* CompleteMonster: Never Serge, who remains sympathetic enough and who does save people he knows are innocent. It's left to the visiting bad guys of each novel, [[KarmicDeath who deserve the Serge-Deathtrap treatment]] coming to them.
* CrazyAwesome: Serge
** Coleman, the stoner who somehow has a complete and expert-level understanding of physics, chemistry, fluid dynamics, aeronautics, and several theoretical and mathematical concepts...which he ''only uses to get stoned''
* CrossesTheLineTwice: Both Serge's murder methods and many of his and Coleman/Lenny's other exploits.
* TheWoobie: The real hero or heroine of each novel is usually some poor schmuck who gets sucked into the vortex of Serge's craziness. Serge can sense immediately if the guy or gal is normal, and would ensure that the Woobie survives the events (and meet their OneTrueLove in the process).