[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/duumviratelogo-tvtropes_4281.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Two Dominators are better than one.]]

''[[http://www.duumvirate.net Duumvirate]]'', the sequel to ''[[http://www.billyandhoward.com Billy and Howard]]'', like many other novels, features a few gifted teenagers discovering their place in the world.

The only difference is that here, they own it.

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!!Tropes present:
* TwentyFourHourArmor: Power armor is a closed system which can be worn for weeks at a time but starts to stink after a while. This is also a setting in which children's everyday clothing is comfortable, blade-resistant, Class IIIA body armor.
* AerithAndBob: Roughly three-fourths Bob, one-fourth Aerith. Howard and William [[MeaningfulName Dominus]], Sarah [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Mortis]], [[MultiArmedAndDangerous Quadrus]] and Stanley Dominus, Paul Smith, Jeremy Jorgensen, Judas Rockefeller, Hadji Rajadhiraja...
* AirVentPassageway: The small kids who live in Northberg Educational Facility discover that they can go anywhere they want in the air vents and the child-sized "secret" areas they lead to.
* ApeShallNeverKillApe: Engineered shall never kill engineered.
* AprilFoolsPlot: In ''Billy and Howard'', the twins play jokes on each other. Hilarity ensues, for certain values of hilarity.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: {{Justified|Trope}} with the main characters, as the Operator [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke made them this way]].
* BattleButler: The various personal servants often fit this trope, especially if they're [[{{Transhuman}} genetically engineered]]. However, the master might be even more physically dangerous.
* {{BFG}}: The book is loaded with [=BFGs=]. Fusion-powered microwave lasers, ''atomic slugs'', and there's a subplot involving "room eraser" spread weapons.
%%* BigBadDuumvirate: The title gives a hint.%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample
* BioAugmentation: There are [[PsychoElectro electroplaques]], [[MultiArmedAndDangerous quadbracchalism]], [[PlayingWithFire combustive gases]], and other things as "extras". The new ''basic'' humans have regeneration, super-strength, and super-speed.
* BlatantLies: Sarah raids and kills a pervert, then "finds" a will on his hard drive that everything he owned was to go to her son. More a PayEvilUntoEvil than a lie meant to be believed.
* BrosBeforeHoes: Jeremy references this trope by name when realizing that his servant is far more valuable to him than his girlfriend.
* BuxomBeautyStandard: Kylie was already buxom before she could genetically alter herself, afterwards, she jumped chest-first into this trope.
* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: Happens more than once. The biggest example is when William wants revenge on [[EvilutionaryBiologist his creator]] for enslaving him to his own brother, but this trope kicks in instead.
* CaptainObvious: Billy and Howard have vastly different ideas of what is and isn't obvious, occasionally leading to this trope being named.
* ColorCodedPatrician: Masters wear light colors, and servants wear dark ones. This is the only clothing rule they tend to follow.
* CoolCar: Illuminati assassins have the shapeshifting, fusion-powered Deathmobile. There's a crematorium under the hood for body disposal.
* CoolHouse: First-time visitors to the Dominator's island may think that it's just a mirrored-steel BigFancyHouse with lasers on top. There's a weapon embedded in every wall, jets hidden under the grass outside, and an elevator that goes down to a massive basement with its own pool, video arcade, library, ''enormous warehouse of weapons...''
* DodgeTheBullet: The engineereds dodge single-aimed bullets easily but have a harder time with things such as poorly aimed [=AKs=] and shotguns.
%%* TheDragon: Sarah.%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: TheIlluminati's Bavarian headquarters is one of these. Parts of it are a couple of centuries old.
* ElectricTorture: A brain-electrodes variant that can also induce [[ElectricInstantGratification pleasure]].
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: The main characters have a number of people they protect and cherish, including each other.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Apparently running an OrphanageOfFear is something that can get you killed.
* EvilVersusEvil: Hedonistic, bioengineered killers who don't see ordinary humans as people, versus insane, sadistic creeps.
%%* EliteMooks: Enforcers.%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample
* EvilOverlord: {{Deconstructed|Trope}} entirely. The [[EvilOverlordList Evil Overlord's Guide]] is quoted more than once. The Illuminati is portrayed as a society of six thousand of them, and it's the Duumvirate's job to keep them under control.
* FanDisservice: In one particularly memorable scene, the inside of a vagina is likened to a hole in a brick wall lined with sandpaper.
* FictionalVideoGame: After a harrowing run through an ''Franchise/IndianaJones''-styled hallway loaded with traps and a massive fight at the end of it, Billy and Howard go home and play a game ''based on what they just did''.
* FirstNameBasis: Unless they're trying to make a point, even masters and servants are on first name bases. The only exceptions are for people who hate their given names or have a formal title and [[SingleMindedTwins can't be told apart]].
* FreeRangeChildren: [[{{Transhuman}} Bioengineered]] children are treated as adults by age eight, and the 6-year-olds know how to fly jets. [[MuggingTheMonster Want to mess with one]]? [[SchmuckBait Go on, try it]]. [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong What's the worst that could happen?]]
* GambitPileup: Every Illuminatus has his own agenda. There are six thousand Illuminati, some more devious than others. The title characters have no choice but to ''not care about'' what everyone may or may not be plotting, so long as it doesn't affect them directly. It is implied that this state of affairs is more or less constant.
* GigglingVillain: The title characters can do the EvilLaugh, but far more often they just do some version of this.
* GoFetch: This actually works, because the dog likens the stick-thrower to his masters.
* HappinessInSlavery: Good (as in competence, not as in morality) masters have their servants get to this state quickly.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: Anyone getting too close to certain truths is most commonly fed misinformation, with options for inflicted insanity, death, and acquisition.
* HealingFactor: Killing an engineered is a matter of either inflicting direct brain damage or making them lose enough blood. Their regeneration isn't what makes this [[DodgeTheBullet difficult]], however...
* HyperactiveMetabolism: Engineereds eat quite a bit more than a normal human, particularly if they're regenerating severe wounds.
* IControlMyMinionsThrough: As the book is about TheIlluminati, almost all techniques are represented to some extent. Although we never see excerpts, the title characters own a "big book of control techniques". Normals are controlled through Authority, Money, Fear, Indoctrination, Power, and Divine Right, unwitting normal powerholders are usually controlled through Corruption (of the political, not supernatural, variety) and presumably Money, and for servants, mind-control implants are used instead of Fear and Power strategies but instilling true Indoctrination/Kindness/Love-based loyalty is considered best. The Illuminati also have a tendency to use Power and Love on each other along with various flavors of deception. The Duumvirate themselves rule through Authority, Birthright, Power, and Agenda.
* IJustWantToBeBadass: Paul's best friends are {{Transhuman}} badasses, and he desperately wants to keep up.
* TheIlluminati: The story is written from the point of view of the Illuminati themselves.
* ImAHumanitarian: Billy and Howard occasionally eat raw human flesh, but only when they're [[HyperactiveMetabolism particularly hungry]] and nothing else is available.
* ImmuneToDrugs: It takes an ''enormous'' amount of pot to get an engineered even mildly buzzed.
* ImprobableAge: Genetically engineered [[OrphanageOfLove Northberg]] children become Illuminati at eight. Taking advantage of their inexperience is generally a bad idea.
* JustAKid: This trope is generally {{inverted|Trope}} because everyone knows how dangerous young engineereds are, but one [[TooDumbToLive poor fool]] messes with a certain [[MultiArmedAndDangerous four-armed]] boy escaping from an AmusementParkOfDoom. The kid's a fraction his size, WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong
* KillSat: The fusion-powered microwave satellites can burn and melt a building.
* LiteralGenie: The control implants in ''Billy and Howard'' work this way. Anyone who can't avoid the obvious pitfalls is considered TooDumbToLive.
* LittleMissBadass: At the age of fourteen and a half, Sarah Mortis has a body count in the hundreds and commands a small army of assassins. The previous commander steps aside because he knows what's good for him.
* LivingForeverIsAwesome: This trope is one of the Duumvirate's stated goals. They refer to it as "going to the future". Their [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty rejuvenated]] fifty-year-old [[EvilutionaryBiologist creator]] strongly agrees.
* MoralityPet: {{Inverted|Trope}}. Luke is Paul's ''Immorality'' Pet, there to let him know that brutality, murder, and full-scale genocide are perfectly all right.
* MoreDakka: A five-hundred-megawatt laser isn't enough? Try two hundred gigawatts!
* MuggingTheMonster: A flashback in ''Billy and Howard'' features this. Three goons decide to pick on [[{{Transhuman}} Billy]]'s friend. Billy [[BerserkButton goes nuts]] (and more than a little racist) and brutalizes all three.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Quadrus "Quad" Dominus starts carrying a gun for each of his four hands after a brush with death. He's [[TykeBomb six]] at the time.
* NamesToRunAwayFrom: Sarah Mortis' last name is derived from "mors", Latin for "death", which she tends to live up to.
* NGOSuperpower: The Illuminati has evolved from a more traditional conspiracy into one of these, but still secret. They're technologically superior, so they intend to drop the {{Masquerade}} and start ruling openly once their internal problems are settled. [[spoiler:They do.]]
* NiceToTheWaiter: Being on good terms with your servants is a mark of competence as a master. The titular characters even use it to [[spoiler:decide who to let live]] at the end of the book.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: With the amount of genetic engineering thrown around, it was inevitable that someone made a dragon with it. Fire breath, six legs (two of which end in hands), and they have wings in childhood but lose them as they grow up.
* PowerEchoes: The twins have a doubled larynx for exactly this reason.
* PoweredArmor: Development of this is finished near the end of the book. The people wearing it are already [[{{Transhuman}} genetically engineered superhumans]]. The combination tends to work well.
* PowerPerversionPotential: Luke has electric eel DNA. It turns out that his girlfriend enjoys electrical play...
* ProfessorGuineaPig: The Operator developed a retrovirus to bestow {{transhuman}}ity on whoever received it and injected himself with it the second it was done synthesizing.
* ProperlyParanoid: Everyone has to balance this and being able to get things done. Too little paranoia and you [[spoiler:take a railgun through the chest]] -- too much and your organization [[spoiler:cannot get any new members because they might be spies]].
* PsychoElectro: Luke is less flashy than most examples on this page. It's the [[LightningBruiser speed, strength]], and raw hatred that make him so horribly dangerous.
* PunctuatedPounding: Luke does this [[spoiler:while beating his father to death]].
* RightHandAttackDog: Fido is a bioengineered, white-furred canine quite a bit smarter and much deadlier than the average animal and (like [[ImAHumanitarian its owners]]) with a taste for manflesh.
* RuleOfCool: It is heavily, repeatedly implied that Illuminati technicians regularly sit down and work for years on projects simply to accomplish this trope.
* SeparatedAtBirth: In ''Billy and Howard'', one of the title characters is left to live among [[{{Muggles}} normals]] for a decade, to give perspective to his controlling twin when they are reunited. He is able to confront his creator in the second book about this. He is not pleased.
* ShownTheirWork: There are a number of parts where the author clearly did the math and wants everyone to know it.
* SingleMindedTwins: Billy and Howard actively try to fulfill this trope. Telling them apart is considered a major challenge even for their close friends.
* SpacePlane: The main characters' fusion-powered jet can take them to Mars without a booster.
* SquareCubeLaw: The dragon species has wings in its juvenile stage but loses its ability to fly as it grows up.
* SteelEarDrums: Generally {{averted|Trope}}, but played somewhat straight for the superhuman title characters, who can also [[GoodThingYouCanHeal regenerate hearing damage]].
* SyntheticPlague: [[EvilutionaryBiologist The Operator]] creates at least ''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill five]]'' of these. [[spoiler:The book ends]] when it's time to unleash them.
* ThatThingIsNotMyChild: Luke ''agrees'' with this sentiment when [[spoiler:killing his parents]].
* {{Transhuman}}: Almost everyone is either born transhuman, becomes transhuman, or [[IJustWantToBeBadass desperately wants to be transhuman]]. When your regeneratively immortal friends can play BulletHell games at maximum difficulty without breaking a sweat, and [[DodgeTheBullet dodge actual bullets]] for that matter, you tend to get a deep appreciation for genetic superiority.
* TranshumanTreachery: {{Averted|Trope}}, with the main characters ''wishing'' that this would happen.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Even the littlest kids are perfectly willing to kill at the drop of a hat. It's all just a game to them.
* TwinBanter: Billy and Howard bicker duo-style, without finishing their own sentences.
* TwinThreesomeFantasy: It's never explicitly stated what goes on in Billy and Howard's bedroom, but it certainly involves this trope.
* TykeBomb: Every last Northberg kid is both this and a ChildProdigy.
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: The main characters eventually determine that [[spoiler:human society cannot survive genetic alteration]]. No points for guessing their solution.
* VillainInAWhiteSuit: TheIlluminati all wear white, and their servants wear black. The bioengineered title characters ''are'' white for the same reason.
* VillainProtagonist: And villain antagonists, villain contagonists, and villains for minor characters. There are [[AffablyEvil nice guys]], but no heroes. Paul [[spoiler:tries to be one, but his loyalty to the villains puts an end to that quickly]].
* WallJump: [[LadyOfWar Sarah]] can do this between walls ''ten feet away.''
* WallOfWeapons: In the first book, it's just a room full of weapons. In the second book, they have weapons embedded in literally every wall in the house, as well as an underground Walmart of guns, flamethrowers, and lasers.
-->''The child-sized weapons were helpfully placed on the bottom shelf, so kids wouldn't have to climb to reach them.''
* XanatosSpeedChess: Various Illuminati members are so good at this that it's impossible to know whether or not they planned everything out in advance.
* YoungAndInCharge: Howard takes total, world-controlling power at age '''ten'''. He is underestimated at first. That does not last long.
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