History ComicBook / TheWickedAndTheDivine

* AnyoneCanDie:
** [[spoiler: Luci, who was often billed as almost a {{Deuteragonist}} along with Laura, seemingly dies in issue #5.]]
** [[spoiler: And Laura, ostensibly the protagonist and {{Audience Surrogate}} of the series, seemingly dies in issue #11. Inanna, another Pantheon member who features heavily, seemingly dies too.]]
** [[spoiler: Tara seemingly dies in issue #13, just after she's been properly introduced.]]
** [[spoiler:Ananke is offed by Laura in #22.]]
** [[spoiler: Amaterasu is murdered by Sakhmet in #31.]]
** [[spoiler: Sakhmet is killed by Minerva in #32, and Dionysus is rendered braindead in the same issue.]]
** [[spoiler: Badb kills Baphomet and then as Gentle Annie revives him at the cost of her own life in #37.]]
** [[spoiler: Issue #42, Minerva kills David/Woden and Baphomet revives Dionysus at the cost of his life.]]

* KilledOffForReal: Death seems to stick in the [=WicDiv=] world.
** [[spoiler: While it seems Persephone comes back from the dead in Issue #18, Issue #20 reveals that she wasn't actually killed by Ananke; Inanna was while he and Baph rescued Persephone. And the ones who were decapitated but are now living heads can be re-embodied.]]
** [[spoiler: Although he ultimately doesn't do it, Baphomet implies that he and the Morrigan actually ''can'' re-animate ''each other'' at the cost of their own lives, but then he cuts off that option by using Morrigan's bodies for the heads, and trading his own life to revive Dionysus, who is brain-dead at the time rather than dead.]]

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** The power and adoration one gets by becoming a god is enough to convince people to do some very horrible things in order to get the chance to ascend. It convinces two [[spoiler: fans]] to try to kill Lucifer, shooting innocents in the progress, and convinced [[spoiler: 1830s Inanna to agree to murder her sister's children in exchange for ascension.]]
** Most of the gods are not at all happy with their drastically-reduced lifespan, especially Minerva, who's got 2 years to live at ''12''. [[spoiler: She's not actually 12, but as it turns out, she ''does'' have less than 2 years to live...]]
** Being a god does not mean that you're above the law, as Lucifer finds out. [[spoiler: Also, when Laura/Persephone kills Ananke, the other gods' first thought is how they'll stop her from getting convicted for murder.]]
** The gods are all teenagers of various ages who have been given vast amounts of power and adoration, who can do almost whatever they want, and who have to deal with the shock of their new identities, their reduced lifespans and their responsibilities on top of all their ''other'' problems and already-existing insecurities. The result? Sure, some of them are nice, but a few are complete douchebags.
** The gods are viewed as entertainers, and most people consider their original personalities to not really matter. As a result, when Tara tries to play her own songs and recite her own poetry instead of just performing like everyone else, the crowd turns on her and she gets so much hate that [[spoiler: she gives up and commits suicide by Ananke.]]
** Laura [[spoiler: becomes Persephone, achieving her every wish, and then has to watch as Ananke, a woman she trusted, kills Inanna- Laura's good friend- and Laura's entire family. The poor girl is so shocked and traumatised that she does almost nothing for days afterwards.]]
** [[spoiler: Ananke has known the gods for millennia, is the one who helps them ascend, and is trusted absolutely. So she's in the perfect position to stab them all in the back.]]
** ''Rising Action'' is an arc full of climactic moments and revelations as [[spoiler: the gods battle Ananke. But once that's done, ''Imperial Phase (Part 1)'' is full of the gods having no real idea what to do with their lives apart from party, perform and wait to die- at least until the Great Darkness shows up.]]

* AllForNothing: [[spoiler: Baal has been doing some really fucked up shit- including [[WouldHurtAChild literal child sacrifice]]- for the purpose of stopping The Great Darkness from consuming the earth as it did his father. Except there's no Great Darkness. It was a complete lie made up to manipulate him, the world was never in any danger and all the death was for nothing. [[DespairEventHorizon He doesn't take]] [[DrivenToSuicide learning this well]].]]

* AscendedFanboy: Several of the gods were Pantheon fans when they were mortal, including Innana and Dionysus. [[spoiler: Laura/Persephone is a big one. Cassandra/Urðr is more of an Ascended ''Anti-Fan'', who continues to claim that it's all bullshit after becoming a god herself. Woden/David was a Pantheon scholar who traded his son's life for a chance to enjoy the hedonistic perks of godhood for two years without worrying about dying.]]

* CastFullOfGay: Inanna is genderqueer, Cassandra is trans, Baal has a boyfriend, Luci's up for whatever, and Sakhmet goes for AnythingThatMoves. It's implied that most gods check off a box there as well.

* ConversationCasualty: [[spoiler: In #31, Sakhmet and Amaterasu have a conversation in a museum. Provoked by something she says, Sakhmet slices at Amaterasu's throat and leaves her to bleed out.]]
* CryingWolf: Ananke tells Morrigan that [[spoiler: Persephone slept with Baphomet. Morrigan refuses to believe it, saying that Ananke's lied so often that Morrigan will never believe her again.]] Morrigan eventually discovers that she wasn't lying, though, and it doesn't end well.
* CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon: Badb threatens to rip out Baphomet's shinbone and use it as a dildo.

* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler: Inanna tried to be, but Baph couldn't go through with killing him in the end. He doesn't get to repeat it, as Ananke kills him before he can react.]]

* DocumentaryEpisode: #23 is an in-universe magazine with interview features with some of the Pantheon. The features were written by real-world cultural and political journalists, with Gillen providing the interview answers in character.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Done [[NominalHero perhaps deliberately]] on Persephone's part, since she is billed as "the Destroyer." Most notably, her decision to harbor Sakhmet after her killing spree in Issue #28 ends with Sakhmet and Amaterasu dying, Dio going braindead, Baal getting severely injured, and Mini being traumatized by being forced to kill Sakhmet. Persephone shows no signs of improving when Urðr calls her out on it.]]

* ScientistVsSoldier: Two of the three teams in Imperial Phase are Study and Fight. Baal, Amaterasu, and Minerva want to defeat the great darkness ASAP, while Cass, Woden, and Dio think it is smarter to learn about it first.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:Both the Valkyries and Beth's crew (save for Beth herself) decide to hightail themselves away from Valhalla after being freed from Minervananke's control.]]

* TeenPregnancy: In ''Mothering Invention'', [[spoiler: Laura]] reveals that she's pregnant.

** Averted not in the story but in the mythology itself. Cassandra notes that there are several different Baals in history, and has no idea which one the one in the pantheon is until he tells her. As for Tara, nobody knows whether she's the Hindu or Buddhist deity - not even her.

* PlayingWithFire: Luci, Baphomet, and theoretically any sun or fire god has domain over fire. Amaterasu later showcases the same.

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: [[spoiler:Minerva]], even at their most evil, insists that using mind control to rape people would be wrong.

** Woden. He can create outfits/suits for his "girls", transforming them into something beyond human but not quite a god. It seems that while Woden cannot speak in the way the rest of the gods can, his Valkyries can create such an experience.

** Most of the gods are not at all happy with their drastically-reduced lifespan, especially poor Minerva, who's ''12''. [[spoiler: She was acting.]]

* EverythingsBetterWithRainbows: Fittingly, Woden's valkyries can make rainbow-coloured bifrost portals when he tells them to.
* EvilOldFolks: [[spoiler: Ananke is killing and manipulating the gods for the sake of some ritual sacrifice, and has no compunctions about offing mortals who get in the way.]]

* FanConvention: The London Fantheon, which is a crazy convention for the fans of the gods (and the gods themselves).

* FisherKing: An unusual example. [[spoiler: When Nergal sacrifices The Morrigan’s three dead bodies to give new bodies to Luci, Inanna, and Mimir, the cathedral Nergal built to him and Morri begins to crumble.]]

** The final ascension being [[spoiler:apparently the ''thirteenth'' of twelve is an early sign that Minerva didn't actually ascend.]]

** [[spoiler: While it seems Persephone comes back from the dead in Issue #18, Issue #20 reveals that she wasn't actually killed by Ananke; Inanna was while he and Baph rescued Persephone.]]
** [[spoiler: This only applies to such gods as are actually dead, and not the ones who were decapitated but are now living heads.]]

** [[spoiler: Issue #33 shows that Luci, Inanna and Tara still live on as bodyless heads in Ananke's sacrifice altar. They don't seem to be alive to move, but they can talk.]]

* MagicMusic: The gods' concerts are magical, ecstatic experiences for the people present. Notably, while the gods do release songs, the concerts themselves are not quite music and can't be recorded.

** Judging by the prologue in issue #1, even if a god lasts two years without dying by somebody else's hand, they must still die in order for the Recurrence to continue. Otherwise [[spoiler: humanity will lose all creativity, apparently.]] In the 455 special, Lucifer lasts the two years and refuses to die. [[spoiler: Over the next two weeks, he goes completely insane and winds up dying via burnout.]]
** Later disputed by [[spoiler: Laura, though she claims you don't continue to live as a god in that case. However it's happened, she's managed to exit the cycle in some fashion and offers it to the others. Even Cass' powers no longer identify her as Persephone, adding credence to the idea.]]
** Further evidenced with TheReveal of [[spoiler: Ananke's origin and the origin of the cycle. Ananke, her sister and several others had powers already, shown at least to have power over fire. When they start to believe themselves as actual gods, the two year time frame goes into effect.]]
* DeathOfAChild: The entire point of the recurrence is that the gods are incarnated as young adults, who will die within two years. Minerva, the youngest, will be dead before she's ''fourteen''. [[spoiler: Or will she?]]

* DevilButNoGod: Lucifer exists in this world, but the Abrahamic god has no appearance or reference. This is implied to create some problems with Christian extremists.
* DevilComplex: Lucifer, of course. [[spoiler:This leads her to temporarily reject the attempts to reject the Pantheon's own divinity; after all, she isn't a god, she's the Devil.]]

* DiesWideOpen: [[spoiler:Amaterasu died this way in Issue #31.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Most of the Pantheon is dead, but so is Ananke, meaning the Recurrence has ended for good and the survivors have been allowed to lead normal lives into middle age. Laura and Eleanor eventually (amicably, it seems) split up, but Laura then began a relationship with Cass, which led to a loving marriage that lasted decades until Cass' death.]]

* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:Woden]] to a T.

%%* AmicableExes: [[spoiler:Laura and Eleanor in the finale.]]

* ButtMonkey: ''Fucking'' Tara.

** Luci's outfit is a shout out to Music/DavidBowie. She also has a few Beatles references in her, such as in WaxingLyrical below, and her last name being Rigby.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:Both the Valkyries and Beth's crew (save for Beth herself) decide to hi-tail themselves away from Valhalla after being freed from Minervananke's control.]]

** [[spoiler: Turns out Ananke has been doing this for thousands of years, sacrificing four living heads from each Recurrance to power her immortality.]]

* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler: Luci, who was often billed as almost a {{Deuteragonist}} along with Laura, seemingly dies in issue #5.]]

* AtomicFBomb: [[spoiler: Whatever Urdr and Persephone find in the secret room in #32 causes Urdr to let out one.]]
* AscendedFanboy: Several of the gods were Pantheon fans when they were mortal, including Innana and Dionysus. [[spoiler: Laura/Persephone is a big one. Cassandra/Urdr is more of an Ascended ''Anti-Fan'', who continues to claim that it's all bullshit after becoming a god herself. Woden/David was a Pantheon scholar who traded his son's life for a chance to enjoy the hedonistic perks of godhood for two years without worrying about dying.]]

* BlessedWithSuck: Get godly powers, live like a rockstar, die within two years - yeah, being a member of the Pantheon comes with a pretty hefty price. Several members think that said godly powers are reason enough to enjoy what they've got. Several... do not.

* BrownNote: The Morrigan causes this in pictures of her. 90% of the time, if you take a picture of her you instead get a picture of your true love...at the moment of their death. The other 10% turn out properly, but when they're posted to facebook there's a "doom" button instead of a "like" button, and only The Morrigan can click it - which she always does.

** When Dionysus's party gets started in issue #8, the wheel is... different.

*** Woden (the Continental Germanic version of Norse Germanic Odin, and the name that serves as the etymological source of Wednesday). He also has his own band of Valkyries which, although possibly not actual reincarnations (since they're human girls imbued with a portion of his power), do take their names from the mythology (such as Brunhilde). The Norns also appear, with Urdr as the last God proper while Skuld and Verdandi seem to function similarly to Woden's Valkyries. [[spoiler: There's also Mimir, the ''actual'' member of the Pantheon who's powers are being stolen by Woden.]]

* FingerSnapLighter: One of Luci's trademarks. [[spoiler: Eventually Persephone's.]] It's even the trope picture.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Fucking Tara. Deconstructed later.

* GainingTheWillToKill: [[spoiler: It takes Baphomet roughly six months to convince himself to take a life - and even then he needs some convincing from the devil on his shoulder. And then ''still'' couldn't do it.]]

** AGodIAmNot: [[spoiler: It is discovered this is the true way to break the cycle. After Ananke shows the remaining Pantheon the truth, they realize they had never been actual gods, only pretending to be gods, in a case of YourMindMakesItReal. Lucifer flips this around, since she, Satan, is definitely not a god, she doesn't believe the rules apply to her... until Laura convinces her to stop anyway.]]

* HeroKiller: Deserved or not, [[spoiler: Baphomet]] is getting this reputation.

* LiteralMetaphor: The gods Ananke has trouble controlling are the ones who are "underground" and have a more indie vibe to them, Baphomet and Morrigan. They also hang out ''literally'' underground, with the Morrigan always being found in subway tunnels and basements.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Done [[NominalHero perhaps deliberately]] on Persephone's part, since she is billed as "the Destroyer." Most notably, her decision to harbor Sakhmet after her killing spree in Issue #28 ends with Sakhmet and Amaterasu dying, Dio going braindead, Baal getting severely injured, and Mini being traumatized by being forced to kill Sakhmet. Persephone shows no signs of improving when Urdr calls her out on it.]]

* OneSteveLimit: Averted not in the story but in the mythology itself. Cassandra notes that there are several different Baals in history, and has no idea which one the one in the pantheon is until he tells her. As for Tara, nobody knows whether she's the Hindu or Buddhist deity - not even her.

* RewatchBonus: Once it's revealed that [[spoiler: Woden is David Blake and not actually a god at all]], a ''lot'' of things in previous issues suddenly make sense.

* SaveYourDeity: [[spoiler: Unsuccessfully for Luci, Tara and Inanna, successfully for Persephone and Minerva.]]
** [[spoiler: Laura and Urdr manage to rescue Luci, Inanna, Mimir and Tara in Issue #41, and the former three get new bodies thanks to Nergal.]]

** Implied and Defied in Issue #33. After Persephone confessing to Urdr why she is in hell, she leans close but Urdr immediately backs away when she realized what she was doing.

** Simiarly, the alternate cover for said Sakhmet issue contains the words "ar lasa mala revas" (elven meaning more or less "you are free"), from ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition''.

* SpoilerCover: Issue #18 [[spoiler: which has Persephone on it, seven issues after she's supposedly dead.]]

* [[StageMom Stage Parents]]: Minerva's parents have her do blessings at the Fantheon... for a price. And don't even bother counting the money as it rolls in. [[spoiler: Issue #38 reveals that they're not even her real parents, just a random couple who were greedy enough to take her in and act the part in exchange for the money. It doesn't end well for them.]]

* SuperEmpowering: Woden. He can create outfits/suits for his "girls", transforming them into something beyond human but not quite a god. It seems that while Woden cannot speak in the way the rest of the gods can, his Valkyries can create such an experience.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The power and adoration one gets by becoming a god is enough to convince people to do some very horrible things in order to get the chance to ascend. It convinces two [[spoiler: fans]] to try to kill Lucifer, shooting innocents in the progress, and convinced [[spoiler: 1830s Inanna to agree to murder her sister's children in exchange for ascension.]]

** Issue #9. [[spoiler: Ananke reveals that the death gods can kill other members of the pantheon to steal the time they have left, causing Baph to consider going on a rampage. And Cassandra becomes the twelfth member of the pantheon, Urdr.]]

** Issue #20. [[spoiler: Baphomet didn't kill Inanna; Inanna died when he and Baph tried to save Persephone from Ananke. Also Baphomet is actually Nergal and Persephone's powers work on Urdr.]]

** Issue #32: [[spoiler: Whatever Woden was planning fails, but Dio is braindead and it's stated he won't be coming back. Minerva is forced to kill Sakhmet when she attacks Persephone. Urdr and Persephone find a hidden room behind the machine and discover... ''something'' which causes Urdr to utter a huge AtomicFBomb.]]

-->'''Ananke''': You were always a difficult one.

-->'''Ananke''': It's taken so long to find you.

* WhamShot: The end of Issue #28: [[spoiler:Ananke writes a very OOC letter to an unnamed accomplice, sending it off with a Woden tech teleporter.]]

** Among her other allegations, Kerry mentions that Woden has trouble getting it up during sex. [[spoiler:Which makes sense when you realize that Woden is much older than he has been letting on.]]

* UnreliableExpositor: [[ExaggeratedTrope Everyone.]] By the end of the series, virtually everything we're told about the gods and their powers has been revealed to be errors, half-truths or outright lies.

** Baphomet tells Morrigan that they must "change or die". Given their goth tendencies, this almost certainly refers to ''ComicBook/TheSandman''.