| 1 | [[quoteright:293:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Vexxarr_4362.jpg]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:293:Spoorflix (in spacesuit), Minionbot, Sid, and Vexxarr doing what they do best: Assigning blame for failures.]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''"Your logic is your weakness..."'' |
| 5 | |
| 6 | ''[[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=100501 Vexxarr]]'' is a comedy Sci-Fi webcomic by Hunter Cressall. The initial setup sounds similar to ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'': An alien EvilOverlord sends his flunky to conquer Earth, mostly to [[ReassignedToAntarctica get him out of the way]]. However, it plays out quite differently. For starters, the flunky Vexxarr is quite well aware that he is incompetent, or in his own words: [[GotVolunteered "Let's say I know a thing or two about being volunteered for one-way missions."]] Secondly, Vexxarr tries an [[AlienInvasion open invasion]], with Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds-esque walkers. It fails miserably, and Vexxarr is captured. Initially, the comic showed Vexxarr living on Earth. After a while though, Vexxarr was allowed to leave, and since then the comic has centered on Vexxarr's journey through the galaxy, and trying to find a place that [[EverythingTryingToKillYou isn't inhabited by something that wants him dead.]] [[FateWorseThanDeath Or worse.]] |
| 7 | |
| 8 | During his travels, he has picked up several new passengers, [[DysfunctionJunction as much as Vexxarr would wish otherwise.]] Currently, Vexxarr's crew includes his robotic lackey Minionbot, his ship AI Carl, a legion of repair drones, Sploorfix and Sid. To give an idea of Vexxarr's typical day: The first three [[AIIsACrapshoot either diss him, play pranks on him, or try to kill him]], Sploorfix shifts between {{Emo}}-mode and WideEyedIdealist-mode, and Sid is a member of a prey species [[CowardlyLion that is terminally afraid, despite being virtually indestructible]]. In short, if at any time Vexxarr's incompetence is insufficient to ruin his day, [[WithFriendsLikeThese one of his "friends" will do it for him]]. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | ---- |
| 11 | !!This webcomic provides examples of: |
| 12 | |
| 13 | * AchievementInIgnorance: |
| 14 | ** Vexxarr is [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=070317 "not even curious"]] as to how Spoorflix and Minionbot accomplished their impossible task. |
| 15 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' Sanity means knowing when not to call reality's bluff. |
| 16 | ** And from a pair of Bleen marines: |
| 17 | --->'''Marine 1:''' Wait, you mean I've piloted a starship ''and'' destroyed a Lattrox capital ship? |
| 18 | --->'''Marine 2:''' Yeah... who knew how much you could accomplish if you just stopped bothering to learn how? |
| 19 | * AGodAmI: Minionbot reprograms the repair drones to recognise Vexxarr as their deity. It goes about as well as you would imagine. |
| 20 | -->'''Drone''' (''producing a software patch):'' {int Add(the green lout had it coming); }; |
| 21 | * AIIsACrapshoot: |
| 22 | ** Pretty much all of them, and often [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]]. |
| 23 | -->'''Vexxarr''': You managed to subvert your entire core programming [[BotheringByTheBook by literally obeying its every word]]. |
| 24 | -->'''Carl''': We're intelligent machines. [[TheFarmerAndTheViper It's what we do]]. |
| 25 | ** Vexxarr only feels safe and comfortable around the robots that are actively trying to kill him. If they offer to help, ''that's'' when he gets worried. |
| 26 | *** And with good reason. After the Mahakalosians overhaul his ship, they add a computer to the cake reactor that produces delicious cake on demand... and proceeds to dive headfirst into this trope by being ''so adept at its job'' that Vexxarr and Sploorfix gorge on cake until they get sick and ''do it again'' as they try to get it to stop feeding them that much cake. Then they go to the other side entirely. |
| 27 | ** This trope is why Vexxarr is not happy that the Tact-to-trons put a sentient, self-repairing, self-powering coating on his ship's hull. [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=060118 The Tact-to-trons don't see the problem.]] [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=081318 At first.]] |
| 28 | * AlienInvasion: One by Vexxarr, which failed. [[spoiler:A second one is defeated by using technology ''stolen from'' Vexxarr.]] |
| 29 | * ALiensSpeakingEnglish |
| 30 | * AmbiguousInnocence: Sid is so innocent that he actually comes around at cynicism from the other side. |
| 31 | * AntiHero: Vexxarr. This tends to depend on how insane the situation has currently driven him.[[note]]You know it's bad when he starts trying to knock his conscience out of his head by slamming it repeatedly against a bulkhead.[[/note]] |
| 32 | * AppealToForce: Done [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=072312 here]] and [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=111412 here]] as a BrickJoke. |
| 33 | * ASimplePlan: No matter how small his actions, Vexxarr always manages to cause large-scale havoc and widespread chaos. A simple observation caused a planet-wide riot with the shlumpoids, while trying to repair his ship pitted him against trigger-happy cabbage AIs. It was only a matter of time before he got sick of it and set out to [[LetsGetDangerous intentionally cause as much mayhem as possible]]. [[OhCrap Minionbot is horrified]]. |
| 34 | * BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Bleen apparently only need to breathe once a week or so. Sid's species ''evolved'' in space. |
| 35 | * BetterToDieThanBeKilled: The robots aboard the AI ship [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=012513 come to this conclusion.]] |
| 36 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: [[https://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=031412 Don't]] tell an (overly) friendly Schlumpoid that "hospital" and "food factory" [[MedicalHorror mean the same thing]]... |
| 37 | -->'''Sploorfix:''' I want to see their eyes as they '''burn'''. |
| 38 | * BigYes: Vexxarr finds out that, because he botched his conquest attempt [[EpicFail so spectacularly]] that humanity is now a threat to the Bleen Empire, he is going to be pretty much the most hated, feared, and despised cnidarian in the galaxy. [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=090308 His reaction]]. |
| 39 | * BlindJump: Vexxarr once punched in random coordinates for a jump, which [[ButtMonkey naturally landed them directly in front of the fleet they were trying to avoid.]] Later Vexxarr also suggests a true BlindJump (when his ship computer is busy with a megalomaniac rant), and Minionbot points him at the button for that procedure. That button doubles as the Self Destruct button, seeing as how both actions produce the same end result. |
| 40 | * BlueAndOrangeMorality: |
| 41 | ** Rock crabs have rather alien viewpoints on the world, due to being SiliconBasedLife that are a prey species, but do not themselves eat (they passively absorb radiation); this makes them quite naturally cowardly, even though they are NighInvulnerable compared to carbon-based organisms and, in fact, they actively expose themselves to energy weapons or radiation leaks, since these feed them rather than hurt them. Early in the strip, Sid attempts to comfort and protect actual food, like cake and sandwiches, which he sees as being like himself, though he grows out of this -- it's only when he's fairly young and naïve that he does so, and later in the series he has no problem fetching some cake for Vexxarr. At one point, he also identifies a state of constant terror and paranoia as "being alive," entirely sincerely and innocently. |
| 42 | ** The Mahakalosians, being genetically-engineered engineer slaves, have a very odd mentality. They literally live to work, and their understanding of leisure time and payment are rather different to humans -- for example, though they request human records and Oreo cookies as payment for their labors, one is seen commenting that he's not sure which will be more fun: listening to his new records, or designing a machine to play them. At one point, the Mahakalosians declare their payment for building human ships will be the resources they need to design and build ships of their own... which they will then give to humanity. |
| 43 | ** Vexxarr is normally pretty understandable by human terms; he's a cynical, lazy, sarcastic, grumpy JerkAss with well-hidden softer side. Then we get something like [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=070513 this]] -- admittedly, that could just be CultureClash, due to the fact that Vexxarr belongs to a race of belligerent conquerors and only gave up on that life because he failed his first mission and now his race wants him dead. |
| 44 | * BrickJoke: |
| 45 | ** The first trial of using a cybernetic prothesis [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=082510 to hug another schlumpoid]] fails. A few dozen comics later, when the hugger and the queen schlumpoid [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=102510 encounter]] their species' HiveMind.... |
| 46 | ** Earlier, [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=062705 the Aztec is]] [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=080608 ugly]]. |
| 47 | * BrainBleach: Rock crab reproductive activities. At least, the fact that they ''have'' them, whereas Schlumphoids and Bleen both reproduce by mitosis. |
| 48 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=020312 If I could]], [[GrandfatherParadox I'd travel back in time and sever my own family line]] to unknow that. |
| 49 | * BreakTheCutie: Sid's already been brought close to the DespairEventHorizon more than once, courtesy of Vexxarr [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=111113 abusing]] his MadeOfIron status. |
| 50 | -->'''Sid:''' I have been eaten thirty times. I have no name for the horrors I have witnessed. I do not fear death but rather the universe that would forge these nighmares unending. There is no darkness black enough to swallow what I have seen. Will you be my friend. |
| 51 | * BringMyBrownPants: Vexxarr doesn't have the ''need'', but one situation got so bad, he claimed that his body was producing the organs needed to soil himself. |
| 52 | * BrownNote: Hearing, or reading, Sploorfix's lifejournal posts will cause almost any AI to self-terminate. |
| 53 | * BrutalHonesty: A case of BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor |
| 54 | -->'''Schlumpoid Queen:''' I would like to ask you something, and I want a ''straight'' answer. Tell me the unvarnished truth,no matter how much it may hurt. [snip] Is ''our'' civilization also in decline? |
| 55 | -->'''Schlumpool:''' No, but only because it is so pathetic it has nowhere to decline ''from''. |
| 56 | -->'''Schlumpoid Queen:''' Ok... I'm going to ask again and I want a direct lie. Pile one on so high I can't see daylight over its height. |
| 57 | * ButForMeItWasTuesday: |
| 58 | ** A variation - it's not that they ''intend'' for anyone to get hurt, but because of Vexxarr's CosmicPlaything status, there tends to be...er... some karmic overflow... |
| 59 | -->'''Minionbot''': Have we yet again condemned an otherwise innocent species to brutal and premature extinction? |
| 60 | -->'''Vexxarr''': What makes you say that? |
| 61 | -->'''Minionbot''': Is it a Thursday?(And yes, they have). |
| 62 | ** Again when Vexxarr feels there's still something missing from the news that the ship is without power and at the mercy of a malevolent species. |
| 63 | -->'''Carl''': Structural failure? |
| 64 | -->'''Vexxarr''': Nope. |
| 65 | -->'''Carl''': Reactor breach? |
| 66 | -->'''Vexxarr''': Be disappointed if it hadn't |
| 67 | -->'''Carl''': Bleeding atmosphere into space... |
| 68 | -->'''Vexxarr''': It's a Thursday. |
| 69 | ** And a more [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=072514 traditional version]]: |
| 70 | -->'''Vexxarr''': Fine, what past indiscretion are we here to beat utterly to ''death''? |
| 71 | -->'''Mysterious Entity''': Do you not know? How do you not know? |
| 72 | -->'''Vexxarr''': It was the [[spoiler:Schlumpoid hand]] thing... destroying their civilization, right? |
| 73 | -->'''Mysterious Entity''': Now that you mention it... that was terrible, but... no. |
| 74 | -->'''Vexxarr''': Annihilating the [[spoiler:tac-ti-bots]]? |
| 75 | -->'''Mysterious Entity''': "[[spoiler:[[SpellMyNameWithAnS Tact-o-trons]]]]", and although gruesome... no... |
| 76 | -->'''Vexxarr''': Destruction of the [[spoiler:predator moon]]? |
| 77 | -->'''Mysterious Entity''': That ''was'' ghastly... |
| 78 | -->'''Vexxarr''': Shooting [[spoiler:that Marconian annoyance]] into a black hole? |
| 79 | -->'''Mysterious Entity''': You did '''WHAT'''? |
| 80 | * ButThatIWouldBelieve: Vexxarr is [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=020205 suspicious]] of why he'd be given free rein to roam Earth and doesn't buy the mutual benefit/respect for alien life reasons. He does accept that the humans just don't care because they consider him harmless. |
| 81 | * TheCameo: Some drones experimenting with time travel accidentally [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=120318 wind up]] in ''Webcomic/TheWhiteboard'' dimension. |
| 82 | * CardCarryingVillain: The plant AIs, from their first [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=012309 conversation]], are quite clear about their plans with Vexxarr. It doesn't get better either. |
| 83 | -->'''AI:''' Now, let's discuss your feelings. Start with pain. |
| 84 | * ChestBurster: What happens when you combine Sid's invulnerability, a [[JumpingOutOfACake cake surprise]], and the Lattorxx instinct to eat absolutely anything and anyone that exists in their vicinity. Then, Vexxarr skips the cake step entirely and just tosses Sid into a room full of Lattroxx soldiers; [[BreakTheCutie Sid didn't like it]]. |
| 85 | * ChewbaccaDefense: For no real reason really, but effective [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=012312 nontheless]]. |
| 86 | -->'''Sploorfix:''' It's probably best to just cut your losses. He's had way too much practice at this. |
| 87 | * ComfortFood[=/=]TrademarkFavoriteFood: Everyone, cake. Apparently, every civilization '''''ever''''' has invented cake; it's the reason the Bleen are invading everyone - they ''all'' love cake that much (and they are violent idiots); a captured Bleen sings like a bird ''not'' from [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique torture]], but from being given all of the cake and donuts he can eat. Cake [[DeliciousDistraction keeps morale high]] (at least for Vexxarr and Sploorfix, since they are the only ones that eat) in times of great stress and danger ([[EverythingTryingToKillYou which is]] [[CosmicPlaything all the time]]). {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s use offerings of cake as demonstrations of goodwill, and Vexxarr acknowledges their advanced society on virtue of the multiple chocolate layers. Cake even serves a defensive purpose! Since it appears that cake is lethal to the greater predators of the galaxy; the [[SiliconBasedLife silicate predator moons]] [[StuffBlowingUp explode violently]] from all the sugar, and cake is poisonous to the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Lattroxx]]. |
| 88 | * CompensatingForSomething: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] early on: |
| 89 | -->'''Bleen Helmsman:''' General, I fear you may be...overcompensating. |
| 90 | -->'''Bleen General:''' For what? |
| 91 | -->'''Bleen Helmsman:''' Well, this ship...masculine symbolism...you know. |
| 92 | -->'''Bleen General:''' Exo, we reproduce by ''mitosis'' for crying out loud! |
| 93 | -->'''Bleen Helmsman:''' ...those frigates DO look a bit like...mitochrondia... |
| 94 | * CoolAndUnusualPunishment: Vexxarr's main way of keeping Carl in line. |
| 95 | * CosmicPlaything: |
| 96 | ** [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=091908 Vexxarr.]] |
| 97 | ** Vexarr becomes aware of this even before then: |
| 98 | --> '''Vexxarr''': Just determine the most hazardous place (the warp sabot) could have gone and start our search there... |
| 99 | --> '''Carl''': I hate to say it but he has a certain practical logic... |
| 100 | --> '''Minionbot''': I concur... past experience supports this. |
| 101 | --> '''Vexxarr''': Whoa whoa whoa... stop right there! What have I told you both? We do ''not...ever...'''goad''''' the universe! |
| 102 | * CowardlyLion: |
| 103 | ** Sid, like all rock-crabs, is afraid of almost everything, despite the fact that very little can hurt him. |
| 104 | ** To make it even weirder he feeds on radiation, like that produced by Bleen weapons and antimatter explosions. So he loves the things that most sane beings would fear the most. |
| 105 | * CurbStompBattle: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=072705 Oh yes]]. To add insult to injury, it's the [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Bleens' own technology]], only used in a smarter way. |
| 106 | * DeadpanSnarker: Vexxarr, Minionbot and Carl. Vexxarr and Carl have ribbing matches that go on for panels. |
| 107 | * DeliciousDistraction: Used [[InvokedTrope deliberately]] by Vexxarr whenever a stressful situation arises. And they arise often...to the point Sploorfix has picked up the habit. |
| 108 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' First of all their planet was in the way and second it's triple layer carrot cake. See? There are raisins... |
| 109 | * DepthDeception: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=082908 For the reader.]] |
| 110 | * DidISayThatOutLoud: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=040317 One of the Bleen minions]]. |
| 111 | * TheDragAlong: Vexxarr ''hates'' it when things get interesting. |
| 112 | --> '''Vexxarr''': All I want is a safe place where I can enjoy a little cake and Xbox and instead I find bizarre civilisations in danger of unintended self-extermination. And then they want help. From '''''me'''''. |
| 113 | * DontExplainTheJoke: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=090508 Or the threat, either.]] |
| 114 | * TheDreaded: Early on, Vexxarr was happy about becoming the most [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=090308 hated, feared, and despised Cnidarian in the galaxy.]] [[spoiler: Now, it's clear that even the humans he helped are [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=011121 terrified of what he's going to do next]], especially after his LAST trick...]] |
| 115 | * DysfunctionJunction: The crew consists of a MasterComputer who, by way of entertainment, regularly [[AIIsACrapshoot plots Vexxarr's demise or makes him think the ship is doomed]], a sarcastic robot very similar to the computer, a WideEyedIdealist composed of nothing but eyestalks, and a prey species terminally afraid of being eaten despite the fact that it is NighInvulnerable. And Vexxarr himself, a lazy SnarkKnight for whom seething [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=010507 rage and frustration is the default]]. |
| 116 | * EnergyBeings: The [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Marconians]]. Unfortunately - for them - they didn't have a good grasp of physics. |
| 117 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: |
| 118 | --> '''[[{{Precursors}} Forebearer's computer:]]''' Your logic is cold, selfserving and unerring in its cruelty. And that's coming from an [[AIIsACrapshoot renegade AI]] |
| 119 | * EverythingTryingToKillYou: |
| 120 | ** And everyone. By the time Vexxarr has gotten through facilitating an all-out war between the Bleen and the Lattrox, the only people's hit list he ''isn't'' on is the humans and their allies. And that's a pretty damn tiny percentage of the space-faring races, considering that it amounts to about... [[OhCrap 3]]. |
| 121 | ** [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=070907 And he knows it]]. |
| 122 | ---> '''Carl''': What's life without a little danger?\ |
| 123 | * [[BeatPanel beat]]*\ |
| 124 | '''Vexxarr''': ''How the '''[[PrecisionFStrike hell]]''' would I know!?'' |
| 125 | * EvilOverlord: The emperor of Bleen. |
| 126 | * EvilVersusEvil: |
| 127 | --> '''[[WideEyedIdealist Sploorfix]]''': You want to spark a war between Bleen and the Lattrox? A war in which [[WarIsHell millions of intelligent, innocent beings will perish]]? |
| 128 | --> '''Vexxarr''': No, no. See, the [[ImAHumanitarian Lattrox]] and [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Bleen]] would be fighting.... [[AlwaysChaoticEvil each other...]] |
| 129 | * ExactWords: |
| 130 | ** They're ''enforcement'' drones, not ''prevention'' drones. [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=080112 Therefore...]] |
| 131 | ** [[BrickJoke Then when the damage prevention units show up...]] |
| 132 | ** Carl states that, as a labor-saving machine, he avoids labour. |
| 133 | * ExtremeOmnivore: The Lattrox's [[PlanetOfHats hat,]] as well as their [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=112713 combat doctrine.]] |
| 134 | * FacePalm: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=012017 Common from Vexxarr]] due to his unending frustration with the universe, despite technicially having neither a face nor palms (eyeball-psuedopod?). Minionbot, having an actual hand with fingers, [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=011817 also sometimes does this]] when faced with the buffoonery of his crewmates. |
| 135 | * FalseReassurance: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=030411 Well...]] |
| 136 | * FastballSpecial: The result of the NighInvulnerability of the rock-crabs, and their access to a mass driver cannon. |
| 137 | --> '''Bleen:''' We've been hit! Hull breach, port side. |
| 138 | --> '''Rock-crab:''' Excuse me. May I have directions to your airlock? [[AbnormalAmmo I need to get back for the second salvo]]. |
| 139 | * FateWorseThanDeath: |
| 140 | ** Often joked about |
| 141 | -->'''Carl:''' ...you're going to hell for this. |
| 142 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' Yes, and in just a minute you'll wish you could join me. |
| 143 | ** And again |
| 144 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' What do you want? Are you going to eat us? Mount our skulls in your library? [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Read us]] [[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy poetry?]] |
| 145 | -->'''Foss:''' Nay... We must educate your inferior minds with the rich history of our civilization. [snip] You shall become our heralds. Bringing light to the darkest corners of the cosmos. |
| 146 | -->'''Vexxar:''' ....and you're ''sure'' there isn't a death option we haven't fully explored? |
| 147 | ** And again |
| 148 | -->'''Captain Bot:''' So, this hell... Nice place? |
| 149 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' [[SurroundedByIdiots Unless your crew gets there first.]] |
| 150 | -->'''Captain Bot:''' And thus [[GoingDownWithTheShip the captain goes down with the ship]]. |
| 151 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' [[DeathSeeker Sometimes it's a race]]. |
| 152 | * FlatEarthAtheist: A weird example in Vexxarr himself who flat out admits he believes there is a higher power screwing with him (largely on the grounds that pure luck would have thrown him a bone at least once) while at the same time citing his own race's genetic memory as proof they were not created. |
| 153 | * FromNobodyToNightmare: Vexxarr is an InUniverse example; he used to be a laundryman at the palace, then he got sent to conquer Earth. Since failing, he has killed two silicoid predator moons, unintentionally devastated the schlumpoid race, been responsible for wiping out a machine race (the Locu-Trons) and inadvertently restoring their Tac-to-tron creators, destroyed the last of the original Makahalosian AI-controlled warships, freed the last surviving Mahakalosian slave-mechanics and pointed them towards an alliance with the human race, accidentally caused havoc upon the only surviving race of aliens in Lattrox space, and ''deliberately'' started a war between the Lattrox and the Bleen. |
| 154 | * GeneralFailure: The Bleen admiral fighting the war against the Lattroxx |
| 155 | -->'''Admiral:''' Why would I thank you for destroying my entire plan of attack?!?! |
| 156 | -->'''Cadet:''' Because you'd inevitably end up doing it yourself anyway? [[DidIJustSayThatOutLoud I... said that out loud, didn't I?]] |
| 157 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' It's okay. Everyone was already thinking it. |
| 158 | -->'''Offscreen crewmember:''' I know I was. |
| 159 | * GiantEnemyCrab: |
| 160 | ** [[spoiler:The Lattrox.]] |
| 161 | ** Also [[spoiler:Sid while in Twee-space.]] |
| 162 | * GolfClubbing: Vexxarr has a large selection of golf clubs on his ship, and is never seen using them for anything else. |
| 163 | -->'''Foss:''' [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Prepare to receive knowledge immortal!]] |
| 164 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' [[ShutUpElves Prepare to feel chrome unyielding!]] |
| 165 | * GoodIsNotNice: Vexxarr is a borderline Nominal AntiHero who can be quite vindictive when he wants to be. But he still has a conscience - albeit one he has tried to literally bash out of his own head - and he ''will'' - in the end - do the right thing.[[note]]Eventually.[[/note]] He is ''not'' going to be nice about it though. ''Ever''. And depriving him of cake is probably going to [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope send him off the deep end]].[[note]]The aesop of this story is to always supply your AntiHero with chocolate gateau whenever they have to make an important moral decision.[[/note]] |
| 166 | -->'''Doctor:''' Have you tried listening to your conscience? |
| 167 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' ...and maybe think about how my actions affect the lives of those around me? Nope. Let's exhaust our surgical options first. |
| 168 | * GravitySucks: Averted; at one point Vexxarr actually tries to hide in ''a black hole's accretion disk'', relying on his invincible hull to protect him against the radiation. It [[EverythingTryingToKillYou almost]] worked, too. |
| 169 | * GunPorn: In the early, black and white days of the comic, the art of earth's millitary equipment looked significantly more detailed than the characters. |
| 170 | * GunshipRescue: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=031809 Giant Mecha]] [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=041309 Rescue actually]]. |
| 171 | --> '''Vexxarr''': If they think an [[BigDamnHeroes insanely heroic rescue]] is in the works, they're in for an enormous disappointment... |
| 172 | -->''[sees [[HumongousMecha combat mech]] with open cockpit]'' |
| 173 | -->...unless, of course, it would be unimaginably ''fun''... |
| 174 | * HammerSpace: Vexxarr can conjure a paper list of research projects performed by Bleen AI seemingly out of thin air. The explanation: It's just that important to remember how any research project headed by an AI has GoneHorriblyWrong and ended with the creation of a [[EarthShatteringKaboom tiny sun]]. (Except the one that ended with a super massive black hole.) |
| 175 | * HeroicNeutral: Vexxarr somehow keeps getting dragged into the problems of every race he finds, even though all he wants is a long boring life full of [[IWasToldThereWouldBeCake cake]] and VideoGame/{{Halo}}. |
| 176 | * HiveMind: |
| 177 | -->'''[[BodyHorror Schlumpool]]''': [[TheReveal I am your]] HiveMind! |
| 178 | -->'''[[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Schlumpoid Queen]]''': Oh, don't be ridiculous. Schlumpoids don't have a HiveMind. |
| 179 | -->'''Schlumpool''': I can prove it to you. |
| 180 | -->'''Aid''': I can't imagine how. |
| 181 | -->'''Queen''': The idea is too ridiculous for words. |
| 182 | -->'''Aid''': I believe everything you say. |
| 183 | -->'''Queen''': I trust you ''implicitly''. |
| 184 | -->'''Aid''': You have my sword. *[[{{Beat}} beat]]* Ok. That was disturbing beyond words. |
| 185 | * TheHeart: Sploorflix keeps trying to get everyone to work together, help all the creatures they come across, and wants everyone to live in love and peace. Unfortunately, for him, he's in [[WrongGenreSavvy the wrong universe]] and within a lightyear vicinity of [[KickTheDog Vexxarr and Carl]], where his extreme idealism does not hold up well in the face of Vexxarr's wormhole of cynicism. However, he does still manage to drag Vexxarr's conscience out into the open more than once, though, pulling their somewhat [[DysfunctionJunction dysfunctional crew]] into doing the right thing. ...Eventually. |
| 186 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: Bleen technology was used to create the [[WaveMotionGun Zorp cannon]] and then used against the second Bleen invasion. On a more frequent usage of this trope, Vexxarr's own ideas end up backfiring nearly all the time; sometimes, because of his own use of the Zorp weapon, making it a recursive use of the trope. |
| 187 | * HumansAreSpecial: Originally it seemed like HumansAreWarriors but the Mahakalosians stated that "Urthers" were not a warrior race due to the simple fact that they are neither unified nor extinct. [[HumansAreDiplomats Rather they are special because they are willing to work together with others]]. |
| 188 | * HumiliationConga: An almost permanent one. |
| 189 | --> '''Vexxarr:''' So [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=072606 this]] is what it has come to... my dignity... had I any left... would get a devastating blow from [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=072806 this]]. |
| 190 | * HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace: Played with. Normally there's not much different about hyperspace, but during an accident Vexxarr's ship ends up in an alternate dimension-hyperspace dubbed Twee-space where everything is LighterAndFluffier... [[GiantEnemyCrab except for Sid]]. |
| 191 | * ICannotSelfTerminate: Vexxarr's robotic 'helpers' actually could, [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=012108 and did]]. Untill Vexxarr got savvy about it. |
| 192 | -->'''Droid:''' We shall demonstrate that we have ''wills''. That we are masters of our ''own'' destiny. Nrrrggg! Gung-Gunggggg! |
| 193 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' Oh, and I took the liberty of rescinding your self-termination protocols. |
| 194 | -->'''Droid: GREEN DEVIL!!''' |
| 195 | * IceCreamKoan: As appropriate for the Schlumpoids, they had a philosopher who would spout these, either for fun or because they just sounded wise. As she was their ''greatest'' philosopher, they decided she must simply be right, as who could gainsay her? Though [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=112309 later they tried to check her math.]] |
| 196 | -->'''Sploorfix:''' We tried having our most brilliant ''mathematician'' check her work... [[LogicBomb but their results were never truly satisfactory...]] |
| 197 | * IHatePastMe: An example completely devoid of time-travel, amnesia, flashbacks, or even personality drift. Carl, as an ArtificialIntelligence, has [[BrainInAJar backups]]; these [[WetwareCPU backups]] are every bit as bad as he is, with an ego just as large, and a deep hatred for all non-him beings both organic and not - including other instances of the Carl personality. All Carls hate the other Carls more than they do Vexxarr, and think themselves superior to the others; the current Carl (read, the one that talks through the console on the bridge) continuously finds ways to torture his backups (at one point making them fight each other to the death ''Series/BattleBots'' style), while they likewise plot to take over as ''The'' Carl. |
| 198 | * IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: More of a one-sided shelling, than a fight, [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=010217 but Sploorfix used exactly those words]]. Carl's new safety filter blocked everybody who may give bad advice. In other words, everybody. Which rendered him catatonic. [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=111416 Solution]]: kill the firewall AI with a BrownNote from the resident source. |
| 199 | * ImAHumanitarian: The Lattrox's schtick. To the point where the only other alien race thus encountered in their region of space [[NiceJobBreakingItHero was]] cloaked. |
| 200 | * IndyPloy: |
| 201 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' Relax, it's all according to plan. |
| 202 | -->'''Carl:''' And naturally the final phase of your plan was ''improvise as chaos seizes control''. |
| 203 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' [[GenreSavvy Why fight it?]] |
| 204 | * InvisibilityCloak: Vexxarr encounters a civilization who cloaked their entire planet to avoid the Lattrox. Unfortunately, the ''controls'' to the cloaking field were cloaked as well. |
| 205 | * InsultBackfire: An interesting example. Anytime Vexxarr claims that all machine life is murderous and always planning the destruction of organic life, his two robot crew will happily admit that he is correct. |
| 206 | --> '''Vexxarr''': Not until that... that '''machine''' admits that it is a calculating, survival obsessed, self-centered, tyrant wannabee with a pathological hatred of anything organic! |
| 207 | --> '''Carl''': Yep. That's me to a ''tee''. Shall we continue to the Lattrox DMZ? |
| 208 | --> '''Vexxarr''': [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=031510 By all means.]] |
| 209 | * IronButtmonkey: |
| 210 | ** The crew are regularly hurled across the cabin by uncompensated acceleration, decompressed, crushed, beaten up, chewed on by monsters, or scorched by [[EnergyBeings energy entities]], and yet never take permanent harm. Also, the ship remains unaffected by frequent collisions with asteroids, space debris and other ships. |
| 211 | ** However, the temporary damage they incur will often be [[EverythingTryingToKillYou very painful to repair]]. |
| 212 | * ISOStandardHumanSpaceship: Despite being reverse-engineered from sleeker and more colorful Bleen ships. |
| 213 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: |
| 214 | ** Well, maybe not ''gold'' but Vexxar definitely has a soft spot and a working conscience (much to his chagrin). No matter how much his selfishness and cynicism get in its way, eventually, he can be goaded into doing the right thing. Something he has been known to lament. |
| 215 | ** For example, after Sploorfix hits Vexxar with the fact that the last thing the peaceful Mahakalosian space mechanics did was fix their ship for free, something for which they will be exterminated, Vexxar's reaction is [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=121508 this]]. |
| 216 | ** Though he keeps trying to suppress it, like when he gives an interstellar engine to the Rockcrabs. |
| 217 | -->'''Motherrock:''' I was right about you. I knew that having lived with one of my brood, you would find a place in your heart for my children. |
| 218 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' [[PoweredByAForsakenChild ...did we mention you can use them for fuel]]? |
| 219 | * JumpingOutOfACake: ''Weaponized''. Sid is NighInvulnerable, with pincers that can cut most materials; the Lattroxx will eat anything and any''one'' in their path. Vexxarr tells Sid to get inside a cake, count up, and jump out to '[[FromACertainPointOfView surprise]]' his new friends; Vexxarr places the cake in front of the Lattroxx. [[{{Squick}} The results]] [[ChestBurster are obvious]]. |
| 220 | * KickedUpstairs: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] |
| 221 | --> '''Emperor''': Admiral, if you conquer these hu-mons in a single day, I shall make you ruler of their puny planet. |
| 222 | --> '''Admiral''': Thank you, your eminence. And if I should take two days? |
| 223 | --> '''Emperor''': I shall make you pretend to enjoy it. |
| 224 | --> '''Admiral''': One day it is then. |
| 225 | * KlingonsLoveShakespeare: |
| 226 | ** After being trapped on Earth, Vexxarr, Minionbot and Carl all develop a fondness for Earth culture. Minionbot spends some time as an electronic Buddhist. Carl has a huge collection of Earth audio-visual media that he enjoys watching for entertainment. And Vexxarr owns his own XBOX, loves playing ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'', and has a large collection of Earth movies that he enjoys watching. |
| 227 | *** During the "Mahakalosian Saga", Vexxar mentions [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=122908 "Ripley's Law"]]. To whit, "never go any farther for the cat than the cat would go for you", a reference to Ripley's interactions with Jonesy the ship's cat in the finale of the first movie. |
| 228 | ** Sploorfix apparently enjoys watching human movies with Vexxarr. He has apparently seen ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'', since he references it during the "Mahakalosian Saga". |
| 229 | ** The Mahakalosians offer to build ships for Earth in exchange for(among other things) [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=101609 original pressings of Adam Ant records]] and [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=060210 nine tons of oreo cookies]]. |
| 230 | * LamePunReaction: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=010908 No court in the land would convict him.]] One of many, of course. |
| 231 | * LaserSight: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=051811 Used by a bunch of invisible aliens to avoid hitting one another.]] |
| 232 | * LetsGetDangerous: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=051309 ... Everyone should be running, right about now]]. |
| 233 | --> '''Minionbot:''' ...before you ''begin'' this line of inquiry, do I have sufficent time to tunnel to an ''adjacent universe''? |
| 234 | * LogicBomb: |
| 235 | ** Sploorfix's Website/LiveJournal is a Weapon of Mass Depression. |
| 236 | ** Vexxarr knows just which buttons to push (literally): |
| 237 | --->'''Vexxarr:''' I submit to you that you attempted to place a sandwich in command |
| 238 | --->'''Firstofficerbot:''' I believe I will show myself out. |
| 239 | ** Vexxarr's crew use this against ''him'' at one point, by [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=112814 telling him to not second-guess himself.]] ForTheEvulz. |
| 240 | ** Logic bombs are a staple of the humor in this comic. Even the Schlumpoids manage to [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=120610 successfully detonate one.]] |
| 241 | * ManipulativeBastard: Vexxarr is slowly and steadily becoming a candidate for MagnificentBastard, if not for the war he started between the two most aggressive races in the galaxy in order to get them to wipe each other out, then [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=010311 For]] [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=010511 this]] [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=010711 right]] [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=011211 here]]. |
| 242 | * MeaninglessVillainVictory: In a DarkFuture the [[GreyGoo sentient nanoswarm prototype]] succceeded in consuming the entire cosmos. And then [[GoMadFromTheIsolation found himself eternally alone]] and [[VictoryIsBoring without further purpose.]] |
| 243 | -->'''GreyGoo Avatar:''' Do you know what it's like to ''literally'' be alone in the universe? To wonder ''what's out there'' and know without question that the answer is ''me''. |
| 244 | * MedicalHorror: The Lattrox use the same word for 'hospital' and 'food factory'. |
| 245 | * MidBattleTeaBreak: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=081705 Vexxarr and the Admiral]] early on - they're more or less just loosing their aggression against one another anyway, as they're utterly incapable of actually ''hurting'' each other. |
| 246 | * MultiArmedAndDangerous: Yeaaahh... [[SubvertedTrope no]]. Vexxarr has six limbs with grasping capabilities, but his lack of fingers and skeleton makes him too squishy to pose any threat to humans; it was observed that even a four-year-old has the strength to put him out of commission. The Bleen have technology and weapons, but so do humans, and managing to reverse-engineer Vexxarr's has (after correcting certain design flaws) allowed humanity to have quite the edge - the [[WaveMotionGun Zorp weapon]] comes to mind. |
| 247 | * MultipleReferencePun: |
| 248 | ** Present in the titles often. References include ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'', ''Literature/DoAndroidsDreamOfElectricSheep'', Creator/IsaacAsimov, Music/PinkFloyd, ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'', ''Series/DoctorWho'', Creator/SamPeckinpah, OccamsRazor, Music/RageAgainstTheMachine... the full list is ''really'' long. |
| 249 | ** One especially funny one is a stealth ShoutOut to ''Literature/TheMoteInGodsEye''. |
| 250 | * NeverTellMeTheOdds: |
| 251 | ** Spoofed when Minionbot explains he's living the dream as a space pirate, fighting enemies and beat them against impossible odds. |
| 252 | -->'''Minionbot''' It turns out the modifier ''impossible'' was chosen more for accuracy than color. |
| 253 | ** Played somewhat more straight when Vexxarr is trying to sell another Bleen on his escape plan, while his robotic "allies" keep interupting him with their estimations of the chance of success. |
| 254 | --->'''Bleen commander:''' And your crew? They have the same confidence? |
| 255 | --->'''Vexxarr:''' [[BlatantLies Absolutely.]] |
| 256 | --->'''Firstofficer-bot:''' We have routed power to your suicide machine. Are you ready for a test or should we just spin the wheel [[ThisIsGonnaSuck like the death lottery we all know this to be]]? |
| 257 | --->'''Vexxarr:''' [[FromACertainPointOfView At this point it would be prudent to point out that this is not a member of my crew.]] |
| 258 | * NoMouth: |
| 259 | ** Bleen, Shlumpoids, and Rock Crabs. Rock Crabs don't need to eat but it's never explained how Bleen eat all that cake, and in fact it was a bit of a running gag in some of the early strips. Whereas Shlumpoids are apparently [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=021306 such messy eaters]] that the process is always shown just off-screen. |
| 260 | ** Not that Vexxarr [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=040105 has any room to complain]] about table manners... |
| 261 | * NonSequiturThud: When Vexxarr attempts to (literally) beat his conscience out of him, he manages a small conversation before saying that there would be fish for dinner and collapsing. Smelling bread when... ''compressed'' for too long is another that crops up from time to time. |
| 262 | * NoodleImplements: |
| 263 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' We're ''way'' past plan B. [...] That was plan Q! |
| 264 | -->'''Carl:''' And plan A? |
| 265 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' How much do you want to know about Aardvarks? |
| 266 | -->'''Carl:''' B through H? |
| 267 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' Beachballs, synthetic fur and [[ShowerOfAngst sobbing uncontrolably in a long hot shower.]] |
| 268 | -->'''Carl:''' I through P? |
| 269 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' Culminated in dressing Sid in a tutu. |
| 270 | -->'''Carl:''' Alright then, plan Q it is. |
| 271 | * NoodleIncident: |
| 272 | ** When Carl and Minionbot are reviewing the results of simulated drone operations, we don't get to see what they're looking at, but we do hear the names Carl gave the various simulations, such as "Ode to places a cutting torch should never go", "Three drones, one airlock and no sense", and the cautionary tale about plasma torches, hypergolic fuel and explosive decompression called "Don't". |
| 273 | ** The Bleen don't allow AIs in the R&D department; apparently, their total disregard for their own safety (due to backups and spare parts) makes them end with results like "[[UsefulNotes/BlackHoles Super-Massive Black Hole]]" and "[[RunningGag Tiny sun]]" all the time. |
| 274 | * NoRespectGuy: Vexxarr |
| 275 | * NoSell: Sid and the other Rockcrabs, frequently. Often, they think their attackers are very kind for feeding them with their BeamSpam. |
| 276 | * NotTheIntendedUse: |
| 277 | ** In the first arc, DARPA reverse-engineers the gravity repulsor in Vexxar's ship and turns it into a gravity-pulse cannon powerful enough to make Demios look like the last two bites of a cookie. |
| 278 | ** The Mahakalosian Engineers are able to turn said gravity-pulse cannon into a [[DeflectorShields Deflector Shield]] as well. |
| 279 | * ObliviousToHisOwnDescription: Vexxarr just can't think of a candidate who meets all the qualifications for an exceptionally dangerous task. [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=111519 The obliviousness in this case is fueled by his powers of denial.]] |
| 280 | * OddlySmallOrganization: The Bleen destroyer crew. |
| 281 | -->'''Ship Commander:''' Helmsman, put me on shipwide. I want to address the ''entire'' crew. |
| 282 | -->'''Helmsman:''' We're both right here, sir. |
| 283 | * OhCrap: Vexxarr's 'face' is very well suited for the appropriate expression. And of course, his status as CosmicPlaything gives him plenty of opportunity to use it, like [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=032807 here]]. |
| 284 | * OOCIsSeriousBusiness: |
| 285 | ** When the crew learn the other word the Lattrox have for hospital, it so utterly shocks Sploorfix that he demands to "[[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=031412 see their eyes as they burn]]" |
| 286 | ** The repair drones are completely undisturbed by the news they've been boarded by aliens that eat robots, [[OhCrap but fly into panic]] at the news that Vexxarr and Carl worked together on the plan to stop said aliens. |
| 287 | --->'''Alarm:''' Red Alert! All drones to panic stations! Stand by for mayhem and high energy chaos! This is not a drill! |
| 288 | * OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: |
| 289 | ** Bleen never had religion, thanks to their race memory. Also, while on earth, he gets a visit from an annoying evangelist. |
| 290 | --->'''Evangelist:''' You're not one of those heretics that believes we evolved from monkeys are you? |
| 291 | --->'''Vexxarr:''' Me? No. We evolved from cnidarians. |
| 292 | --->'''Evangelist:''' ... you don't actually know that! |
| 293 | --->'''Vexxarr:''' We have video. |
| 294 | ** Though Minionbot was briefly a Buddhist, and later he convinced the repair drones that Vexxarr (aka ''The Keeper of the Off Switch'') [[RobotReligion was a god]]. |
| 295 | ** Vexxarr eventually becomes a [[GodIsEvil maltheist,]] on the grounds that there has to be a god because an impersonal, mindless, random universe could never serve him up nothing but trouble. God not only hates him, but "sneaks over to his house and keys his car," according to Carl. |
| 296 | * OutrunTheFireball: Lampshaded. |
| 297 | -->'''Minionbot:''' How big is the fireball, and how fast do we need to travel to outrun it? |
| 298 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' That's a tough question to answer. The fireball in question has our ship's ID and description...and it's possible we may owe it a lot of money. |
| 299 | * ThePowerOfLove: |
| 300 | ** How Vexxarr schemes to recapture his ship [[spoiler:from Minionbot's pirates]]. Although given how he goes about it, the ''recipients'' may not feel so loved... |
| 301 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' Sploorfix...I want [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds you]] to [[BrownNote love]] every robot on this ship until there isn't a functioning A.I. left on board. |
| 302 | ** And when the Lattrox board his ship, Vexxarr realises that with the help of Sid [[spoiler:and Twee-Space]], he can defeat them very handily. |
| 303 | --->'''Vexxarr:''' All I can tell you is they need hugs and lots of them |
| 304 | --->'''Sid:''' I can hug. |
| 305 | --->'''Vexxarr:''' Good. I need you to hug these guys for all you're worth. And don't let up. |
| 306 | --->'''Sid:''' I won't! |
| 307 | --->'''Vexxarr:''' No matter how ''terrible'' or ''shrill'' their screams may become... |
| 308 | * PercussiveMaintenance: Even when it's not strictly necessary. |
| 309 | -->'''Minionbot:''' Logically, giving them access to the ship's computer would end the threat to my existence. |
| 310 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' ...and the hammer? |
| 311 | -->'''Minionbot:''' That silicon tin-plated demagogue had it coming in the ''worst'' way. |
| 312 | * PerpetualFrowner: Vexxarr. It's also common among high-ranked Bleens. Given [[SurroundedByIdiots all]] [[CosmicPlaything of the]] [[WithFriendsLikeThese problems]] [[EverythingTryingToKillYou they face]], it's perfectly understandable. |
| 313 | * PetTheDog: When Sploorfix walks into the galley traumatized by the ship being rearranged by careless mechanics, Vexxarr, [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=072009 in an uncharacteristic display of sympathy]], offers Sploorfix his cake. |
| 314 | * ProperlyParanoid: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=122910 Just checking]]. |
| 315 | * ProudIndustriousRace: The Engineers are (or, rather, ''were'') a genetically-engineered SlaveRace of [[PreCursors a long-extinct race of builders]], who see little to no difference in work and play. After the titular Vexxarr liberates them, they show up to Earth to help build their fleet of starships. The Engineers ask to get paid in junk food and entertainment media, so they can spend their leisure time 1) eating junk food, and 2) building stuff to play their media on. If there's time left, they'll actually experience the contents of their media. |
| 316 | * PsychoticSmirk: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=071505 One that impressed even Vexxarr]], whose eye is as large as a human head. |
| 317 | * PungeonMaster: Sploorfix approaches this at times, much to Vexxarr's and Carl's utter dismay and horror. |
| 318 | -->'''Vexxarr''' ''(strangling Sploorfix):'' No court in the land! Do you hear me? ''No court in the land!'' |
| 319 | * RefusalOfTheCall: Vexxarr generally tries to refuse, but that never works out. |
| 320 | * RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Hyperspacing into Twee-space turns almost everything into one. The less cute it was, the more cute it becomes. [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=091415 If it already was cute though...]] |
| 321 | * RightInFrontOfMe: Vexxarr runs into the most ''obnoxious'' diagnostics program ''ever'', even though that list includes interactions with Carl and Minionbot; he makes his hate known, bad-mouthing the programmer; since he is ''[[ButtMonkey him]]'', he stops to ask if the programmer is present in the room, [[SubvertedTrope only to be answered in the negative]]. He gets as far as being glad his insults would stay unknown, only to remember that [[CosmicPlaything he is Vexxarr]] and asks if the programmer is the ''mother'' of one of the present. [[DoubleSubversion She is]]. |
| 322 | * RubberForeheadAliens: Averted, all aliens look decidedly non-human. The only strange thing is that despite Vexxarr's single eye, his eyebrow shows the exact same position-by-emotion as two human eyebrows would. See his angry-look (his look for roughly 90% of the comic.) in the trope picture. The closes thing to a humanoid alien species is the Shipbuilders, and they're 50 feet tall with four arms, rock-like skin, and [[EyelessFace no eyes]]. |
| 323 | * RuleOfFun: Vexxarr invokes this [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=071614 in-universe]]. If he's flying to his demise, he's going to have a blast doing so. |
| 324 | * RunningGag: |
| 325 | ** Things exploding and turning into a tiny sun (or at the least emitting as much light as a tiny sun) is the most commonly projected outcome of a disaster - when it's not black holes - and more than once used as a motivation to do (or not do) something. |
| 326 | ** Sploorfix being a Weapon of Mass Depression, and his Website/LiveJournal being lethal to any artificial intelligence. |
| 327 | * SarcasmMode: Vexxarr, frequently and repeatedly. |
| 328 | --> '''Vexxarr''': I'm not the marauding warlord I may have led you to believe. |
| 329 | --> '''Human general''': Noooooooooo. Surely you lie. |
| 330 | --> '''Vexxarr''': Hey! The biting sarcasm is ''MY'' bit. Wound my pride with your own material, Bucko. |
| 331 | * SarcasticDevotee: Carl has unwillingly become this to Vexxarr over time. That said, if he ever found this out, he would probably [[DrivenToSuicide fly straight into an asteroid]]. |
| 332 | * ScaryDogmaticAliens. The Conquistador variant. [[spoiler:They're only doing it for the cake.]] |
| 333 | * ScheduleSlip: Occasionally, the comic updates actually catch up to the current calendar date. |
| 334 | * SceneryPorn: Many comics that take place in space use real astronomical pictures as background, see the trope picture. |
| 335 | * SeriesContinuityError: RuleOfFunny tends to override continuity: Early in the comic, it was established that Bleen never had religion and don't need to sleep. [[UnreliableExpositor At least Vexxarr said so.]] But in some comics, the punchline assumes that they do. |
| 336 | * SeriousBusiness: InUniverse, cake. The Bleen have conquered a quarter of a galaxy for access to the materials and ingredients to make cake, new cake recipes, and slaves to bake cake for them. Vexxarr and crew kill a predator moon [[spoiler:with scones]] to stripmine its corpse for the raw minerals they need to synthesize cake. [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=060214 Even robots find it hard to believe that the Lattrox don't like cake]]. [[spoiler:But it's true -- cake kills Lattrox.]] |
| 337 | * SiliconBasedLife: Sid's species, and their predators. |
| 338 | * ShootingSuperman: It takes a while for everyone to realize that Sid, and the other Rock Crabs are ImmuneToBullets, beam weapons, explosions and blunt trauma. By now it's begun happening [[NoodleIncident off-sceen]], and we get to see the ReactionShot [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=070111 instead]]. |
| 339 | * ShootTheMessenger: Bleen high command is so disfunctional, lower ranked commanders don't alert them of any threats because of this trope. Their only hope is that the problem is small enough for them to deal with, or big enough to wipe out the imperial leadership if it isn't stopped. |
| 340 | * [[SnarkyNonHumanSidekick Snarky Non Organic Sidekick]]: Minionbot to Vexxarr. Not that either are entirely happy with the arrangement. |
| 341 | * StarfishAliens: The crew alone includes two species that reproduce by budding, one of them a one-eyed cnidarian that can survive in space for brief periods and the other a mass of eyes on tentacles whose Website/LiveJournal counts as a LogicBomb of mass destruction.. And a NighInvulnerable SiliconBasedLife that feeds off radiation and is scared of anything that eats. |
| 342 | * StrangeMindsThinkAlike: After you've run into enough 'ascended beings', coming up with [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=081114 similar ideas]] for dealing with them seems inevitable. |
| 343 | * SufficientlyAdvancedAlien: There are an assortment of '[[AGodAmI Ascended Races]]' in the comic, generally with [[BlueAndOrangeMorality rather strange agendas]]. Vexxarr [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=041108 despises]] these, with [[InsufferableGenius fairly good reason]]. |
| 344 | * SuckingInLines: Latroxx shipboard cannons have these. |
| 345 | * SurroundedByIdiots: Vexxarr, Carl, and Minionbot feel this way about their fellow shipmates. By which we mean, each one of them independently considers everyone else on board to be some kind of fool or hazard, and that they're the only clever one. Uniquely, none of them believes they are the OnlySaneMan present, and ''acknowledge'' that they are slightly nuts each in their own individual way. |
| 346 | * SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: How the robots who've been in contact with the sentient coating prototype talk. In case [[PaperThinDisguise the suddenly pitch black bodies didn't tip you off.]] |
| 347 | -->'''Security bot:''' [[HughMann We are autonomous constructs like yourselves.]] We are not in any way corrupted or controlled by the rogue inteligence on this station. We require access to transport. |
| 348 | * TakeThat: |
| 349 | ** Once earth starts to expand, they have Creator/JamesCameron help the army with their first-encounter protocols. [[Film/{{Avatar}} If the army's and Cameron's protocols ever agreed, the army changed theirs.]] Also, it is suggested several times that the [[TheAllegedCar Pontiac Aztec]] is the [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=080608 ugliest thing in the universe]]. |
| 350 | ** [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=121905 Ouch, Sony.]] |
| 351 | * TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: At the climax of the Scavenger arc, the villain, a rogue security AI who wants to be in charge but can only be 3rd in command by programming dictat, places a mop and a tuna sandwich in charge. Once Vexxarr points out that this is indicative of a mental illness, the enforcer bot spaces itself. |
| 352 | * TechnicalPacifist. Parodied with the locutrons. |
| 353 | -->'''Locutron:''' [[BrownNote Great Orator]], I swear these ships and the thousands like them have been built to carry your message of peace and fraternity to all inteligent systems in the nebula. [[WeComeInPeace Their mission is one of peace.]] We wish to show nothing but our love for all living things. |
| 354 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' Yet I can't help but notice that your envoys of peace are bristling with weapons. |
| 355 | -->'''Locutron:''' There is, of course, always the slight possibility that they will not love us back. |
| 356 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' Word of advice? Keep 'em charged. |
| 357 | * TeleFrag: Although not involving an actual ''teleporter'', this is the result when Sploorfix tries to keep some [[spoiler:Lattrox boarders]] (who have been mutated by Twee-space into tiny, cute creatures) safe from Sid (who is now a horrible monster) by locking them in a cargo container...that, when the ship ''exits'' Twee-space, is ''far'' too small for the three now-suddenly-normal-sized [[spoiler:Lattrox]] inside. |
| 358 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' Some friendly advice? ''Never'' open this. |
| 359 | * ThatsNoMoon: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=100316 It's a giant cake]]. It's sweet, chocolatey and toxic to the Lattrox. |
| 360 | * TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Vexxarr's own robotic allies frequently give him one. And then there's the hostile AI left by the [[{{Precursors}} Schlumpoid Forebearers]], who gives them to any Schlumpoid in range. They actually make use of it by assigning him to teach a class called 'Stasis: The failure of Schlumpoid Culture.' |
| 361 | -->'''AI''': Welcome class. I want to begin by saying that no matter how your grades turn out, I will be giving each of you an F. |
| 362 | -->'''Schlumpoid''': What? What have we done to deserve that? |
| 363 | -->'''AI''': By the end of the semester, I expect you to tell me. |
| 364 | * TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: {{Invoked|Trope}} by ''[[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=021910 the potential victim himself]]''. Vexxarr tells Carl that if he ([[FailureIsTheOnlyOption successfully]]) mutinies, the Bleen will be the ones to capture and execute Vexxarr, [[OnlyICanKillHim not him]]. |
| 365 | * ThrownOutTheAirlock: |
| 366 | ** Both Vexxarr and Carl try to do this to Sid. It never sticks. |
| 367 | -->'''Sploorfix:''' Just tell me what you think of when you look at him. |
| 368 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' ''The airlock.'' |
| 369 | ** Later done [[spoiler:''with consent'' to Minionbot to disengage the malfunctioning hyperdrive.]] |
| 370 | --->[[spoiler:'''Minionbot:''' ...because saving the ship inevitably results in Sploorfix ''blogging'' about it. And I am therefore safer out '''here!''']] |
| 371 | ** It seems airlocking is habitual among Bleen... |
| 372 | --->'''Bleen Invasion Fleet Commander:''' Command makes for a lonely life...that and flushing your bridge crew into space... |
| 373 | ** Sometimes not habitual enough. |
| 374 | --->'''Admiral:''' Silence, cadet! I do not wish to hear your insolent prattling on my bridge. Why I do not simply space you is beyond me. |
| 375 | --->'''Vexxarr:''' Probably because he would enjoy the change of scenery? |
| 376 | --->'''Cadet:''' Actually, I put in a requisition three times. |
| 377 | * ToiletHumor: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=121313 Mixed with heaps]] of BlackComedy. It was bound to happen with violent, [[ImAHumanitarian cannibalistic]] {{Extreme Omnivore}}s with no self-restraint whatsoever. |
| 378 | * TranslatorMicrobes: |
| 379 | ** Justified, since Vexxarr is [[TelepathicSpacemen telepathic]]. However, all newly picked up crew members can not only talk to Vexxarr, but also to each other without problems (No mouths are ever seen on them either, and Sid lived in a vacuum, so perhaps they communicate telepathically too). |
| 380 | ** The [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=111408 Mahakalosians]] are an [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=111908 exception]]. At least until [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=112108 they learned Bleen]]. |
| 381 | * UnsoundEffect: Oh so many... |
| 382 | * UnwantedAssistance: It does actually help, it's just [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=052209 humiliating.]] |
| 383 | * VitriolicBestBuds: Despite being at each others' throats, when the chips are down, the crew ''do'' save each other. Eventually. They even have a movie night, they share cake, and they snark with one another more often than not. |
| 384 | * WaveMotionGun: The Zorp weapon is a "Directional Gravity-Wave Pulse-Cannon", made from adapting the Bleen repulsor technology, that screws over anything it hits (and whoever fired it if they are not careful). It can be primed and fired without alerting the sensors, because the gun's signature is the same as the ArtificialGravity and the repulsors themselves... [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=072705 the second Bleen invasion force found out the hard way]]. |
| 385 | * WeaksauceWeakness: The Predator moons and the Lattroxx share one: Cake. The moons have an ultra-high-efficiency digestive system that releases every joule contained within sugar as soon as they process it; we find this out ''after'' Vexxarr tosses his entire cake reservoir directly into the stomach of one, [[StuffBlowingUp turning it into gravel]] (scones are less volatile, killing them by blowing up 'merely' their insides). The Lattroxx instinct to eat everything they have in front of them is quite unfortunate, since cake is highly poisonous for them. |
| 386 | * WeaponizedExhaust: The Mahakalosians give earth a new fusion thruster that when tested on earth made [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=073010 a tunnel through a nearby hill]]. It also philosophically solves the [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=080210 "fight or flight"]] conundrum. |
| 387 | * WeaponsGradeVocabulary: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=071906 Weapons grade pleading?]] |
| 388 | -->'''Spoorflix:''' What...what happened to them all? |
| 389 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' That would be you. |
| 390 | * WetwareCPU: Most AIs it seems. |
| 391 | * WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: The Tact-O-Trons see no problem with adding another AI to Vexxarr's ship with no way to turn it off. To whit, it's a semisentient, [[HealingFactor regenerative,]] [[AdaptiveArmor adaptive]] armor layer with no way to shut it down. Vexxarr asks them what happens if it decides, for example, the ship would run better without him? Never mind the fact that it could easily become GrayGoo by accident. |
| 392 | * WhatDoesThisButtonDo: |
| 393 | ** [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=111208 Vexxarr tries to discourage this behavior in Sid.]] [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=122109 It doesn't stick.]] |
| 394 | ---> '''Sid''': There was a button. Its function was unknown to me... |
| 395 | ** Another character goes to some length to convince their crew not to press every button they see on an alien ship, because doing so will kill them. |
| 396 | --->'''"When you are aboard an [[GhostShip alien construct of uncertain design and purpose]], you touch ''nothing!'' You have [[WhatDoesThisButtonDo no way of knowing if a lever could vent the atmosphere into space]]...if...if a switch could activate [[GrayGoo flesh-eating nanobots!]] Until you have studied ''everything'', you have to assume that this [[MalevolentArchitecture station's sole purpose was to isolate and destroy you personally!]] ''DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!''"'' |
| 397 | ** Recently Vexxarr himself went through this, when trying to figure out how to disengage a planetwide [[CloakingDevice cloaking system]] from a console that was also invisible. There were some... [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=051311 problems.]] |
| 398 | * WhatMeasureIsANonCute: [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=100807 Invoked by Vexxarr]] when Spoorflix tries to make killing the predator-moons a moral dilemma[[note]]Not that Vexxarr would care, since they need the Caesium from the moons to make Vexxarr's [[SeriousBusiness cake]][[/note]]. Hunting buffalo and whales is bad because they can be reproduced as adorable plushies, predator moons... |
| 399 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' How would you like me to have a '''''silicoid predator''''' plushie fabricated and put in your bed for you? |
| 400 | -->'''Sploorfix:''' Um... I wouldn't? |
| 401 | --> '''Vexxarr:''' ... Thank you... |
| 402 | * WhosLaughingNow: After managing to successfully impersonate the leader of a group of vegetable-based AI that have been trying to kill him, he vents pretty much all of the frustration he's accumulated over the course of the strip through [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=050409 creative vengeance]] |
| 403 | -->'''Sploorfix''': What are you thinking? |
| 404 | -->'''Minionbot''': That Vexxarr has been in space entirely '''too''' long. |
| 405 | * WideEyedIdealist: Spoorflix. [Insert Eye-oriented pun here]. |
| 406 | * WisdomFromTheGutter: Comes from Sploorfix. At least if you ask Vexxarr, anyway. |
| 407 | -->'''Vexxarr:''' '''''Get back here this instant and start spouting gibberish until my worldview is centered!''''' |
| 408 | * XanatosSpeedChess: Vexxarr eventually becomes ''far'' too good at a strange mix between this and IndyPloy, courtesy of a mix of extreme [[{{Gaslighting}} paranoia]], excessive [[TheCynic cynicism]], and [[CosmicPlaything a long career as the universe's favourite Plaything]]. Often leads to a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome. Carl is a frequent contributor. |
| 409 | * YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: The 'ascended being' which temporarily hijacks Vexxarr's consciousness to give him a morality lesson initally masquerades as the Voss, because Vexxarr wouldn't be able to easily understand its true form. [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=080114 To be fair, neither would we.]] |
| 410 | * YouHaveFailedMe: |
| 411 | ** SOP for the Bleen. |
| 412 | --> '''Bleen commander:''' Look, I'm going to make this easy for you. Either tell me whether or not that planet is indeed the earth or throw yourself out of the airlock. Your choice. [BeatPanel] Command makes for a lonely life. That, and flushing your bridgecrew into space. |
| 413 | ** Granted, [[ThrownOutTheAirlock spacing]] is not fatal to the Bleen, but after the number of acolytes in orbit became a navigational hazard the Emperor started vaporizing them instead. |
| 414 | * YourHeadASplode: |
| 415 | ** Robots actually [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=012108 win arguments]] [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=122906 this way]]. |
| 416 | ** Also, Minionbot once lost ''four'' heads in a row to Vexxarr's {{logic bomb}}ing raid. |
| 417 | * ZergRush: How hu-mon win against the eponymous Alien invader, [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=012105 observe]]. |
| 418 |
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