History ComicBook / Deception

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dragon_age_deception.jpg]]

''Franchise/DragonAge: Deception'' is a three-part ComicBook mini-series from the same creative team that gave us ''ComicBook/KnightErrant'', published by Creator/DarkHorseComics. It follows a washed-up actress-turned-ConArtist Olivia Pryde whose latest [[TheCon scheme]] takes her to the Tevinter city of Ventus (previously seen in ''ComicBook/ThoseWhoSpeak''). That said, the scheme goes south pretty fast, as pretty much nobody turns out to be what they seem at a glance.
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!!The comic book contains examples of following tropes:

* AnAesop: You cannot change a person by just asking them nicely -- change needs time. This is hammered home at least three times: [[spoiler:when Olivia negotiates a no-killing clause with the Crows, they honor the ExactWords but go right back to murdering afterwards; when Ser Aaron gives Olivia herself a YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre speech, she makes a point of sleeping with Calix just to demonstrate her petty spite for her ex; and when Ser Aaron then grabs a pint, despite his promise to Vaea to never touch alcohol again.]] The statement is a bit muddled, however, by the ending [[spoiler:where Olivia sacrifices herself for Calix, Aaron, and the rest, seemingly swayed by the knight's heroic rhetoric earlier]].
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Florian Invidus is brutally murdered by the Antivan Crows, but given how he outright admits to being an active member of the Venatori -- one of the franchise's few truly evil factions -- it's hard to sympathize with him.]]
* TheCameo: [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Dorian Pavus]] appears in all three issues, while [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins King Alistair and Slim Couldry]] pop up in the second issue.
* CanineCompanion: Olivia's mabari Autumn, whom the authors based on their own dog, a Pomeranian/Chihuahua mix with the same name.
* TheCaper: The first two issues turn out to be the preparation for the break-in at the Qintara Mansion, [[spoiler:concocted by Ser Aaron and Vaea with the backing of Magister Dorian and, presumably, the Inquisition]].
* ConflictKiller: Just as the conflict between the main characters, Francesca Invidus, and [[spoiler:Solas' agents]] are about to come to a head in issue three, [[spoiler:the Qunari storm the Qintara Mansion and everyone bands together to escape]].
* ConMan: Olivia, a.k.a. "Magister Aramis". [[spoiler:Also "Calix Qintara" turns out be another con artist posing as a Magister's son.]]
* CycleOfRevenge: [[spoiler:After exposing each other's identities, Olivia and Calix start attempting to repeatedly one-up each other in the social manipulation game (Olivia mostly wins, thanks to her greater experience), until Calix lampshades what they are doing and offers to resolve their conflict with a decisive con artist duel.]]
* DeadPersonImpersonation: [[spoiler: Magister Qintara, who nobody had seen for a decade, is revealed in Issue 3 to have died years ago. His valet, an elf named Gaius, took over his identity and used his status and connections to gather information on behalf of Solas. He and the other servants in the mansion maintained the illusion that Gaius was alive and conducting magical experiments using pyrotechnics.]]
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler: A tearful Francesca cradles her brother Florian's body after discovering his corpse in a back alley.]]
* DuringTheWar: The first chapter takes place in Ventus (a.k.a. Qarinus) on the eve of a Qunari invasion, so everyone who can leave the city is on their way out. [[spoiler:Ventus is razed by the Qunari at the end of Issue Three]].
* ExactWords: One of Olivia's conditions for working with the Crows is that they do not kill anyone while providing a distraction for her infiltration of the Ventus city vault. They keep their word, but [[spoiler:when they are attacked by Florian Invidus ''after'' fulfilling their mutual obligations with Olivia, they go right back to their stab-happy ways]].
* GoshdangItToHeck: Vaea extends to the list of particularly Thedosian curses with "son of a motherless nug" upon [[spoiler:discovering the Qintara vault already swept clean]].
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: A qunari ambushing a Tevinter patrol literally cuts one of the soldiers in half.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: In issue two, [[spoiler:after watching Olivia very demonstratively seduce Calix, Ser Aaron downs a mug of ale -- after staying sober for months (according to Vaea), no less]].
* InformedAbility: Francesca is supposedly the most powerful mage in the Invidus family, yet she never gets to actually cast magic in the entire mini-series.
* LastStand: [[spoiler:While the main characters escapes Qintara Mansion, Olivia stays behind to distract and to delay the Qunari who are searching for a magister, since only she can put up a convincing act of it. While her death occurs off-screen, [[WordOfGod one of the co-authors has confirmed]] that she is dead.]]
* TheMark: Calix Qintara, the sheltered son of a Tevinter Magister. Later, Olivia [[spoiler:and Calix]] attempt to con a brother and sister pair of Tevinter mages, the heirs of the Invidus family.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In the flashback, Slim Couldry has this moment when he realizes that a pendant Olivia had fenced to him belongs to Ser Aaron. He then rushes out to find Ser Aaron, explains the situation, and returns the pendant with his apologies. [[spoiler:Ser Aaron later surmises that Couldry has been Olivia's target all along: she wanted to break ties with him ''and'' keep some of his money, knowing that Couldry would return everything she stole from Aaron back to him.]]
* NaiveNewcomer: Calix Qintara to the Ventus society, seeing how he has spent most of his life sheltered at his father's estate. [[spoiler:At least, that's what Olivia ''assumes''. The reality is that "Calix" is actually another con man ... who is also incredibly naive and new to their line of enterprise.]]
* OldFlame: Flashbacks show Olivia and Ser Aaron having a brief romantic liaison seven years ago in Denerim, and in issue two, he outright says to Vaea that he has only loved a person once in his life, implying that it was Olivia. [[spoiler:Olivia, on the other hand, makes a point of very openly seducing Calix in front of Ser Aaron in a fit of seemingly drunken haze.]]
* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler:Gaius, one of Solas' agents posing as Magister Qintara, is unceremoniously decapitated by a Qunari warrior after making the mistake of stopping to talk with them instead of just running like everyone else.]]
* ProfessionalKiller: A pair of Antivan Crows assist Olivia [[spoiler:and Calix]] with breaking into the city vault in issue two. [[spoiler:They create a distraction by spreading news in the marketplace of soldiers abandoning the city. The frightened citizenry gather at the vault demanding to withdraw items, allowing Calix and Olivia to talk their way into the building.]]
* RealNameAsAnAlias: [[spoiler:"Calix Qintara's" real name actually ''is'' Calix, though he is not a noble, but an escaped slave formerly owned by the Qintara estate.]]
* RespectedByTheRespected: The extent of Ser Aaron's fame is demonstrated by a flashback in the second chapter, where he casually rubs elbows with ''King'' Alistair Theirin.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere:
** In issue one, Autumn the mabari fails to intimidate a furious Tevinter mage and decides to make a break for it.
** In issue two, a pair of Tevinter soldiers realize the patrol sent out in the previous issue isn't coming back. They exchange looks and promptly abandon their post, fleeing the city.
* SkunkStripe: Part of the wig Olivia wears as "Magister Aramis", probably intended to invoke the LockedIntoStrangeness trope.
* StudentAndMasterTeam: Defied in issue one, where [[spoiler:"Calix" really, really wants to be Olivia's sidekick, but she has none of it. She warms up to him in issue two, however, in more ways than one]].
* TheTale: Olivia poses as "Magister Aramis", intending to threaten Calix Qintara with investigating his family's connection to the Venatori, so he would try to pay her off with a bribe. Later, she uses the same tactic on another pair of mages, Francesca and Florian Invidus.
* ThisIsThePartWhere: Dorian has to give [[spoiler:"Calix"]] a number of increasingly transparent hints that he has figured him out, until he, in exasperation, outright tells him to run away.
* WorkingWithTheEx: [[spoiler:Olivia is roped into helping Ser Aaron retrieve the floor plans for the Qintara mansion from the city vault.]]
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Ser Aaron, in his usual manner, tries to convince Olivia that she is not as self-absorbed as she lets on, pointing out that [[spoiler:she knew that Slim Couldry will return the loot she stole from Aaron to him (in other words, she stole Couldry's money rather than Aaron's heirloom), and that one of her conditions for working with the Crows was that they do not kill anyone]].
* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: [[spoiler:After reaching the Qintara vault, Vaea discovers it swept clean by the treacherous elven servants, and whatever was kept there (strongly implied to be Meredith's red lyrium sword from ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'') has been long sold off to House Danarius (the former owners of Fenris from the same game). This makes the fortress of House Danarius the next destination for Vaea and Ser Aaron.]]
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* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: [[spoiler:After reaching the Qintara vault, Vaea discovers it swept clean by the treacherous elven servants, and whatever was kept there (strongly implied to be Meredith's red lyrium sword from ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'') has been long sold off to House Danarius, (former owners of Fenris from the same game). This makes the fortress of House Danarius Vaea and Ser Aaron's next destination.]]

** Ser Aaron also slays a qunari mook this way.

* NaiveNewcomer: Calix Qintara to the Ventus society, seeing how he has spent most of his life sheltered at his father's estate. [[spoiler:At least, that's what Olivia ''assumes''. The reality is that "Calix" is actually another con man... who is also incredibly naive and new to their line of enterprise.]]

* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: [[spoiler:After reaching the Qintara vault, Vaea discovers it swept clean by the treacherous elven servants, and whatever was kept there (strongly implied to be Meredith's red lyrium sword from ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'') long sold off to House Danarius (former owners of Fenris from the same game), setting her and Ser Aaron's next destination.]]

* DuringTheWar: The first chapter takes place in Ventus (a.k.a. Qarinus) on the eve of a Qunari invasion, so everyone who can leave the city is on their way out. [[spoiler:Ventus is burned to the ground by the Qunari at the end of issue three]].

* GoshdangItToHeck: Vaea extends to the list of particularly Thedosian curses with "son of motherless nug" upon [[spoiler:discovering the Qintara vault already swept clean]].

* LastStand: [[spoiler:While the main characters escapes Qintara Mansion, Olivia stays behind to distract and to delay the Qunari who are searching for a magister, since she only can put up a convincing act of it. The jury is still out on whether she is actually this heroic or has had [[XanatosSpeedChess another cunning plan]], as well as whether she was killed in the first place: we don't actually get to see her death or her corpse, and the only confirmation we have is the Qunari shouting that they got her. Given how this is Olivia and deception is her entire life, nothing is out of the question yet, although Calix definitely seems to believe in her sacrifice enough to take on her last name in her memory.]]

* InformedAttribute: Francesca is supposedly the most powerful mage in the Invidus family, yet she never gets to actually cast magic in the entire mini-series.

* DuringTheWar: The first chapter takes place in Ventus (a.k.a. Qarinus) on the eve of a Qunari invasion, so everyone who can leave the city is on their way out.

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* TheTale: Olivia poses as "Magister Aramis", intending to threaten Calix Qintara with investigating his family's connection to the Venatori, so he would try to pay her off with a bribe. Later, she uses the same tactic on another pair of mages, Francesa and Florian Invidus.

* TheCameo: [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Dorian Pavus]] appears briefly in the first two issues, while [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins King Alistair and Slim Couldry]] pop up in the second issue.

* ProfessionalKiller: A pair of Antivan Crows assist Olivia [[spoiler:and Calix]] with breaking into the city vault in issue two. [[spoiler:They create a distraction by spreading news in the marketplace of soldiers abandoning the city. The frightened citizenry gather at the archives demanding to withdraw items, allowing Calix and Olivia to talk their way into the building.]]

* RespectedByTheRespected: The extent of Ser Aaron's fame is demonstrated by a flashback in the second chapter, where he casual rubs elbows with ''King'' Alistair Theirin.

* RespectedByTheRespected: The extent of Ser Aaron's fame is demonstrated by him casually rubbing elbows with ''King'' Alistair Theirin in a flashback in the second chapter.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Florian Invidus is brutally murdered by the Antivan Crows, but given how he outright admits to being an active member of the Venatori -- one of the franchise's few truly evil factions, -- it's hard to sympathize with him.]]

* CanineCompanion: Autumn the mabari, who the authors based on their own dog, a Pomeranian/Chihuahua mix with the same name.

* CycleOfRevenge: [[spoiler:After exposing each other's identities, Olivia and Calix start attempting to repeatedly one-up each other in the social manipulation game (Olivia mostly wins, thanks to her greater experience), until "Calix" lampshades what they are doing and offers to resolve their conflict with a decisive con artist duel.]]

* HilariousInHindsight: Olivia comments that she came to the city to "do" Calix (ie. con him out of his money). [[spoiler:They end up going to bed together at the end of Issue 2.]]
* TheMark: Calix Qintara, the sheltered son of a Tevinter Magister. Later, Olivia [[spoiler:and Calix]] attempt to con a brother and sister pair of Tevinter mages, the heirs of the Invidus family.
* NaiveNewcomer: Calix Qintara to the Ventus society, seeing how he has spent most of his life sheltered at his father's estate. [[spoiler:At least, that's what Olivia ''assumes''. The reality is that "Calix" is actually another con man ... who is also incredibly naive and new to their line of enterprise.]]
* OldFlame: Flashbacks show Olivia and Ser Aaron being very intimate when they were younger, and there are hints that she tried to scam him, but didn't go through with it, and he still harbors some affection for her.
* ProfessionalKiller: A pair of Antivan Crows assist Oliva [[spoiler:and Calix]] with breaking into the city vault in Issue 2. [[spoiler: They create a distraction by spreading news in the marketplace of soliders abandoning the city. The frightened citizenry gather at the archives demanding to withdraw items, allowing Calix and Olivia to talk their way into the building.]]
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: There are two examples so far, one for each issue.
** In Issue 1, Autumn the mabari fails to intimidate a furious Tevinter mage and decides to make a break for it.
** In Issue 2, a pair of Tevinter soldiers realize the patrol sent out in the previous issue isn't coming back. They exchange looks and promptly abandon their post, fleeing the city.

* StudentAndMasterTeam: Defied. [[spoiler:"Calix" really, really wants to be Olivia's sidekick, but she has none of it.]]
* TheTale: Olivia poses as "Magister Aramis", intending to threaten Calix Qintara with investigating his family's connection to the Venatori, so he would try to pay her off with a bribe. Later, she uses the same tactic on another pair of mages, Francesa and Floria Invidus.

* ProfessionalKiller: A pair of Antivan Crows assist Oliva [[spoiler:and Calix]] with breaking into the city archives in Issue 2. [[spoiler: They create a distraction by spreading news in the marketplace of soliders abandoning the city. The frightened citizenry gather at the archives demanding to withdraw items, allowing Calix and Olivia to talk their way into the building.]]

* WorkingWithTheEx: [[spoiler:Olivia is roped into helping Ser Aaron retrieve the floor plans for the Qintara mansion from the city archives.]]

* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: A qunari ambushing a Tevinter patrol in Issue 1 literally cuts one of the soldiers in half.

** In Issue 2, a pair of Tevinter soliders realize the patrol sent out in the previous issue isn't coming back. They exchange looks and promptly abandon their post, fleeing the city.

* TheCameo: [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Dorian Pavus]] appears briefly in the first two issues, while [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins King Alistair and Slim Couldry]] pop up in the first issue.

* CanineCompanion: Autumn the mabari, who the authors based on their own dog, a Pomeranian/Chihuahua mix.

** In Issue 1, Autumn the mabari decides that running is preferable to facing down an angry Tevinter mage.

* CradlingTheDead: [[spoiler: Francesca does this with her brother Florian's body after discovering his corpse in a back alley.]]

* TheCameo: [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Dorian Pavus]] and [[ComicBook/KnightErrant Ser Aaron]] both appear on a couple of pages in the first chapter.

* CycleOfRevenge: [[spoiler:After exposing each other's identities, Olivia and "Calix" start attempting to repeatedly one-up each other in the social manipulation game (Olivia mostly wins, thanks to her greater experience), until "Calix" lampshades what they are doing and offers to resolve their conflict with a decisive con artist duel.]]

* TheMark: Calix Qintara, the sheltered son of a Tevinter Magister.
* NaiveNewcomer: Calix Qintara to the Ventus society, seeing how he has spent most of his life sheltered at his father's estate. [[spoiler:At least, that's what Olivia ''assumes''. The reality is that "Calix" is actually another con man... who is also incredibly naive and new to their line of enterprise.]]

* TheTale: Olivia poses as "Magister Aramis", intending to threaten Calix Qintara with investigating his family's connection to the Venatori, so he would try to pay her off with a bribe. Later, she uses the same tactic on another pair of Magister children.

* WorkingWithTheEx: [[spoiler:TheCliffhanger at the end of part one suggests that Olivia will be roped in working for or with Ser Aaron.]]