History ComicBook / BuckGodotZapGunForHire

* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler:Beemahs are organic energy weapons, or to put it another way, "beamers".]]

* WhoWillBellTheCat: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Winslow The Winslow.]] A ten-pound furry alligator-thing that never says anything except, "Hi!" It would be nothing but a curiosity in a universe full of them if not for three things; it's 100% no-kidding absolutely indestructible. Nine-tenths of all religions in the universe consider it to be The Most Important Thing In The Universe. And the Arisian-like Prime Movers ''confirm this.'' It thus makes the original AppleOfDiscord look like the last donut in the box when it comes to starting conflicts, so ''someone'' has to keep the damned thing out of sight. [[spoiler:Humanity was chosen for this task specifically because it factors into precisely ''none'' of our religions, and we got a sweet favor in the process; a 100% guarantee that we will not go extinct while acting as its steward. This kept us alive for centuries despite numerous screw-ups that would have justified the extermination of any other race. Then someone proposed that Earth be reduced to monoatomic dust to find the blasted thing, which points out that there are a lot of things you can do to a species that don't qualify as extinction, and the deal suddenly doesn't look so good..]].

* WhoWillBellTheCat: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Winslow The Winslow.]] A ten-pound furry alligator-thing that never says anything except, "Hi!" It would be nothing but a curiosity in a universe full of them if not for three things; it's 100% no-kidding absolutely indestructible. Nine-tenths of all religions in the universe consider it to be The Most Important Thing In The Universe. And the Arisian-like Prime Movers ''confirm this.'' It thus makes the original AppleOfDiscord look like the last donut in the box when it comes to starting conflicts, so ''someone'' has to keep the damned thing out of sight. [[spoiler:Humanity was chosen for this task specifically because it factors into precisely ''none'' of our religions, and we got a sweet favor in the process; a 100% guarantee that we will not go extinct while acting as its steward. This kept us alive for centuries despite numerous screw-ups that would have justified the extermination of any other race. Then someone proposed that Earth be reduced to monoatomic dust to find the blasted thing and the deal suddenly doesn't look so good..]].

* AnythingThatMoves:
** Louisa Dem Five
** And yet her employee Sizzlin' Sue manages to make her look like a nun. Especially when she's off her meds and drags [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale a protesting total stranger into her bedroom]].

* PlayingBothSides: While he's not the first MagnificentBastard to cut dishonest deals with two sides of the conflict for his personal benefit, Buck is probably unique in managing to do so while ''both'' parties are '''[[https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205936/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20070929 standing right next to him]].''' He makes convincing arguments to both of them about why he's really on their side and playing the other one, to both of their faces. It ultimately comes down to whether they think Buck's [[EveryoneHasStandards professional standards]] are strong enough to try to fool [=PSmIth=] and Lord Thezmothete for a fairly small fee. [=PSmIth=] believes they are, Der Rock doesn't. [[spoiler: [[ConsummateProfessional They are.]]]]

* PlayingBothSides: While he's not the first MagnificentBastard to cut dishonest deals with two sides of the conflict for his personal benefit, Buck is probably unique in managing to do so while ''both'' parties are '''[[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20070929 standing right next to him]].''' He makes convincing arguments to both of them about why he's really on their side and playing the other one, to both of their faces. It ultimately comes down to whether they think Buck's [[EveryoneHasStandards professional standards]] are strong enough to try to fool [=PSmIth=] and Lord Thezmothete for a fairly small fee. [=PSmIth=] believes they are, Der Rock doesn't. [[spoiler: [[ConsummateProfessional They are.]]]]

* PlayingBothSides: While he's not the first MagnificentBastard to cut dishonest deals with two sides of the conflict for his personal benefit, Buck is probably unique in managing to do so while ''both'' parties are '''[[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20070929 standing right next to him]].''' He makes convincing arguments to both of them about why he's really on their side and playing the other one, to both of their faces. It ultimately comes down to whether they think Buck's [[EveryoneHasStandards professional standards]] are strong enough to try to fool [=PSmIth=] and Lord Thezmothete for a fairly small fee. [=PSmIth=] believes they are, Der Rock doesn't. [[spoiler: [[ConsumateProfessional They are.]]]]

* DistractedByTheSexy: [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20081127 K-BONK!]] ({{NSFW}})

* ADateWithRosiePalms:
** Even with a branch of the [[BandOfBrothels Velvet Fist]] on the station, some people prefer...[[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20090331 alternatives]].[[note]]Look at the box on the floor of the closet.[[/note]]
** Implicitly used by Thad to deal with his libido while Ettare has the libido-inhibiting virus, as he doesn't want to break his vow of fidelity to her.

* OneGenderRace: The Pogs, possibly. Oort and Qvakk are both referred to as males (i.e: "he", "him", etc), and Qvakk states that he "really loved (Oort)...was gonna take him home, make lots of eggs." It's not clear whether this is a biological reality or just a case of human language not having good words for Pog sexes, though (at one point, a character notes that lots of races have trouble with human pronouns, so no reason it couldn't go the other way).

** The mattress in Buck's apartment sports the mention: "SNERTA (Tough enough for a Hoffmannite -- [-but no funny stuff or forget it.-])"

Following the success of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', the original series was released online in [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buck.html web-comic form]] ([[https://web.archive.org/web/20131022231322/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php archived version]]). The last installment of ''The Gallimaufry'' went up on June 20th, 2009. The following week saw a reprinting the three-page "True Story of the Winslow". And that appears to be that. ([[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20091101 Almost.]]) One of the original short stories (the one with nudity) is not included at the above site. We're sure you can find it if you look hard, though ([[http://www.drivethrucomics.com/product/123252/Buck-Godot-Zap-Gun-for-Hire-Volume-1?filters=0_0_0and by "look" we mean 'give' and by "hard" we mean "Phil Foglio your money"]]).

Following the success of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', the original series was released online in [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buck.html web-comic form]]. The last installment of ''The Gallimaufry'' went up on June 20th, 2009. The following week saw a reprinting the three-page "True Story of the Winslow". And that appears to be that. ([[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20091101 Almost.]]) One of the original short stories (the one with nudity) is not included at the above site. We're sure you can find it if you look hard, though ([[http://www.drivethrucomics.com/product/123252/Buck-Godot-Zap-Gun-for-Hire-Volume-1?filters=0_0_0and by "look" we mean 'give' and by "hard" we mean "Phil Foglio your money"]]).

NOTE: It appears that he's taken down the free access to the comic; therefore all the links below are currently inactive, going to an error message instead. Links are being left in for the time being, in case the comic returns.

* PaperThinDisguise: Buck's "Pog Disguise." Which is essentially placing a normal Pog on his head, putting on a shirt over that, and pretending to walk around as a pog. Keeping in mind that Buck is an 8-foot tall, quarter-ton Hoffmanite... and Pogs are about the size of a medium-sized dog. Tops.

* LampshadeHanging: Oort interrupts Lou's infodump to say, "I'm making tea. Do you want one expository lump or two?"

* MostDefinitelyNotAVillain: A [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20090409 scene]] in ''The Gallimaufry'' comic has Buck disguised as an alien Pog, sauntering down the street singing a song about how he's just a Pog, no, really. Mind you, in this instance [[KansasCityShuffle having the disguise fail is actually part of the plan]].

* AccidentalTruth: Buck, messing with the Klegdixal ambassador, predicts "a presentation that will alter the balance of galactic politics, forge new alliances, turn ally upon ally and change the life of every sentient aboard this station." The humans' presentation the following day has every one of those effects.

* PornStash: [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20090516 Even nigh-omnipotent aliens have them]]. Which makes sense. The Gallimaufry station has had its computer system altered, re-organized and rewritten many times over the known history of the station. So of course any smart entity will have an offline copy that can't be tampred with the next time there is a "re-organization".

* AllCrimesAreEqual: {{Deconstructed}} with the Law Machines, NighInvulnerable robots which summarily cart off lawbreakers to an unknown fate like VideoGame/UltimaOnline guards. Surprisingly, this isn't as bad as it sounds. Not only are the laws they enforce still democratically voted on, they are ''enforced'' equally - that is, they are applied to government employees and officials to the exact same extent as citizens. Thus, after the Laws summarily wiped out a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, most humans became quite tolerant (and even ''admiring'') of them. The rest simply move to worlds where fewer of the Laws have been passed.

* WhamShot: The protagonists covertly learn that [[spoiler: the Pogs are fanatical Winslow-worshippers.]]