I'm Pinocchio. I Kill Monsters.
Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer is a 2009 comic book series that was written by Van Jensen along with artwork by Dusty Higgins and it involves everyone's favorite puppet Pinocchio fighting vampires!
When Pinocchio's father Geppetto is killed by a group of vampires, Pinocchio makes it his goal to destroy all the vampires in the world. Meanwhile, vampires are trying to take over the world and enslave all of mankind and the only one who could defeat the vampires is Pinocchio himself, as his wooden nose is capable of killing vampires.
As the title suggests, this comic book was inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer provides examples of the following tropes:
- Action Girl: Carlotta becomes one in later chapters.
- Columbina and Isabella could count.
- Afro Asskicker: Harlequin.
- And Then John Was a Zombie: Book Two opens with Master Cherry, who assisted against the vampires in the first book, having become a vampire himself, although he tries to fight his vampire nature to help Pinocchio and his allies.
- Animate Inanimate Object: Pinocchio himself.
- Anyone Can Die: By the end of the story, Gepetto, Master Cherry, the Blue Fairy, most of Fire Eater's puppets and eventually Pinocchio himself, all die.
- Big Bad: The Vampire Geppetto in the first arc, although Vlad is the one who is orchestrating everything happening in the story.
- Bittersweet Ending: Pinocchio defeats Vlad, but he ends up turning into the very tree where he was cut from and has to say goodbye to Carlotta.
- Body Horror: After Pinocchio is turned into a real boy, he later on realizes that he needs to become a puppet again to defeat the vampires and he transforms back into a puppet by ripping off his human skin, to the shock and disgust of everyone around him.
- Buffy Speak: Has its moments, since this was inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- Cats Are Mean: The Cat, along with the Fox, who work for the vampires in this story.
- Cool Old Guy: Cherry assisted Pinocchio in his vampire slaying, up until he ends up turning into a vampire and is then killed by Pinocchio afterwards.
- Darker and Edgier: More so than the original story as Pinocchio is fighting vampires and by the end of the story half of the cast dies.
- The Hero Dies: Pinocchio is transformed back into a tree by the end of the story.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: It turns out that the Big Bad of the first arc is none other than a vampire Geppetto and later on, he tries to convince Pinocchio that he is his father. This only causes Pinocchio's nose to grow when he yells out that the vampire is not his father and his nose ends up staking Geppetto.
- Mr. Fanservice : Pinocchio as a human boy.
- My God, What Have I Done?: A tragic example happens when Pinocchio accidentally stakes Geppetto, who was transformed into a vampire at that point, when the vampire claimed that he was Geppetto and Pinocchio yells out that he is not his father, causing his nose to grow and stake Geppetto.
- Mysterious Past: The original tale never conclusively revealed how or why Pinocchio came to life; Book Four reveals that he and the other living puppets were victims of Vlad's back when he was human, with their blood leaking into the woods below Vlad's palace after he killed them until they essentially manifested from the trees when they were carved into puppets.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The Blue Fairy basically does this when she turns Pinocchio into a human, depriving them of their best weapon against the vampires.
- No Ontological Inertia: When Pinocchio stakes Vlad, it undoes the dark magic tying his minions to him and animating them, causing them all to fall.
- Oh, Crap!
- Our Werebeasts Are Different:
- Pinocchio Nose: Which is also used to stake vampires!
- Protagonist Title
- Supernatural Aid: The Blue Fairy, until she exhausts her magic.
- Took a Level in Badass: Pinocchio in this story as he is shown slaying vampires left and right.
- Also happens to Carlotta as the story progresses.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Pinocchio's ability to make his nose grow when lying might appear of limited use, but it gives him an automatic armory of stakes to use against the vampires, and he later uses it to vault himself over a wall by making his nose long enough to use as a pole.
- You Can Always Tell a Liar: Pinocchio's nose growing might give him a weapon against the vampires, but it has the disadvantage that he can't even lie to make his allies feel better during a pitched battle (one puppet asks him to avoid the "strategically demoralising lies"). It even detects 'lies' that Pinocchio intended to be true; when he said that he would kill all the vampires he came across, his nose grew even though he did intend to go through with that vow, but subsequently concedes that he'll probably just maim some of them as he'll be fighting with allies.
