Evil Genius
is a simplistic Russian Stick-Figure Comic. The plot revolves about the eponymous Evil Genius having to deal with both pesky forces of justice and somewhat inadequate ability of his own henchmen. The comic is loaded heavily with Lampshade Hanging and Shout Outs.
Not to be confused with the Trope or the Video Game by the same name.
Main characters:
- Evil Genius himself. Calm, savvy (dangerously so), and in a decent physical shape to boot.
- Bill the Mad Scientist. Surprisingly emotional guy. His Dooms Day Machines always blow up. Always.
- Bob the Guard. Somewhat straightforward, he takes pride in his job.
Recurring extras:
- Frank the Cook. Surprisingly badass, because of so many ninjas running through his kitchen on daily basis.
- Devil. Usually appears mopping the floor, as a funny background event.
- Igor. Joined the team after yet another of Bill's machines killed his former "herr mathter".
- Eric. A Horny Viking, hired at some point as public relations manager.
- Vittorio. A promising upstart villain who portraits himself as opposition to classical villains. Actually works for (and was trained by) Evil Genius himself.
Evil Genius provides examples of:
- Art Evolution: Despite maintaining its visual style, comic grew significantly more detailed over time. Strangely, old characters' style gets carried on, leading to some contrast between them and new ones.
- Continuity Nod: as backgrounds grew more detailed, those began appearing often, like rather obvious Sword of Sycophancy hanging on the wall or more subtle Script-o-matic standing somewhere in the background.
- Elaborate Underground Base: Of course. It's also riddled with secret passages.
- Horny Vikings: Eric is never seen without his helmet.
- The Igor: Hunchbacked? Check. Speaks with terrible accent? Check. Fond of lightings and arresters? Check. Named Igor? Double Check!
- Lampshade Hanging: Too many examples to list. Usually courtesy of the eponymous character.
- Made of Explodium: Bill's DoomsdayDevices tend to explode, to the point when he has a lot of problems with one that's supposed to explode.
- No Name Given: Everyone just calls the Evil Genius "you" or "boss".
- Running Gag: "You're fired!" And yes, it gets Lampshaded too.
- Surrounded by Idiots: Can't blame EG for feeling that way occasionally.
Strips provide examples of:
- Art Shift: Done for one April Fools Day strip◊.
- BFG: Bob the Guard has one that's bigger than him.
- Break Them by Talking: Inverted. When bargaining over the phone with ninjas who have kidnapped Bob, Evil Genius breaks their leader by not saying a single word.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: In one early strip Evil Genius has to ask author for help.
- Body Double: Evil Genius tries it once via cloning. It doesn't work out.
- Bond One-Liner: In one strip, The Mole says to the Evil Genius: "Stop! Before killing me, you have to tell me what was your plan about!" The Genius' response? He shoots the traitor, and then says "No.", as per the Evil Overlord List.
- Chef of Iron: Frank the Cook is capable of taking out several ninjas with kitchenware.
- Concealment Equals Cover: Averted. When a Wild West-themed villain tries to hide behind a table during a firefight, he gets perforated.
- Conservation of Ninjutsu: Both Evil Genius and Rudy seem to be aware of it, noting that they are relatively safe because they're playing a role of heroes against a squad of mooks.
- The Chessmaster: As evil conference arc shows, Vittorio is one, just as Evil Genius himself. Though the former actually works for the latter.
- Deal with the Devil: Devil ended up having to mop the floors of the base. For free. And all other minions are explicitly forbidden to make a deal with him.
- Driven to Suicide: Evil Genius manages to do that to a particularly paranoid agent of good just by staying dead. Even Grim Reaper is impressed.
- Dungeon Bypass: How to deal with a Death Course leading to angry dragon guarding the artefact? Just tell the dragon you scratched his car, and wait till traps finish him off.
- The Guards Must Be Crazy: Or they would be, if not for their boss.
- Lightning Can Do Anything: Aside from reviving someone, it can also break down a door. How? SCIENCE!
- Literal Genie: Bob trains one of the zombies to kill other zombies in exchange for brains. Just don't tell the guy he's a zombie too, he's the fifth one.
- The Man Behind the Man: Vittorio actually works for Evil Genius.
- Muggles Do It Better: when a hero wielding Crystal Lenzes of Light, Crimson Sword of Fate and Power of the Sky shows up, Bob meets him with old good kinetic weapons.
- Plot Armor: Lampshaded in the very first strip, no less.
- Robot Me: Bob thinks Bobtron 3000 was created to replace him, and doesn't take it well.
- Shout-Out: Several:
- Evil Overlord List: A subtle one: when Rudy the traitor asks Evil Genius about his plan, Evil Genius first shoots him, and then says "No."
- Hellsing: "One of those upstart vampires siding with good" shows up, wearing red cape and wielding two huge handguns.
- When Evil Genius creates a device that conquers the world, with the first use of it he conquers Madagascar. It gets commented on by Bob the Guard.
- One of the background heroes infiltrating into the base looks a lot like ThePunisher.
- One strip refers to "Elixir of Geniality", clearly describing a certain video game made by Elixir Studios.
- Perma-Stubble: Bill, of all people, sports one during Zombie Apocalypse. It magically appears whenever he brings out his minigun.
- Recursive Reality: In one strip Evil Genius is shown drawing that very strip.
- Reverse Psychology: Apparently, the best way to distract agents of good from your evil lair is to put a sign saying "There is no evil base here" on an island with no evil base.
- What Measure Is a Mook?: Minions themselves think so. Also, Bob teaches his Quirky Miniboss Squad to demonstrate as much personality as possible, so readers would empathise them.
