Comic Book / Papyrus

Papyrus, Theti-Cheri and Pouin.

Papyrus is a Belgian comic book series, written and illustrated by Lucien DeGieter. The story takes place in Ancient Egypt. It was first published in 1974 in Spirou magazine in the form of episodes.

The daughter of the crocodile God Sobek has chosen Papyrus as the protector of Princess Theti-Cheri. He's been given a magical sword, the Sword of Sobek, commonly referred as a "glaive" (technically it's a "Khopesh"). Papyrus then moves to the palace under the watchful eye of the Pharaoh Merenptah. The comics have many stories with the Gods intervening, priests and nobles plotting, hostile neighbor countries invading, occasional road trips. It was mostly episodic and featured no story arcs.

An animated adaptation was created in 1998 that was two seasons (52 episodes) long and shown on TFOUTV in France and Radio-Canada in Quebec. In 2000 a video game was made for Game Boy developed by Dupuis and published by Ubisoft.

Nothing to do with a certain goofy skeleton who dreams of being in the Royal Guard.

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Examples:

• Acceptable Breaks from Reality: For understandable reasons children under six years of age are not naked as they would have been in real life.
• Action Girl: Despite her Damsel in Distress status, Theti-Cheri is capable of defending herself. She's very skilled with bows and arrows and is a very good chariot driver. She can sometimes be seen using Papyrus' glaive, but she's not as proficient as him.
• Age Lift: Tutankhamun would have been four years old by the time Ankhesenamun was eleven years old. "Tutankhamun, the Assassinated Pharaoh" portrays them as having been roughly the same age.
• All Just a Dream: Revealed to be the case of the series with the series finale but it also features And You Were There. Notice the resemblance of Papyrus' friends to Theti, Imhotep and Pouin, resulting in the heavy implication that some of the characters were in some way based on people Papyrus actually knew.
• Ambiguous Situation: Due to the Grand Finale revealing that the whole series was All Just a Dream there are questions that pop up.
  • Question 1: Did Papyrus actually have a great-grandfather that was also named Papyrus, and looked just like him, who was the gardener of Tutankhamun? Due to the length of time between the reigns of Tutankhamun and Merneptah (111 years) it does not seem likely and it is possible it was just something Papyrus dreamed but at the same time implies that Papyrus was named after a great-grandfather that was the royal gardener of a pharaoh just not Tutankhamun with Seti I or Ramses II seeming more probable.
  • Question 2: The resemblance of Papyrus' friends in his dreams to his actual friends brings up questions about Merneptah. Has Papyrus actually seen Merneptah at some point in his life or is his appearance based on that of the father of the girl who appears to be Theti's counterpart in the real world? If so we can conclude that the appearance of the Great Royal Wife is based on that of her mother. This also begs the question of if Theti's twin brother even is her brother outside the dreams.
• Artistic License – History:
  • The story "Imhotep's Transformation" features the Heb Sed festival as a major part of the plot. The problem is that the festival was held after a monarch had ruled Egypt for thirty years. Merneptah/Merenptah's reign was ten years. The revelation in the finale that the entire series was a dream of Papyrus possibly justifies this in that Papyrus is clearly old enough to have live during the reign of Ramesses II, Merneptah's father and predecessor, and heard of his many Heb Sed Festival's, yet has never seen one, thus dreamed of seeing his current monarch celebrate one.
  • The setting is rather inconsistent. It is set during the reign of Merneptah/Merenptah (1213-1203 BC), but one story features Moses (likely mythical, but even then, most proposed candidates to its contemporaneous pharaoh are not Merenptah, with the most usual being Ramesses II between 1279–1213 BC, though Merenptah is the second most recurring in fiction after his father), and another features a ruined Troy (similarly semi-mythical, but the traditional date for the fall of Troy is 1184 while for the modern dating it is 1180 BC). Unlike the previous, the whole series was a dream cannot justify this.
  • Thebes is referred to by its Greek name instead of its Egyptian name of "Waset." It is also portrayed as having been the capital of Egypt during the reign of Merenptah; the capital for the remainder of the New Kingdom of Egypt was Memphis.
  • The Great Royal Wife is identified as Mutnedjmet, who was Horemheb's primary consort opposed to Merenre or Merneptah's.
• Ancient Egypt: The setting.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: Played with. Not all nobles are bad, but many are arrogant, ambitious and wish to overthrow the Pharaoh.
• Arranged Marriage:
  • The whole story behind The Children of Isis.  Theti-Cheri is sent off to political marriage with a foreign prince. The Pharaoh bestowed Papyrus the title of noble in a plot to keep him away. Theti-Cheri ran away with Papyrus and they finally profess their love to one another. The marriage gets canceled when Merenptah realized the love between the two and the convenient revelation of how evil the prince was.
  • The Hittite Princess is also this between her and Merenptah. The marriage was to insure Egypt wouldn't break their peace treaty with the Hittites.
• Art Evolution: The drawing started rough and cartoony and evolved into a more realistic style.
• Ascended Extra: Shepti, one of Theti-Cheri's many personal servants. After she was rescued from a mad priest, we learn of her name, became Pouin's girlfriend and is more present as the series go.
• Awesome, but Impractical: An army of fierce warriors wearing full plate armor. In the Bronze Age, this would give them a decisive edge in combat. However, being in Egypt and wearing metal armor means you'll roast alive under the heat of the sun, which is exactly what happened to their leader.
  • As a subversion, those armors were later used at night in another story by the Pharaoh and his men and proved quite useful.
• Bad Future: One where Ames becomes pharaoh and as history shows, it is one that cannot be escaped.
• Bald of Evil: All Egyptian priests have their head shaved. When they are evil, this trope comes into full effect.
• Barefoot Poverty: Shoes are expensive commodities in that era. Only people of higher status has them.
• Barred from the Afterlife: Amenope can't go to heaven because the Gods are displeased with his conduct during his life. They force him to redeem himself. He does so by saving his son and he moves to the afterlife.
• Beast Man: One story features Papyrus being turned into one.
• BFS:
  • When Papyrus face-off against huge river monsters, he mustered all his courage and fight. This cause his sword to grow several times its length.
  • When Theti-Cheri is reincarnated into a warlord, the conspirators give her a large greatsword.
• Big Fancy House: When Papyrus is named noble by the Pharaoh, he's given a land with a huge villa along with servants and guards. It was actually a trick by the Pharaoh to keep Papyrus away from Theti-Cheri. When he changes his mind and approve the teens' love, Papyrus presumably lose his title as the villa is later shown abandoned.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: Giant ants that abduct people for food. Their queen died so they kidnapped Theri-Cheri and fed her with a special nectar to turn her into their new queen.
• Big Eater: Imhoutep's predecessor, the Royal Architect named Amenope. He is obese, loves to eat and his servant constantly tend to his eating needs.
• Blackmail: During his studies in architecture, Amenope had an affair with a sacred dancer. This resulted in the birth of a young boy, Hapou and the death of the dancer. This event would had damaged Amenope's career so he kept the whole thing under wrap and secretly raised Hapou on his own. Unfortunately, by the time Amenope became the Royal Architect, a rival from his school who knew his secret use this to usurp his place.
• Bling of War: The armored warriors in the second album are gold-plated.
• Boring Return Journey: Zigzagged. Sometimes our heroes return to Thebes without any incidents, while other times events occurred and this lead to new adventures. In The Evil Mummies, Papyrus and Theti-Cheri made their back to the capital after their adventure and the narrator joked that they encountered a desert storm, an earthquake, Desert Bandits, swarm of locus, thirst, but it wasn't worth showing to the readers.
• Bowdlerise: Blood was present in the comic, but it was always colored dark brown.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: In The tears of the Giant, Theti-Cheri is drugged and brainwashed into becoming the reincarnation of an ancient warlord. She forgets her identity and become a violent warrior.
• Butt-Monkey: Pouin sole purpose in the comics is this.
• The Cameo: Papyrus makes a silent cameo in The Scrameustache as the titular character zip by in his flying saucer.
• Cain and Abel: "Anger of the Moon God" features Ames, a younger brother of Merenptah (Ramesses had ninety-six sons and the first twelve predeceased him after all) attempting to take the throne and marry his niece Theti. A later story also features Ames once again attempting to steal the throne.
• Cannot Keep a Secret: In the 33th volume, Pouin hears a gossip that Papyrus is the true Pharaoh and is explicitly told not to tell anyone. It doesn't stick and soon everyone knows the secret.
• Catchphrase: Papyrus' famous one: "By Horus!". Theti-Cheri's is: "By Isis!".
• Chick Magnet: Papyrus is this. Not only does he attracts the attention of princesses, but also their female servants.
• Childhood Marriage Promise: A the end of the first story, Theti-Cheri wishes to marry Papyrus when they grow up.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Shepti is very watchful of Pouin and doesn't like it when he talks to other girls.
• Conveniently an Orphan: Papyrus, so he can live in the palace with Theti-Cheri.
• Cool Sword: Papyrus' magical sword, the Glaive (technically a "Khopesh"). Whenever Papyrus shows courage, it will increase in length. The reverse is also true when Papyrus acted cowardly: the blade shrunk to dagger-sized. The sword can only be used by him or anyone of his choosing. Anyone with evil intent who tries to wield it will get injured.
• Composite Character: Egypt's sacred bull Apis also takes the role of the Cretan Bull who killed the Cretan Prince in "The Labyrinth."
• Covers Always Lie: The Hieroglyph Child has a cover of Apep. He does show up, but only as a cameo in the Underworld and isn't involved in the plot.
• Covert Pervert: Papyrus and Theti-Cheri are stuck in a pit with no way of escaping. Then Theti suggests using cloth and Papyrus' sword to make an improvised grappling hook... using Papyrus' loincloth. A very embarrassed and naked Papyrus does so, asking her to turn around and cover her eyes, but given that she warned him about a falling rock and her smug expression it's obvious she was Eating the Eye Candy.
• CPR: Clean, Pretty, Reliable: Anktheri uses CPR to save Papyrus from drowning.
• Cute Mute: The Princess of Crete. She recovers her voice after being shit-scared by the Minotaur.
• Damsel in Distress: Theti-Cheri is need of rescuing many times to the point of carrying the Distress Ball.
  • The Hittite Princess. She has to be rescued twice. Unfortunately, despite the second rescue being successful, she dies from the truth serum.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Anubis. He refreshingly doesn't get the Everybody Hates Hades treatment that he tends to receive in most contemporanean western works. Here, Set does, and it's a little more justified.
• Dated History: The title "Tutankhamun, the Assassinated Pharaoh" pretty much says it all since new evidence points to him having not been.
• Death by Childbirth: During his younger years, Amenope had a forbidden love with a sacred dancer. She gave birth to Hapou and subsequently died..
• Death by Gluttony: Amenope passed away from eating too much. The Gods aren't pleased with him and bar him from the afterlife until he can redeem himself.
• Demonic Possession: Once, Set needed a vessel to manifest himself in the mortal world. Hapou and a cat were the victims.
• Desert Bandits: They come in various gangs in different stories. Their level of competence vary according to the stories. Some are organised and infiltrated the Royal army's ranks while others are dumb and easily routed.
• Determinator: Papyrus never gives up on saving the princess.
• Deus ex Machina: Papyrus is notorious for this, sometimes bordering to Ass Pull territory. The Egyptian gods are sometime responsible, other it's some unforeseen factors. Some examples:
  • Papyrus is turned into a Beast Man. Théti-Chéri appeal to the gods so they can restore Papyrus back to human form. The gods demand something valuable in exchange. Théti-Chéri says she's willing to sacrifice her own life. Papyrus is restore to human and Théti-Chéri has been released from the gods with no consequences to her.
  • Papyrus challenges the god Sobek. If Papyrus succeed in surprising the Crocodile god, he will win the challenge. And he did, because his hair had turned white from an precedent ordeal and Sobek was completely caught off-guard. Sobek conceded victory and Papyrus's hair was restored to black.
  • A minotaur was about to devour Papyrus. He's stopped and eaten by the Labyrinth (which is actually a giant coral reef with Combat Tentacles.) Somehow, the minotaur carelessly forgot the make-up of the lair he's been living-in for generations.
  • The Gods erase everyone's memories and Status quo is restored.
  • Big Damn Heroes moments from the Pharaoh and his army or some unseen ally/friend who called for backup.
  • Papyrus becomes the avatar of the Master of crocodiles. By sacrificing his eyes, Papyrus has the powers to save of all of Egypt from vast armies of Libyan invaders. After the Master leaves Papyrus's body, it seems Papyrus will be blinded forever, but when he drops the Master's feather, his sights are magically restored.
  • A miraculous unguent is found inside the pommel of Papyrus' sword and is strong enough to fully heal someone. Papyrus had the sword since the beginning of the series and accidentally found the unguent (dozen of stories later) at the most convenient time.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Papyrus and his friends unwillingly entered Set's domain. The boy went on a duel against Set and couldn't land a single hit. However, Imhoutep and Hapou threw bones at the evil god to distract him. Theri-Cheri delivered the final blow with arrows shot behind his back.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: In "Tears of the Giants", the Hittite princess makes a Dying Declaration of Love to Papyrus before dying from the serum of truth.
• Distress Ball: Both Papyrus and Theti-Cheri carry the ball all the time and need rescuing at least once per story.
• The Ditz: Hapou is a simple-minded young teen. He's not very intelligent and people easily take advantage of him. He's Amenope secret son, born from an affair. While he loves his son, Amenope is not a very good father, as his work keeps him occupied. The secrecy also made it difficult to raise him, resulting in the boy's lack of smarts.
• Divine Intervention: Invoking a God's name has power. The Gods have listened to our heroes' pleas and intervened on more than one occasion. However, there's a dark side to this. Insulting Gods, upsetting them or forgetting to pay tribute means they'll bring their wrath on you.
• Driven to Suicide: Like the Shakespearean play, when both Papyrus and Theti-Cheri think the other is dead, they wish to commit suicide to be reunited with the other. Thankfully, this never happened as none of them truly died.
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • The comics started with bizarre fantastic monsters. It eventually evolved into being closer to Egyptian Mythology and Ancient Egypt history.
  • The pharaoh did not have a name until the fourth volume, and it was not "Merenptah", but "Merenre" (though he has been called "Merenre-Merenptah" on occasion).
• Everybody Hates Hades: Happens to the God Set. While he was portrayed as actually evil in myths from specific periods of Ancient Egypt, he was worshipped by the 19th dynasty, the dynasty Merenptah belongs to, had family ties to his priesthood, and two of their pharaohs (Seti I and Seti II, Merneptah's grandfather and son respectively) were named after him, as well as a possible descendant of the 19th dynasty and the founder of the 20th dynasty Setnakht, who was possibly Merneptah's son-in-law as well. See also Sadly Mythtaken below about Anubis.
• Forced Transformation: Some priests have the power to shapechange their victims into animals.
• Generation Xerox: One of Papyrus' great-grandfathers looked exactly like him and even had the same name. He was Tutankhamun's gardener.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: Once a Grand Priest learned that Imhoutep unwilling found a parchment with all the gods' names, he's horrified that it could be used by Set or a mortal to dominate the gods. He tries to get the parchment for safekeeping and is willing to kill anyone who gets in his way, including the princess.
• Grand Finale: Lucien De Gieter is retired and the 33th comic is the last one of the series. It's entitled Pharaoh Papyrus.
• Grave Robbing: Found frequently in the comics.
• Handicapped Badass: Imhoutep is one hell of a chariot driver. He explained this was his previous occupation before he lost his leg.
• Heel–Face Turn: Anktheri is working with desert bandits and secretly signal them to take Papyrus away. However, after Papyrus saves her life from a lion and heals her injuries, she switches sides and devotes herself to him.
• Henpecked Husband: Pouin is this for Shepti who is a dominating wife.
• Hidden Backup Prince: In the very laster volume, Papyrus's ancestor is revealed to be Tutankhamun's brother, not his gardener. This would mean that Ramses II, Merenptah and Theti-Cheri are impostors and not the true royal bloodline. In the end, it just a lie by a rogue general who use Papyrus to take the throne from Merenptah.
• Historical Character's Fictional Relative: There is no evidence of Merneptah having a daughter named Theti-Cheri. This is justified as the finale reveals everything to have been a dream of Papyrus with Theti resembling a friend of his.
• Historical Domain Character: Merneptah/Merenptah is a regular but guests include:
  • The ka of Akhenaten and Nefertiti both haunt the damned city of Akhetaten. The last of the daughters Meritaten seems to wander the area, even though by Merenptah's time she would be well over one hundred years.
  • Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun both appear in a Flashback.
  • Moses and Aaron make an appearance and Papyrus wish them luck as they are about to lead their people in the desert.
  • Amenmesse, here portrayed as Merneptah's brother, is a recurring antagonist.
• Historical Fantasy: The cast interact with historical characters from the Bronze Age, but Gods and monsters also present.
• Historical In-Joke: In the animated adaptation of "The Dark Sun of Set", Ames has reigned for three years since Papyrus and Theti have gone missing. Three years was the reign length of Amenmesse, as Ames was historically called.
• Honorary Princess: Tiya calls herself the princess of thieves, being born into a clan of robbers.
• Identical Stranger: A poor fisherman is one for an ill/injured Merenptah in "The Metamorphosis of Imhotep."
• I Know Your True Name: This becomes a plot-point in The Fury of the Gods. Imhoutep accidentally found an ancient parchment written by Tut with all the true names of the gods. Whoever read the true names will gain power over all the Egyptian gods. Set sought the parchment for himself, while a corrupted grand priest (falsely) claim it can only be safe in his hands.
• Interrupted Suicide: Theti-Cheri tried to end her life with a dagger once, when someone tried to overthrow her father. Papyrus stopped her just in time.
• King Incognito: When pirates kidnapped Theti-Cheri, Theti-Cheri ask Papyrus not to reveal her royalty otherwise they would exploit this to ruin her father.
• Lethal Chef: When captured by pirates, Theti-Cheri is made the ship's cook. The crew (and Papyrus) found her cooking terrible, although it unintentionally saved them from other pirates: the food gave them pimples and the other pirates thought they were contagious.
• Lighter and Softer: The comic series itself. The first stories had no humour at all. It turned more goofy as time passed by.
• Living Statue: Set has turned the hieroglyphs of a temple into living statues to attack Papyrus and his friends.
• Long-Runners: The series was around since 1974. It officially ended in 2013 when the author retired.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Okay, so all of Papyrus' adventures were All Just a Dream but how exactly does one of common birth know the name of Akhenaten in order to even have dreams of such a person? There is no mundane explanation for this so it must be some sort of "Dream Adventures" from the Gods.
• Ms. Fanservice: Theti-Cheri. Lucien De Gieter's (defunct) website used to have many sketches of Theti-Cheri in suggestive pin-up poses (she still had her clothes on for those who are wondering).
• Missing Mom: Theti-Cheri's mother is missing in the beginning of the comics, but later turned up thanks to Papyrus.
• Mummy : With the setting being Ancient Egypt, this was inevitable, although most mummies portrayed are just preserved corpses. Very few were walking undead.
• National Geographic Nudity: In the comics, Egyptian children were sometime seen fully naked and no one made a comment about it. Same goes for Tamik's girlfriend who was topless.
• Nepharious Pharaoh: Merenptah's successor is this. He plotted to murder Theti-Cheri, the legitimate heiress to throne, when she resurfaced after 10 years of absence. He is eventually overthrown and Merenptah becomes Pharaoh once more.
• Nephewism: Papyrus was raised by his grandfather who never appeared in the series.
• Never Smile at a Crocodile: The crocodile god Sobek is a recurring antagonist of the first albums, cursing Papyrus in "The Faceless Colossus".
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished:
  • In the series opener, Papyrus accidentally found a hidden village with angry natives attacking him. In the scuffle, one of the villager, Tamik, fell on a patch of carnivorous grass. Papyrus heroically saved the boy. However, despite Tamik's protests, Tamik's father and chief of the village punished Papyrus to death since no outsiders are permitted to learn of the village's existence.
  • Papyrus goes on a quest to lift a blind curse placed on a city's inhabitants. As it turned out, Sobek punished the citizens because they sacrificed their children to the gods. Sobek agrees to lift the curse, but punishes Papyrus for defying him, turning him into a Beast Man. The citizens rejoice and are indifferent to Papyrus' fate.
• Non-Human Sidekick: Khamelot, Pouin's donkey who is also a Hyper-Competent Sidekick.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Pouin may be a Comic Relief, but if it weren't for him (and Khamelot), Papyrus and Theti may have died during the invasion of Egypt. He had the duo pass-up as a bunch of clumsy Egyptian traitors and the invaders brush them off as ineffectual allies. Pouin is also the son of the Nubians' warchief and has a good understanding of politics. His clumsy antics with his donkey is just an act to fool his enemies.
• Official Kiss: Between Papyrus and Theti-Cheri. It took them long enough: 28 comics.
• Old Master: Merenptah, the wise king has got to be in his mid-sixties, if not his mid-seventies, and he is a very skilled archer.
• Our Minotaurs Are Different: The Minotaur is featured in "The Labyrinth."
• Out of Continues: Buto, the snake God, has challenged Papyrus into killing all of his 10 reincarnations. Papyrus killed 9 and was about to slay the last one when Buto pleaded for mercy. Buto made a pact and he will come to Papyrus' aid whenever he wished. After many rescues throughout the series, Buto grew tired of this and called off the pact, saying the next time they meet will be as enemies. Papyrus never encountered him again through the remainder of the series.
• Papa Wolf: The Pharaoh is highly protective of his daughter and doesn't like anyone near her, including Papyrus.
• Parental Abandonment: Papyrus's parents are gone and he said he was raised by his grandfather.
• Parental Incest: The Pharaoh Akhenaten wished to marry his younger daughter Ankhesenamun (he also married his eldest daughter). Needless to say, Ankhesenamun was horrified. Thanks to Papyrus' ancestor intervention, this was avoided. He had his adult sister passed up as Ankhesenamun.
• Pink Means Feminine: Shepti always wears a pink dress.
• Politically-Active Princess: Theti-Cheri is involved in diplomatic missions and also uses her leadership skills as an overseer.
• The Power of Love: Theti-Cheri smooch a small evil mummy, causing him to forsake his master Set.
• Power Trio: Papyrus, Theti-Cheri and Imhoutep. After the latter becomes the new royal architect, Pouin replaces him.
• Princess Protagonist: One of the two main characters is Princess Theti-Cheri.
• Relationship Upgrade: Theti-Cheri and Papyrus finally declared their love to one another. Fans waited 32 years for this!
• Retcon: A massive one with Tamik when he and Papyrus meet the second time. Tamik remembers seeing Theti-Cheri, although he never met her before and Papyrus couldn't possibly have mentioned her: Papyrus met Tamik before he made acquittance with Theti-Cheri.
• Rightful King Returns: When Merenptah disappeared after 10 years, he returns and rereclaim the throne from a Nepharious Pharaoh.
• Road Trip Plot: Three journeys, all multiparters in the comics:
  • Papyrus goes to Africa to find a shaman who can cure Theti-Cheri's enchantment. On their way back, they are stranded in the cursed city of Akhetaten.
  • Papyrus goes on a diplomatic mission to Crete to return the body of Minos' son. Next installment, Theti-Cheri looks for him as he left Crete in a hurry and they both find themselves in the Isle of the Cyclops.
  • The last one is a three parter. Papyrus and Theti-Cheri are captured by pirates and their journey takes many weeks through Troy, Tyre and Tel Dor.
• Royal Blood:
  • The animated series portrays Papyrus as being of Tutankhamun's line, making Papyrus a descendant of Akhenaten. Impossible in the comics themselves where Papyrus is the descendant of Tutankhamun's gardener unless at some point the bloodlines of Tutankhamun and his gardener joined but this is Wild Mass Guessing.
  • Chepseska, the villain of "Imhotep's Transformation" is stated to have royal blood but it is never specified just what exactly his relationship is to Merneptah/Merenptah and by extension Theti.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Aside from the Queen, Merenptah and Theti-Cheri take active roles in the story.
• Runaway Bride: Theti-Cheri when she's forced into a political marriage.
• Sadly Mythtaken:
  • Averted with Anubis. In many other works, he tends to suffer from Everybody Hates Hades a lot, but here he's portrayed accurately as a benevolent funeral god.
  • One tribe of monsters have bowl-like heads, and lose all aggressiveness if it spills out, such as if they're bowing to someone who bowed to them first, a distinguishing feature of the Japanese Kappa.
• Scenery Porn: The series is known for its beautiful Egyptian architecture and landscapes.
• Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Merenptah orders the construction of a new temple and the stones are be taken from an old structure. Papyrus wonder if it's sacrilege to dismantle something that was built by preceding Pharaohs. Imhoutep assures him that isn't so and every other Pharaoh in the past has done the same.
• Separated at Birth: Unknown to everyone, Theti-Cheri has a twin brother. He was born with a hideous facial deformity, so the priests took him away and told the Queen he died. When the Queen learned the truth, she had Papyrus go on a secret mission to find him.
• Setting Update: The series was initially set during the reign of sixth dynasty pharaoh Merenre. It was eventually changed to the reign of ninteenth dynasty pharaoh Merneptah.
• Ship Tease: They are many instances where Theti-Cheri and Papyrus were thinking of themselves as more than just friends. Papyrus wouldn't dare to make a move because in his eyes, he is only the "Protector of the princess", a servant. Theti-Cheri convince him otherwise.
• Shoot the Messenger: The Pharaoh sent Papyrus on a mission to announce a string of bad news to the King of Crete: his son died and the Cretan diplomatic envoy perished in a sea storm, along with a sacred bull given as an offering. Angered and outraged, the King punished Papyrus to the arena.
• Shout-Out:
  • The Mask of Horus is obviously inspired by Man in the Iron Mask, complete with long-lost siblings and a mask to hide the face of a prince.
  • Papyrus called a swarm of bats to chase away some bandits. One bat flies in front of the full moon, making it look like the bat symbol.
  • The ending of The Children of Isis is taken from Romeo and Juliet.
• Shown Their Work: Lucien De Gieter has documented himself and traveled many times to Egypt to work on his stories.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: Between Pouin and his girlfriend Shepti. You'll see them cuddling together in many pages. However, after they get married later in the series, Pouin's laziness combine with Shepti's bossiness and jealousy shattered this trope.
  • Theti-Cheri and Papyrus after their Relationship Upgrade. The narrator even once described their puppy talk as cheesy, but that's the way it is with lovers.
• Skirts and Ladders: Using a Human Ladder consisting of Theti-Cheri standing on Papyrus' shoulders, who gets quite an eyeful (as do the readers).
• Smooch of Victory: After saving her so many times, Theti-Cheri smooched Papyrus only once.
• Speak of the Devil: The cursed Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Queen Nefertiti. They are regarded as the worst blasphemers of Ancient Egypt for implementing a monotheist religion. Saying their names will make their spirits appear before you. Papyrus and Theti-Cheri found a way to put them to rest and invoked their names one last time.
• Something Only They Would Say: A mutiny started in a boat and someone disposed of Theti-Cheri. The culprit was found and imprisoned by Theti-Cheri's adviser. Much later, the culprit said he was only the accomplice and didn't know the name or face of the conspirator, who kept saying "By Anubis!". This lead Theti-Cheri to deduce that her adviser is the real conspirator and the accomplice is the fall guy, because only him used that catch phrase.
• Spoiler Cover: Many of them, such as the appearance of the Minotaur, Papyrus and Theti-Cheri being together.
• Status Quo Is God: With the Gods involved in mortal affairs, this can happen a lot. The most notorious example is Theti-Cheri's long-lost twin brother. Their reunion is cut short when the prince sustained a fatal injury. The Gods then wiped everyone's memory and no one remember his existence. The Prince's health and face are restored magically and he lives happy and ever after with his beautiful (but impoverished) girlfriend.
• Token Enemy Minority: Pouin is the sole Nubian who helped Papyrus and Theti during the Nubian invasion. He never revealed his motives for defecting, but it might have something to do with his diminutive height and was therefore mocked by his peers. Or it might be a case of Defector from Decadence.
• The Unreveal: In the comics, Imhoutep accidentally finds an old corpse with a clubfoot in the mountains. Theti-Cheri suspects it might be one of her uncles who was suppose to take the throne, but mysteriously disappeared 10 years ago. Papyrus let it slip Merenptah might had something to do with his death, causing Theri-Cheri to get angry. The end of the story never revealed the identity of the killer or the cause of death, as the corpse was secretly taken and mummified.
• Third-Person Person: Hapou speaks like this because he is simple-minded and lack education.
• Thirsty Desert: The Egyptian desert is very harsh and unforgiving. Water is scarce, raiders prey on travelers, wild beasts hunt for victims, the heat is unbearable. But above all, the evil god Set rule over this wasteland. Once, Papyrus was stranded without food and water and considered committing suicide.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: After returning from a trip, Papyrus and Theti-Cheri went to see Imhoutep who has been promoted to royal architect. They greeted him warmly while he was on a meeting, but Imhoutep brushed them off as he felt they were no longer worthy of his company. Offended, Papyrus and Theti stormed off. Later however, Papyrus saved Imhoutep from a fire. Realizing how poorly he treated his friends, he apologized to them.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Throwing your Glaive will always kill your opponent.
• The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Louka, an unclean and poor old man, lives in the desert with his daughter Ankheri, who turned out to be a beautiful red-headed young girl with green eyes.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Shepti is very beautiful while Pouin is overweight and short like a dwarf.
• The Usurper: There are MANY individuals who try to overthrow the Pharaoh in the series. This range from ambitious nobles, powerful lords, corrupted priests to rogue generals. This explain why Merenptah is very suspicious and never hesitate to have Papyrus executed even on the smallest hint of betrayal, despite the latter saved him, the princess and Egypt numerous times.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: It's Ancient Egypt, so it's justified. Only priests, nobles and royalties wear shirts, but not always.
• Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: Theti-Cheri. She has her moments.
• Year Outside, Hour Inside: Mortals spending time inside the domain of the Gods has this effect. When Papyrus and Theti-Cheri returned to the real world, 10 years has passed. Merenptah thought his daughter died during that time and divert all his efforts in building his pyramid only to disappear. Another man took the throne and became Pharaoh.

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