Comic Book / The Scrameustache

The Scrameustache is a Belgian comic book by author Gos and his son Walt, published by Dupuis and later, by Glenat. It relates the adventures of the titular character, a highly intelligent, genetically engineered animal with the features of both a cat and a monkey. He is often accompanied by Khena, a teenager human alien abandoned on Earth after his parent's ship was sabotaged, and uncle Georges, the archaeologist who adopted Khena.

Other recurring characters include the Galaxians, green aliens about the same size of Scrameustache and living on one of the moons of Khena's home planet, Aktarka, the Ramouchas, mischievous bear like creatures with electric powers, who subvert pretty much all the time the Bears Are Bad News trope, the Kromoks, a (very) Lighter and Softer version of the Klingons, and the Stixes, a race of scheming aliens.

Has a 3D animated TV series adaptation in the works, although it seems to be suffering from Schedule Slip as it was supposed to begin airing in 2016. The trailer can be found here.

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The Scrameustache provides examples of:

• Abdicate the Throne: K22 is crowned Prince of the Galaxians for a year based on his merit points. He was however uneasy with life as a prince and abdicated later to study birds in the mountains.
• Accidental Pervert: While conversing with the Trolls, one Galaxian elder accidentally slapped a female Troll's butt with his staff. The woman was offended and slapped the Galaxian elder behind her, who wasn't responsible for the groping.
• Achilles' Heel: Thorgull, a menacing robot warrior from outer space, can easily being disabled by hitting his on/off switch on his chest panel.
  • Not exactly. This is the recharge mode switch. So hitting the switch only works if he is discharged. He was just stupid enough to use the last of his charge before this.
• Action Girl: Pilili. When the Kromoks ransacked her house, she picked up a rifle and fired at them. Brediline knows martial arts.
• Air-Vent Passageway: Scrameustache being small-sized, he can fit inside many air passegeways in the series.
• Alien Abduction: How Scrameustache and Khena met the first time. Normally, Scrameustache will just freeze or paralyze an intruder that get too close. When Khena proved to be immune to these effects, Scrameustache decided to kidnap him to learn why.
• Alien Invasion: Happens a few times:
  • The Stixes tried to invade the Earth, more specially Quebec, in the fourth album.
  • The Kromoks invaded Aktarka with the help of Zirka, an alien scientist.
  • The Stixes' invasion of the Galaxian's home moon through a Trojan Horse ploy.
• All Trolls Are Different: In two volumes, trolls are introduced, but their appearance, behavior and culture are much closer to traditional dwarves.
• Ancient Astronauts: A major theme in the series. Several ancient civilizations had ties with aliens such the Incas or the Olmecs.
• And This Is for...: When a Galaxian accidently hit Uncle Georges' car, the hatch fell on his back. Uncle Georges then gave the Galaxian a spanking.
  Uncle Georges: This for my back! This is for the car! And this is for you!
• Anti-Gravity:
  • Scrameustache wears an anti-gravity belt. If he falls from great height, the belt will safely slow his descent.
  • The Galaxians carry Anti-Gravity's pistols. When shot, the victim will be paralyzed and float in the air.
• Apocalypse How: Class 2 thanks to the people of Atlantis.
• Apocalyptic Log: The history of Atlantis' destruction is found in a holographic message located in Tibet.
• Arch-Enemy: The wizard Falzar is closest thing to an archnemesis to Scrameustache. They met more than once before the start of the series and Falzar's infamy is well known among the Galaxians.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: Uncle Georges refuse to believe that Santa Claus and tiny leprechaun-sized Human Alien exist, despite the fact that he has an alien living in his house, met a ghost and witnessed magic firsthand.
• Arranged Marriage: Falzarine and the Renegade marriage is set up by the Galaxian Elders. She is thrilled while he's not happy as he finds her repulsive.
• Art Evolution: Noticeable on the first volumes.
• Art Shift: In the third volume, when we're first introduced to Pilili, she looks like a little girl. A few panels later, she looks like the same age as her cousin Khena.
• Atlantis: The continent of Atlantis existed 12000 years ago. Its people were highly advanced technologically and magically. The core of their civilization was the Crystal of Atlantis which was worshiped religiously.
• Bad Future: Our heroes travel in the year 2857 where a nuclear cataclysm has destroyed much of the environment, leaving nothing but desert wastelands with very few parches of green spaces.
• Bald of Evil:
  • Ener Sleihcim is bald and is not a very good man. He sabotaged Khena's parents flying saucer so he could usurp his job. This caused Khena to be left behind on Earth and his parents to disappear without a trace.
  • All Stixes are bald and evil.
• Bears Are Bad News: Scrameustache and the gang came face-to-face with an angry black bear in the forest of Quebec. M. Paradis knew the bear and tried to calm it down, except the beast was being mind-controlled by alien invaders.
• Beauty Equals Goodness:
  • Lila is beautiful while her rival, Ivagora, is ugly. Guess which one is good?
  • Iridia is more beautiful than Prisca who tries to kill Khena.
• Berserk Button:
  • Seriously Khena, don't ever insult Iridia's father in front of her.
  • And the Galaxians should know better than to annoy Uncle Georges.
  • Provoke any Figueuleuses with naming-calling and they'll retaliate violently against you.
• BFG: Prisca use a huge, rather impractical laser cannon when trying to kill Khena. Justified, since it's actually a spaceship's laser cannon.
• Big Damn Heroes: Usually made by Scrameustache who comes to Khena's rescue.
• Big Damn Reunion: Two times:
  • Khena reuniting with his parents after ten years, who were trapped in the 16^th century. He also meet his younger brother and sister for the first time.
  • The album titled The Great Return. Khena brings his long-lost family to the present and this time for good.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The female galaxian named K7 is this. She plays nice with K22 to better steal his research.
• Black Bead Eyes: Varies inconsistently between this trope and cartoon eyes, sometimes with the same characters.
  • Played With sometimes to show emotion or shock, though there are some characters with which they are never used.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: All of Khena's Implied Love Interest: Iridia (blonde), Lila (black) , Brediline (brown) and Babette (red).
• Brains and Brawn: The Kromoks aren't very bright and are nothing but a population of Dumb Muscle. When they are partenered with the Stixes, who provide the smart, they become a dangerous combination.
• Bridge Bunnies: A very mild example, Iridia.
• Butt-Monkey: Uncle Georges is the frequent target of Scrameustache, the Galaxians and other aliens' mischief.
• The Cameo:
  • Papyrus, another Belgian comic book character, shows up in one panel during a time travel episode.
  • Characters from Les Petits Hommes also show up in a Crossover.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Many years ago, Uncle Georges was infatuated with a young fellow archaeologist named Astrid. He couldn't bring himself to confess his love to her because he was too shy. On the day he finally mustered his courage, he received news that his parents died in a car accident. He quickly returned to Chambon-les-Roses and then received news that he was drafted in the military. After his military service, he looked for her everywhere, but couldn't find her. He would finally be reunited with Astrid 28 years later.
• The Chosen One: Uncle Georges, much to his shock, is chosen to be the savior of humanity from a cataclysm that will destroy the Earth. It's revealed later that he was chosen because the Atlaneans met him in the past through time travel.
• Colony Drop: 12000 years ago, an asteroid collided with Earth's second moon. The debris fell on Earth causing a gigantic flood that destroyed Atlantis and most life on Earth.
• Color-Coded Characters: The color of the Galaxians' jumpsuit indicate their function and rank, although some colors are used for multiple roles.
  • Purple: Chief.
  • Red: Bridge Bunny, Communications Officer, security guard.
  • Blue: Mechanic.
  • Green: Electronics
  • Yellow: Ecologist, wet nurse.
  • White: Medic, nurse, cook.
  • Orange: Astronaut, firefighter.
  • Brown: Quartermaster.
  • Pink: Special force.
  • Gray: Prisoner.
• Continuity Snarl: The Scrameustache has a crossover with Les Petits Hommmes, clearly implying the two series are happening in the same world. However, both comics have their own separate take on the myth of Atlantis, and they are not reconcilable.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: Falzar's transformations are this. His most unusual one is having the Renegade grow a new pair of legs every time the latter say his name. Given the Renegade's short temper, he ended up with 20 pairs of new legs, before actually exploiting it to his advantage and turning into a literal centipede.
• Cool Starship: Several.
• Cool Sword: Thorgull's sword. It was forged by trolls with an alien metal. It's still in good condition after many centuries.
• The Comically Serious: Uncle Georges is always serious and has to constantly endure the aliens' antics.
• Comic-Book Time: All the characters haven't aged or changed much, although it's mentioned that Khena will be attending college soon.
• Crossover: There is an intertwined story between the Scrameustache and another Belgian comic book, Les Petits Hommes. You have to read both stories to fully understand what happens.
• Cryptic Background Reference: In the Whole Episode Flashback, before the start of the series, the Aktarkan Admiral personally handed Scrameustache's own Flying Saucer. He was proud of his graduation and knew Scrameustache had become an accomplished astronaut. In the third album, which takes place 10 years after the flashback, the Admiral voices his concerns regarding Scrameustache and wonder if he's become a threat to them. Whatever happened in the span of those 10 years was never disclosed and in the end, Scrameustache now living on Earth seem like a good compromise for the Admiral. Though it can be argued that Scrameustache sometimes takes high-handed methods to fix issues, namely being ready and armed to go through a bunch of people to free Khena, when the Admiral and everyone else were perfectly fine with letting him live his life on Earth.
• Curse: After accidentally offending a Norse God, uncle Georges gets zapped and has a viking helmet fall on his head, ending up stuck there. While doing some research, they discovered that this curse was initially cast on a Viking centuries ago, Ragnar. The helm will only detach itself after death.
• Cyber Cyclops: Tobor has a single red eye.
• Damsel in Distress: Khena ends up rescuing Babette from a Stix who held her captive.
• A Day in the Limelight: Usually involves the Galaxians with the main characters making a small cameo.
• Deflector Shields: Most Ships and even houses are equipped with anti-matter shields. Scrameustache's home planet is protected by a massive one to repel the war-like Kromoks who live on one of the planet's moon. Oddly, the Galaxians who live on the other moon do not have such planetary shield and have been attacked more than once by the Kromoks.
• Demoted to Extra: Khena's family on his home planet. The Galaxians replace them as the frequent alien visitors.
• Depending on the Writer: Gos prefers writing stories with Scrameustache and Khena at the helm with archaeology and Ancient Astronauts at the core of the stories. Meanwhile, Walt favors the Galaxians as the focus with wacky and over the top comical situations. This is more pronounced as the series goes on.
• Detonation Moon: 12000 years ago, Lunica, Earth's second moon got destroyed by an asteroid, which sparked the disaster that destroyed Atlantis.
• Did They or Didn't They?: Happens between a Galaxian and a Figueuleuse. Seriously, it's a kids' comic book.
• Distress Ball: Khena needs rescuing from Scrameustache quite a lot, although there is one case where their roles are reversed.
• Doomsday Device: The Sharbakan suffered from constant invasions from the Togons who originate from another continent. The Sharbakan eventually built a device which emit waves that destroy the Togons' cellular structure. The wave is completely harmless to other living beings. There's a subversion because the emitter is used purely for defense.
• The Dragon: Falzar to Satic, his creator.
• Driven to Madness: On the planet Aktarka, there's a waterfall whose fumes will cause anyone who breathe them to go insane. Ener becomes its victim and thinks he is a Napoleon-like galactic conqueror. He is taken away by asylum personal.
• Drives Like Crazy: Female Galaxians are terrible drivers, whether it's piloting a spaceship or a Flying Car.
• The Dulcinea Effect: Khena is this to Iridia. He barely knows her and yet, he's willing to risk his neck to save her and her country from invading conquerors. He goes as far as impersonating Iridia's brother, Triocca, and take his place in jail so the siblings can activate the wave emitter.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Early in the series, the Galaxians made small cameos and explaining some scenes to readers before making their debut in album #6.
• Easily Conquered World: The Sharbakan's homeland had little to no resistance when the Togons conquered them. Ironically, the Sharbakan have a Doomsday Device to repel their enemy. They thought that the Togons' fear of the weapon alone would be enough to protect them, so they disbanded their army. They were wrong. Upon learning of this from a traitor, the Togons launched a surprise attack, giving no time for the Sharbakan to power the weapon.
• Emergency Impersonation: Khena replaces Triocca so the latter can escape without arousing his jailers' suspicions.
• Energy Weapon: The most commonly used weapons in the series by aliens. They come in various sizes, for personal uses and mounted on starships.
• Epic Fail:
  • Every year, the Galaxians crown one of their own as the Prince of the Galaxians for one year. The one with the highest merit points received at work takes the crown. The Galaxian later known as "the Cheater" hijacked the computer compiling the points by adding enough points to beat the winner by a single point... only to miscalculate and coming with the exact number of points as the winner. Both of them are put an isolation for the remainder of the investigation. The Cheater is an electronic expert and he can't even do math properly.
  • When the Figueuleuses' home island is hit by a storm, they send a distress signal to the Galaxians. Not wanting inappropriate behavior from the male Galaxians, the Elders decide to send an all-female relief team, much to the Figueuleuses' disappointment. It takes the all-female relief team less than five minutes to accidentally destroy the refugees' camp, wreck the equipment and start a brawl with the Figueuleuses.
• Even Evil Has Standards: The Renegade was frustrated by Scrameustache hindering his every move, so he set his gun to maximum power and fires on him. One of the escaped convicts yells a warning to Scrameustache who ducks just in time. The Renegade makes his escape while the convict surrenders. He believed that the Renegade had crossed the line and he could no longer stand idle and watch his violent actions.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep":
  • The Galaxian known as The Renegade. Formerly known as The Cheater. They still refer him as The Renegade even after his reform.
  • In fact, every Galaxians are referred by their titles/jobs unless the plot says otherwise.
• Evil Prince: Prince Chilmac who betrayed his own people, the Sharbakan, to the Togons.
• Excellent Judge of Character: When Yamouth is in charge of a mission to arrest Najboul for illegal experiments, he senses that something is off. He correctly guesses that Najboul isn't in the wrong and Trichtol, Najboul's jealous rival, has set up the mission to silence his fellow scientist. Later, he convinces Najboul to act on his behalf and saves the Scrameustache.
• Fainting: Iridia when seeing Khena for the first time.
• Faster-Than-Light Travel: All large ships are capable of going faster than light from one place to another. They use the hyperspace variant, though in one album, Scrameustache mentions that they need to reach the jump coordinates first (which take two hours to reach at normal speed).
• Female Gaze: When they were looking for Triocca's belt, Scrameustache deduced it was at the bottom of a pool. Khena volunteered to go down and stripped down to his briefs. Iridia stared at him with a large smile on her face.
• First Girl Wins: After a long absence since her first appearance, Iridia makes a come back in the series. She comes to Earth to marry Khena, although she says the wedding will only take place after they both finish school.
• Fish out of Temporal Water:
  • Khena's parents are Human Aliens trapped in the 16^th century. To avoid being branded as devil worshipers, they blended with the populace, with Torcal working in an apothecary and Khena' mother becoming a housewife.
  • Berengere and Thibaut are Khena's sister and brother, born in the 16^th century. They have no knowledge of their true origins. Khena and Scrameustache eventually rescue everyone back to the 20[[superscript:th century. Khena remained on Earth while Torcal and his family return to their home planet Aktarka. They visit each others whenever they can.]]
• Flying Car: Used by various aliens.
• Flying Saucer: Scrameustache's spaceship is a flying saucer. It was specifically commissioned for his size by his commanding officer. In the past, these ships were common place in Scrameustache's home planet, but now he is the only one seen with one. The Galaxians eventually built their own flying saucers, albeit a completely different model.
• Foreshadowing: They were many hints in the first story that Khena was an alien:
  • As a toddler, Khena was found abandoned in the ruins of a village in Peru. No-one knew who he was and how he got there.
  • Khena looks like a typical Caucasian, not South-American.
  • In his childhood, Khena kept saying that aliens and spaceships existed. An exasperated and skeptical uncle Georges took years to convince him that they weren't real.
  • His medallion protects him from some alien weapons. When Scrameustache notices the symbols on the medallion, he is shocked. Khena tries to ask him about it, but Scrameustache changes the subject.
• Forced Transformation: Falzar's favorite form of attack is to change people into half-animals.
• Four-Fingered Hands: The Galaxians and several aliens.
• Fourth-Date Marriage: Princess Lila marries Golok, someone she just met for a few days. Did we mention Golok is an alien and Lila a human?
• From Nobody to Nightmare: The Galaxian Cheater. He was just a lowly electronic technician and not a very competent one. After he got hit by a beam that increased his intelligence and became known as the Renegade, the most dangerous criminal mastermind that the Galaxians ever known.
• Fun with Acronyms: Too many to list, but the most notable one is Scrameustache himself: Sujet Créé par Radiations Artificielles et Manipulations Extra-Utérines Sans Toucher Aux Chromosomes Héréditaires Endogènes. This roughly translates to: Subject created by artificial radiation and ectopic manipulation without affecting Hereditary Endogenous Chromosomes.
• Gag Series: At least three albums focus on the Galaxians as the main cast in one-pages gags.
• Generic Doomsday Villain: Zirka, the mysterious alien who allied with the Kromoks to conquer Aktarka. No further reason is given as to why he wants to invade the planet.
• The Ghost: The Stixes were mentioned as aliens trying to invade Earth in the fourth album. They make their proper debut 10 albums later in partnership with the Kromoks.
• Global Currency: Not only aliens use paper currency, but one panel show Galaxians using dollars.
• Glowing Mechanical Eyes: Thorgull's eyes will glow yellow.
• Going Native: Khena's parents when they are stranded in 16^th century Europe. Khena's father worked in a apothecary while his mother became a housewife.
• The Good King: Iridia's father, the King of Sharbakan. While he can take foolish decisions, he rules with the best intentions for the good of his people.
• Gratuitous Princess: There's Princesses Iridia and Lila, from another planet and Atlantis respectively. There's also the Galaxian Princess who's unnamed, and Princess Ivagora who wants the throne of Atlantis II and resorts to evil scheming to get it.
• Great Escape: The Renegade's escape from jail is spectacular by Galaxians' standards, but not so much by human standards. Crime is very uncommon in Galaxian society and prison punishments are equally light. During the day, convicts are assigned menial chores in the city and go to their assigned tasks unsupervised and unguarded. During the evening, they must return to their cells. The Renegade and his accomplices easily managed to smuggle the tools they need to short out the alarm, bend a fence and hijack a ship.
• Green-Skinned Space Babe: The Figueuleuses are this to the Galaxians. They are an all female species with tanned skin, curved bodies, wild multicolored hair, exotic blue eyes and wearing tropical Hawaiian-like attires. They also have magical powers. Male Galaxians can't help to feel attracted to them and the Figueuleuses don't shy from flirting with them. It's unclear either the Figueuleuses are an off-shot species of Galaxians or natives of the Galaxian home moon.
• The Guards Must Be Crazy: When the French military has taken a Galaxian flying saucer, Scrameustache and the Galaxians infiltrate their base to get it back. Their ships pass-by a check point and the guard is busy warming himself rather than performing his duties.
• Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: The Kromoks are wearing nothing but a tunic and an occasional helmet for officers.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Golok and Lila's daughter, Brediline. She looks mostly human with her father's blue eyes.
• Happily Adopted: Khena has been adopted twice: First by a Peruvian who found him abandoned in the ruins of a village. Second by Uncle Georges.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Falzarine can be morally ambiguous. She has a fondness for Falzar, whom she calls her "spiritual father". She sprung him out of imprisonment once and helped entrapping him after he caused too much trouble. Later in the series, Falzarine tried to have him released again, allying with the Galaxians' sworn enemies, the Kromoks and the Stixes in the process. She gets punished for this, but much later in the series she's back leading an uneventful civilian life with her husband.
• Heel–Face Turn: The Renegade started off as a petty cheater, who was a jerk and not very competent. After an experiment gave him superior intelligence, he became a dangerous criminal mastermind. His fiancée, Falzarine, restored him to normal and he was no longer evil, although he was still a jerk. After Falzarine gives him a love potion, he mellows down considerably.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Thorgull fends off an attack from a troll by knocking him out. The troll fell inside Thorgull's spaceship. After taking off, the troll regains consciousness and panicks, not knowing what a spaceship is. He harasses Thorgull and wants to be let out. Between struggling with a troll and flying a spaceship, Thorgull can't do both and he crashes into a cliff. The troll is rescued by Scrameustache and survives.
• Horny Vikings: Ragnar the Cursed is a viking wearing a typical horny viking helm.
• Hover Tank: Used by the Togons.
• Human Aliens: Several alien civilizations are made of humans. Some are descendants from people of Atlantis who fled the Earth.
• Human Popsicle: Princess Lila escaped the destruction of Atlantis in a shuttle and was put in cryogenic sleep. Unfortunately, her ship was hit and crashed inside a mountain before she could make it to orbit. While her capsule was unharmed, she slept undisturbed for 12000 years. When she was unwillingly defrosted, her health deteriorated rapidly despite the Galaxians' advanced medicine. It's only with the help of the mysterious Greys' power that she recovered.
• Hurt Foot Hop: Uncle Georges' foot is accidentally hit by Ulla's hammer. As a result, he can't stop swearing and leaping in pain.
• Hypocrite: Uncle Georges calls out a Galaxian ecologist for landing his space module and causing environmental damage.
• Identical Stranger: Prince Triocca look ridiculously like Khena despite living on another planet.
• Idiot Ball: Khena. He makes many unwise decisions that lead to his rescuing or things to be broken. Although it could attributed to his young age, as he is less experience in space travel and adventuring than Scrameustache.
• Idiot Hair: Similar to Tintin, Khena's hair stick up in the air.
• Implied Love Interest: Khena is the king of this:
  • Iridia, princess of a far away planet. She fell in love with him because he saved her life, showed genuine care for her and willingly put himself at risk to save her kingdom. Since Iridia hasn't been seen in a long time, many think she was just a one-shot character. She does return however and ask Khena to marry her.
  • Lila, princess of Atlantis. Khena saved her life from drowning and before parting ways, she gave him her medallion. When they are reunited however, Golok has aged her and she ends up marrying him.
  • Brediline, Lila's daughter and also a princess. They work closely together to crown Lila the new queen of Atlantis II. Since time pass more rapidly on Atlantis II than Earth and Brediline stayed with her mother, it's unlikely that she and Khena will ever have a working relationship.
  • Babette: The granddaughter of one of Georges' acquaintance who's very excited of hearing about Khena's adventures with aliens. She appeared in two stories in a row, (even in the cover titles) and Khena end-up rescuing her from danger. At the end, Babette would love to meet Khena's parents on Aktarka and become an astronaut. However, Babette hasn't appeared on the series since.
• In-Series Nickname: Babette's real name is Elizabeth, but people only refer her by her nickname.
• Interspecies Romance: Golok and Lila.
• Killed Offscreen: Recurring villain, the Stix named Exulmac, dies off-screen when the ship he was hiding in burned up in the atmosphere.
• Kill Sat: Used by the Kromoks to conquer Khena's home planet. It can also be redirected to fire on spaceships.
• Kiss of Life: How the Galaxian Prince saved his wife-to-be.
• Klingons Love Shakespeare:
  • Scrameustache enjoys watching old westerns on TV.
  • The Galaxians appreciate Christmas and all of its traditions.
• Les Collaborateurs: Prince Chilmac has betrayed his own people and helped the invading Togons take over his kingdom.
• LEGO Genetics: Scrameustache himself. He was created from genes of a Ramoucha, Chatalou (some sort of feline), two different kind of apes and a squirrel. He shows the positive and negative traits from all of his "parents".
• Lightning Can Do Anything: A bird of prey was resting on Falzar's stone prison that was just hit by lightning earlier. The bird somehow became a simulacrum of Falzar.
• Limited Wardrobe: Khena and uncle Georges are always seen with the same clothes. The latter can sometime be seen with different clothes for archaeological digs or gardening.
• Little Green Men: The Galaxians.
• Living MacGuffin: Princess Iridia and prince Triocca both serve as this. They are needed because their handprints are needed to open a secured door to their Doomsday Device.
• Lizard Folk: The Togons. The Accusmalas could count as well even if they serve as mounts and labors for the Stixes. They are sentients, communicate with other characters, understand technology and so forth.
• Long-Lost Relative: Khena became this when his parents disappeared int he past. In 16^th century, his parents have two children, Berengere and Thibaut. The parents told the children they have an older brother living in the New Continent, but they never revealed they were Human Aliens or Trapped in the Past.
• Long-Runners: The series started in 1972 by Gos. In 1982, Gos' son, Walt, contributed to his father's work.
• Lost Technology: Many abandoned technologies are found in temples built by old civilizations or Ancient Astronauts. The moon also has strange installations to accommodate starships.
• Love at First Sight: Justified with Falzarine and the soon-to-be-crowned-princess of the Galaxians. They were created magically and compelled to fall in love with the first person they set their eyes on.
• Love Before First Sight: Golok only heard of princess Lila from a trip to Atlantis II. After being touched by the story of the beloved lost princess of Atlantis, he vowed to find her and marry her.
• Love Potion: Used by Falzarine to make her husband, the Renegade, love her. It may also have contributed to make him less irritable.
• Luminescent Blush: Believe it or not, it happened to uncle Georges. When, Ulla, an archaeologist, wanted to dig in Georges' property, he gave his authorization. She was so thrilled that she gave him a smooch, causing him to have red lines on his face.
• Made of Indestructium: When Scrameustache, Khena and the Galaxians try to arrest the Renegade and his gang, they are stalled by sentry robots. They have three sensors protected by an indestructible dome and are equipped with an energy cannon. Not even a fully-powered blaster can make a dent on the dome. So Khena suggests spraying some fruit juice on the domes to render the robots blind.
• Magical Defibrillator: When Scrameustache was mere hours away from birth, a thunder accidently destroyed his incubation chamber, killing him. Seconds later however, a ramoucha restarted his heart by giving him, ironically enough, an electric discharge.
• Make a Wish: The Figueuleuses grant a single wish to anyone who visit their island. They can refuse a wish they do not approve (this hasn't happened so far however) and this is all done through magic, although there's no indications to its limits.
• Make Wrong What Once Went Right: Prisca traveled back in time and posed as Khena's girlfriend to get close to him. She tried to kill him many times: lock him in a cage with a wild feline, sabotage his airplane, poison him, shoot him down with a laser. It was revealed in the climax that Prisca is Khena's descendant, by marriage, not by blood. Killing Khena would have ended his line of descendants and Prisca would have inherited the family estate and fortune.
• Maligned Mixed Marriage: Princess Ivagora isn't shy about voicing her disgust toward princess Lila because she married Golok, an alien.
• Mean Boss: Patarsort, the leader of the Kromoks, always yell at his troops. It seem to be cultural trait: Patarsort's predecessor was also an angry big yeller.
• Mecha-Mooks: The Stixes make use of them although only once. The Tic-Tac brothers has also many robots for security and menial tasks.
• Medieval Morons: Invoked by Uncle Georges and predictably, our heroes gets in trouble because of them.
• Mind over Matter: Khena's sister Berengre gain telekinesis powers after she was hit by a telluric beam. Her powers were temporary however.
• Mineral MacGuffin: Inverted. Sorbon is rare mineral which cause ships to malfunction when mixed in their engines.
• Motive Decay: In Falzar's first appearance, he enslaved humans so they would rebuild a lost cromlech that would enhance his magical powers. In his second, he wanted revenge on the Galaxians for hurting his spiritual daughter Falzarine. His scheme is transforming a trio Figueuleuses into false female Galaxians and have them sleep with male Galaxians so they would catch STD. Really.
• Multicultural Alien Planet: The Galaxians are the most prominent species on their moon while there are magical miniature-sized humans living in the woods. The Figueuleuses are only found on the tropical island of Aran.
• Mutants: Descendants of irradiated. They have no superpowers, they just have ingrate physique.
• Naked on Arrival: Falzar was a failed clone created by a Mad Scientist named Satic. Upon creation, Falzar was naked.
• Narrating the Obvious: In nearly every stories where Ramouchas display their electrical powers, the narrator will explain that these ape-like creatures have the innate ability to shock people, much like electric eels. Anyone who's been following the series for years or are familiar with science-fiction will quickly get fed up with these reminders.
• Never Mess with Granny: The unnamed lady in one short. After being accidentally insulted by the chief of police and Uncle Georges and threatened by bank robbers later, she gave them a massive beating with her purse.
• Never Bareheaded:
  • Falzar is always wearing a hat wherever he goes.
  • All the Trolls wear some sort of a hat.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Khena flew the saucer solo for the first time and Scrameustache was flying another ship. An unknown military alien ship came by and didn't know anything about those two. The captain ordered a warning shot fired via a light signal to see their reactions. Khena misunderstood the light signal and reacted immediately by firing back, prompting Scrameustache to call him out as this wasn't the proper protocols to handle these things. The captain interpreted this as hostility and ordered no quarter to be given.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: The series mix aliens, magic, fairies, ghosts, time travel, archaeology, Cupid and Santa Claus just to name a few.
• No Body Left Behind: When a Togon die from the effects of the wave emitter, there's nothing left but the clothes.
• No Name Given: Practically every Galaxians are not named. Khena's mother and Yamouth's wife names were never revealed.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: At first glance, the Kromoks are nothing but a race of ineffectual Dumb Muscle. However, that doesn't mean they are harmless. A Stable Time Loop story reveal that a Galaxian ship was stranded on the Kromok's moon for 5 decades. The Kromoks raided the Galaxians for technology in the issuing years. By the 50th, they mass-produced their trademark shock sticks and even built their very first combat vehicle. In their later appearances, the Kromoks are shown to be an effective army if they are properly coordinated by the Stixes or some outside force.
• No Waterproofing in the Future: A robot warrior, Thorgull got shorted out by rain despite being technologically advanced and from outer space.
  • He was surprised when discovering that water could fall from the sky, so maybe he comes from a very dry world. Also, the short out was not immediate and he had time to find cover.
• Nuclear Mutant: In one short, a Galaxian satellite crashes on the forest of their moon. The fractured core of the satellite emits radiation that rapidly mutate the plants and the surroundings. One lizard has grown very large, has a claw at the end of its tail and becomes a very aggressive predator. A few days later, one Galaxian from the recovery team grows a set of antennae, has paler-green skin and disgusting fur sprung out of his face. He is actually pulling a prank on Scrameustache and Khena.
• Occult Blue Eyes: Every Figueuleuses have blue eyes to reflect their magical powers.
• Obviously Evil:
  • The Togons are Lizardfolk while their neighbors are Human Aliens. Can you guess which ones are evil and which ones are good?
  • Princess Lila's rival, Ivagora. The latter is ugly and always frowning, while the former is beautiful and friendly. It's no surprise when Ivagora use dirty tactics to take the throne of Atlantis II.
• Official Couple:
  • Khena and Iridia are officially together when the latter ask the former to marry her.
  • Uncle George and Astrid seem to be heading that way now that they found each other.
• Old Master: Master Whu, Tilou's mentor.
• One-Gender Race: The Figueuleuses.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: Snopsy. After his death, his astral double is transferred into a small statue. While he has many abilities related to ghosts, he is technically not The Undead.
• Out of Focus: Uncle Georges is seen less when the Galaxians made their debut. He even made less appearances as we the series goes on.
• Papa Bear: Professor Najboul's ramoucha is very protective of the baby Scrameustache.
• Parental Substitute: Professor Najboul acts like one to Scrameustache, since the latter was created in a lab. Later, Najboul's ramoucha becomes its surrogate father. Much later, Yamouth and his wife took over this role.
• The Plague: The town in 16^th century where Khena's family is staying is hit by a plague. His father and brother are infected and the only way to save them is to bring them back to the future.
• Plot Coupon: Two keys used to power a Doomsday Device that will save the Sharbakan from invading Togons. As a bonus, the first key is already in Iridia's possession.
• Poor Communication Kills: Khena first contact with the Galaxians was disastrous. He was flying Scrameustache's saucer solo and the Galaxians hailed him. When Khena wouldn't reply out of suspicion, the Galaxians assumed his radio was down, so one of them sent a light signal. Khena interpreted this as an aggression and opened fire. One galaxian ship was shot down and crashed on the streets below. The authorities seize the Galaxian and his ship.
• Portal to the Past: In 16^th century, Khena's father has secretly been constructing a time portal using the remains of his Flying Saucer. It's powered with telluric currents and it's only after ten years of experimenting that he finally managed to get it to work. While the time portal did open, he could not control the time destination. When a plague hit the town, Berengere passed through the portal in the hope of getting help. Unfortunately, the portal accidentally shut behind her, leaving her stranded in 2857.
• Power Crystal: The Crystal of Atlantis.
• Precursors: The lost civilisation of Atlantis. They have a higher technology than modern-day humans and also practice magic. Mu is also mentioned, but never shown.
• Previously on…: The series has a handful of two-parters which started with this trope.
• Primary-Color Champion: Scrameustache is dressed in blue and wears a red helmet.
• Psychic Powers: Scrameustache received psychic powers (clairvoyance/clairaudience, empathy, telepathy) during his space training and uses them during the series. Tilou and his order of monks. Brediline and her father's species.
• Punny Name: The series is full of them.
  • Uncle Georges and Khena's hometown is named Chambon-Les-Roses, which roughly translated to "the roses smell good".
  • Kromok leader Patarsort's name refers to the fact he has an Artificial Limb powered by springs.
• Purple Is Powerful: Galaxian chiefs wear purple jumpsuits.
• Really Gets Around: All the Figueuleuses (well the young ones anyway). Whenever they show up, male Galaxians are flocking at their feet and it is heavily imply that they end up in their beds.
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • When Trichtol has Najboul arrested, he ordered the Scrameustache found and killed. Yamouth stepped-in and says he will not shoot any animal unless they are threatened.
  • Most of Atkarka denizens we get to see, especially when Khena's status is called into question and whether he should stay to live on Earth or not.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Renegade becomes more intelligent through an experiment and becomes much more evil than usual. His eyes also turn red.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: The Togons. They are yellow skinned Lizard Folk and live in a conqueror-like civilization.
• La Résistance: The Sharbakan civilians fight off against the Togons, after the latter successfully invaded of their homeland.
• Rock Beats Laser: How Thorgull met his end. Thorgull is a cybernaut, armed with superior alien technology, a blaster pistol and possess enhanced strength. The trolls coulnd't beat him in a straight fight with their spears and rocks. One troll was trapped inside his spaceship and used his belt to blind Thorgull. Thorgull couldn't see where his ship was going and it crashed into a cliff.
• Romantic False Lead: Prisca is this for Khena. She actually feigned loving Khena to better murder him.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Princess Iridia and Prince Triocca took an active part in the resistance against the Togons.
• Running Gag: The Galaxians show up unexpectedly, much to uncle Georges' dismay. Strangers swing-by for a visit and uncle Georges hides the Galaxians. The Galaxians mess up and are spotted. Uncle Georges makes up excuses to get rid of the visitors. Uncle Georges blow-up a fuse and spank the Galaxians.
• Sadistic Choice: Khena found his parents well and alive in the 16^th century and met his younger sister and brother he never knew. While he was overjoyed at first, he didn't know what to do next: stay in the past with his family or return to the present with his foster father, Georges. Khena thought of bringing his family back to the 20[[superscript:th century, but the culture shock will cause severe trauma to his siblings, who know nothing of the modern era. Eventually, they all agree to Take a Third Option. Khena will return to the present with George and will go fetch his family in one year. In the interim, his parents will educate and train the siblings about the 20^th century to lessen the impact.]]
• The Scapegoat: When Atlantis is about to be destroyed, the Atlantean religious caste pinned the blame on the time-traveling Khena. All because of a prophecy stating that princess Lila being saved from drowning by a stranger (revealed to be Khena) will be an omen of Atlantis's near-end. The Atlantean high priests view the crystal of Atlantis as holy and sacred, even though it will play a part in Atlantis' imminent doom. Therefore, they needed someone to take the blame.
• Scenery Censor: Cupid is completely naked, but his naughty bits are always covered by something in the scenery.
• Sdrawkcab Name: "Tobor" is "Robot" backward.
• The Shangri-La: Scrameustache, Khena and Uncle Georges visit Tibet, and yes, there's a Tibetan monastery and monks. Later the monks take them to Shamballa which is revealed to be sanctuary of knowledge built by the Atlanteans.
• She Is All Grown Up: A very bizarre case. Princess Lila was a young girl when she met Khena in the past. After the destruction of Atlantis, Lila's spaceship could not escape Earth and was buried under tons of rocks, while she remained in stasis. 12000 years later, our heroes found her, but some meddling aliens revived her and sped up her age. Lila was grown into a beautiful adult woman, but was completely shocked to see her youth being robbed. This was done so Khena would not fall in love with her because of their age difference.
• Shock and Awe: The Ramouchas has the innate ability to shock someone with electricity.
• Shout-Out: In the latter books, the Force is mentioned and some characters use it. One even says verbatim "May the Force be with you".
• Small Role, Big Impact: Trichtol is responsible for kickstarting the series. By having Professor Najboul arrested, he indirectly cause Scrameustache to gain the ability to speak, be train as an astronaut and meet Khena 10 years later. Had Trichtol kept his jealousy in check, Scrameustache would had remained an simple intelligent animal living with Najboul.
• Smug Snake: Trichtol used his influence to have professor Najboul arrested for illegal experiments, namely, the creation of the Scrameustache. When Najboul's trial began, Scrameustache insulted Trichtol's pride by saying he was jealous of Najboul because he failed at his own researchs. Trichtol was enraged and assaulted Scrameustache, destroying his credibility. Najboul was cleared of all charges and Trichtol's own trial has begun.
• The Smurfette Principle: The Renegade's gang only has one female convict.
• Sore Loser The Galaxian known as "The Cheater". He's ill-tempered and a jerkass. He wanted to win the Prince of Galaxian title by tampering with the computer that counted the votes. When his scheme was uncovered, he decided to steal the future Galaxian Princess from the Galaxian Prince so he could still win something. When that didn't work, he kicked the princess, while she was still a bean, in the cold waters.
• Spider-Sense: Scrameustache can sense negative energies coming out of a person, hinting that something is not right.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: The Galaxians after their initial debut. It gets to a point where stories revolved around them with Scrameustache and Khena as secondary characters.
• Standard Human Spaceship: Zigzagged regardless of the civilizations and aliens that pilot them. Various type of ships have been seen throughout the series. Some of them are rounded and Star Trek-like, complete with warp nacelles. Others are boxy and bulky. Recently, they tend to be more of the flying saucers variety. Nearly all of them are colored white and have a smooth uniformed surface.
• Start of Darkness: Falzar's origins is shown in story where a Mad Scientist named Satic created a double body of himself. Unfortunately, due to an accident, the body end up with a bird-like head mixed with cat features. Not wanting to it let go to waste, he gave him magic powers and named him Falzar, "the Wizard of the Great Bear" (named after the Ursa Major constellation).
• STD Immunity: Averted with the Figueuleuses. Whenever Galaxians would sleep with them, it's nearly guarantee they'll get STD: their antennaes will become malformed.
• Stealth in Space: After Scrameustache's saucer gets an upgrade from the Galaxians, it's now capable of cloaking.
• Suddenly Ethnicity:
  • The Figueuleuses were reavealed as inhabitants of the Galaxian moon. Unlike the Galaxians they have tanned white skin, multicolor hair and are all female. It's not clear if they are an offshot species of Galaxians, Galaxians with a different skin/hair color or natives of this world as the Galaxians immigrated from another planet ages ago.
  • The Aesop story about ethnicity and racism. Aeons ago, the Galaxians were revealed to have been all pink and from a far away planet. When it came too close to their sun, three large spaceships were build to evacuate the planet, although there wasn't enough room for everyone. Those who were left behind eventually evolved into Black Galaxians and have forgotten about their original skin color. The three ships settle on Aktarka's moon, although one ship was lost when making touch down. The Pink Galaxians became green for some unknown reason and they too don't remember their original skin color. Centuries later, in present day, the lost ship was found and its passengers were awoken. Some of them were revealed to be Yellow Galaxians because of the stress of space travel for the first time. Another album showed that a group of Galaxians were stranded on the Kromok's moon and some of them became Red Galaxians because of the harsh winters.
• Swiss-Army Weapon: The Scrameustache's red helmet house a beam emitter that act as a paralyzing ray, a petrification beam, a tractor beam, a flashlight or a heat lamp. All those are controlled with his brainwaves.
• Symbol Swearing
• Taken for Granite: One of Scrameustache's beam weapons. It turns the subject victim in a salt statue for a limited period of time.
• Talking Animal: Scrameustache, although he didn't talk until a biologist altered his vocal cords. Also, the people from Aktarka have technology that can give the gift of speech to animals.
• Team Pet: Uncle Georges and Khena's pet dog Waterloo. Scrameutache's robot guard dog, Tobor, who looks like a robotic mini-apatosaurus.
• Telepathy: The Ramouchas are capable of this with training and guidance from Scrameustache. Khena's mother has been sending telepathic messages to his son through time.
• The Great Flood: Because of Atlantis meddling with Earth's second moon's orbit, an asteroid collided with it, causing massive meteor showers that destroyed Atlantis and flooded the Earth. A second flood was due to happen in the future, past the 21st century, but our heroes prevented it.
• The Greys: The Greys are mysterious even to other aliens. They are elusive, have hypnotic powers and their technology seem to be superior to the Galaxians. While they are not malevolent, most people are suspicious of their secretive nature. It's later revealed that they wear masks and have human-like faces.
• The High Queen: Lila, when she's crowned queen of Atlantis II.
• Theme Naming: Similar to Comic Book/Asterix, all the trolls have a name that ends with a -ûr. This lead to the inevitable Punny Name like:
  • Tapdûr: Hit hard.
  • Bacaordûr: Garbage can.
  • Follaventûr: Crazy adventure.
• Teleportation: The Scrameustache's flying saucer isn't equipped with teleporters, but many other ships has them.
• Time Travel: Several stories.
• To Be Continued: The series has a handful of two-parters which ended with this trope.
• Too Dumb to Live: Renaud, a small-sized human, gave a shrink ray weapon to Khena. When the duo were confronted by Kromoks, Renaud yelled at Khena to shoot. Khena fumbled, not knowing how to operate the weapon. One Kromok suggested pressing the red button which Khena did, shrinking down the foolish Kromok.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • The Scrameustache started out as a helpless intelligent animal. After he learns to speak, he trains as an astronaut and learn how to defend himself.
  • The Cheater who will become known as The Renegade. After being hit with an experimental beam, his intelligence increased tenfold, turning him into a dangerous criminal mastermind.
• Tractor Beam: Oddly, tractor beams are used to transport people and cargo like an elevator. When they need to tow a ship, they instead use "magnetic harpoons".
• Trapped in the Past: Khena's parents. They adjusted to the Renaissance's era and had two children who were completely unaware of their true origins.
• Trojan Horse: The Kromoks' successful hijack of a Galaxian ship is the result of this trope. In another story, Scrameustache makes use of this trope against the Kromoks who in turn fell for it.
• Underestimating Badassery: The Stixes abducted Scrameustache when he was still just a baby animal. When he grew up, the Stixes went after him again thinking he was an easy prey. Now an accomplished astronaut, Scrameustache used his abilities to disable the Stixes who kept their guard down.
• Underwear Swimsuit: In one issue, Khena needs to dive in the water to retrieve a belt. Not having a swimsuit with him, he undresses to his briefs and plunges in the water.
• Unobtainium:
  • Thorgull's energy source is some strange alien metal. He forces the Troll smiths to forge it into a sword, so it would be more practical to carry around.
  • The crystal of Atlantis. Used to power their ships and other technologies.
• Unpaused: Happens quite often when Scrameustache petrify people in salt statue. Hilarity Ensues when the effects wear off.
• The Unreveal: Aeons ago, the Galaxians were originally all Caucasian. When their planet got dangerously closer to their sun, ships left to find to a new home while those who remained eventually evolved into Black Galaxians. The ships landed on one of moons of Aktarka and the Caucasian Galaxians eventually became Green Galaxians. How and when they became green was never revealed as even they don't remember how it happened.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: When the defenses of the Kromoks's citadel are breached, their allies, the Stixes leave them to the Galaxian army and flee.
• War Is Hell: One alien civilization fell into civil war. With their technology gone, people don't even know how raised cattle or plant crops anymore.
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • Chatalou, one of Scrameustache's guardians ran away and was never seen again. No one ever bothered to look for her, including Scrameustache himself.
  • Prince Chilmac's fate after the Togons' defeat.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Because of his brother's disappearance, Yamouth wants to adopt his nephew Khena with the council's approval. Scrameustache stepped in with a gun and demanded the proceedings stop. He also threatened to have strategic places blown-up by his Ramouchas if they didn't cooperate. Scrameustache reminded everyone that Khena has a say in the matter, and that he still has an adopted uncle back on Earth. Point taken, but were the gun and the threats truly necessary? One councilman called him out.
• Weather-Control Machine: One of the Kromoks and the Stixes' latest scheme is a typhoon-making satellite. This was meant to cause destruction on the Galaxian's continent before leading an invasion.
• Weirdness Magnet: Uncle Georges. His adopted son is a Human Alien and has a Talking Animal living in his house. He also met a wizard, a ghost, different races of aliens. His life's work as an archaeologist was probably thrown out of the window because of strong evidence of Ancient Astronauts.
• When the Planets Align: Somewhere in the future, when the planets will align, the long buried Crystal of Atlantis will amplify the gravity pull and cause a massive wave in the ocean that will wipe out all the continents. Scrameustache and his friends traveled through time to prevent this.
• Whole Episode Flashback: The origins of Scrameustache is finally told in the 18th volume. It's full of Continuity Nod toward past issues.
• Year Inside, Hour Outside: Apparently, time flows faster on Atlantis II than on Earth. So far, it's the only known place in space to behave like this.
• Youthful Freckles: Elizabeth, aka, Babette, is a red-headed with pigtails, freckles is a little younger than Khena.
• Zeerust: Technologically advanced aliens use analog controls, huge boxy display monitors, bulky cameras photos, wired telephones, video tapes, paper currency and the list goes on.

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