History ComicStrip / BeetleBailey

* NoSparks: Many readers see Beetle and Ms. Buxley's relationship this way. After they had been 'dating' for about a year, their relationship still never seemed to make it past third date or so. It may be due to 'StatusQuoIsGod', but you get the impression that the strip's possible ghostwriters don't know what to do with the relationship either.

* IfItWasFunnyTheFirstTime: “But who dares to tell [[BadBoss the general]] that he did a mistake...?”

* KickedUpstairs / ReassignedToAntarctica: It is heavily implied that the reason why Halftrack is made the commander of the camp was so the Pentagon and other bases wouldn't deal with him. ReassignedToAntractica has also happened to others in one-off gags whose effects didn't survive the often NegativeContinuity.

* StoryArc: Over the decades, there have been a handful connecting the actual strips (actual longer album stories notwithstanding), including at least "Beetle arrives at college," "Beetle joins the army," "Beetle goes home on holiday alone," "Beetle goes home on Holiday with Sarge," "Beetle goes on holiday at home with Sarge and Otto," "Zero goes on holiday home with Beetle and Sarge," and "Sarge briefly tries to leave the army but comes back."

* KickedUpstairs / ReassignedToAntarctica: It is heavily implied that the reason why Halftrack is made the commander of the camp was so the Pentagon and other bases wouldn't deal with him.

** Used to be [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in-comic: General Halftrack's superiors know how bad he is (or they have even suppressed his existence), and don't want to risk anything by involving him in it. It was a running gag that the General would wait anxiously for "orders from Pentagon" that would never arrive because of this.
** Rather oddly used back in the Vietnam days; there were several instances when Sarge pined to go to war, when all he would have had to do would have been to say he wants to go; they weren't picky at Vietnam.

* GuileHero: Say what you like of Beetle, and he certainly isn't very heroic for a start, he shows considerable cunning in evading Sarge and the other officers... although some of his attempts are admittedly incredibly dumb instead.

* DeadpanSnarker: Ms. Blips.

* BattleOfWits: Constant between Sarge and Beetle (and to some extent superiors against privates in general). Sometimes more "brains vs. brawn", but Sarge has plenty of cunning of his own in many strips.

* BattleOfWits: Constant between Sarge and Beetle (and to some extent the other privates). Sometimes more "brains vs. brawn", but Sarge has plenty of cunning of his own in many strips.

'''Beetle:''' The protagonist of the comic though he doesn't have all that many [[DesignatedHero protagonistic qualities.]] He [[NonActionGuy isn't the ideal soldier:]] He's lazy, imbecile, fairly mouthy and [[{{Jerkass}} always gets on Sergeant Snorkel's nerves.]]

* IdiotHero: If Zero can be considered a hero, he's definitely the best example of the series. Beetle himself is a quite straight example too. Maybe not at the start of the series where he was intelligent enough to attend university, but he certainly isn't the brightest bulb in the box nowadays.

* NoSparks: Many readers see Beetle and Ms. Buxley's relationship this way. They have been 'dating' for about a year now but their relationship never seems to make it past third date or so. It may be due to 'StatusQuoIsGod' but you get the impression that the strip's possible ghostwriters don't know what to do with the relationship either.

* BreadEggsBreadedEgss: Zero observes that Beetle appears to be crying. Killer says that he must just have the flu, because he's too tough to be crying. Beetle says that anyone would cry if they had such a bad flu as his.

* AnimatedAdaptation: There was a TV series in 1963-64, often paired with animated versions of ''Snuffy Smith'' and ''KrazyKat''.

* CrazyPrepared: In a recent Sunday Strip, Sergeant Snorkel has several soldiers march through the desert in the event that they have to go over to the Middle East.

* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: They're the Soldiers Who Don't Do Anything WordOfGod says this is deliberate, since the strip is specifically about the foibles of the ''peacetime'' army.

* Ambiguously Gay:
** Sub-text implies an attraction between Beetle Bailey and Sarge that is very nearly openly admitted in a strip where Beetle's response to Sarge's injured nose is "So! There's someone else?!", implying that their roughhousing is part of their intimate attraction to each other.

* SoulBrotha: Lieutenant Flap, when he was introduced in the seventies.