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''Léonard le Génie '' is a comic from [[FrancoBelgianComics the Franco-Belgian school]] by artist Philippe Liegeois and writer Bob de Groot (better known as "Turk & de Groot"). It follows the eponymous character, inventor Léonard le Génie (Leonardo the Genius, loosely based on real world inventor Creator/LeonardoDaVinci) and his clumsy "disciple" Basile.

The stories vary in length from one or a few pages up to a whole album. The basic storyline is as follows: Léonard has thought up some new invention, and needs the help of his assistant to build and/or test it. Basile, being a HeavySleeper, first needs to be awoken, using another invention, explosives or just plain old cartoon violence. As the building or testing proceeds, Basile suffers AmusingInjuries, either from his [[MeanBoss sadistic master]] or through [[TooDumbToLive his own incompetence]]. The story usually ends in one of these ways: Basile goes a step too far in annoying Léonard and is chased by him, Basile finally gets fed up with the abuse and retaliates on Léonard, or the invention fails spectacularly and both Léonard and Basile are chased out of town by an [[TorchesAndPitchforks angry mob]].

Other characters in the comic are:

* Raoul the cat, comments on the action and is sometimes seen applying first aid to Basile or repairing the property damage.
* Bernadette the mouse, comments on the action and is occasionally chased by Raoul in ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' style. She has taken over first aid duty from Raoul in the recent stories.
* Yorrick the talking skull (a [[AlasPoorYorick reference]] to ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''), comments on the action.
* Mathurine (Saartje in the Dutch translation) the housekeeper, is sometimes the victim of a failing invention, but also tends to put both Léonard and Basile back in place if they make too big a mess.
* The Great Albert (a time-travelling Albrecht von Bollstädt), a [[TheRival rival inventor]]. Although one album is just one long story about a huge battle between the two, in later albums they are shown to be on more or less friendly terms. Comes with a clumsy assistant of his own.
* The Villagers: Sometimes seen chasing Léonard and Basile out of town after a failing invention destroys (part of) the village.
* Mozzarella, ([[InUniverseNickname Mozza for short]]) making her debut in album 48. Léonard's adopted daughter whom he rescued from the streets. [[ParentalSubstitute Mathurine take a liking to her]] while Basile dislike her for losing his bedroom to her.

A 20-episode AllCGICartoon was made in 2009.

----
!!Tropes:

%%* AccordionMan: Just one of many ways in which Basile gets mutilated.
* AcquaintedWithEmergencyServices: The local hospital keeps a room permanently reserved for Basile, with the staff complaining that even this is barely enough.
* AdaptationalVillainy: When Leonard and Basile travel into the fairy tales' world, the Little Red Riding Hood and her grandma are mugging people with the help of the Big Bad Wolf.
* AlasPoorYorick: One of the characters is literally a skull named Yorick.
* AllForNothing: Leonard's travel to discover the content of the missing 13th page of his grimoire turns out to be useless because there were never a 13th page to begin with, since the author was scared of this number.
%%* AllJustADream: A few gags.
* AmbiguousSyntax: A joke that mostly works in French. When Leonard is building a tank, he needs to put the treads and asks Basille to bring him "chenilles", which is a French word for "treads". Basile then brings caterpillars because "chenille" is also mainly the French word for "caterpillar".
* AmusingInjuries: Basile, either at the hands of Léonard or through his own incompetence. Léonard and the rest of the cast aren't always safe either.
* AnachronismStew: Although the stories supposedly take place in the 15th century, Léonard has electricity and modern tools at his disposal, and has built computers and robots, amongst others. Somewhat justified by him being an inventor, but still... [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] at least once; Léonard invents a photo camera and, on having put the film in an envelope, realizes there's nowhere to mail it to. "Do I have to invent everything myself?"
* AnswersToTheNameOfGod: When Leonard makes an apple gigantic with a sizeshifting pistol, Basile exclaims "My god!", to which Leonard answers that calling him "Master" is enough.
* AnvilOnHead: It's pretty common for Basile to have anvils dropped on his head, either by accident or courtesy of Leonard.
* ApocalypseHow:
** Played for laughs. When coming back from a conference about astronomy, Léonard explains to Basile that the Earth will be destroyed when the sun will go to different stages before going supernova. Upon hearing this, [[TheInsomniac Basile is incapable of sleeping]], while Lénoard wonder if he should have told him that these catastrophes will take place millions of years in the future.
** Léonard and Basile [[TimeTravel go to 2012 to check how things are]]. They find out that according to the Mayan calendar, [[MayanDoomsday it will be the end of the world on December 21, 2012]]. They travel to 2013 to find out that the apocalypse will not happen. They are relieved and return to their own time, except the next page shows a massive asteroid is heading towards the Earth.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Leonard is ridiculed by scientists for saying that the Earth is round. The comics take place in an era where every scientist knows that the Earth is indeed round.
* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Léonard and Basile create a hot-air balloon. It goes so high it floats into space, acting the same as if it was in normal air... as [[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace Léonard and Basile argue]] about whether the latter blew too much inside the balloon without any problems.
* BadBoss: Léonard physically punish Basile for any mishaps and didn't pay his salary for years. He is not so harsh against Mathurine however.
* BaitAndSwitch:
** Leonard sees a farmer using his wife to plow a field while the farmer follows behind. Leonard then says that these are inhuman working conditions and he's gonna make it easier. The last panel shows that Leonard built a wheeled chair for the farmer to relax, while the farmer's wife continues to plow the field by hand by pulling the plow ''and'' the farmer's chair.
** Leonard asks Basile some of his family members' names so he can name one of his inventions. When Basile tells him one of his family members is named Monopoly, Leonard thinks it's a perfect name for his invention, which turns out to be a skateboard, not the iconic board game.
* BaitAndSwitchSuicide: Once Basile is replaced by Leonard's nephew, he throws a rope over a wooden beam with a morose expression, as if he was about to hang himself. It turns out he was just making a swing.
* BallisticDiscount: Happens in an unusual way. A man comes ask Léonard to ''invent'' a gun for him, and when he has finished building it, the guy immediately threatens him with it.
* BandageMummy: Basile often ends up being completely wrapped in bandages after building and testing Leonard's inventions.
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Almost every time Basile somehow gets accidentally sent out of the Earth.
* BeenThereShapedHistory: While Leonard really was an inventor in real life, in this comic he invented pretty much everything, but other people who are also based on real life persons appropriated some of his inventions for themselves.
* BerserkButton: Do not insult Mathurine by making rude comments about her weight. Or saying that she is not a woman. Bad things will happen to you.
* BeyondTheImpossible: Somehow, Basile managed to lose eleven fingers out of ten. It happens offscreen so we don't see how his hands look.
* BiggerOnTheInside: Leonard invents the caravan so everyone can take a vacation at the beach. Once inside, it has two stories, a staircase, four bedrooms, a kitchen and everything you expect in a house. How the caravan is normal-sized like the ones in the 20th century is a mystery.
* BinomiumRidiculus: Basile's bed is labelled "Disciplus Simplex", while Leonard's bed is labelled "Leonardus Geniales" or ''Maestro Genialis''.
* BloodlessCarnage: ZigZagged. Sometimes Basile bleeds from his wounds and sometimes he does not.
* BloodyHilarious: Often happens whenever Basile is injured, naturally, which can go as far as dismemberment.
* BrilliantButLazy: Basile, in those rare moments when he's neither sleeping nor being tormented by his employer, turns out to be a gifted inventor in his own right, and he even builds a single-handedly builds a Saturn V rocket in one strip. Among the more competitive examples of this:
** While Léonard is inventing the bicycle, he comes up with the motorbike.
** When Léonard invents the safe and gets a little too arrogant about it, Basile one-ups him by inventing the cutting torch to crack the safe open.
* BucketBoobyTrap: Leonard invents the concept of practical jokes by doing the "water bucket on a door" prank.
* BullyingADragon: Once more, Léonard insulted Basile for his usual blunder. Except this time, Basile was testing [[PowerArmor an exoskeleton that increased his strength tenfold]]. It probably wasn't a good idea to piss him off as Basile threw Léonard straight to the moon.
* BunglingInventor: Sometimes, Léonard invents something that fails spectacularly (often destroying the village) or is just plain useless. Don't call him this to his face though, unless you like getting "blunderbussed".
* CallBack:
** The second story where plastic surgery is mentioned, Basile angrily reminds Leonard of the time he gave Basile [[WesternAnimation/TexAveryMGMCartoons Droopy's]] head.
** Basile makes a reference to his family members Azerty and Scrabble, whose names were used as jokes in earlier stories.
* TheCameo: Leonard invented television and everything that's being broadcast comes to life in the living room. This ends with the cartoon channel with several toons showing up: [[Anime/UFORoboGrendizer Duke]], [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Tweety, Sylvester]], WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry and several others.
* CantTakeCriticism: Whenever Basile points out any holes in Leonard's work, the latter will [[BadBoss respond with violence]].
* CaptainObvious:
** Leonard sometime does experiments leading to obvious conclusions.
*** He forces Basile's head into a water basket for six minutes and concludes that humans aren't made to live underwater.
*** He makes Basile tests a lifebuoy, which makes him sink underwater. Leonard then realises that a buoy should never be made out of concrete.
** It takes a scientist a month of research to conclude that bananas taste better without the peel.
** Basile is surprised that there are more Chinese restaurants in China than in Italy.
%%* CapturedByCannibals: Several stories.
%%* CartoonBugSprayer
* CatchPhrase:
** '''"DEBOUT DISCIPLE !"''' ''("WAKE UP DISCIPLE !")''
** "Je sers la science et c'est ma joie" (''"I serve science and it's my joy"'') [[note]]That quote can be said by Basile multiple times within a story, starting off in earnest and degrading in enthusiasm as the injuries and Leonard-driven abuse piles up on him until it turns the final lap dripping in sarcasm and crosses the finish line dunked in vitriol.[[/note]]
** [=*=]sniff[=*=] (Basile's trademark reaction to suffering AmusingInjuries)
** Whenever an invention of Leonard turns really bad, Basile asks "What do we do now, master?".
* CatsAreSnarkers: Raoul the cat likes to make puns and sarcastic remarks.
* CharacterisationMarchesOn:
** In early comics, Raoul couldn't talk, just like a real cat. He was later able to talk and tended to make puns and sarcastic remarks.
** In her first appearence, Mathurine was even more intelligent than Leonard and was interested in inventing things. This was quickly dropped.
* TheChewToy: Basile constantly gets hurt because of Leonard and his inventions and has his body wrecked in cartoonish ways.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint:
** Leonard wants to prove to his fellow scientists that the Earth is round. He goes on a trip around the world with Basile in tow. After many weeks and many misadventures, they arrive at the back of their house just as predicted by Leonard. An exhausted Basile is glad the trip is finally over. He turns around and begin the journey home in the opposite direction.
** When Basile and Mathurine [[ItMakesSenseInContext explain the concept of procreation to Léonard]], they demonstrate it while dressed up as a [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything bee and flower]]. Léonard takes it to mean that he has to seduce a flower, which he proceeds to attempt.
* ComplexityAddiction: Leonard builds a huge complex machine that requires plenty of physical effort from Basile, the point of which is to crack open the top of an egg by poking it with a spoon.
%%* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: Léonard is a master of this, much to Basile's chagrin.
* CoolButInefficient: Ahead of the 20th century, Léonard invents the walkman and have Basile testing it. Basile found it cool that he could listen to his favorite music anywhere he went, but comment that the device was extremely inefficient: the walkman was the size of a chair and had to be carried on his back.
* CoolCar: Léonard has a pretty cool car, especially for an inventor supposedly living in the 15th century. It can even transform into other vehicles.
* CordonBleughChef: Mathurine makes a gratin containing spoiled fish, fruit jam, garlic, chocolate and cheese. It sends everyone who tastes it to the hospital.
* CorruptPolitician: Fed up with the roads filled with potholes and the corruption of the mayor, Léonard invents his own political party and rally the people to vote for him. The mayor, named [[NamedAfterSomebodyFamous Silvio Berlesconi]], openly admits his corruption and says he won't tolerate rivals, so he had Léonard and Basile imprisoned.
%%* CranialEruption: Just one of many types of {{Amusing Injuries}} Basile suffers.
* DamnedByFaintPraise: Léonard once refers to Basile as his "favorite and unique disciple".
* DeadpanSnarker: Raoul shows traits of this.
-->'''Basile:''' Testing? That's usually where my misery starts...\\
'''Raoul:''' Misery? Oh no. You mean catastrophic disasters.\\
'''Basile:''' *sniff*
* DebatingNames: The second time the cat is called "Prosper" by Leonard, Basile argues that "Raoul" is a better name, causing a debate between him and Leonard. In all subsequent appearences of the cat, he's called Raoul, meaning Basile won the debate offscreen.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: When Mathurine and Mozza go at the market place, the women spoke negatively of Mozza because of her UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} origin. This is still the Renaissance period after all.
* DemBones:
** One recurring character is a sentient skull named Yorick.
** Basile is sometimes stripped to his skeleton, but he stays alive.
* DidntThinkThisThrough:
** Sometimes, Leonard invents things that are useless without a secondary invention.
*** He invents the TV before TV channels.
*** He invents the doorbell before electricity, meaning people have to yell a ringing noise themselves after pressing the button.
*** He invents photography, but does not invent a way of developing photos.
*** Leonard creates a complex-looking machine, ''then'' ponders what it could be used for.
*** He invents the diving board before the pool.
*** He invents suspenders before pants.
*** He invents the tin can before the can opener.
** Léonard invents the hybrid car, powered with fossil fuel and electric batteries to make the air cleaner and free of pollution. After a successful test, Basile then ask what will they do with all those batteries when they reach the end of their life? [[DisproportionateRetribution Léonard didn't have an answer and decides to shoot Basile for ruining his day.]]
* DiggingToChina: Léonard intents to in ''Génie en sous-sol''. He has to build a machine as he admits his disciple could not do it with a shovel. However, in a gag, Basile ''did'' it with [[SurrealHumor a sprint car and a roof]].
* TheDogBitesBack: Occasionally, Basile is so fed up by Leonard's invention hurting him that he decides to beat up Leonard in retaliation.
* DoubleKnockout: Leonard and Albert decide to finish their rivalry fight with a gun duel, but they both shoot each other, then it's revealed that they were actually robots controlled by the real Leonard and Albert.
%%* DuckSeasonRabbitSeason: When Basile would prefer to stop testing the anthropomorphing spray.
* DumbassHasAPoint: Lénoard invents the immortality pill. Basile thinks it's a terrible idea, as if everyone lives forever, the world will run out of food, places to live and living will lose its meaning. Léonard admits he hadn't thought of all those consequences.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference:
** In early comics, Leonard's beard was much smaller than usual. It quickly got its iconic length.
** Basile had a bigger upper-jaw, slouched his head and had a dopey face.
** Raoul looked like a more realistic cat.
** Bernadete originally didn't wear clothes. she later dresses like a human.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** In early comics, Raoul would occasionally chase after Bernadette in a ''Tom and Jerry''-like fashion. This was dropped and they were established as two friends who like to snark at Basile's ChewToy status.
** It took a while for the disciple to finally get a name: Basile.
* EatingTheEyeCandy: When Mathurine becomes a beautiful young woman after being subjected to MagicPlasticSurgery, Léonard and Basile are very seduced by her... and comment on how her outfit shows her navel. Raoul then comments on how *his* navel can be seen at all times, and wonders what's so special about it.
* EEqualsMCHammer
* EpicFail: Basile invents the anonymous letter and sends one to Léonard to criticize him. Except '''he signed his name''' at the bottom of the letter. Predictably, this ends badly for Basile.
* EveryoneChasingYou: Several short stories end with the villagers chasing after Leonard and Basile because Leonard's invention ended up being too destructive.
* EveryoneHasStandards: One story has Léonard inventing a bodybuilding method, with Basile as the usual guinea pig. Once successfully completed (turning Basile into a Rambo-esque hero), Léonard attempts to try out how strong Basile has become by insulting a random passerby, assuming Basile would act as his bodyguard. Basile remained idle while the enraged passerby kicked Léonard's ass, then retorted Léonard had it coming.
* ExactWords: After Basile complains about pushing a car and a boat all around the world, Leonard promises he won't need to push the car anymore. Cue Basile ''pulling'' the car.
* ExplainExplainOhCrap:
** When Mozza attempts to shoot Basile, she hits the ceiling and a good chunk of debris falls on Basile's head. Basile explains to her that the blunderbuss has a strong recoil and she has to hold it firmly before firing. For the next seconds, Basile thinks hard of what he just said. [[OhCrap Before he can react]], he receives a volley of bullets in the head.
** Léonard wants Basile to test his new device: the international emergency call, just dial 112. Basile protests and says he isn't in any distress at the moment. He then realizes what will happen next and start running. Cue Léonard chasing Basile with hostile beasts and torturing devices in hand.
* {{Expy}}:
** Mathurine is an expy of Miss Partridge and Cunégonde, two similar characters from ''Clifton'' and ''Robin Dubois'' respectively. The two series were created by the same authors before ''Leonard Le Génie'' came around. Miss Partridge is obsessed with cleaning and order, while Cunégonde is physically strong and doesn't tolerate sloppiness, traits that has been transposed to Mathurine.
** Basile is also an expy of John Haig, the commissioner from ''Clifton''. They are both slow-witted and clumsy.
* FamilyFriendlyMatureContent: When Basile and Mathurine are about explain [[TheTalk how babies are made]] to Léonard, Basile says they have [[MediumAwareness to warn their editor]] that the following scene will have "Mature content".
* FavorsForTheSexy: Happens when Léonard turns (surgically) Mathurine into "Jennifer". It was actually a BatmanGambit from her.
* {{Fingore}}: Out all of Basile's body parts, his fingers tend to be the ones that get hurt the most.
%%* ForScience
* FrankensteinsMonster: Albert tries to get rid of Leonard by building a FrankensteinsMonster. Leonard counters this by creating a female FrankensteinsMonster. Both monsters end up falling in love and leave their respective masters. Later, [[FunnyBackgroundEvent you can see them strolling a carriage with a baby Frankenstein's Monster, much to the horror of the villagers.]]
* FunnyBackgroundEvent:
** When not commenting on the main action, Raoul and Bernadette are often engaged in their own activities. Especially in the older comics these are small stories by themselves.
** Once Léonard and Basile were talking and Raoul was in the background reading a [[Magazine/{{Playboy}} Plaboy-like magazine]] with anthropomorphic female cats. Mathurine snatched the magazine and gave him a FingerWag while Raoul was grumbling and sulking.
* GadgeteerGenius: Léonard, the self-proclaimed greatest genius in the universe. To his credit many of his inventions actually work quite well. Sometimes too well....
* {{Gamebooks}}: Leonard invents a live version and naturally Basile gets inevitably screwed whatever choices he makes.
* GenerationXerox: Leonard and Basile's prehistoric ancestors were also an inventor and a disciple, respectively.
* GeniusDitz: Basile is often shown to be an idiot, but there are moments where he surpasses Leonard in term of inventions.
** He invents roller skates minutes before Leonard does himself.
** He builds a motorcycle right after Leonard invents the bicycle.
** He invented a rocket ship just because he had the idea when waking up.
* GiantMedicalSyringe: Leonard sometimes uses huge syringes.
* GiverOfLameNames: Leonard isn't good at finding names for his inventions. He either includes his own name in it or names it after a random family member of Basile.
* GladIThoughtOfIt: Most of the times Basile has an idea of his own, Leonard takes credits for it. But you can be certain Léonard will remember it was Basile's idea in the first place when it fails after all.
* GoneHorriblyRight: At one time, Leonard replaces Basile with his nephew who's much smarter and more competent. Unfortunately, Leonard quickly finds out that his nephew has a big ego and doesn't really need his uncle to invent stuff. Worse, Leonard realizes that he misses the times where he could physically punish his old disciple. This prompts him to rehire Basile and ship his nephew to China by mail.
* GoofyBuckteeth: In early comics, Basile has noticable buckteeth to go with his dopey personality.
%%* GreekChorus: Raoul, Bernadette and Yorick, depending on the gag.
* HairyHammerspace: Léonard can pull a variety of objects from his beard. Most often seen are mallets, anvils and his trusty blunderbuss.
* HammerSpace:
** Basile sometime sleeps in small spaces such as inside a faucet, a tin can or a banana.
** Leonard creates a normal-sized suitcase containing multiple items of furniture. In a later comic, the suitcase is upgraded so it can contain a whole house.
* HappilyAdopted: Mozza is quick to adapt to her new home. At the end of the album, she calls Léonard her daddy for the first time.
* HealingFactor: Basile seems to have regenerative abilities on par with Wolverine. Once, after being hit by an anvil, he just pulled on his hair to get his head back in the right shape, and another time he's seen reattaching his own limbs after they have been scattered by an explosion.
* HeavySleeper: Waking up Basile takes high-yield explosives or similar violence. Most of the stories start with Léonard waking Basile up by some unorthodox means. Basile can also instantly fall asleep at any time. He even claims that he needs 22 hours of sleep per day. In one strip, he sleeps for 93 hours straight.
* HilarityEnsues: Basile's clumsiness is often a source of amusement to the rest of the cast, especially Raoul and Bernadette.
* HistoricalInJoke:
** Léonard wrote ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' and repeats it with the help of Basile, Mathurine and a random passerby who speaks in rhymes. After everybody falls asleep during repetitions, Léonard decides his play is worthless, but the passerby likes it and buys the script for a pittance. In the last panel, Léonard looks at the bill of sale...
--> It's signed : ''Creator/WilliamShakespeare''.
** One gag has Leonard sitting under a tree and receiving an apple on his head. In the punchline, he comments he has the feeling he's watching something important but can't put his finger on it. According to popular imagery, this is one version of how UsefulNotes/IsaacNewton discovered universal gravitation.
* HumongousMecha: In an AffectionateParody of mecha-based {{Anime}}, Léonard and Albert each build a giant mecha looking like themselves and fight it out. Léonard calls his Leonorak, a ShoutOut to the French-language version of ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'', Goldorak. HilarityEnsues even from the word "go":
-->(''CRRRAAAASSHH'')\\
'''Basile:''' (''waking up groggily'') Ah, I see through the hole in the roof that it's dawn already!\\
(''rotating gears in think bubble'')\\
'''Basile:''' THROUGH THE HOLE IN THE ROOF!!!??\\
'''Léonard:''' (''from Leonorak'') Apprentice, shiver and quake before Leonorak!!\\
'''Basile:''' (''shivering'') W-w-w-what d-d-do y-y-you th-think I'm d-doing, m-master?\\
(''CRRRAAAASSHH'')\\
'''Basile:''' I b-believe th-there c-comes the c-competition, m-master...
* HypocriticalHumor:
** Whenever Basile is hurt by Leonard's clumsiness, Leonard calls ''Basile'' clumsy.
** Basile is upset because Leonard's daughter is now sleeping on his bed, in his bedroom. Léonard tells him to keep it quiet because it's rude to awaken someone's who's asleep.
** Léonard lend his blunderbuss to Mozza and she use it to shoot Basile. When she wants to use it again, Léonard tells her firearms aren't meant to be played with.
* IdeaBulb: Sometimes used straight, but often toyed with.
** When Léonard has a particularly good idea, or a series of ideas, he starts lighting up and making sounds like a {{Pinball}} machine or VideoGame.
** In one strip, Leonard notices that a lightbulb doesn't work, then he has an idea, causing another lightbulb to appear near him, which he uses to replace the old one.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: The title for every album (aside from the third, titled ''[[SubvertedCatchphrase Léonard Is A... What Was It Again?]]'') includes the word "Génie" ("Genius"). Partially LostInTranslation, the Dutch titles are sometimes missing the word "Genie".
%%* IfMyCalculationsAreCorrect
%%* InherentlyFunnyWords: A two-page gag is about it.
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: After Leonard invents warfare, Basile is being trained to shoot with a blunderbuss. Not only did he miss the target dummy, he also shot himself in the face because [[EpicFail he was holding the firearm the wrong way]].
* IndulgentFantasySegue: When Leonard invents warfare, he gives a blunderbuss to Basile who's now a soldier. Basile fantasizes about shooting Leonard, only for the latter to warn him not to, since he also invented martial court.
* InsaneTrollLogic:
** Leonard says that the number 5 appears everywere and uses Hercules's tasks as an example. Basile points out that Hercules actually had twelve tasks, but Leonard defends his own point by saying there were five tasks before the sixth.
** Leonard is so used to using the names of Basile's family members that he believes he cannot invent the toaster because no one in Basile's family is named "Toaster".
* TheInsomniac:
** In one gag, Léonard and Basile bid themselves good night as they have a lot of work tomorrow. In the middle of the night, [[{{Sleepwalking}} Basile is sleepwalking]] and this prompts Léonard to keep him safe all night without waking him up accidentally. [[SwappedRoles In morning, Basile calls out a completely exhausted Léonard for staying in bed.]]
** One time, Basile is afflicted with a prolonged case of insomnia and Leonard tries many experiments to put him to sleep. As expected, it cause many injuries and harm to Basile.
* InstantBandages: Basile, after suffering AmusingInjuries. Sometimes {{justified|Trope}} by showing Raoul, or more recently Bernadette applying first aid.
* InsultBackfire:
-->'''Léonard:''' Your stupidity sometimes is so rich that I wonder if I shouldn't lock you in a Swiss safe.\\
'''Basile:''' I'm not touched with flattery.
* ItWillNeverCatchOn:
** Leonard invents the television, but the two citizens who see it think this invention has no future. Since TV channels have not been invented yet, the TV itself is useless.
** When Basile creates a rocket ship, Leonard says that it will never be useful for anyone.
** When Basile proposes that the submarine should be called, well... a submarine, Leonard think it's a ridiculous name and decides to call it a "sub-Leonard". Whenever Basile says a phrase that will become a Navy term, Leonard asks him to stop saying nonsense.
** Léonard invents fashion and has Basile tries out various iconic costumes of [[ComicBook/{{Asterix}} Obélix]], Franchise/{{Tintin}} and WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck. Basile then invents the tuxedo, which Léonard brushes off as unfashionable.
* KidsAreCruel:
** In one gag, children were making a mess of the whole town by mistreating animals, attacking adults, breaking properties. Léonard invents the playground park, but the kids ignore it and continue to wreck everything around them.
** At school, kids are mocking Mozza because she's adopted.
* KnifeOutline: Leonard tests a tommy gun by shooting around Raoul, making an outline of bullet holes around the cat.
* LackOfEmpathy: No one has sympathy for Basile when he gets hurt in every possible way when building and testing Leonard's inventions. In fact, Leonard tends to get angry at Basile getting hurt because it means he cannot work as effectively.
* LampshadeHanging: Raoul does this occasionally, such as wondering aloud how Basile manages to heal in between scenes.
* LevitatingLotusPosition: Léonard encounters an entire squadron of monks flying like this. One even shouts mayday because he has a leg cramp, meaning he can't get the landing gear out.
* LighterAndSofter: The 2009 CGI cartoon made characters look cuter and toned the violence down in comparison to the original comics.
* LiterallyShatteredLives: Happens to Basile every page or so, Creator/{{Tex Avery}}-style.
* LiteralMinded: When building a tracked vehicle, Léonard ordered Basile to fetch two caterpillars. He returned with two bugs, not understanding what a caterpillar was. In his defense, Léonard didn't explain what he was building.
* MadScientist: Some of Léonard's inventions are downright wacky, and he also has a tendency to meddle with chemicals and strange reagents, often with explosive results. Don't ever accept a drink from him....
* MagicPlasticSurgery: One story has Mathurine being subjected to such surgery, becoming a traditionally sexy ProudBeauty. Léonard and Basile go ga-ga over her.
* TheManInTheMirrorTalksBack: Leonard has a mirror with a reflection of himself that has its own sentience. Leonard likes to compliment and kiss the reflection so he can stroke his own ego, but the Leonard reflection isn't actually fond of the real Leonard.
* MarketBasedTitle: The comics has been translated into English as ''Leonardo the Inventor''
* MassiveNumberedSiblings: Averted. With Basile having a huge extended family, you'd expect him to have many siblings, but he surprisingly doesn't have any.
* MeanBoss: Léonard, although the occasional role reversal shows that Basile would arguably be even worse, given the chance.
* MeaningfulRename: The first two times Raoul is called by name, he's called Prosper, but Basile decided that "Raoul" is better. While there originally was a debate between Basile and Leonard to decide which name was better, "Raoul" stuck.
* MediumAwareness: Fed up with Léonard's antics, Basile uses his master's invention, the crossover, to jump into ''ComicBook/RicHochet'''s universe. Ric warns him that his world is a realistic comic and any grievous injuries can be fatal. After learning this the hard way, [[StatusQuoIsGod Basile goes back to his own comic]] while Raoul is accidentally stuck in Ric's universe.
* MirrorUniverse: There's a short story where Basile falls inside a mirror's reflection and finds himself in an alternate dimension where logic is either backward or nonsensical.
* NationalStereotypes:
** When Léonard travels around the world, every foreigner he comes across is a national stereotype.
** {{Downplayed}} with the protagonist themselves. While most of the strips could be set anywhere, we find the occasional reference (such as one character being called Mozzarella) to remind that, yes, the protagonists are Italian.
%%* NegativeContinuity
* NoFourthWall: The characters are aware they are in a comic--and Raoul occasionally addresses the reader directly ("Hey, it's our reader! Welcome to a new album!")--not to mention speech bubbles[[note]]which are fast-frozen by the invention of the freezer, or spray-painted on when Léonard invents the censor[[/note]] just to name a few.
* NonFatalExplosions: At worst they will burn Basile to ashes or scatter his body parts (bloodlessly) over the room, but he will be alright in the next scene.
* NoMoreForMe: When a giant caterpillar-like creature emerges from the ground and asks for Leonard's address, a drunk citizen throws away his bottle after giving directions.
* NonIndicativeName: When Leonard discovers a Z-shaped constellation, he decides to call it the "Leonard" constellation because of its form. Basile is dumbfounded by that lack of logic.
* NoOSHACompliance: Léonard doesn't give a damn about Basile's safety or well-being, so Basile frequently has to do very, very dangerous work.
* NotMeThisTime: Basile is angry because of loud noises outside. He goes to see Léonard and accuses him of keeping him awake. Lénoard denies any responsibility and explained delinquent kids were the ones making all the ruckus.
* NotTheIntendedUse: Retroactive examples. Some of Leonard's inventions were created for something different than their real life usages.
** He invents the scaphander so people can peel onions without crying.
** Leonard invents the submarine to get into the town's sewer to look for a ring he lost.
* OcularGushers: Enough to drown the house when Léonard invents pessimism.
* OverlyLongName: Leonard invents a spray called "Normophétolicyamimoldequoilinochlorinatrascorbisacharimagnésicholoïdamatimatolum". It makes random objects edible.
* OverlyLongTongue: When Basile is exhausted, his tongue tends to get several feet long.
* PacingATrench: A common gag is for Leonard to walk in circles while working away at a problem, usually waist-deep by the time inspiration hits.
* ParentalAbandonment: Mozza's mother is dead and she never met her father.
* ParentalSubstitute: Mathurine acts like a surrogate mother toward Mozza.
* PicnicEpisode: Léonard invents picnic. Unfortunatly, everything that could go wrong went wrong: bugs and rain just to name a few. The gang decide to happily go eating at a restaurant.
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Léonard and Basile usually refer to each other as "master" and "apprentice", but the master doesn't teach and the apprentice doesn't learn.
* PrintLongRunners: The series has always gotten one album per year without stopping to this day, since 1977.
* ProchronicProduct: Much of the humor comes from Leonard coming up with modern inventions that fail due to the Renaissance setting, such as a chainsaw that the lumberjacks use as a regular handsaw (then complain that it doesn't work).
* PuttingOnMyThinkingCap: Léonard has a number of gadgets to help him concentrate. They usually involve strong coffee, or holding him upside down to improve the blood flow to his brain.
* TheRival: The Great Albert. The album ''Genius contra Genius'' is entirely about a huge battle between the two, but later stories show them to be on more friendly terms.
* RunningGag: The waking of Basile at the start of a new story and many, many other examples.
* SantaClaus: One strip has Leonard taking the role of Santa before meeting the real one who doesn't appreciate that someone is copying him.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: If a situation gets too dangerous or absurd, Raoul tends to be the first one to leave.
** A rude and large peasant shoves Léonard out of his path and Léonard falls in the mud. Insulted, Léonard says that Basile isn't going to stand for that and is going to give the peasant a good beating. [[FailedAttemptAtDrama Léonard then turns to Basile... who has already ran away as far as the hill in the background.]]
** Léonard needs Basile for his latest invention: gay marriage. Basile runs out of the house [[BigNo screaming]].
* SeriesContinuityError:
** A strip has Leonard inventing various potato-based recipes, including French fries. A later strip is entirely dedicated to Leonard inventing French fries, even though he had done so already.
** There's a strip where Leonard implies that he doesn't believe Mathurine has what it takes for inventing things, despite her inventing something in her introductory strip.
* ShoutOut: [[ShoutOut/LeonardLeGenie Here]].
* SkewedPriorities: Whenever Basile is hurt by a tool or invention, Leonard is scared that the tool or the invention could be dented.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Leonard always calls himself a genius, thinks he's superior to other people and includes his name in most of his inventions. He even invented a mirror with a sentient reflection of himself whose role is to stroke the real Leonard's ego.
* SoreLoser: Léonard invents the cooking contest and comes second behind Mathurine who won first prize. Léonard gets offended and insults both Mathurine and the judges.
* SpeechBubbleCensoring: An amusing inversion where the text is censored by the image. Léonard uses an aerosol [[CensorSteam spray]] on the bubbles.
%%* SpeechBubblesInterruption
* SpoilerCover / SpoilerTitle: The cover of album #48 shows Mozza along the rest of the main characters and the title is "My daddy is a genius!". Obviously, a new character will be introduced and she'll be Lénoard's daughter.
* SquashedFlat: Yet another common [[AmusingInjuries amusing injury]], often involving a hydraulic press or similar tool.
* StreetUrchin: Mozza lived on the streets all by herself before Léonard adopts her.
* StuffBlowingUp: Happens all too frequently, but it's alright, they are all NonFatalExplosions.
* SurroundedByIdiots: Léonard never stops complaining about how dumb and clumsy Basile truly is.
* SweepingAshes: The usual result of Basile being hit by NonFatalExplosions or XRaySparks.
* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Largely averted with Bernadette, who wears gender-neutral clothing and otherwise looks no different than other mice. She sometimes wears feminine clothing, but only for special occasions.
* TheTalk: Mathurine and Basile mocked Léonard for not knowing how to make babies. They proceed to dress in a flower and a bee and made him a demonstration, which [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Léonard failed to understand as he went outside to seduce flowers]].
* TalkingAnimal: Raoul and Bernadette are respectively a cat and a mouse who can talk.
* TeleporterAccident: Leonard builds a teleporter cannon and uses it on Basile to make him disappear, but he also makes Raoul's tail disappear. When Leonard makes Basile reappear, Basile's arm and Raoul's tail are swapped.
* TemptingFate: When Leonard is creating the bicycle, he brags that Basile would never have the skill and intelligence to create something similar, then the last panel shows Basile building a motorcycle.
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: Basile, when he knows the pain is coming.
* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Leonard has a grimoire where the 13th page is missing. We learn that it was deliberately torn off by the author, who was scared of the number 13.
* TimeMachine: Léonard has built a few, and some are occasionally used in stories, taking him either to the prehistoric or to modern times (and yes, one of them is actually [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture build into a]] CoolCar--ShoutOut, anyone?).
* ToThePain: When Léonard gets particularly irritated by one of Basile's most recent screw-ups, he rants about everything he will ([[TakeOurWordForIt allegedly]]) do to make him suffer.
* TooDumbToLive: Not only does Basile stay with an abusive master, he simply can't get anything done without seriously injuring himself.
* TorchesAndPitchforks: The villagers sometimes chase Léonard and Basile out of town after one explosion too many.
* TranslatorMicrobes: Protz says that members of his species get translation devices implanted in them at birth, explaining how he can talk to humans.
* TruthSerum: Leonard uses a truth serum on Basile, causing him to repeatedly insult Leonard.
* UnnecessarilyCreepyRobot: Over the years, Leonard has invented many different robots with intimidating-looking design. A particular note are the ones invented to wake-up Basil in not-so gentle manners.
* UnprovokedPervertPayback: When outside for an errand Basile lost his keys again. Not to worry. With Leonard's latest invention, all he has to do is whistle and the keychain attached to the keys will play a tune. Unfortunately, a woman was passing-by when Basile whistled and she gave him a piece of her mind.
* UnsoundEffect: A variation of this trope used for comedy. Verbs are often used instead of common onomatopoeias, describing the invention being on-work, and Basile hurting himself.
* VagueAge: Léonard is obviously an old man and Basile obviously a young man, however, at least two different stories have them aged down to children or babies, being the same age, going to school in the same class. Léonard already having white hair, this implies he is YoungerThanTheyLook.
* WrongParachuteGag: Two similar gags:
** One comic has the disciple open the parachute, only to reveal a sheet of paper from the maid Mathurine, saying the parachute is in laundry.
** In another comic, a similar joke is made by Léonard accidentally handing Basile the backpack containing their lunch instead of a parachute.
* XRaySparks: Happens every time Basile has to power on a new invention.
* YouAreFat: There are several jokes about Mathurine being overweight.
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