The Tangled: The Series mini-series are comics spinning off of the show of the same name, detailing adventures that happen between episodes of the series. It is published by IDW Publishing and written by Katie Cook, who also worked on the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (IDW) comics.
These titles include:
- Tangled: Adventure is Calling: A graphic novel adaptation of the show's premiere, Before Ever After and seven other original stories.Synopses
Tropes in these comics include:
- Accidental Public Confession: Shorty going "Oh hey, that's my knife!" in "The Corona Caper".
- Alcohol Hic: Shorty does this while hanging from a tower.
- All There in the Manual:
- The "Guardian's day" story at "Tangled: Hair It Is" confirms that Cassandra's is prone to Gift-Giving Gaffe and her father, the Captain of the Guard, is a Workaholic.
- The "Caution, Wet hair" story at the "Tangled: Adventure is Calling" graphic novel implies that Rapunzel suffered Corporal Punishment from Mother Gothel.
- Ambiguously Christian: Queen Ainsley and Princess Narcissa's kingdom, San Theodoros, would logically be named after a Saint Theodore, suggesting that the kingdom has a history of Christianity.
- Ambiguously Human: Danielle does not to seem to be human, what with the red eyes and the hissing. Rapunzel also questions what exactly she was.
- Ambiguous Syntax: Invoked by Varian, when Eugene says their cake recipe is a "trade secret", Varian replies that he "would absolutely love to". Trade secrets, that is.
- An Aesop:
- "Hair Raising": Don't panic and everything will be okay.
- "Repeat if Necessary": Don't try to force your day to be perfect, just let it happen naturally.
- "Framed": Learn from constructive criticism and don't overreact if people criticize you just to be mean.
- "Eager to Help": Being altruistic is good, but you need to know your limits, otherwise you'll be too tired to help anyone.
- Antagonist Title: The story "The Madness of Princess Narcissa".
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Despite having magic healing hair, Rapunzel balks at the idea of time-reversing lanterns, until she actually tries it. She also lampshades that she's seen stranger things than that at this point, but still thinks it's a load of hooey.
- Ascended Fangirl: Rapunzel becomes this when she helps Pamona Percy create a painting to help them escape back to the real world.
- Atrocious Alias: The king dislikes the name C.U.D.D.L.E.S. for his new carriage, but them's the breaks.
- Bookcase Passage: Rapunzel discovers one of these in "Eugene's Surprise".
- Both Sides Have a Point: In "Framed": Being criticized is no reason to trap people inside paintings for over twenty years, but with the kind of baseless criticism the people inside the paintings spew, one almost understands why Pamona did it. Rapunzel says as much as they enter the final painting.
- Brother–Sister Team: Lizzie and Cyrus, the late-night bandits, are brothers.
- Can't Take Criticism: Pamona Percy is so bad at hearing criticism she threw people who gave her some into paintings.
- Caught in the Ripple: Ironically enough, the evil old lady who gave Rapunzel the lantern that allowed her to create a "Groundhog Day" Loop remembers nothing of the previous loops, and ends up very confused the subsequent times around.Old Lady: Princess! I have a a gift for you, it's-
Rapunzel: A magic lantern that lets you repeat the day? Yes. Thank you!
Old Lady: Well, that was easy. - Chronic Hero Syndrome: Many times, but especially in "Eager to Help". Rapunzel will help you with your problems, mental and physical help be damned.
- Close to Home: Rapunzel has a thing about trapping people against their will or knowledge. Or, for that matter, using a magical creature's power for your own purposes.
- Comforting Comforter: When Rapunzel collapses into her bed from overwork in "Eager to Help", Cassandra puts a blanket over her.
- Commonality Connection:
- Rapunzel wants to set Candor free because she knows what it's like to be stuck with an Abusive Parent that uses them as tool.
- When Rapunzel meets Sophie, a girl who spent most of her childhood cooped up and now she is trying to make up for everything she missed, she remembers her day with Mother Gothel and becomes her friend immediately.
- Continuity Nod: Big Nose says the Snuggly Duckling's sign was crafted by Ruthless Ruth herself.
- Continuity Snarl/Loose Canon: "The Corona Caper" has a different explanation for the inaccuracy of Eugene's wanted posters than the series. In the "Flynnpostor" episode the guy who draws the posters can't get his nose right because his glasses are broken. Here the guy (who also looks different) is doing it to enact the Small Penis Rule so he can sell the posters as art.
- Control Freak: Zigzagged with the relationship between Cassandra and Rapunzel:
- At Barefoot friends: Cassandra assigned a lot of Royal tasks to Rapunzel merely to keep her from seeing her new friend Sophie.
- Avoided at Caution: Wet hair: After Cassandra asks Rapunzel to keep her hair clean, Rapunzel comes to the castle with her hair dirty and begins to Apologise a Lot to Cassandra, even defending herself from some hits Cassandra could give her, but
Cassandra assures Rapunzel she is not Mother Gothel and tries to fix Rapunzel's hair
◊.
- Decoy Damsel: Lizzie pretends like she was robbed by the late-night bandits so her brother Cyrus can get the drop on Stan and Eugene.
- Digging Yourself Deeper: Xavier shoves his foot (horseshoe?) into his mouth when he says Rapunzel will make a shoe fit for a king.
- Disproportionate Retribution: What Pamona Percy did to people who criticized her work; see Can't Take Criticism above.
- Distressed Dude: Eugene and Shorty in "A Hero's Reputation".
- Dumbass Has a Point: After Cassandra asks Pascal and Max to interview the royal mail carrier, Shorty ask Max this: "Did that lady just ask you to go talk to people? Wait... Can you talk?" (He can't.)
- Dumb Muscle: Cyrus is very obviously this for the late-night bandits duo.
- Don't Make Me Take My Belt Off!: "Caution: Wet hair" implies that Rapunzel suffered Corporal Punishment from Mother Gothel◊.
- Emergency Impersonation: In "Princess Cassandra", Rapunzel convinces Cassandra to disguise herself as her so she can get out of a commitment with her father.
- Enfant Terrible: Princess Narcissa.
- Engineered Heroics: Eugene convinces Shorty to help him stage a fake rescue so he can salvage his wounded ego. For whatever reason, Shorty is dressed like Rapunzel for this, complete with wig.
- "Eureka!" Moment: When Cassandra tells Rapunzel she can't be in two places at once, she gets the idea to pull a Emergency Impersonation.
- Evil Duo: The Late-night Bandits are both this and Brother–Sister Team.
- Evil Old Folks: The old lady who gives Rapunzel the magic lantern in "Repeat if Necessary" is a servant of Zhan Tiri.
- Expospeak Gag: In "Under the Big Top":Eugene: You know, one of the thing I love about you is this. You felt so deeply for that bird's situation that you wanted to help.
Cassandra: You mean she showed "empathy"?
Eugene: Gesundheit. - The Extremist Was Right: King Frederic pushes Rapunzel's Berserk Button again when he banishes his subjects from leaving the Village at night due to the Late-Night Bandits robbing everyone, imprisoning their subjects instead of the bandits. However, King Frederic is right this time: The Late-Night Bandits are Ax-Crazy and anyone out of the village at night risks his life.
- Fictional Holiday: Guardian's day is a combined Father/Mother/Legal Guardian's day.
- For the Evulz: The Late-Night Bandits gave a Tap on the Head to Guard Stan and they made Eugene Walk the Plank in a near bridge with no reason, just because it seemed cool to them.
- Fun with Acronyms: The Carriage Uniquely Designed Dramatically Lovable Exceptionally Secure... C.U.D.D.L.E.S.
- Gesundheit: Eugene's response to Cassandra saying the word "Empathy".
- Gift-Giving Gaffe: "Guardian's day" reveals Cassandra is this, having once given boots to Rapunzel, and a sword to a baby. She's so bad at giving gifts that the aforementioned panels serve as the current trope image! But it turns out she's not as bad as she thinks, since her father loved all the toys she had given him in the past.
- Gone Horribly Right: Eugene and Lance designed C.U.D.D.L.E.S. to be an impenetrable carriage, and it is... no one can get in from the outside, but that also means the king can't get out either.
- "Groundhog Day" Loop: Rapunzel deliberately enacts one in "Repeat if Necessary".
- Help, I'm Stuck!: The king gets stuck inside C.U.D.D.L.E.S. (the new carriage).
- Here We Go Again!: "Framed" ends with Rapunzel planning to visit the museum again to view their cursed statuary exhibit, after being stuck in magical paintings.
- Hidden in Plain Sight:
- Pascal tries to masquerade as a decoration in Rapunzel's hair in "Taking the cake".
- In one 'Misadventures in Camouflage' short story Pascal hides from Rapunzel by not changing color at all and instead masquerades as part of several paintings of himself on the wall of the tower.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Pamona Percy got trapped in one of her own magic paintings.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The late-night bandits.
- I Take Offense to That Last One: Eugene is shocked - shocked that a little girl who pretended to be robbed is actually a common criminal.Lizzie: A criminal, yes. Common? Hardly.
- Interquel: The comics take place between the various episodes of the show.
- It Will Never Catch On: Eugene thinks Shorty's newfangled newspaper business won't take off. We are then immediately shown a picture of Shorty's tabloid-seeming newspaper.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Being forced to parlay from inside his own carriage left the king utterly humiliated, but this allowed him to avoid the cold going around King Trevor's kingdom at the time, unlike Eugene and Lance. So the king turns C.U.D.D.L.E.S. into a quarantine room, and locks them both inside.
- Less Embarrassing Term: Rapunzel tries to tell Cass her toy she made of her father isn't terrible, but "One of a kind".
- Lethal Chef: Averted with Varian's cake. When he and Eugene finally do bake it to completion, it looks amazing.
- Messy Hair: Rapunzel's Bed Hair is really messy. And also really adorable.
- Minor Injury Overreaction: Lance after he chips a fingernail trying to open C.U.D.D.L.E.S.'s door.
- Mundane Utility: Rapunzel uses her hair to not get lost in the castle, Perseus-style.
- New Friend Envy: Cassandra gets this because of Rapunzel meeting Sophie.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: Rapunzel keeps trying new things, including jobs. When the royal mailman quits, she begs her father to let her replace him, and by the end of the story she's wondering about becoming a Master of Ceremonies.
- No, Except Yes: When Eugene asks Varian if he thinks he doesn't have a domestic side, Varian replies with "I didn't say that! I mean... I thought it, but I didn't say it." So, yes then.
- No Social Skills: Rapunzel shows shades of this when she assumes people asking her how her day was really do want to hear about how her day was.
- Omniscient Council of Vagueness: The last time we see Danielle, she's being scolded by what appears to be just eyes floating in darkness.
- Painting the Medium: The artists like to mess with the panel borders.
- In "The Madness of Princess Narcissa", the panels where Rapunzel's hair is restoring the people's memories are made from... Rapunzel's hair.
- Two examples in "Save the Date". When Rapunzel and Eugene, the panel borders are drawn like flowering plants, because it's just so romantic. Then the borders disappear but each individual panel is numbered as Raps and Eugene go through each step of the dance. Literal "dance numbers"!
- The panel borders become chains when Rapunzel discovers The Circus' secret.
- When Raps and Co. are traveling from painting to painting in "Framed", the page shows one big panel with multiple paintings as they jump from one to another.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Shorty's Rapunzel disguise: He has a long white beard that doesn't match the blonde wig, he's way... um, shorter, and Rapunzel is right there in the crowd watching the whole scene.
- Portrait Painting Peephole: Rapunzel sees Eugene planning a surprise for her through one of these.
- Positive Friend Influence: Rapunzel becomes this to Narcissa.
- Phantom-Zone Picture: Pamona Percy's paintings.
- Powered By A Forsaken Phoenix: The carnival in issue #2 or Hair and Now. Its fancy tricks and attractions are all due to The magic of a phoenix. Who is slowly dying because of this, by the way.
- Pun:
- Two jokes involving this: "Where does the monkey with no tail go? To a ReTAILer!" and "Where does a general keep his armies? In his sleevies!" The first was Eugene's fault, the other is a Rapunzel original.
- When Rapunzel tries to become a tailor:Rapunzel: Maybe being a tailor will be a "better fit".
Tailor: Ahh, very funny. Well, hopefully you'll "measure up". - "Lend a Helping Foot" has foot-based puns, naturally. In the ending the King says he got Feldspar's business (which was flagging because everyone was going barefoot) "Back on the right foot".
- Eugene goes "Whale, whale, whale, what have we here?" upon the discovery that a whale was trying to capsize a boat. Then he says "If you think of a better plan, let minnow!".Rapunzel: That was terrible.
- Later in that same story, Cassandra accidentally releases a whole coop's worth of chickens and says "It's Personal now, you fowl things!"
- Pun-Based Title: Many of the titles are some manner of pun, such as "Lend a Helping Foot".
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Danielle gains red eyes (and red sclera) after she takes the scepter.
- Samaritan Syndrome: Rapunzel, who else? One story says this is what she loves to do most.
- Shaped Like Itself: Lance and Eugene mention a 'stealing sack', supposedly a sack for collecting all the stuff you steal.
- Shutting Up Now: Xavier decides to do this after committing a gaffe.
- Spoiled Brat: Narcissa used to be the exact opposite, but then she got a magic mind-controlling wand.
- Sublime Rhyme: Eugene and Rapunzel go on a fetch quest to find all the chocolate hearts Eugene hid throughout the kingdom for their date. All of them have a clue to the next one written in rhyme.
- Surrogate Soliloquy: Eugene practices talking to Rapunzel with Shorty's help.
- Sycophantic Servant: This is what the entire city of Idris has become, due to being brainwashed.
- Taking the Heat: Cassandra voluntarily takes the blame for impersonating Rapunzel instead of telling the King and Queen it was Rapunzel's idea.
-
Throw It In!: Maximus intruding on a play in "Maximus and Pascal in: Curtain Call". - Town with a Dark Secret: The City of Idris are all brainwashed by their princess to be Sycophantic Servants, and the circus from "Under the Big Top" is draining the magic of a phoenix to create its shows.
- Treacherous Advisor: Narcissa has Danielle. She's the reason Idris is an Uncanny Village.
- Uncanny Village: Princess Narcissa's kingdom is this because of the mind control she put on every single one of her subjects.
- Uninvited to the Party: Inverted by Big Nose who was invited to a party by mistake in "The Lost Letter". Of course, this presumably means there's an offscreen straight example happening somewhere.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Eugene's plan to create Engineered Heroics fails, because he told it to Max.
- Unstoppable Mailman: Subverted. Corona's mailman quits after being driven up a tree one too many times.
- Unwitting Pawn: Narcissa got a magic scepter because of the machinations of Zhan Tiri's followers.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Shorty disguises himself as Rapunzel to help Eugene with his plan. It is unknown why Eugene felt the need to dress him exactly as Rapunzel, rather than a generic maiden.
- Workaholic: It was only implied in the TV series, but Guardian's Day confirms that The Captain of the Guard, Cassandra’s father, is one of these. When Rapunzel helps Cassandra pick a gift for her father we get this exchange.Rapunzel: Uh, how about some formal... attire?
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Eugene tells Lizzie that he wouldn't do this... But Rapunzel will!
- You Are Grounded!: Rapunzel was grounded for two days due to the events of "Princess Cassandra".
- You No Take Candle: Cyrus tells Eugene "You no fool Cyrus".
