History GirlGenius / TropesPToT

* PirateGirl: For a long time, every single pirate (or proud Europan of pirate-descent) seen in the strip has been female, though male pirates do exist; the captain [[spoiler:taking Tarvek to England]] says both her parents were pirates, and we do finally meet ex-pirate Ulysses Bonney in person.

** Even the saner Sparks are fiercely territorial, even when it comes to other sparks they are friendly with. When Agatha wants to enter a Wulfenbach facility set in Heterodyne territory, one Wulfenbach minion attempts to handle the matter tactfully, and fails when [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20240216 a less tactful Wulfenbach minion]] bluntly tells Agatha that she needs Wulfenbach permission to enter. The response of Agatha and her retinue is murderous rage.

** This trope works ''against'' the development artillery. Sure, Sparks have found numerous ways to turn a glut of grounded energy into concentrated destruction - Agatha once built a death ray with enough power and range to [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090306 blast out of Mechanicsburg and through a mountain]]... but in trying to overspecialize and overcompensate in pure power, Sparks tend to create surface-to-blimp weapon prototypes that are finnicky at best and disastrous at worst. As such, there are ''no'' standardized forms of artillery, so it's never mass-produced in a world with slow-flying giant targets.
** . Despite this, [[HoldingBackThePhlebotinum long range weaponry that would leave airships like Castle Wulfenbach impractical do not exist.]]

%%
%%is {{steampunk}} combined with fantasy. Most of the weird stuff can be explained by technology, but not everything. The magic includes stuff like the river Dyne (which is an apparently natural spring the waters of which make the drinker a mad genius, though in most cases it's instantly lethal. [[NuclearMutant It also mutates creatures into monsters and can be used as a PowerSource]]), Geisterdamen (who look like ghost-like beings, though they're solid enough), Frankenstein-esque reanimated corpses, Jaegermonsters (non-human beings with superhuman strength and [[LongLived lifespans]] who are former humans who drank the [[SuperSerum "Jaegerdraught"]]), multiple cases of BrainUploading, the [[GeniusLoci castle Heterodyne's]] seemingly telekinetic ability to move chunks of itself, and the whole deal with {{GodEmp|eror}}ress Albia of Britain.%%
%%Incomplete entry.
%%

** Agatha once built a death ray with enough power and range to [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090306 blast out of Mechanicsburg and through a mountain]]. Despite this, [[HoldingBackThePhlebotinum long range weaponry that would leave airships like Castle Wulfenbach impractical do not exist.]]

* ParentalSexualitySquick: According to Zeetha and the Jägers' speculations, Agatha has been avoiding getting sexy with her {{Love Interest}}s - and other hot men - because she's got Lucrezia in her head, and she doesn't want her mother watching and/or involved.

** One of Captain Hawkins' crew and the Smoke Knight she's fighting say "Oooh - '''You''' are ''so lucky''" to each other in unison when Hawkins calls a truce upon realizing they've got a bigger concern than the Smoke Knights [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20171211 incoming fast.]]

* SupervillainLair: Any Spark who reaches a certain level of power will build themselves one of these, with Mechanicsburg and Castle Heterodyne being one of the most prominent examples. One of the novelizations explains that [[EmperorScientist Klaus Wulfenbach]] not only tolerates that his fellow Sparks construct such lairs, but even encourages them - as every minute they spend building or improving their lair is a minute where they ''aren't'' unleashing Mad Science on the surrounding countryside.

* TimeSkip: One occurs [[spoiler:''InUniverse'' when Tweedle takes Agatha (and inadvertently Krosp and Violetta) through a transit portal. Though it ''should'' have been instantaneous, two and a half years passed before they emerged. A rare example in that not only does the audience need another InfoDump, so do the protagonists!]] It's later revealed that [[spoiler:Klaus caused this by activating some sort of [[TimeStandsStill time-stasis]] device in Mechanicsburg at the exact moment they entered the portal - making a transit that should have been instantaneous into a [[PutOnABus bus]] [[TheBusCameBack ride]]. In the interval, the Wulfenbach Empire fell, Mechanicsburg and its environs fell under Gil's monomaniacal control and Tarvek's family has abandoned their claim to the title of Storm King]].

** Teodora Vodenicharova, so far mentioned in ''one'' footnote in ''Literature/AgathaHAndTheVoiceOfTheCastle'', was the mother of Bill and Barry Heterodyne who raised them to be heroes, and saved them from being killed by their father at the cost of her own life; without her, the history of Europa would have been ''very'' different.

* QueerFlowers: Agatha, Zeetha, and Violetta have shared a bed, showered in front of each other, and washed each other's hair.

* TongueOnTheFlagpole: Krosp (Emperor of All Cats) gets his tongue stuck to the milk of his bowl, suddenly frozen by [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20231027 the mere the eldritch presence of the Polar Lords.]]

* SmallRoleBigImpact: Oublenmach, the goon that holds Van's servant hostage, [[spoiler:is ultimately the one that rings The Doom Bell, saving several lives in Mechanicsburg.]]

* SuccessionCrisis: The underlying cause of the Long War was the disappearance of the Storm King, who had no legitimate heirs and [[ReallyGetsAround far too many illegitimate ones]]. The arguments of who the rightful heir of the Lightning Crown is and how to get Europa have been going on for roughly two hundred years, regularly interrupted by Sparks deciding to Show Them All.

* ShutUpHannibal: Long story short, while in the Sanctuary of the Corbettite Monks, [[spoiler:Gil and Agatha's bodies are temporarily being controlled by Klaus and Lucrezia. Lucrezia, naturally, suggests that they sacrifice their children's lives and take over their bodies full time, so that [[WeCanRuleTogether the two of them can rule Europa side by side.]]]] Klaus, likewise naturally, [[spoiler:throws her down onto a table and tries to throttle her, telling her ''he'd burn the Sanctuary and everyone in it to the ground'' before he allowed her or anyone else to harm Gil.]]

* SexSells: Upon arriving to Paris, Agatha is dismayed to discover that her image is quite popular on posters advertising for various products -- said illustrations being very often scantily clad. Up to one advert for [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20150626 Turkish drinking chocolate]] where she's wearing nothing but a ModestyTowel.

* PowerWalk: Jägermonsters pull one [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20111212 here]]. Subverted slightly since most of them are already inside the city and the walk is just to fool enemies.

* PowerWalk: Jägermonsters pull one [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20111212 here]]. Subverted slightly since most of them are already inside the city and the walk is just to fool enemies.

** Professor Blintzie von Wyrmhaut has long, dangerous-looking spikes sprouting from the shoulders of her coat, and smaller ones from the top of her thigh-high boots. And she's certainly a dangerous and amoral Spark. Although in her line of work (which include hunting monsters), the spikes are certainly justified as a defense against being swallowed whole.