Left to right: Jacob Linkletter, Bud Oven, Autumn Pingo, and Tiffany Et.
"Where cognitive dissonance thrives! Cute furry little animal children will lead us into chaos!"
Precocious is a webcomic by Christopher J. "Chrispy" Paulsen built around a rather large group of "superintelligent" children who live in two separate neighborhoods, who just happen to be canines and felines. The main characters are known for being completely insane in one way or another. Not very serious, but very funny, the comic is about those children/mad scientists in their everyday lives.Read it here.
Tropes:
Actual Pacifist: Max, overtly. Yvette, possibly as well, though she is so timid it's hard to know what's in her head.
Adults Are Useless: Both subverted and played straight. Many of the parents are at least as smart as their kids (with the exception of Kaitlyn Hu's mother).
Art Evolution: Compare Strip #1 to Strip #28. See a difference? Good. Now look at an even later strip, like #87. Big difference, eh?
An even more dramatic comparison is at the bottom of this page.
Recently regressing, at least in detail. In chronological order: eliminating color strips altogether; eliminating almost all backgrounds or inanimate objects; positioning all characters at the same depth (with few exceptions). Color is back, for now, thanks to a fan contributor.
However, now backgrounds seem not to be as much of an issue anymore, and there's even some varied perspective.
Ascended Extra: The other side of the class (a.k.a.: the cast of Copper Road).
And probably just the second-most visible of Tiffany's disorders, after her narcolepsy.
Author Avatar: In his FAQ, Chris states that Bud was originally "a cartoony avatar of myself." However, a more straight example would be Kaitlyn Hu, especially in the Copper Road strips.
Batman Gambit: "See?" A battle plan that depended on what the enemy was likely to do.
Card-Carrying Villain: Most of the children, but a special mention goes to Dionne, who even freely admits her selfishness and evil intentions in a debate for class president.
Cats are Mean: Well, not particularly. Though it's probably no coincidence that the two nicest Gemstone kids are dogs (well, a dog and a wolf), while Dionne (said to have no soul) is a cheetah.
Five-Man Band: Doesn't fit perfectly; for instance, all of them are technically The Smart Guy, but since specific effort was put into lampshading their roles, it's worth noting that there are not one but two separate bands in play, one featuring the main cast and the other their Copper Road counterparts.
Which leaves Suzette, who stands alone. And for that, everyone is grateful.
Flanderization: Inverted (sort of). Most of the minor characters are introduced pre-Flanderized. Played straight, however, for Shii Ann Hu. Mentioned by trope name in the alt-text for strip 237.
For the Evulz: Dionne's impetus to do pretty much anything. Example. Not that the Gemstone Estates kids usually cite any other reason..
Noodle Incident: Whatever the Sapphire kids did preceding their hiding out at Kaitlyn's birthday party. One by one, supporting characters learned the details in tiny whispers indecipherable by the audience.
Almost all of the children's unseen escapades are treated as Noodle Incidents unless the joke or plot specifically requires otherwise, as well as wealth of Noodle Implements in play when their schemes have yet to come to fruition.
Subverted with Tiffany's aging. Strip 893 presents the accident that halted Tiff's aging as a Noodle Incident, but strip 896 provides an explanation.
Only Sane Man: Kaitlyn. Her time spent observing the others has built up remarkable insight into the social dynamics of the class. She employs this to great effect starting in this strip. The ensuing conversation provides her with justified time in the spotlight.
Post-Kiss Catatonia: Vincent, after Autumn kisses him for returning her dossier binder. Not that she cares much about him - she just really wanted the binder back.
Running gags involving Autumn and her family include jokes about her family reproducing via cloning and library science.
In the more recent "internEt" mini-arc, Rule #4 (first introduced in this strip) has become a running gag and is regularly used in the comments section.
Word Of God: Chrispy typically replies to the comments people leave in the comments section of each strip's page and explains things when necessary. As well as occasionally on his blog
For example, he recently Jossed most of the potential invokedToy Ships.
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