The Trial (in French Le Jugement) is the twelfth album of the comic book series XIII. It was published in 1997.
General Carrington is going to retire. During the succession ceremony, he neutralizes his successor and the vice-president, he kidnaps President Wally Sheridan, and he steals the nuclear football. He escapes with him to a disused military base. Then he asks the authorities to send him XIII and Jones.
The Trial provides examples of:
- Almost Dead Guy: After being shot by Wally Sheridan, the Mongoose survives long enough to reveal that Wally Sheridan was the instigator of the murders he committed and to disclose the location of a bank safe where evidences can be found.
- Badass in Distress: XIII is caught by Irina when he tries to kidnap the Mongoose. She holds him at gunpoint. Jones has to throw a plant pot on her to save XIII.
- Bittersweet Ending: Wally Sheridan and the Mongoose are dead. Their crimes are exposed live on TV. The Mongoose discloses the existence of a bank safe where evidences can be found. However, Kim Carrington is dead, General Carrington, Jones and Amos have to flee, XIII is caught by the authorities and Frank Giordino tells him that he will be considered as a foreign agent involved in the kidnapping and the murder of the president.
- Boxed Crook: To force XIII and Jones to accept the mission, the authorities remind Jones that she is officially a deserter and they warn XIII that the case of the murders of Jeremie and Matt Rowland could be reopened. So they accept.
- Call-Back: General Carrington tells XIII and Jones to go where the Indian walks.
- The Cavalry: Jones throws a plant pot on Irina when she is about to shoot at XIII's knees.
- Continuity Nod: XIII tells Jones that someday he will tell her about Frank Giordino's past. (Sean Mullway recounted Frank Giordino's backstory in Three Silver Watches.)
- Damsel out of Distress: Jones is taken hostage by the Mongoose, but she manages to hit his arm so that he has to drop his gun.
- "Die Hard" on an X: Inverted. The good guys take control of a disused military base, where they hold President Evil and a professional killer hostage. They have also stolen the nuclear football. The professional killer is not searched. Suddenly, he takes out his gun and tries to reverse the situation.
- Disney Death: Irina shoots at Jones. Jones falls on the floor. Irina finds XIII and she tells him that she has killed Jones. Jones reappears moments later: she wore a bulletproof vest.
- Disney Villain Death: Irina falls from a balcony of the Mongoose's house and dies off screen.
- Elaborate Underground Base: The disused military base where General Carrington hides with Wally Sheridan is underground.
- Emergency Impersonation: After Wally Sheridan is kidnapped, a lookalike plays his role in a hospital. The authorities claim that the president is sick and has to stay in the hospital for some time.
- Empty Quiver: General Carrington, a renegade officer, steals the nuclear football and takes the president hostage.
- He Knows Too Much: This is why Wally Sheridan kills the Mongoose, the hitman who has worked for him for so long, in the end (along with You Have Outlived Your Usefulness).
- Knockout Gas: General Carrington uses it to neutralize his successor, the vice-president, and Wally Sheridan.
- It's Personal: The main reason why General Carrington wants to expose Wally Sheridan's crimes is that Wally ordered to kill Kim, Carrington's daughter.
- Manly Tears: General Carrington sheds tears when he switches off the machine that keeps his daughter alive.
- Military Maverick: General Carrington breaks many rules in this episode: he neutralizes his successor and the vice-president, he kidnaps President Wally Sheridan, and he steals the nuclear football.
- Mirrored Confrontation Shot: General Carrington and Wally Sheridan face each other on the album cover.
- Murder by Mistake: Giordino triggers the bomb hidden inside the Mongoose's gun... which Wally Sheridan had taken, blowing the latter up.
- Refusal of the Call: Jones and XIII are reluctant at first to help the authorities, but finally they accept the mission, because they are reminded that they could be sent to jail.
- Retired Monster: The Mongoose now lives on an island in the Bahamas.
- Revenge Before Reason: Irina has XIII at gunpoint. Instead of simply shooting him down, she wants to make him suffer, because XIII blinded her in one eye in Thirteen to One and she wants to take revenge. This gives Jones enough time to come round and throw a plant pot on her.
- Secret Underground Passage: There is one inside the disused military base. It leads to an undergound river. General Carrington, Jones and Amos use it to escape.
- Series Fauxnale: The Mongoose and Wally Sheridan, two major villains who were involved in the conspiracy and who had not been punished so far, die. But on the last page, XIII is jailed by Frank Giordino.
- Shoutout
- Amos reads an album of the Bruce J. Hawker series (another series by Willian Vance) when he is waiting for XIII and Jones.
- One of the Mongoose's bodyguards reads Batman.
- When Jones suggests burning the Mongoose's house, XIII tells her that he is not The Punisher.
- Show Some Leg: Jones uses this trick to distract the man who delivers water to the Mongoose. She tells him that a snake bit the inner side of her thigh and asks him to have a look. (Then she slaps him in the face because he looked too closely.)
- Slipping a Mickey: XIII puts a drug in the water delivered to the Mongoose's house, so that everyone (except Irina) is asleep when he attacks it with Jone.
- Storming the Castle: In the Bahamas, XIII and Jones attack the island where the Mongoose and Irina live.
- Surprise Witness: Kim Carrington is still alive. General Carrington introduces her during the trial. Subverted, because she is in a coma and cannot testify.
- Villain Decay: The Mongoose was a dreaded hitman in the previous instalments. In this episode, he enjoys life in the Bahamas. XIII and Jones easily capture him when he is asleep. (XIII even lampshades that this dreaded opponent is just an old man sleeping in a chair now.) His attempt to reverse the situation in the military base fails.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
- This is why the gun that Frank Giordino gives to the Mongoose contains a bomb. Giordino plans to set it off as soon as the Mongoose has killed General Carrington.
- This is why Wally Sheridan kills the Mongoose, the hitman who has worked for him for so long, in the end (along with He Knows Too Much).
- You Wouldn't Shoot Me: When Wally Sheridan grabs the Mongoose's gun, XIII says that he will not dare to shoot because he only kills people with the help of a hitman).
