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[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Valerian_2.jpg]]

''Valérian'' (later ''Valérian et Laureline'') is a French comic book series by Jean-Claude Mézières and Pierre Christin published from 1967 to 2010.

In the 28th century, Earth is the center of a powerful galactic empire, governed along technocratic lines from its capital Galaxity. The basis of Earth's power and civilization is its mastery of TimeTravel, which makes both instantaneous travel and control of history possible. An [[TimePolice elite corps of time travel agents]] has been created so as to maintain order throughout time and space, and Valérian is one of its members.

After a trip to the Middle Ages to capture a MadScientist who was attempting to alter human history, he met a local girl named Laureline and hired her as his fellow agent.

The series has long been suspected to be a key visual influence on ''Franchise/StarWars'', which it predates by a decade. It also influenced ''Film/TheFifthElement'', for which Mézières was actually hired to draw some décors and machines.

A French-Japanese AnimatedAdaptation of the series was released in 2007 titled ''WesternAnimation/TimeJamValerianAndLaureline''.

Speaking of ''The Fifth Element'', Creator/LucBesson directed a LiveActionAdaptation movie of ''Valerian'' that came out in 2017, ''Film/ValerianAndTheCityOfAThousandPlanets'', starring Dane [=DeHaan=] and Creator/CaraDelevingne in the main roles.
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!!This comic book series contains examples of:

* ActionGirl: Laureline, she was even introduced saving Valerian by taking his sword and cutting him out of a monster leaf.
* AdvancedAncientHumans: The first instance of time/space travel was in 2314, prior to that there was a Dark Age period from 1986-2314 where history was lost. Turns out that the U.N. had a stolen scientific archive and pockets of 1986 humanity made use of that to develop super-science technology like disintegrators, limited A.I. robots, forcefields, shrink rays and a non-functioning time machine. It was these ancient 1986 humans that restored civilization.
* AfterTheEnd: The civilization of Galaxity was born of a global catastrophe that destroyed preexisting human civilizations in 1986, when a huge nuclear explosion near the North Pole caused arctic ice shelves to melt, resulting in global warming and a rise in sea levels.
* {{Allegory}}: In ''Heroes of the Equinox'', the three champions from three different planets who compete against Valérian are clear allegories of Earth political movements: German/Italian fascism, Soviet communism, and GranolaGirl style "spiritual" environmentalism. Through them, Mézières satirizes the sort of politics that don't allow for free thinking, and in the end Valérian [[spoiler:wins the contest because he's the only one with a liberal, non-didactic view on how thing should be done.]]
** In the ''Birds of the Master'', the Master symbolizes a Totalitarian regime and the Birds the control society, which enslave the population and keep it servile.
** Also note how the Master's opponents think only of taking its place when they have defeated it. Valérian has to shame them out of the idea.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Valerian, probably because Galaxity's civilization was built by survivors from Earth's old age, all mixed together. Laureline, on the other hand, was recruited by Valerian in Medieval Europe and has distinctly European features. Averted in the live action movie. Valerian is unambiguously Nordic.
* AnachronismStew: One mission sends Valérian to pocket dimensions resembling Earth at various points in history, where the presence of anachronisms is a result of sloppy design by the alien intelligence behind it all.
* AnimatedAdaptation: ''[[WesternAnimation/TimeJamValerianAndLaureline Time Jam: Valerian & Laureline]]''.
* AntiHero: At first a regular action hero, Valérian grows into more of an anti-hero over time.
* ArtEvolution: the art style in the early instalments of the series is markedly more cartoonish.
* ArtImitatesArt: The [[http://a21.idata.over-blog.com/0/31/92/83/images-hors-BD/Peintres/Renoir/M-C-V-TT.jpg last panel]] of "On the False Earths" depicts Valérian and Laureline enjoying some time off in 19th century France in a scene that recreates the painting ''Luncheon of the Boating Party'' by Auguste Renoir.
* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: The very existence of the Grumpy Converter from Bluxte necessitates this trope. The creature can multiply any small, precious object hundreds or thousands of times as long as it has enough energy reserves, yet it's treated by everybody as a handy source of currency instead of a highly illegal living forgery machine.
** Treated as such by everybody ''at Point Central'', where shady deals are the standard operating procedure. Laureline is supposed to keep it secret.
** Somewhat averted as said animal is VERY rare, EXTREMELY hard to catch, needs a thorough brainwashing by a team of professionals to actually be useful, and it has rather limited reserves. The costs of acquiring, and then keeping one, offsets their economical impacts. It is the most effective alternative to carrying around enough different currencies in a mission, but in the scheme of things doesn't offset economical balances that much.
* AuthorTract: The authors never waste an opportunity to make a political point.
* BadFuture: What Xombul almost managed to achieve.
* BazaarOfTheBizarre: Syrte, the greatest market in the empire of a thousand planets sells living stones and telepathic pets among other things.
%%* BeardOfEvil: Xombul.
* BlobMonster: Multiple:
** The Suffuss are a polymorphous alien species whose default appearance is that of shapeless blobs.
** The alien entity simply known as The Master is a huge mass of protoplasm.
* CantTakeAnythingWithYou: A formal rule of time travel, and one respected more in the breach than in the observance.
* CaptainSpaceDefenderOfEarth: Old example that plays the trope completely straight.
* CasualInterstellarTravel: Justified, since space travel is based on instantaneous teleportation, itself an offshoot technology of TimeTravel.
** In the first issue Valerian is given six minutes to report to Earth from several thousand light-years away and is criticised for being two seconds late.
* ContinuityPorn: The last three volumes of the series bring back numerous characters that had appeared as early as the series' debut.
%%* CoolOldGuy: "Uncle" Albert.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The collective management of both Bellson&Gambler and WAAM, two large multinational firms who tried to make a deal with SpacePirates from the future.
* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: Galaxity's civilization.
* DirtyHarriet: In order to approach two SpacePirates, Laureline dresses up as a call girl.
%%* DyingRace: The blue-skinned Masters.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The very first story involved actual magic, mainly used to [[ForcedTransformation turn people into animals]], including a {{Unicorn}} (with the ability to read minds). While the following stories have their fair share of outlandish alien powers and technologies with very weird effcts, this is the only story where magic as such was featured.
** This finally gets a callback in ''In Uncertain Times'' (2001) when Laureline sends LCF Sat back in time to receive a magical treatment for his fly problem.
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: The Spatio-Temporal relays, scattered throughout time.
* EternalEnglish: Averted, Valerian uses a mnemonic helmet to teach himself the local language before he goes back in time.
* ExpendableClone: Valérian gets lots of these in ''Sur les terres truqueés''.
* FakeCrossover: Mézières produced an [[https://www.noosfere.org/mezieres/Images/cinema/expo_starwars.jpg illustration for Pilote magazine in 1983]] of Valerian and Laureline meeting [[Franchise/StarWars Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia]].
* FanService: Laureline changing clothes are often opportunities to depict her in various states of undress.
* FeatheredFiend: The Birds of the Master.
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Averted with Laureline, who, despite being from the Middle Ages, flawlessly adapts to life in the 28th century. Mnemonic helmets helped.
* FloodedFutureWorld: Not in the main setting, but "The City of Moving Waters" takes place in a flooded New York in the "dark age" of Earth's near future (1986 - 2314).
* ForcedTransformation: Xombul uses magic to turn people into his monster army.
* FutureImperfect: Scientists examining a 20th century sewing machine in Xombul's apartment guess that it's a musical instrument or a failed sculpture but Valerian corrects them.
* GainaxEnding: "L'Ouvretemps" wraps up the series by deconstructing it.
* GratuitousEnglish: Often present in the original French version, as well as non-English translations. Sometimes from characters who really have no reason to know any English.
-->'''Schniarfeur:''' Cool man!
* HauntedCastle: Played with. Inverloch Castle in Scotland is supposed to be haunted, but this is in fact because [[spoiler:it houses a time gate]].
* HigherTechSpecies: Humans are this to most aliens. To put it in perspective, in the story "Empire of a Thousand Worlds", a lost colony ship using centuries outdated tech were able to take over a space-faring empire by impressing the locals with superior Earth medicine and psychology.
* HollowWorld: The aptly named ''Country Without Stars''.
%%* HonestJohnsDealership : the Shingouz.
* HumanoidAliens: Most aliens in the comic fit the mold. As the Shingouz put it, "two arms, two legs, one head, it could be anybody".
* IncredibleShrinkingMan: Happens first to Laureline in "The City of Moving Waters". Valérian later ends up temporarily shrunk as well as a side-effect of impregnating an alien hive mother (see below).
** A short story involves a planet where an anomaly of some kind causes every living organism to shrink once they enter a certain area (other areas make them grow, age faster, or age in reverse. HilarityEnsues)
* InstantExpert: 28th century tech includes the ability to upload knowledge directly to the brain, that's how Laureline is able to adapt so quickly.
* KnockoutGas: A naturally occuring sleep mist in the swamp in 11th century France.
* LandmarkingTheHiddenBase: The New York base of the TimePolice is inside the Statue of Liberty.
* LanternJawOfJustice: Valerian has one, as befits a Flash Gordon {{Expy}}.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfRaces: Aliens everywhere! Though there are plenty of {{Rubber Forehead|Aliens}} and HumanAliens, there's a lot of bizarre ones as well.
* LotusEaterMachine: All the humans in the Terran Empire, except for the agents and the Technocrats, are living in a dream world 24/7. The plot of the first Valerian story is catching the rogue Technocrat who sabotaged the Dream Department.
* LuddWasRight: In "Welcome to Alflolol", the low-tech, environmentally-friendly lifestyle of the natives is depicted as superior to the high-tech, industrial one of the human settlers. However, Alflololians having psychic powers which allow them among other things to space travel without much technology, the {{Aesop}} of the story wasn't about technology levels, but lifestyle choices.
* MadScientist: Xombul, a rogue Technocrat who attempted to overthrow Galaxity or erase it from history twice in the early comics.
* TheMonolith: The Wolochs appear as spacefaring black rectangular monoliths. They also happen to be [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]].
* {{Neologism}}: The name "Laureline", a fairly popular girls' name in France, was invented for the series.
* NeuralImplanting: The mnemonic helmets are most often used to get knowledge of local languages, but they can teach all kinds of information.
* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup: Done on purpose in "City of Moving Waters". Valérian and Laureline chance upon a discarded prototype for a time machine, and turn it into a functional one thanks to their 28th-century technological expertise. Once they're done with it, however, they restore it to its previous inoperable state in order to avoid any historical alteration.
* OnlyYouCanRepopulateMyRace: In "Heroes of the Equinox", an alien but human-looking civilization has a single hive mother who must be impregnated anew every generation. Valérian ends up getting the job.
* PlanetOfHats: Several of them, notably the homeworld of the Shingouz. In "Heroes of the Equinox", Valérian is pitted against three champions, each from a different PlanetOfHats.
%%* PlanetVille: Rubanis.
* {{Polyglot}}: Valerian jokes he's becoming one due to the amount of languages he learns with the mnemonic helmets.
* PowersThatBe: Many stories involve shadowy political or corporate powers, such as The Master in "Birds of the Master", the greedy multinational companies Bellson&Gambler and WAAM in "Metro Chatelet, Direction Cassiopeia" and "Brooklyn Station, Terminus Cosmos", the elusive rulers of Rubanis in "The Circles of Power", and last but not least, the Lords of Hypsis whose influence is subtly behind almost every storyline.
* PrecisionFStrike: After staying too long in the 1980s, Valérian begins to pick up time-appropriate swear words which he uses with increasing frequency.
%%* RubberForeheadAliens
* RuinsOfTheModernAge: "City of Moving Waters" takes place in a flooded, post-apocalyptic New York City.
* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: In the first issue, Valerian says Arcturus is several thousand lightyears from Earth but in RealLife it's only 36.7.
* SendInTheClones: Expecting a high attrition rate for his mission in "On the False Earths", Valérian was cloned into dozens of short-lived copies. Most of them were expended in one go when the mission manager dressed them up as German soldiers, and sent them to battle in a live-action reenactment of a UsefulNotes/WW1 trench charge.
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: In an [[TheTimeTravellersDilemma interesting dilemma]], preventing the apocalypse from taking place might jeopardize the existence of the characters' civilization.
* SexuallyTransmittedSuperpowers: In "On The Frontiers" the former Spatiotemporal Agent Jal seduces Kristna, an alien of an unnamed race, in a cruiser in order to apropriate of her amazing powers (breathing in the vacuum, ParanormalGamblingAdvantage and HandBlast). Since he's dressing an armor like her, Kristna thinks he's from her race. When she learns he's human, she refuses him because InterspeciesRomance is lethal for her race; Jal [[MoralEventHorizon desperately rapes her]] and uses his freshly-stolen powers to force the captain of the cruiser ship to give him an escape pod to Earth. He uses his gambling powers to become rich and lead terrorist operations, in order to cause a nuclear war that will restore the timeline and the future he and Valerian have came from. However, he is haunted by his memories of Kristna, [[spoiler: and his stolen powers eventually wear off.]]
* ShapeshiftingSeducer: The Suffuss are a race of shapeshifting amoeboids that mostly work on Point Central as prostitutes.
%% * SheCleansUpNicely: Laureline is fond of fancy outfits.
* ShoulderSizedDragon: Xombul gets turned into one and stuck in a birdcage at the end of the first story.
* ShoutOut:
** Prof. Schroeder in ''The City of Moving Waters'' looks like the title character of ''The Nutty Professor''.
** A supporting character in ''At the Edge of the Great Void'' is named Molto Cortes, a reference to ''ComicBook/CortoMaltese''.
** The philosopher Chatelard in ''Métro Châtelet, Direction Cassiopeia'' is a reference to Gaston Bachelard.
* SingleBiomePlanet: Several of them. The most unpleasant one is definitely Zomuk, which is essentially a giant garbage dump for the rest of the galaxy.
* SolarSail: On boats rather than spaceships but canal boats on Syrte have solar panel sails.
%%* SpaceOpera
* SpaceElves: The blue-skinned, pointy-eared Masters.
* SpaceJews: Subverted with the Pearls from planet Mul. Their attire and habitat seem like a combination of Ancient Egyptian, Maasai, and Polynesian. But they do produce pearls (wealth) in large quantities and learn many languages and skills- very reminiscent of the overachieving Jewish stereotype.
%%* StarfishAliens
* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens: Played straight in "Ambassador of the Shadows", in which said Shadows are an ancient race with godlike powers; played with in "The Rage of Hypsis", in which the Triune God of Christianity turns out to be [[AlienSpaceBats three powerful aliens]] with a bad case of megalomania.
** The Trinity of Hypsis seems to potentially go into [[PhysicalGod Physical Gods]] territory considering the levels of power they possess, especially considering that they are apparently in the lower end of power scale on their home planet, where all the "gods" of the various galatic civilizations seem to reside.
** The fact that they manage to wipe the future of planet Earth from the timeline does imply that they can back their claim of divinity at least to a point.
* TakeThat: The creators did a gentle dig at ''Star Wars'' in one illustration where Valérian and Laureline meet Luke and Leia (circa ''Return of the Jedi'') in a space bar, with the conversation along the lines of:
-->'''Leia:''' Nice meeting you here!\\
'''Laureline:''' Oh, we've been around for a long time!
* TapOnTheHead: All over the place with the worst consequences being the odd headache or lump on the head.
* TeleportSpam: In ''Empire of a Thousand Planets'', Valerian does this to destroy the Enlightened's whole fleet by doing rapid-fire space jumps and blasting away with his ship's molecular cannons.
* TimePolice: The corps of agents Valérian and Laureline belong to.
* TimeTravel: The whole point of the series.
* TranslationConvention: It's taken for granted that every species understands every other species's language.
** Averted: in The country without Stars, an universal translator is evoked; also, both agents use mnemotechnic helmets (first seen in The Bad Dreams),to learn languages when possible before a mission. Due to the characters' job, they soon know enough languages to go around without a need to learn new languages all the time.
* TranslatorMicrobes: The mnemonic helmets can teach you languages from the past and various other skills. When travelling to Syrte, Valerian and Laureline sent automatically probes ahead to learn the local language which they then learned through hypno-teaching.
* UnexplainedRecovery: Xombul has escaped in the second story with no explanation why he isn't a ShoulderSizedDragon anymore.
* {{Unicorn}}: Laureline gets turned into one in the first story. She could talk and read minds in this form.
* WeaponizedAnimal: In "Land with no stars", the people of that world go to battle using fire-breathing giant lizards, venom-spitting giant lizards, constrictor snakes blown out of blowpipes and crossbows with scorpions or dragon-flies.
* WeCanRuleTogether: Xombul offers Valérian the chance to be his right-hand man in conquering and restoring order to 1989s Earth.
* ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld: In'Land with no Stars'', both sides use giant blimps as a way to transport soldiers.
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