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* FarSideIsland: Bun Bun gets trapped on one after an attempt to sail to Tijuana, stranded alone with a single other person and a palm tree.
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* SwallowedWhole: Aylee's usual method of eating is to swallow her food whole. When she meets Bun Bun she does so in one gulp, only for Bun Bun to burst out through her chest.
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yay, more accurate trope


** BlobMonster Skip's [[https://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=73#2023-09-05 Civic]] bears the plate "JBL 13X", evoking [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiendsDemons Juiblex the Ooze Lord]].

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** BlobMonster [[GooItUp Goo demon]] Skip's [[https://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=73#2023-09-05 Civic]] bears the plate "JBL 13X", evoking [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiendsDemons Juiblex the Ooze Lord]].
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** [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/070101 In 2006,]] before they can drink from their beers, Torg is knocked out by a flying [[UsefulNotes/NintendoWii Hogtendo SuuWii]] remote that Gwynn lost her grip on;

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** [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/070101 In 2006,]] before they can drink from their beers, Torg is knocked out by a flying [[UsefulNotes/NintendoWii [[Platform/NintendoWii Hogtendo SuuWii]] remote that Gwynn lost her grip on;



* LawyerFriendlyCameo: A few years into the strip, technology started being referred to in this way (like the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoWii Hogtendo SuuWii]] and [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 Playstayshun 2]] consoles). Initially, though, things like Torg's UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast were given their proper names.

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* LawyerFriendlyCameo: A few years into the strip, technology started being referred to in this way (like the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoWii [[Platform/NintendoWii Hogtendo SuuWii]] and [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 [[Platform/PlayStation2 Playstayshun 2]] consoles). Initially, though, things like Torg's UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast Platform/SegaDreamcast were given their proper names.



** Also in [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20050420 this strip,]] where Torg and Gwynn fighting over a [[UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable PlayStationPuny]] is visualised as a FightingGame itself.

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** Also in [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20050420 this strip,]] where Torg and Gwynn fighting over a [[UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable [[Platform/PlayStationPortable PlayStationPuny]] is visualised as a FightingGame itself.
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Crosswicking

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* DataDriveMacGuffin: The first half of "The Research and Development Wars" centers on a raid against Hereti-Corp, wiping its backup corporate servers and absconding with the master set of hard drives. For most members of the attacking alliance, this is simply a matter of corporate espionage; for Torg, ItsPersonal as (among other things) Hereti-Corp's secret files are his only lead on who Oasis is and how to stop her.
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Trope was cut/disambiguated due to cleanup


* HeroesWantRedHeads: Subverted. Oasis is the only major redhead in the strip, and though Torg's initial reaction to her was in those lines, now it is generally and for very good reasons "'''RUN. LIKE. HELL.'''" [[InvertedTrope It's more a case of Redheads Want ''Heroes''.]]

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Surprised this WASN'T here, especially because he still jokes about this


* WebcomicTime: One of the more notorious offenders and even a regular topic of self-deprecating humor from the creator and the characters themselves. Just one example that makes this more apparent, a story entitled "5 Minutes at a Party" took over a month to complete. A post from the comic's 26th anniversary in 2023 joked that "It feels like the 25th anniversary was ''two minutes ago''! Possibly in real time for the characters!" Pete has acknowledged in interviews that while he's regularly shown the passage of time, the series also abides to an extent by ComicBookTime because while he has acknowledged the characters getting older, he doesn't intend for them to be twenty-plus years older than they were at the start.



** [=bROKEN=] is basically a wham ''arc''. This becomes apparent when [[spoiler: Dr. Schlock has Oasis's father-figure executed while she watches helplessly, for no reason other than to show he means business]]. As the arc ends, [[spoiler: Torg is losing his grip on reality and becoming increasingly unstable, Oasis is paralyzed from the neck down in the clutches of [=HeretiCorp=], Aylee is clearly dying from a ''massive'' neck wound (she thankfully gets better), Zoë's cursed necklace has been found (which currently has no possible explanation other than her being dead), and Riff is trapped in a {{dystopia}}n alternate dimension and was seemingly shot down by a squad of armed goons while cradling Zoë's burnt corpse.]]

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** [=bROKEN=] is basically a wham ''arc''. This becomes apparent when [[spoiler: Dr. Schlock has Oasis's father-figure executed while she watches helplessly, for no reason other than to show he means business]]. As the arc ends, [[spoiler: Torg is losing his grip on reality and becoming increasingly unstable, Oasis is paralyzed from the neck down in the clutches of [=HeretiCorp=], Aylee is clearly dying from a ''massive'' neck wound (she thankfully gets better), Zoë's cursed necklace has been found (which currently has had no possible explanation other than her being dead), and Riff is trapped in a {{dystopia}}n alternate dimension and was seemingly shot down by a squad of armed goons while cradling Zoë's burnt corpse.]]
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* ClothespinNosePlug: In the Dimension of Lame, even the sewers are inoffensively pleasant, being filled with scented flowers. The smell makes occupying them a challenge for the invading demons, for whom GoodIsBadAndBadIsGood; they overcome it once the local AlternateSelf of Riff outfits them with clothespins on the nose.
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crosswicking

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* VanityLicensePlate:
** Kusari drives a [[https://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=64#2012-06-29 Corvette]] with her name on the license plate. There's a similar car for Oasis, but since it purports to be registered in the state of "Isle of Dr. Steve" its plate probably isn't valid.
** BlobMonster Skip's [[https://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=73#2023-09-05 Civic]] bears the plate "JBL 13X", evoking [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiendsDemons Juiblex the Ooze Lord]].

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Crosswicking


* TotemPoleTrench: "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Dr. Bunwig McTwodudes]]" [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20110804 here,]] consisting of two adult men (though they sure aren't acting like it) and a bonus rabbit. ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext; they really don't have much of a reason to use a disguise like that. Since they're ''not'' short, the "doctor" ends up being very tall, though at least Riff is sitting on Torg's shoulders, not standing.

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* TotemPoleTrench: TotemPoleTrench:
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"[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Dr. Bunwig McTwodudes]]" [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20110804 here,]] consisting of two adult men (though they sure aren't acting like it) and a bonus rabbit. ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext; they really don't have much of a reason to use a disguise like that. Since they're ''not'' short, the "doctor" ends up being very tall, though at least Riff is sitting on Torg's shoulders, not standing.


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* TourismDerailingEvent: In the "Kitten" arc, satanic kittens are doing mischief in a town deep in the woods in a parody of ''Film/{{Jaws}}''. And just like "Jaws", [[SuitWithVestedInterests the sheriff wants to keep it quiet so the town's tourism will remain unimpended]]. Further parodied when TheWormGuy trying to deal with the kittens points out to the sheriff that the "tourism industry" he is talking about is just a pair of cabins that are occasionally rented out to spring breakers or people who got lost and the scientist could not only solve the issue in one night if the sheriff was not so obsessed about keeping quiet, he could pay the potential losses of not renting those cabins for a single night out of his own pocket if the sheriff wants. [[SkewedPriorities The sheriff refuses to listen.]]
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--> '''Torg:''' Alright, we'll need some of the townsfolk to [[VideoGame/WarcraftII chop down trees, mine for gold]], and [[VideoGame/TotalAnnihilation set up solar collectors]] in case we need to build more troops. Do we have any dragons yet?

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--> '''Torg:''' --->'''Torg:''' Alright, we'll need some of the townsfolk to [[VideoGame/WarcraftII chop down trees, mine for gold]], and [[VideoGame/TotalAnnihilation set up solar collectors]] in case we need to build more troops. Do we have any dragons yet?
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* TheFairFolk: Cookie and Christmas elves are cute and relatively harmless, but the evil fairies that play tricks on minds and kidnap people also exist.

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* PerfectlyCromulentWord: In trying to come up with his new name, You-Probably-Don't-Know-Who ends up anagramming his name to "I'm a slorddly tampon". Lucius says that slorddly's not even a word, but William Wotcherclaws [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/080423 says that if the master says it is, then it is]] and then [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/080424 uses it in a sentence one comic later.]]



* PerfectlyCromulentWord: In trying to come up with his new name, You-Probably-Don't-Know-Who ends up anagramming his name to "I'm a slorddly tampon". Lucius says that slorddly's not even a word, but William Wotcherclaws [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/080423 says that if the master says it is, then it is]] and then [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/080424 uses it in a sentence one comic later.]]

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* PerfectlyCromulentWord: In trying to come up with his new name, You-Probably-Don't-Know-Who ends up anagramming his name to "I'm a slorddly tampon". Lucius says that slorddly's not even a word, PerfectPoison: Pizza made of 100% cheese is absolutely delicious, but William Wotcherclaws [[http://www.[[https://archives.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/080423 says that if the master says it is, then it is]] and then [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/080424 uses it com/book.php?chapter=50#2006-08-14 a single bite, improperly prepared, will yield a fatal coronary in a sentence one comic later.]]seconds]].
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* TwoAliasesOneCharacter: Kusari is [[TheFaceless never seen outside her all-concealing ninja suit]] until her DramaticUnmask twenty years into the comic's run. More accurately, never seen except in her other identity as [[spoiler:Sasha, aided in the obfuscation by being a cloned HiveMind]].
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* OtherworldlyTechnicolourHair: There's an alternate dimension where all the counterparts of the regular (human) cast have purple hair, and speak Portuguese for some reason.
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* LastPlanStanding: Torg allies with Monicruel, among others, to raid Hereti-Corp's corporate servers while wiping their backups. His plan would leave him in possession of the data (with no intention of sharing it with the rest of the alliance), but Monicruel captures Torg's teammate Sasha and [[HostageForMacGuffin demands control of the information herself]]. [[spoiler:Then the [[EgocentricTeamNaming Torglodytes]] infiltrate Monicruel's hideout and liberate both Sasha and the case full of stolen hard drives; Hereti-Corp gets the last laugh as the former seizes the opportunity to snag the latter, revealing herself as a [[TheMole mole]].]]
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Updating Links


* SuperheroOrigin: Parodied/deconstructed in the "Stick Figure Tales of Cotton" filler arc with the flashbacks to the origins of Torg's rabbit-themed identity "Captain Hippity" and Riff's "Science Boy". Torg [[Franchise/SpiderMan is bitten by a radioactive rabbit]] and becomes..."Lost All My Teeth And Hair Man" from the radiation poisoning, before being cured and given super powers by aliens. Riff's [[Franchise/{{Batman}} parents are killed]] and he becomes "Orphan-Boy, [[InsaneTrollLogic with the proportionate strength of someone with no parents!]]" before being given a bazooka and scholarship to MIT by the same aliens.

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* SuperheroOrigin: Parodied/deconstructed in the "Stick Figure Tales of Cotton" filler arc with the flashbacks to the origins of Torg's rabbit-themed identity "Captain Hippity" and Riff's "Science Boy". Torg [[Franchise/SpiderMan [[ComicBook/SpiderMan is bitten by a radioactive rabbit]] and becomes..."Lost All My Teeth And Hair Man" from the radiation poisoning, before being cured and given super powers by aliens. Riff's [[Franchise/{{Batman}} [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} parents are killed]] and he becomes "Orphan-Boy, [[InsaneTrollLogic with the proportionate strength of someone with no parents!]]" before being given a bazooka and scholarship to MIT by the same aliens.
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* DivineDelegation: Mohkadunese mythology tells of "the One", who empowered Prozoato (the Creator), Kozoaku (the Destroyer), and later Krohnus (the God of Time). In practice, Krohnus is the TopGod of a pantheon of [[DeityOfHumanOrigin other exalted mortals]], with Kozoaku a GodOfEvil and neither the One nor Prozoato obviously engaged with events.
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Crosswicking Dismembering The Body.

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* DismemberingTheBody: [[VampireVarietyPack Vorpyr and strakoi vampires]] are only incapacitated by a stake through the heart, looking like a desiccated corpse up until the stake is removed. To permanently kill a vorpyr one typically cuts off their head after staking and stuff their mouth with garlic, though Aylee forgot the procedure and just tore a bunch of vorpyrs into pieces. Strakoi need their head cut off and the body burned.
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* UnwillingSuspension: Sam ties Dr. Shankraft and his chief minion Hanz together and dangles them from the ceiling by their ankles. Since they're ungagged and within sight (but not reach) of Shankraft's command console, they exposit on what the security system picks up and provide comic relief of the ChainedHeat variety until the building they're in is destroyed.
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* PublicSecretMessage: Torg arranges clandestine contact with Oasis by [[ForcedMeme hammering the world with a viral music video]] featuring the refrain "Meet me at the cliff": that is, where their second encounter culminated, somewhere out in the Poconos.
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* ColorCodedTimeStop: In [[PlaceBeyondTime Timeless Space]], anything or anyone that's run out of time is frozen and gray. Downplayed in that the art style used inside the bubbles of active time is [[SplashOfColor mostly]] black-and-white line drawings, so the golden glow at the edge of a time bubble and contrasting blue background often look more colorful than anything else in a strip.

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** [[spoiler:Sasha being [[https://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=71#2018-02-22 "someone who won't stay dead" in the same way as Oasis]]]] is sublty hinted at [[https://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=59#2009-08-14 here]], though at the time, Torg was referring to [[spoiler:Sam]].



* [[spoiler:Sasha being [[https://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=71#2018-02-22 "someone who won't stay dead" in the same way as Oasis]]]] is sublty hinted at [[https://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=59#2009-08-14 here]], though at the time, Torg was referring to [[spoiler:Sam]].
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Added to Foreshadowing. Final word tagged as spoiler only because of first spoiler's text.

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* [[spoiler:Sasha being [[https://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=71#2018-02-22 "someone who won't stay dead" in the same way as Oasis]]]] is sublty hinted at [[https://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=59#2009-08-14 here]], though at the time, Torg was referring to [[spoiler:Sam]].
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Long Title has been disambiguated


* StylisticSuck: Torg's ShowWithinAShow comic book ''[[LongTitle Gunman Stan McKurt vs. the Gates of the City of Hell]]''. The art is good, but the writing relies on FauxlosophicNarration and it just consists of different views of the same one panel.

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* StylisticSuck: Torg's ShowWithinAShow comic book ''[[LongTitle Gunman ''Gunman Stan McKurt vs. the Gates of the City of Hell]]''.Hell''. The art is good, but the writing relies on FauxlosophicNarration and it just consists of different views of the same one panel.
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crosswicking

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* NonResidentialResidence: The protagonists' home base during the Research and Development Wars is a "functioning showroom" Torg serendipitously found in the middle of an otherwise normal [[FictionalCounterpart Björkea Swedish furniture super store]]. It's hard for anyone to navigate to or from it [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum because the color line that would guide shoppers through it is twisted into a Möbius strip]].
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* MagicOrPsychic: In the main universe, abusing Khronus's Web of Fate allows mortals to use magic. The Anima dimension lacks a fate web, making mortal magic impossible, but it has another system created by a different deity that makes it possible for mortals to use psionics.

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* MagicOrPsychic: In the main universe, abusing Khronus's Web of Fate allows mortals to use magic. The Anima dimension lacks a fate web, making mortal magic impossible, but it has another system system, possibly created by a different deity deity, that makes it possible for mortals to use psionics.

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