"Wait for me!"
"Spartans. At school they teach us that to die for Sparta is the most glorious thing that could happen to us. But that day I was absent."
— Skrotos
299+1 is a Spin-Off of Rat-Man by Leo Ortolani and, as the name suggests, an Affectionate Parody of 300 by Frank Miller.
The story follows unsurprisingly the same premise of 300: in the times of the Greco-Persian Wars, King Leonidas of Sparta refuses to bow before Xerxes' demands. Leonidas leads therefore an elite army of 299 Spartan soldiers to hold Thermopylae, a narrow coastal pass, where the poorly equipped and trained hordes of Persia would be no match for the superior Spartan warriors.
Here takes place the story of Skrotos, brother of Kretone, an obvious Rat-Man thrown in the brutal world of 300. Skrotos is a weak, not-so-intelligent and small Spartan, who's nonetheless full of determination and pride. He's determined to prove himself in battle despite his lack of any actual skill or physical prowess, much to the annoyance of other Spartans and Leonidas, and is only reluctantly accepted among their ranks.
299+1 was originally published two parts, "299" and "+1", in the issues 62 and 63 (september and november 2007) of the regular Rat-Man comic series, as a temporary spin-off unrelated to the main series. They both received an unexpected critical acclaim and became incredibly popular among the Rat-Man fanbase, becoming the best selling comic books of the month of their publishing house. This led, in 2009, to a reprint in colour, in a single volume and as a widescreen comic.
299+1 provides examples of the following tropes:
- Absurd Phobia: One of the unimportant Spartan soldier that gets mentioned, Karkas, is afraid of long words. He screams when he hears "reflector"note and "invulnerability".
- Adaptation Distillation: Leonidas, Xerxes and "Ephialtes" (through Skrotos) are basically the only main characters retained from the original story: Leonidas' wife Gorgos is absent, no Spartan soldier gets any meaningful characterisation (thus removing characters like Dilios or Stelios). The political intricacy of Sparta is entirely cut; the Ephors being corrupted prophets who oppose the war are reduced to a throw-away joke. Arcadians are even less present and their commander looks nothing like the original Daxos.
- Affectionate Parody: Of 300.
- Anachronism Stew: Despite being set in the 480 B.C., absolutely anachronistic things like cars, toilets and pizzas appear for comedic value.
- Ascended Extra: Zig-Zagged. The role of protagonist is given to Skrotos, Ephialtes' substitute, who was The Mole in the original story. Even disregarding the fact that the original protagonist was Leonidas, many other characters had more focus and screen time than Ephialtes.
- Arc Words: "...and I'm behind". Every time Skrotos takes part in a march, he can't keep pace and is left behind. Except in the ending, when it's instead remarked "No one left behind": Skrotos is the last in line, but he keeps up.
- Artistic License – History: 299+1 imports lots of it from its source 300, such as the inaccurate Black-and-White Morality portrayal of Persians and Spartans, Leonidas' Age Lift (who was in his 60s during the Battle of Thermopylae) or the caricature of the Persian army, especially the Immortals and their use of "monsters" in battle. There's a curious case that is unique to 299+1: the presence of clearly medieval Mongol warriors among the Persian ranks (so, at least two millenia wrong). This is justified, since the work is intended to be a parodistic homage to Miller's graphic novel, not to the historical event behind it.
- Art Shift: The final scene with the Spartans marching to the afterlife vaguely imitates the style of ancient Greek vase painting.
- Bald of Evil: Xerxes retains his role as Big Bad and his baldness. Hilariously enough, he also has a chaffeur, apparently.
- Black Humor:
- During the ritual throwing of the unfit male newborn of the cliff, a man protests that the just-thrown infant was actually a female. The elder ignores him and calls the next.
- After Skrotos arrives late to the first battle, Leonidas orders him to make himself useful and finish off those still alive. He stabs a fellow Spartan before Leonidas remarks that he was of course referring to the Persians.
- In the flashback sequence of Skrotos' birthday, his grandfather leaves to go to the cliff (where unfit children are killed) saying that he's trying to throw a curveball.
- When Skrotos is escaping with the Arcadians, one of them notices he's trembling for the cold and offers to share his mantel for the night. The name of the Arcadian soldier is Pedòfilos.
- Big Bad: Xerxes, the god-king of Persia. However, his presence is reduced to a single scene, making him almost a Greater-Scope Villain.
- Big Good: Leonidas, King of Sparta and commander of the 300 Spartan soldiers who hold Thermopylae against the Persian invasion.
- Bloodier and Gorier: It's a homage of 300 after all. It features a good amount of violence and blood compared Rat-Man standards, though it gets nowhere as gruesome as the original 300.
- Brick Joke:
- When the messenger boasts about the Persian army making the earth tremble when they march and draining rivers when they drink, Leonidas is so unimpressed that, after throwing him in the bottomless pit, he mistakenly explains to a Spartan that when the Persians drink its themselves who tremble. Later on, the arrival of the Persian army is announced by an earthquake that takes the Spartans off-guard, except Skrotos.
Skrotos: Spartans. Simple minds. They don't remember. It's Xerxes' army. They're drinking.- This one is also Played for Drama. There's a flashback elaborating on the joke that Spartans are so strict, they give stones to their children for their birthday: Skrotos' grandfather could find no stone to give him, but ultimately concludes it's for the best and he shouldn't be spoiled too much. When the Persian army attacks Skrotos with a volley of arrows and stones, this is his last thought:
Skrotos: And when the first stone hits me, I smile, because I think that's my grandfather's present. - Bring My Brown Pants: Implied. During the first Persian charge the narrator comments with "Oh no! I run out of rabbits!". And since it was enstablished early in the story that rabbits are a Toilet Paper Substitute...
- Call-Back: Leonidas' question, "Why did you follow me, Skrotos?", to which Skrotos proudly replies that he wants to show his skills and valor in battle. There are two other scenes where Leonidas poses the same exact question: in the flashback of the agōgē and in the Ghost Reunion Ending. In both cases instead, Skrotos humbly answers "I wanted to help you."
- Character Narrator: The narration and comments are provided from the off-screen point of view by Skrotos himself, replacing the commentary of Dilios. Unlike in 300 this is no case of Narrator All Along: Skrotos dies together with the Spartans in the end.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- During the famous "What is your profession?" scene, while the Spartans are shouting, Skrotos replies with "shampoo boy".
- Leonidas orders his men to prepare a proper Spartan welcome for the Persian army, that is making a pile of the bodies of their own scouts. Skrotos instead had prepared a table with soda and chips.
- Custom Uniform:
- Leonidas has a crest on his helm to distinguish him from his soldiers. This is an Artistic License – History imported from 300: in Real Life, every Spartan soldier had a helm with a crest.
- Skrotos has mouse ears on the helm, further referencing his role as a Rat-Man immersed in the world of 300.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: One of the War Elephants predictably precipitates off the cliff, due to its size and lack of agility. Less predictably, it explodes like a bomb.
- Demoted to Extra:
- Downplayed with Leonidas. He's no longer The Protagonist and some of his characterisation is moved to Skrotos, but retains his role as Big Good.
- The only moments, when Arcadians are visually present are when they join the Spartans and when they flee in the end. It's only impied that they participated in battle.
- Xerxes himself seems more of a distant Greater-Scope Villain. He appears in a single scene, that is the encounter with Skrotos (instead of Leonidas like in 300). His tantrums caused by his constant defeats are cut, and he's not present even during the Last Stand. The famous "Even a God King can bleed" sequence has no equivalent in 299+1.
- Disney Villain Death: Unsurprisingly, the Persian messenger is thrown in a Bottomless Pit. You'll be in for a bad surprise: the meme didn't still catch on, so the sequence here is absolutely unremarkable.
- Expy: The main character Skrotos is obviously Rat-Man thrown in a parody of 300, displaying even his iconic mouse ears on the helm. He replaces Ephialtes as the weak and deformed Spartan who tries desperately to join the war against Persia. However, while Ephialtes succumbs to the temptation of Xerxes and betrays Sparta, Skrotos remains a heroic character to the end.
- Fantasy Pantheon: The story mentions "God Nànos"note , the short-legged God protector of inkjet printers. When they break down, people invoke him.
- Foregone Conclusion: Being a parody of 300 that follows very closely the original plot, it doesn't come as a surprise that the Spartans are ultimately annihilated.
- Ghost Reunion Ending: The entire Spartan army is ultimately decimated in Thermopylae, including Skrotos after his Last Stand. As he wakes up in the afterlife, he's reunited with the Spartan army and Leonidas, who's for the first time visibly glad to see him. Then, the story ends with the Spartans march to the unknown.
- Harmless Villain: The "monster", replacing the "Uber-Immortal": it turns out to be but a massive Manchild. The Immortal tries to provoke him with no avail. First he waves a red cloth in front of him, but the monster only smiles and says hi. Then he scratches and paints his car right in front of of the monster while blaming the Spartans, and the monster reacts... by scratching and painting their shields. Finally when Immortal tries to defecate on his car, the monster somehow realises all the previous deceptions, and kills the Immortal, forgetting entirely of the Spartans.
- Headphones Equal Isolation: Skrotos heard none of the sounds of the first battle, and thus couldn't participate, because he was wearing headphones.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: Invoked with no success by a Persian soldier. He threatens the Spartans with their biggest monster, the "Truffolone"note . The wagon is obviously empty, and it's the Persian soldier who makes fake growls. The Spartans beg to have the monster released, forcing the Persian soldier to go away embarrassed saying it's "perhaps tomorrow."
- I Reject Your Reality: One of the Ephors tries to convince Leonidas not to leave for war by showing him a clearily skull-shaped cloud, interpreting it as a sign of misfortune. Leonidas and the soldiers challenge him saying that the cloud actually looks like a horse.
- Kneel Before Zod: What Xerxes expects from Sparta in general, and from Skrotos during their encounter. Skrotos actually bows before him... and what he gets is the chance to see a titty. He's surprisingly satisfied with that.
- Last Stand: Two of them. The first one when the Persian army has discovered the secret passage and encircled the few Spartans left, who refuse to surrender. We don't get to see it since the focus is on Skrotos, who's fleeing with the Arcadians. When they leave him behind, he returns to the battlefield, where his own last stand begins: he goes on a fury to protect the body of his brother Leonidas, killing several Persian soldiers and frightening off the others, who finish him with a Rain of Arrows from afar.
- Lighter and Softer: While not entirely lacking of stylised gore, with a vein of Black Humor, the tone of 299+1 is nowhere as dark as 300.
- Mood Whiplash: A sequence focuses on Leonidas mulling over the battles fought and what the following days await him. Worried but tired, he tries to get some sleep... until he gets rudely awaken by Skrotos, who scares him with an Immortal mask.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The betrayal of Ephialtes is instead replaced by Skrotos being deceived in the most unimaginable way: as he's protecting the secret passage, all the 3000 Persian soldiers manage to pose as errand boys who have to deliver pizzas. Skrotos allows literally each one of them to pass through.
- Nonstandard Character Design: While most characters are drawn in Ortolani's typical "snout of ape" style, Leonidas' design is overall sharper and more realistic, somehow closer to Miller's original style.
- Proud Warrior Race: The Spartans, unsurprisingly. This is both played straight and for laughs, with several absurd anecdotes. Among the rest, it's mentioned that when a pregnant woman takes a bus, they make her drive, that elderly have no bench where to sit, or that, as a birthday present to children, they give stones.
- Rain of Arrows: Three times. First after the first battle, when all Spartans survive, protected by their own massive shields. The second time during the Last Stand, when every Spartan soldier except Skrotos is massacred. The third time is after Skrotos returns to the battlefield to protect Leonidas' body, ferociously killing several Persian soldiers. They're so scared that they escape and shoot a volley of arrows and stones just for him.
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn: What an outraged Persian messenger threatens to Sparta before the pile of dead Persian scouts.
- Related in the Adaptation: The last thing one would expect in a 300 parody is The Reveal that Ephialtes' substitute, Skrotos, is actually Leonidas' younger brother.
- The Reveal: Skrotos is Leonidas' younger brother. The reason why he presented himself as "Skrotos, brother of Kretone" is because "kretone"note was actually an affectionate insult Skrotos addressed Leonidas with after getting scolded.
- Tempting Fate: Skrotos finds it absurd that the Persians could use an old goat path to take Spartans by surprise. Guess how they manage to do that...
- Title by Number: 299+1. "299" refers to the original number of Spartan soldiers, "+1" refers to Skrotos himself, who finally gets his chance to join the Spartans. The sum is of course 300.
- Tough Love: Parodied. A flashback of Skrotos' youth shows his grandfather having found no stone to give him for his birthday. In the end, however, he concludes that's for the best, since he believes a true Spartan child shouldn't be spoiled with gifts.
- Toilet Paper Substitute: Skrotos uses rabbits to clean his butt up after having relieved himself.
- Too Dumb to Live: Skrotos during the flashback of his own agōgē. Threatened by a wolf, he finds a crevice narrow enough to prevent the wolf from getting him. He concludes, therefore, that "he doesn't need that", and decides to pretend to be dead.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The Arcadians flee Thermopylae when they learn that the Persian army discovered the secret passage and encircled the Spartans. At first Skrotos intends to follow them, but has a change of heart.
- Shot-for-Shot Remake: ZigZagged. Overall the plot remains very similar to the original 300 and certain sequences are visually almost identical if compared. That said, the plot is expectedly reworked to be an Affectionate Parody, especially since the focus is on "Ephialtes"/Skrotos and not on Leonidas.
- Sissy Villain: Xerxes, as expected. This version even wears feminine high heels instead of sandals.
- Swallowed Whole: In Leonidas' agōgē flashback, he finds and kills the wolf who ate Skrotos. Then he guts him and takes Skrotos out, still alive and in one piece.
- Underestimating Badassery: Everyone to Skrotos. Not entirely unjustified, since he's effectively a gracile short man who does little to nothing in battle. This however changes entirely after the Last Stand, when he returns to the battlefield filled with the corpses of Spartans. The Persians mistake him for the harmless God Nànos, only for Skrotos to going berserk, slain dozens of soldiers and frighten off all the others, who shoot a volley of arrows only from a safe distance, to kill him alone.
- Unwanted Assistance: Leonidas' didn't want Skrotos to follow him and help him with his agōgē, even if they're brothers.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Xerxes disappears from the story after his encounter with Skrotos. He's not present even during the Last Stand.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Xerxes' breakdown when he's told that the man he just corrupted with the promises of gold and women isn't Leonidas but Skrotos.
