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Recurrencia Eterna (Eternal Recurrence in Spanish) is a story about a guy named Job who makes a deal with the gods: he will play a game where he has to pass certain "challenges", and in exchange for finishing the game he will get to wish whatever he wants, with no limits. He plans on using his wish for curing his sickly sister, as she seems to be very close to dying. However, completing the game turns out to not be an easy task, since the challenges seem to be taking quite a toll on his mental state.
The series does contain a lot of disturbing imagery, including cannibalism, torture, and sexual assault, so if you are sensitive to those things, it would be recommended for you to not continue. Also of note is the fact that all spoilers are entirely unmarked, so proceed with caution.
Below, the tropes:
- Beneath the Mask: The stories deal with a lot of themes about deceit, masks, and people faking part of their identities in order to get something. This can be perceived in most major characters. (Check the characters page for more in-depth explanations on each.)
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Applies to several characters, and the person they are torturing is usually Job. Special mentions go to Connie, who kept him trapped in her basement for days on end, and Nick, who besides torturing him also experimented on him.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: A few of Job's deaths fall under this category, such as being eaten alive.
- Slasher Smile
- Mood Dissonance
- Lack of Empathy: A trait presented by most of the people Job interacts with, with many of them being borderline sociopaths (and some are actually sociopaths)
- The Sociopath
- Et Tu, Brute?
- Cynicism Catalyst
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man
- What the Hell, Hero?
- Trauma Conga Line
- Finagle's Law
- Karma Houdini: Most of the 'challenges' (i.e. the antagonists) don't seem to get punished for any of the horrible things and get to walk away scot-free, at least until the ending. It also applies to the deities, who, other than getting scolded by Adalet, don't really have any significant punishment on account of the fact that they are deities.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: As stated above, all of the wrongdoings the antagonist have ever done come to bite them in the ass sooner or later, with most of them being caught for doing the exact same things they did to Job and to others. In the case of Nick, this happens near the end of his arc when his own creations start to turn against him.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: When Uriel and Nick try to explain their FreudianExcuses to Job, he immediately rejects them, and claims that it still doesn't make what they did okay.
- Rejected Apology: After Job's death, when Uriel tries to apologize and tries to explain why he didn't want to do what he did, he is immediately rejected by Job, who says he will never forgive him.
- Misery Builds Character: Averted. Job ends up worse for wear at the end of the story, being overall more unhappy, miserable, and mistrusting.
- Grey-and-Gray Morality
- Police Are Useless
Characters:
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Major Characters
Joban "Job" Madigan
The main protagonist. An awkward and gullible guy who is putting himself through hell to save his sister.
- Meaningful Name
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Happens to him after he moves to a different city, as he can no longer interact normally with most of his friends and is starved for social interaction that is not comprised of his family or done through a screen.
- Stopped Caring: By the time the game ends, all that's left of him is an empty shell that barely cares about anything outside of his sister anymore, having been thoroughly broken by the sadistic challenges he had to go through.
- Horrible Judge of Character: His first encounter with the Elixus could be somewhat excused as he did not know what the game was about, but even after having it explained to him he still trusts random strangers way too much. This starts to subside after a few of the challenges have gone by, instead switching to the polar opposite and not trusting anyone.
- Empty Shell: By the end of the book, he is empty, unhappy and miserable, has become even more co-dependent on his sister and his friends, and is seriously struggling to find reasons to remain alive.
- Cosmic Plaything: By the very nature of the game he is playing, deities control his life in order to make it even worse.
- Butt-Monkey: Caused by deities that are actively trying to make his life hell for their own entertainment.
- Back from the Dead: Happens several times, as he is simply not allowed to die while the game is still going on.
Noelle Letourneau
- Arch-Enemy: Personally considers Connie as hers, judging by the fact that she seems bent on trying to make her life a living hell. This is why she is determined to bring her down.
- Back from the Dead: After attempting to rescue Job, she is shot squarely in the head and dies. Adalet decides that killing someone unrelated to the game is extremely unfair, and so revives her.
Hazael Elixus
- Faux Affably Evil: He presents himself as someone kind and understanding who tries to help his friends, but it's all a trap to lure people into his home so they can be eaten.
- Psychotic Smirk: Pulls one right as he is about to eat one of Job's eyes, telling him they are beautiful.
- Finger-Tenting: Constantly does this when he is sitting.
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: He is very well-spoken and smooth, never raises his voice and has a very sing-songy laugh, and he also enjoys eating people alive.
- False Friend: Is this to everyone he befriends, as he doesn't care about anyone other than Jezabel, and usually just befriends people to get something out of them.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Alongside her cousin, they trap people in their shed and slowly eat them, usually while the person is still alive. He also seems to have an obsession with eyes, especially human eyes.
- Serial Killer: Job is just another person in the long line of people he killed.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Subverted. While certainly not as far gone as he is now, he still was by no means a normal child, generally looking at people with disdain and a cruel sense of wonder at their stupidity, manipulating adults to get his way.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Pulls one when he is about to kill Job.
- Pragmatic Villainy:
- The Unapologetic
Jezabel Elixus
- Psychopathic Woman Child: Acts very immature, sticking out her tongue when Hazael says something she doesn't like and refusing to eat properly.
- Meaningful Name:
- No Social Skills:
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander:
- I'm a Humanitarian: Just like her cousin, she is a cannibal.
- Serial Killer: Very much like her cousin, she has killed many people before
- Matricide
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid
- The Load
- The Pig-Pen
Uriel Faraldo
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Looks harmless and like a genuinely sweet and kind guy, if a bit awkward. He's actually an abusive, obsessive and paranoid asshole who hits their partner and is terrified of them leaving him for someone else.
- Stalker with a Crush: Follows Job around after they saw
- Yandere
- I Just Want to Be Loved
- Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness
- Domestic Abuse
- Destructive Romance
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He is incredibly volatile and very easy to anger.
- Not Good with Rejection: If you reject him, be prepared for hell to rain upon you.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Implied to be the case, as after he meets Job again he seems full of regret.
- Serial Killer: It's implied that he has killed other people before.
- Villainous BSoD: After he kills Job, he has a break down as he realizes what he just did.
- Why Did You Make Me Hit You?
- Love at First Sight: Seems to believe it to be the case, being lovestruck after seeing Job speak to Hazazel. It actually just turns out to be just because he was looking for someone to fill the void his last partner left.
- Please, Don't Leave Me
- Troubled Abuser
- Heel–Face Door-Slam
- Rejected Apology
- Heel Realization
Mara Mishra
- Exotic Eye Designs: He is usually depicted with x's for pupils.
- Meaningful Name: Mara is a demon in Buddhism that is associated with death, rebirth, and desire.
Connie Fordon
Nick LaVey
Violet Ashton
Secondary Characters
The Deities
