History ComicBook / HackSlash

Has both a live-action film and a motion comic ("[[InsistentTerminology illustrated film]]") in DevelopmentHell, with [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2647420/ Brea Grant]] slated as the voice of Cassie in the latter. The [[TheWikiRule wiki]] can be found [[http://hackslash.wikia.com/wiki/Hack/Slash_Wiki here]], and the unofficial official site can be found [[http://hackslashinc.com/1/ here]].

* BlackSheep: Liberty Lochs.

-->'''Six Sixx:''' [[HurtingHero You've]] got ''your'' personal hell... I've got ''mine''.

* WhipItGood: Cassie in ''Super Sidekick Sleepover Slaughter''. She proves skilled enough with it to pretty much ''eradicate'' someone's nose with it.

* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: In the first part of ''Foes and Fortunes'' (issue 26 of the first ongoing), Vlad, looking for Cassie, ends up walking in on her... [[ADateWithRosiePalms in a very compromising position.]]

* ADateWithRosiePalms: In the beginning of ''Foes and Fortune'', Vlad walls in on Cassie [[UnusualEuphemism "drilling for maiden water"]] during an erotic dream about Samhain. According to her (after she awkwardly told him to GetOut as she composed herself), he also played with himself after the [[GirlOnGirlIsHot lesbian Tub Club]].

* EroticDream: ''Foes and Fortunes'' opens with Cassie having one about [[TokenHeroicOrc Samhain]]. When Vlad comes by, she's [[CaughtWithYourPantsDown caught]] [[ADateWithRosiePalms "drilling for maiden water"]].

* LivingToys: Ashley Guthrie's entire shtick, mixed with YourWorstNightmare

* OrificeInvasion: The Dread Drinkers (heavily implied to be [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Dream Demons]]) possess their host by taking root in their eyes, and induce YourWorstNightmare on victims by grabbing onto theirs.

* YourWorstNightmare: Ashley Guthrie had this ability in his first appearance, although he apparently lost it following the death of his first body.

* {{Stripperiffic}}: Including:
** BareYourMidriff
** BlackBraAndPanties
** CollaredByFashion
** HellBentForLeather
** LoinCloth
** MiniDressOfPower
** StockingFiller

** X-O is [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Victor Zsasz]] with a Tic-Tac-Toe fetish.

* EverythingsEvenWorseWithSharks: Blackfin from ''Trailers''.

** In the first arc of ''Resurrection'', Laurie is adept enough with her [[AnAxeToGrind fire axe]] that she can throw it straight into a zombie's head and avoid Cassie in front of it.

Her only friend is Vlad, a [[GentleGiant hideously deformed but kindly]] [[TheBigGuy giant]] whose odd upbringing by a reclusive butcher left him with NoSocialSkills but excellent meat cleaver moves. Together [[TheyFightCrime they kill zombie mass murderers]], and the odd deserving living person. Aiding the two is the so-called Hack/Slash, Inc., founded by would-be slasher victims Doctor Lisa Elsten and Chris Krank, which [[MissionControl provides info]], and whatever resources they can spare.

* TheyFightCrime:
** Odd couple Cassie and Vlad fight supernatural murder.
** Also the case with Cat and Dog Investigations: Cat Curio is an autistic young woman, and Pooch is a {{hellhound}}, and they investigate mysteries together.

Her only friend is Vlad, a [[GentleGiant hideously deformed but kindly]] [[TheBigGuy giant]] whose odd upbringing by a reclusive butcher left him with NoSocialSkills but excellent [[WeaponOfChoice meat cleaver]] moves. Together [[TheyFightCrime they kill zombie mass murderers]], and the odd deserving living person. Aiding the two is the so-called Hack/Slash, Inc., founded by would-be slasher victims Doctor Lisa Elsten and Chris Krank, which [[MissionControl provides info]], and whatever resources they can spare.

* WeaponOfChoice:
** Meat cleavers for Vlad.
** A baseball bat with nails in it for Cassie.
** Many Slashers has their own particular type of weapon they enjoy using over others.

* SexSignalsDeath: Slashers are generally attracted to teenagers engaging in "deviant behavior" -- there's easily a dozen ready examples of teens getting offed as they're about to have sex. Naturally, this is because of the trope's ubiquity in 80's slasher movies. [[spoiler:This turns out to be a plot point, as Akakios originally created the Slashers, or "Paladins" as he called them, to destroy what he called the "Children of Dionysus", those dedicated to sin and debauchery, in the belief that they would cause an apocalypse]].

* DeathBySex: Slashers are generally attracted to teenagers engaging in "deviant behavior" -- there's easily a dozen ready examples of teens getting offed as they're about to have sex. Naturally, this is because of the trope's ubiquity in 80's slasher movies. [[spoiler:This turns out to be a plot point, as Akakios originally created the Slashers, or "Paladins" as he called them, to destroy what he called the "Children of Dionysus", those dedicated to sin and debauchery, in the belief that they would cause an apocalypse]].

Cassie Hack was an ordinary outcast high school nerdgirl until her mother, Delilah, was discovered to be a serial killer (dubbed "The Lunch Lady") who had been murdering the students who had been bullying her daughter. [[FromBadToWorse Even worse]], after she killed herself she came back from the grave as a "slasher": an undead serial murderer powered by hate and rage and existing only to carry on killing. To make things [[UpToEleven even worse]], Cassie ended up having to personally re-kill her by shooting her several times in the face.

* BandageBabe: Laura Lochs in ''vs. Chucky'' has them all over, so we don't see her horribly burned body.

* FiveManBand: The Black Lamp Society Paladins in the ''Final'' story arc.
** BigBad: Akakios
** TheDragon: Lynn Jagodinski
** EvilGenius: Dr. Edmond Gross
** TheBrute: Father Wrath
** TheDarkChick: Acid Angel
** SacrificialLamb: Grinface

* BigBad: Akakios serves as the OverarchingVillain of the entire main series, and fully comes into his own as BigBad after emerging in the present day.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hack_slash.png]]

* AcidRefluxNightmare: Eating badly causes Cassie to have RecurringDreams about Milk and Cheese, but she almost prefers those over her nightly recollection of shooting her mother. At one point, Vlad, drunk, also hallucinates the duo, [[SubvertedTrope but it’s actually due to other forces]].

** The ultimate fate of [[spoiler:Martha "Muffy" Jaworski]]: trapped in a birdcage in her own mind as Ashley Guthrie controls her body. By the end of ''Mind Killer'', [[spoiler:Six Sixx says [[ThatManIsDead she’s essentially dead]]]].

* AngerBornOfWorry: Cassie verbally chews out Margaret in rage over going in to get information on the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Tin Woodsman]] in ''Over the Rainbow'' instead of waiting outside like she said she would, but it’s obvious that this trope is in play. After a few minutes to calm down, she makes clear she’s just worried about her friend maybe getting killed when she isn’t there.
-->'''Cassie:''' ''You're sorry?!'' You told me you’d meet me ''outside''. You never said anything about going in, much ''less'' about getting chased by a fucking armored ''dwarf''! [...] ''No excuse!'' Just because we're friends doesn’t mean you get to do my job! I ''can't'' know people who risk their lives! I'm so pissed I can barely ''look'' at you.

* TheBait: A common tactic for hunting Slashers. Cassie readily admits that [[ImNotAHeroIm she isn’t a heroine]], [[HunterOfMonsters she’s a Slasher hunter]], so [[UnscrupulousHero she often tricks other innocents into luring out the Slasher of the issue to fight]]. And that’s when she isn’t deciding to be the bait herself as a DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel.

-->'''Vlad:''' I thought you two didn’t get along anymore.\\

-->'''Cassie:''' You’ll be fine. Vlad knows how to stitch a cut. He had to learn all kinds of things like that... [[CommonalityConnection after his parents abandoned him]]. ''{{beat}}'' After you left us, I tried everything a little kid could think of to make you come back. I figured if I did the same thing I was doing the last time I saw you, everything would go back to the way it was... I spent a whole spring sitting in the recliner with my stuffed rabbit repeating "daddy come back, daddy come back" over and over in my head.

* CatFight: Gertrude versus Margaret and Cassie in the opening of ''Mind Killer''. It’s pretty nasty, with hair-pulling, Cassie getting punched hard enough to make her nose bleed, and Margaret getting poked in the left eye.

* CelibateHero: Cassie admits in ''Euthanized'' that one of the reasons she became a monster hunter is because she's afraid of romance. According to her when discussing it with Georgia in Nef, she feels she is "RAID to cock" and hasn’t really ever had any interest in getting with guys that way... resulting in both of them figuring [[ComingOutStory she might be gay]].

* ComfortFood: Cassie's is referenced by Vlad in the opening of ''Closer'', but due to the [[TraumaCongaLine events]] of ''Cassie and Vlad meet the Re-Animator'', [[HeroicBSOD she won’t even respond to being asked if she wants it]].

* DirtyBusiness: Cassie's [[ShootTheDog execution of]] [[WouldHurtAChild the feral children]] in ''Little Children''. She’s disturbed enough that she has to call Georgia/Margaret, who she had previously told never to call her again unless she had information about a Slasher, just to have some comfort.

* EroticDream: ''Foes and Fortunes'' opens with Cassie having one about [[TokenHeroicOrc Samhain]]. When Vlad comes by, she’s [[CaughtWithYourPantsDown caught]] [[ADateWithRosiePalms "drilling for maiden water"]].

-->'''Cassie:''' [[SerialKiller You]] were right about ''one'' thing. [[MoralityPet I care about some people.]] But that just means I’m going to beat you to death with extra rage.

** The BettyAndVeronica {{Expy}} examples go topless in ''Something's Fishy''... only to show that they’ve mutated into FishPeople with gills down their fronts.

-->'''Cassie:''' You like to chase me, Grinface? You like to see me from behind? I’m going to pop your fucking head off. Then I’ll let you see my behind. I’m gonna let you ''kiss it''.

** ComicBook/BombQueen is into Cassie, openly propositioning sex and even giving her a ForcefulKiss when they first met, being annoyed when she’s turned down.

** In ''Murder/Suicide'', [=D1ab0liq=], [[GrandTheftMe possessing Fractal]], strips off Fractal's top entirely before his final assault against Cassie and Vlad. In this case, it’s mostly just to prove how much control he has.

--->'''Cassie:''' I’m just going to go talk to her. [[TemptingFate What’s the worst that could happen?]]\\

* ICantBelieveImSayingThis: In ''Come Together'', Cassie notes she didn’t think she would ever say this, but that she [[BrainwashedAndCrazy attacked Vlad]] because she was [[MushroomSamba "tripping balls"]].
* IWantMyMommy: Ashley Guthrie cries for his mommy after he dies for the third time, as shown in ''Mind Killer''. Considering he hated his actual mother, it’s probably just a reflex.

* ImGoingToHellForThis: Literally In the case of Six Sixx in ''Mind Killer''. After bearing witness to [[TraumaCongaLine the horror that is Cassie's life]] via the Dread Drinkers, he decides to free her of captivity and not take her to a FateWorseThanDeath on [[PlanetHeck Nef]], realizing she is a good person and doesn’t deserve that kind of suffering. Instead, he goes back with only part of his newest DealWithTheDevil fulfilled.
-->'''Six Sixx:''' [[HurtingHero You’ve]] got ''your'' personal hell... I’ve got ''mine''.

** [[spoiler:Delilah]] tells Jack Hack what he said about Slashers back to his face: when he looks at them, it makes him want to feel something ''good''. Unfortunately, the speaker, being insane, doesn’t understand that "seeing Slashers" and "feeling good" weren’t meant to be part of the same thing.

* JokerImmunity: A few slashers (notably Ashley Guthrie and Acid Angel) have reappeared after their apparent demise. Granted, it’s kind of their thing that they can’t stay dead easily.

** In the last issue of ''Come Together'', Cassie rips off her tattered shirt and gives MarshmallowHell to Vlad while driving to snap him out of Acid Angel's mind control. When he comes to, she requests he pretend that never happened. He does bring it up at the end of ''Fame Monster'', but she’s more bemused than embarrassed.

* TheManBehindTheCurtain: In ''Over the Rainbow'', Cassie deliberately mentions this trope in regards to the identity of her DisappearedDad, and why she’s relatively apathetic about looking for him, also partially in a ShoutOut to ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', toward which she was traveling to a remake of.

* MurderIntoMalevolence: A basic part of Slashers. While they are rarely kind, and are often at least somewhat unstable, it takes being murdered for many to come back as {{Revenant Zombie}}s with a bent toward a SerialKiller. [[spoiler:This is an oversimplification. Instead, it’s the [[InTheBlood Black Ambrosia residue in their bloodline]] that brings them back, and [[PsychoSerum turns them toward being more malicious than most people in the first place]].]]

* MyGodYouAreSerious: Cassie breaks down laughing as she hears about [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Mary Shelley Lovecraft]]'s MetaFiction EvilPlan. After enough ranting, Cassie realizes she’s completely serious about all of it, and takes her seriously from then on.

** In ''Tub Club'', Cassie's decision to call Georgia/Margaret all of the time instead of spending time with Vlad leads to him wandering off on his own and being hurt when Emily Christy breaks a bird bath over his head. Cassie, feeling extremely guilty about this, demands (briefly) that Georgia never call her again unless it’s a Slasher emergency.
** In ''Monster Baiting'', [[spoiler:Cassie and Cat's quest with Samhain to find a cure for his bloodlust ends up turning him back into Akakios when the psychosaurs' MindRape removes the mental blocks placed by the witch so long ago. The overall effect is so disastrous that by the end, Cassie requests that Cat not thank her for saving her, since [[FromBadToWorse they didn’t win]]]].

* NotThatKindOfDoctor: In the first arc of ''Resurrection'', Doctor Ezekiel Chase is a doctor... of philosophy. How that means he feels qualified to [[spoiler:perform an autopsy on Cassie, who he administered a lethal injection to but didn’t check is actually dead]] is best left for other minds.

** After interrogating Louis in a bathroom stall, Samhain walks out on his own. It’s very clear that the other man assumes they were doing... something, and Samhain doesn’t bother to dissuade that notion.

* PerpetualPoverty: Due to their nomadic lifestyle, Cassie and Vlad are pretty much constantly strapped for cash, and Cassie tends to talk about how they’re using their money a lot.

** A SubvertedTrope with Senex-Rev 5, the serum made by [[Film/ReAnimator Dr. Herbert West]] combining his own reagent with some kind of substance in Slashers. It doesn’t seem to have any negative side effects on its own, and actually seems capable of restoring stability in Slashers... but requires enough doses to make the effects stick, otherwise they degrade back to their psychopathy.

* PutOnABus: quite a few people, notably Georgia, though TheBusCameBack. [[spoiler:Her girlfriend Jessie, though? Put on a permanent one at the end, since [[LoveCannotOvercome she can’t handle the stress of what the experience with the Society of the Black Lamp did to her]].]]

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Officer Hazelwood in ''Mind Killer''. While initially a HeroAntagonist, he merely is taking what he sees as proper precautions against an infamous fugitive and serial killer (Cassie). Once he realizes what ''actually'' is going on, he helps with a coverup of the Slasher threat and gets Cassie's criminal record cleared. Cassie doesn’t even seem to hold any of it against him.
* RecycledInSpace: One of the "possible" stories in ''Trailers'' had the government sending Cassie and Vlad into space to kill slashers who had taken over a space station. The narration even notes that [[TakeThat this is the kind of thing horror franchises do when they’ve run out of ideas]].

* RefugeInAudacity: Summoned when Six Sixx, when asked about the source of his success, gleefully yells ''"I MADE A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL!"''. He ''did'', but the other man just says "yeah, whatever", given that’s apparently [[RockMeAsmodeus the kind of thing his type say]].

** When joking about one of [[LittleOldLadyInvestigates Linda Marsh]]’s cases at the end of ''Tub Club'', Cassie says [[Franchise/ScoobyDoo "He would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for that pesky nurse"]].

** Cassie might be an ActionGirl, but she doesn’t have any superhuman abilities [[spoiler:usually]]. As a result, she routinely runs into trouble when she is facing a threat she can’t handle physically, and can be caught off guard by as mundane a threat as [[HeroWithBadPublicity the police]] or a group of thuggish cultists, and she can get knocked unconscious with one good solid hit.

* SwordOverHead: Cassie takes this position with her bat after her BigDamnKiss to [[PumpkinPerson Samhain]] in ''Sons of Man'', unsure if he’s broken out of being BrainwashedAndCrazy. It takes him showing he is back to his WarriorPoet self to get her to stop.

--->'''Cassie:''' As bad as this guy sucked, I’d still rather hear [[StylisticSuck Acid Washed]] then anything by Music/AvrilLavigne...

-->'''Cassie:''' I’m just going to go talk to her. What’s the worst that could happen?\\

--->'''Cassie:''' Come on! I’ve had two hours of sleep in three days. Just ''go down''. But, I mean, not like that guy...

* TriggerPhrase: The Society of the Black Lamp has one they use for their [[RevenantZombie "Paladins"]], possibly caused by the AlchemyIsMagic nature of Slashers. However, it’s quite long, so they sometimes can’t get it all out before they are [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard attacked instead]].

** ''Entry Wound'' opens up with a huge battle between {{superhero}}es and [[MetaGuy Mary Shelley]] [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Lovecraft]], telling about the epic battle in play... then shifts to Cassie and Vlad hunting [[HorrorDoesntSettleforSimpleTuesday holiday slashers]] while saying this isn’t that story.

* WickedWitch: Alice, one of the member’s of the Society of the Black Lamp, wears a costume to this effect in the first encounter Cassie has with them. Cassie disparagingly [[ShoutOut calls her]] "[[Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch Sabrina]]".

* ContemptibleCover: Mostly an issue with the Omnibuses.

* DisproportionateRetribution: A common trait of Slashers. We have Delilah Hack (killing and [[IAteWhat turning Cassie's bullies into]] [[TheSecretOfLongPorkPies "mystery meat"]]), Laura Lochs (her boyfriend was stolen by a Spring Break slut, so she planned on committing a massacre), the Sundermann brothers (killing the people responsible for making their favorite childhood hero DarkerAndEdgier), and many more.

* IAteWhat: Delilah didn't just kill the kids who bullied Cassie, she butchered them and made them into cafeteria food, which was fed to the rest of the unknowing students.

** FingerlessGloves

* BadassAdorable: Cassie, [[DependingOnTheArtist sometimes]] more than others. [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xeOzo0Axgj0/TLZXqDW976I/AAAAAAAAA7Q/guliKOHxfL8/s1600/img-dm_cassie_hack.jpg Example]].

* SchoolgirlLesbians: The ''Tub Club'' arc featured an entire cult of them.

* ADayInTheLimelight:
** ''Over the Rainbow'' for Margaret.
** Six Sixx hogs the spotlight for most of ''Mind Killer, Part II''.
* AGodAmI: Ourobouros.

* RealityEnsues:
** Cassie might be an ActionGirl, but she doesn’t have any superhuman abilities [[spoiler:usually]]. As a result, she routinely runs into trouble when she is facing a threat she can’t handle physically, and can be caught off guard by as mundane a threat as [[HeroWithBadPublicity the police]] or a group of thuggish cultists, and she can get knocked unconscious with one good solid hit.
** Although Cassie seems to have achieved an EarnYourHappyEnding at the end of the initial run, she never went into therapy for her ''many'' mental problems, including being a ShellShockedVeteran with a side of being a literal SociopathicHero. As such, [[spoiler:she breaks up with Margaret due to being unable to escape the nightmares of her life as a horror hunter]].
** At the end of ''Resurrection Vol. 1'', [[spoiler:Cassie is surprised that Laurie wants nothing more to do with her - killing someone's mother, even if she was a villain plotting multiple murder, will do that.]]

* WithMyHandsTied: Cassie ends up being pretty effective in her first fight with the Society of the Black Lamp in ''Closer'' despite being BoundAndGagged... [[RealityEnsues until the adrenaline wears off and she passes out from the drugs still in her system]].

* EvilCripple: Courtney in ''Hatchet/Slash''. Cassie even claims she's NotSoDifferent from Victor Crowley himself.

* NotSoDifferent: Cassie, with her mother being a Slasher, has the potential to become one, and is often haunted by her past deeds.