. TranquilFury doesn't even begin to cover it.
161	* ToServeMan: The Reptoids in general eat human and animal flesh alike, though they have varying attitudes about this. Magnus considers eating livestock instead of humans unsatisfying, while Longus honestly prefers pig and has never killed a human himself - he has eaten humans when they were dead and dished to him, but meanwhile, having lived twenty-something years among humans on earth, he finds it weird to regard them as food.
162	* TitleDrop: The Trying Human circuit that allows aliens to mimic humans.
163	* UncannyValley: Besides the fact that they are kidnapping people for experiments, this is why Rose is afraid of Shade and Tone. Hue is much less uncanny to her, because he shows emotions and has a wider range of facial expressions.
164	* VerbalTicName: Mum.
165	* WhamEpisode:
166	** Chapter 17:
167	*** [[spoiler:Phillis has a telepathically-induced freakout when Glasner stabs [=EBE1=]'s prosthetic hand with a scalpel to demonstrate that it can feel pain.]]
168	*** [[spoiler:Longus shows Don what he really is.]]
169	*** [[spoiler:Roger discovers that Hue has been spending time with Rose, and shoots him (non-fatally) in a jealous rage.]]
170	*** [[spoiler:Shade wipes Rose's memories of her alien encounters, and reveals to Hue that his own memories of earlier encounters with Rose had been erased.]]
171	** Chapter 19, where [[spoiler:Roger goes off the deep end, trying to murder Hue and Quazky just because he has seen them near Rose's apartment and then going home to slap Rose ''hard'' across the face.]]
172	** The ending of chapter 25: [[spoiler: Longus gets Quazky to do his foul bidding. Roger accuses 8 of leaking intel to the Greys, and, when 6 attempts to take the blame, Roger ''shoots him''. In the head. With Glassner's approval. 8 breaks down.]]
173	** Chapter 26: [[spoiler: [=EBE1=] readily admits to Hue that he's not a clone.]] With a WhamLine: [[spoiler: "When you find Walter Edwards, tell him I was not aiming for her."]]
174	* {{Yandere}}: 8 seems to be shaping up to be this, [[spoiler:and even recommended Roger for the job to get close to him]]. Eventually subverted though as she falls out of love with him pretty thoroughly.
175	** Roger also shows shades of this when he finally gets to see Rose again, [[spoiler:given that he ends up shooting Hue and becoming obsessively hostile towards him, Quazky, and other aliens (especially Greys) that get anywhere near Rose.]] Granted, it could be due to his workplace, but especially in Chapter 17, these actions do show some Yandere-esque motivations.
176	** Dr. Glasner towards Phillis; [[spoiler:he winds up raping her when she resists his molestations.]]
177	* YouAreNumberSix: The Majestic 12 are assigned numbers... and Roger's not at all happy about it.
178	* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Even when Rose joins an "alien abductee" support group, her story is seen as far-fetched.
179	** [[spoiler:When Rose tells [=EBE1=] she's been seeing Phillis all over the place. Not surprisingly, he thinks the experiments have made her loony.]]

Context Webcomic / TryingHuman