History Comicstrip / ThePhantom

Developed during [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks the Golden Age]], and written by a single author for over sixty years, ''The Phantom'' is a bit of a living fossil. Representations of women and minorities have become more sophisticated, but it has never tried to become {{darker|AndEdgier}} or [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism more realistic]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: In the Scandinavian version, during [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks the mid-90s]], the Phantom's native Bangalla was taken over by the ruthless dictator and voodoo sorcerer Lubanga, who murdered or [[AxCrazy drove mad]] several minor supporting characters. Violence by all parties was also depicted [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence more graphically]] in this period; see the note above on BlastingItOutOfTheirHands. Particular mention goes to the ''Heart of Darkness'' ongoing storyline, in which the Phantom's enemies included neo-Nazis and a horrific, apparently immortal serial killer.

** In [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks the 90s]], Bangalla got taken over by [[EvilOverlord tyrant]] ''[[EvilOverlord cum]]'' [[EvilOverlord voodoo sorcerer]] Kigali Lubanga. Unlike previous coup-happy generals and assorted single-issue conquerors, Lubanga was a VillainWithGoodPublicity who [[DemocracyIsBad won a reasonably fair election]] against his good-guy opponent. The Phantom then spent the next couple of years [[HeroWithBadPublicity in opposition to the government, authorities and public opinion]], before the people realized their country was gradually being turned into the PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny and rebelled, reinstating the old president.

* PaperThinDisguise: While Julie performed well as a standin for her brother as the Phantom, it's VERY obvious that it's a woman wearing the form-fitting costume. Aside from her slimmer musculature, she didnt even tie her breasts down!

* TheDogWasTheMastermind: A borderline example, perhaps, but in the very first news strip adventure ("The Singh Brotherhood"), when we first meet [[DarkActionGirl Sala]], she appears only as the pirate king Kabai Singh's useless mistress. She's gradually established as [[ManipulativeBastard smarter and more manipulative]], and in the end ''she's'' the one to tell Kabai ''he's'' [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived his usefulness]] and kill him. Turns out she was really a double agent for the SkyPirates under deep cover who sabotaged Kabai so the Phantom could destroy his organization because it competed with hers...

* ExactWords: In 2019 storyline "The Spy Ship", Heloise Walker invits her friend Kadia to visit the Bandar village. As Kadia is hearing stories from the Bandar, Heloise sneaks out to greet her father. When she returns and Kadia asks where she has been, Heloise states she ran into someone who had a story to tell.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: The Numerous stories of the current Phantom's ancestors used to start with a page or two of the 21st Phantom finding a reason to read the story, and then ending with an commentary from him and the people he read it to. Lately this has been replaced with a simple text box at the besinning that states [A story from the Nths Phantom's Time]

* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Recurring villain Chatu/"The Python" was recently experimenting on bats in order to start an Ebola epidemic. The only person he managed to infect was himself, and he needed the Phantom to rescue him from painful death. A few months after this embarassing failure, Chatu orchestrates a terrorist attack ([[MightAsWellNotBeInPrisonAtAll from his prison cell]]) and had his men abduct Diana, leaving the Phantom thinking she'd died in the attack.

By mid 2000s, though you could still find further issues from Moonstone, the current publisher, those were rare, too expensive due to ''very'' low sales, and new releases were few and far in between.

** Julie, the twin sister of the 17th Phantom, who filled her brothers place on several occasions when he was unable to wear the Phantom costume.

** In a 2018 storyline, the current-time, teenage Heloise, while at boarding school in New York City, realizes that her room-mate Kadia is the unknowing daughter of an international crime boss known as “the Nomad”, while out to dinner with them both. [[spoiler: The Nomad believes she's a spy sent by President Lamanda, and arranges for Heloise to be framed and arrested as a terrorist, and then turned over to him by corrupt officials so he can take her out of the country to torture her for information as he chooses. Heloise then ''brings down the small plane'' they're on, complete with PreAssKickingOneLiner, turns him over to a rather bewildered honest cop, and runs before she can be arrested for said plane crash. (She also [[KickingAssInAllHerFinery does all of this]] in a LittleBlackDress and heels!) She escapes being arrested and gets Kadia to the Embassy for sanctuary in the nick of time to avoid the reprisals of the Nomad's syndicate ''and'' arrest by numerous law enforcement agents.]] Noteworthy in this case:[[spoiler: She did such a spectacular and effective job of taking down the Nomad that when her brother Kit (who's off training in a monastery on the other side of the world) hears the news of the Nomad's defeat and arrest, he assumes it was done by their father, even writing in a letter something about being able to recognize the Phantom's work when he hears about it. Heloise may never wear the Phantom costume, but she's proven she's just as worthy a successor to the name.]]

* IAmSpartacus: In "Hooded Justice" (one of the Scandinavian arcs), the fifth Phantom is transported back in time to 12th century Nottingham where he takes on the role of RobinHood. The Sheriff captures Maraian and declares she will be executed if Robin Hood does not present himself. The Phantom steps forward and declares he is Robin Hood. Then each of the Merry Men planted throughout the crowd claims that he is Robin Hood. The Sheriff's men attempt to arrest everyone and the confusion allows the Phantom to rescue Marian.

* DrinkBasedCharacterization: The Phantom's drink of choice is milk. Even when he's undercover in the seediest bar in town. Nobody ever mocks him for it... more than once.

* BlankWhiteEyes: The Phantom literally ''invented'' this superhero costume cliché, supposedly inspired by the blank white eyes of ancient Greek statues.

* CombatPragmatist: Being raised in a jungle with EverythingTryingToKillYou can do that to a guy.
* ComicBookTime: Despite the built-in opportunity to go the LegacyCharacter route.

* GodGuise: The Phantom costume was designed to resemble a demon feared by a malevolent tribe that had enslaved the tribe that rescued the first Phantom after being shipwrecked in Bangalia and worn as a form of psychological warfare when freeing the enslaved tribesmen.

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: One storyline from the 80s involves a super virus released after a plane crash killing all life in Bangala, including, it's implied, the Phantom's wife and children. It turns out to be a fever dream Phantom is having, but later revealed to be a premonition of the future, leading him to prevent the terrorist attack that caused the plane crash, and disposing of the virus into a volcano.
* TheDreaded: The criminals of Bangala are ''terrified'' of the Phantom, even if they've never encountered him in person. Hell, his reputation has reached all over the world, with criminals and pirates of all creeds often having second thoughts when they hear that he's around. An unusually poignant example is one story where the 16th Phantom's twin children are kidnapped alongside a group of natives, and one of the criminals notices that they're wearing pendants with the Phantom's Good Mark. He tells his boss, who was going to have the boy killed and the girl put in his harem, about how an unusually cruel slave auctioneer once released a slave just because she carried the Good Mark, and the boss decides that it'd be foolish to take any risks and just has them imprisoned instead.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Early stories placed the nation of Bangalia in southeast Asia, likely inspired by the real world country of Bangladesh.
** The first Phantom is an in-universe example. He never actually called himself the Phantom, instead he called himself the "Avenger". The name Phantom as well as the iconic rings were both creations by his son, the second Phantom.

* ExactWords: In 2019 storyline "The Spy Ship", Heloise Walker invits her friend Kadia to visit the Bandar village. As Kadia is hearing stories from the Bandar, Heloise sneaks out to greet her father. When she returns and Kadia asks where she has been, Heloise states she ran into someone who had a story to tell.
* ExpressiveMask: It hides his eyes, but is apparently very flexible, and allows for a solid DeathGlare.

* FlatEarthAtheist: Almost to the level of [[Series/TheXFiles Agent Scully]], the Phantom is a skeptic to the extreme. Sometimes justified in that the supernatural events he witnesses are juuuust ambigious enough to cast doubt, but usually he seems to be skeptic just for the sake of it.

* GoingNative: An interesting variation. While the Walkers, despite having lived in Bangalla for over 400 years aren't part of the nearby Bandar tribe, they are their closest allies, and live comparable lifestyles, the Phantom's best friend is Bandar tribesman Guran, and the Walker children grow up alongside the Bandar children.

* HollywoodNatives: Pretty much every native tribe the Phantom ever encountered, to a greater or lesser extent, although the depictions have tended to become more nuanced as the series goes on.
* HowUnscientific: The Phantom occasionally (as in, maybe once every few decades) had encounters with visiting aliens.

* IrislessEyeMaskOfMystery: The Phantom is the TropeMaker, [[OlderThanTheyThink preceding Batman by three years]]. Falk stated that his inspiration was from busts and statues of [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek and Roman deities]] which lacked irises[[note]](though it should be noted in the case of the Romans that they did indeed paint their statues, eyes included, but that the paints had worn off after thousands of years.)[[/note]], thus making [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve3zihs3ryg "the look of them feel a bit inhuman, which made a great addition to his character"]].

* PerfectPoison: The Bandar's iconic poison, which is made from a special type of berry that only grows in the jungle, and causes almost instant death. The Bandars use PoisonedWeapons (usually arrows) treated with the poison, and even a scratch means certain doom. However, it has to be both completely pure, and properly brewed, otherwise it loses it's potency. The Phantom uses a dilluted version on the Skull ring, which only causes some scarring, and in one story, the victim was just knocked out for a few minutes because the poison hadn't finished fermenting.

* RoguesGallery: As a series and franchise that's over 80 years old by this point, the Phantom has amassed a rather sizable list of foes across various media. In the newspaper strips and the comic books his foes consist of the [[ArchEnemy Singh Brotherhood]], [[ManOfWealthAndTaste Eric "The Nomad" Sahara]], Chatu "the Python," Skul and his terrorist organization T, Goldhand, [[AmazonBrigade the Sky Band]], [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Kigali Lubanga]] and his father Bawuko, the Iron Hand, General Tara and his [[TheDragon right-hand man]] Major Isaru, [[MasterOfDisguise the Black Carnation]], [[GunsAkimbo Bullets]], Ali Gutaale, General Bababu, the High Priest of Kua, and [[CrusadingWidow Manuel Ortega]].

* ShaggyDogStory: The life of King Djonkar, a close friend of one of the historical Phantoms, is best summed up this way. He was a much-loved king who ruled over an area of Bengala sometime in the 17th century, and first met the Phantom when he helped save his bride from pirates. Then his wife died in childbirth, with the child being stillborn. Djonkar never remarries, and is eventually assassinated by a high-ranking Singh pirate who is looking to conquer the kingdom. He lives long enough to see the Phantom defeat the pirates and save the kingdom, and wills the kingdom to his friend (actually his son) before dying, and the Phantom relinquishes the crown to the people who form a democratic council instead. Then a few years later, a massive drought sets in, causing the people to leave and the kingdom to cease to exist. The End.

* StrongFamilyResemblance: Every Phantom is the son of the previous one, and all 21 generations of Phantoms look pretty much identical to those before and after, which definitely helps sell the idea of the Phantom being one supernatural, immortal being.
* TheTeetotaler: The Phantom doesn’t drink alcohol, when they enter a bar situation their drink of choice is a glass of Milk.

* DaddysLittleVillain: Sandal Singh, the current President of Bangala, and secretly the new head of the Singh Brotherhood, after the death of her father Dogai Singh, the original arch enemy of the 21st Phantom.

** In more recent times, the guy was ousted again after Lubanga made his comeback as the leader of an [[PathOfInspiration evil cult]] and tried (but quickly failed) to resume his old reign. The new PresidentEvil is, instead, [[DaddysLittleVillain Sandal Singh]], DarkChick daughter of the Phantom's perennial ArchNemesis Dogai Singh, the leader of the [[AncientConspiracy Singh Pirate Brotherhood]].

-->'''Bandit Chief:''' "We're soldiers, damn you, authorized to seize this land by--"\\

* AffluentAscetic: The Walkers are undoubtedly wealthy. On the other hand, aside from some personal luxuries and whatever hardware the Phantom needs, they live rather modestly, while their children don't even ''know'' the concept of money until after they see the world.

* ArbitrarilyLargeBankAccount: Between the dowries of the princesses the various Phantoms have married, chestsful of gold and jewelery given as gifts, and that they live mostly off the land, the Walkers are very well off.

* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Jungle Patrol is a heroic version of this trope. Originally led by [[TheAtoner repentant pirates given a new lease on life by the Phantom]], they've over time evolved into a mix of a private police force and conservationist movement, which still answer to him in secret. They also continue to serve as one of the Phantom's allies, providing him intel and backup even if the rank-and-file don't always realize it.

* NGOSuperpower: Downplayed with the Jungle Patrol. Originally led by [[TheAtoner repentant pirates given a new lease on life by the Phantom]], they've over time evolved into a mix of a private police force and conservationist movement. They also continue to serve as one of the Phantom's allies, providing him intel and backup even if the rank-and-file don't always realize it.

* MultilayerFacade: The secret leader of the jungle patrol is The Phantom itself - the masked superhero identity, rather than its mundane counterpart "Mr Walker".

* {{Bulungi}}: Bangalla.

* LostInTranslation: In French, the series is sometimes refered as "Le Fantôme du Bengale" ("the Phantom of Bengal"), because of some confusion between the African fictional country of Bangalla and the real-life India region of Bengal

* MightyWhitey: There's such a strong taste of this it can be rather uncomfortable. Especially when it sinks in that, despite the fact the Phantoms have been living in Africa for centuries, they still have white skin. In fact, no historical Phantom has ever been said to marry an African woman (although the 19th came close, and several of the historical Phantoms' wives were South European or Asian). His continued Caucasian appearance seems to coast by due to GrandfatherClause. This was especially prevalent in the early decades of the strip, with the African tribes being portrayed with the usual finesse common to comic books of the '50s and '60s, but has thankfully lessened a lot since then, with The Phantom, the Bandars, and the other tribes being portrayed as allies and friends rather than semi-servants like in the comic's early years. His design is also unchanged from the time when he was just supposed to be a rich, American, Bruce Wayne-type vigilante, and not a what-if-Zorro-was-more-like-Tarzan sort of hero.