History Recap / AsterixAndCleopatra

* CutASliceTakeTheRest: Obelix divides the poisoned cake into three pieces- two little ones for Asterix and Getafix, and one large one for himself! ("You greedy pig!" mutters Asterix.) Since they need to get rid of the whole thing to make sure nobody else tries it, this works out fine for them.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/asterixcleopatra.jpg]]

** The album cover is a parody of the movie poster to ''Film/{{Cleopatra}}''. Several scenes are also directly inspired by this film, including Cleopatra travelling on a large sphinx, pulled by slaves.

* YouHaveFailedMe: The method Getafix uses to get the Gauls off of the poisoning charge gets the taste tester fired for "falsely" reporting a poisoning attempt. However, the tester doesn't mind losing his job - he hated the food served in Cleopatra's court, and now he never needs to eat it again.

** Obelix destroying the Sphinx' nose explains why it has no nose nowadays.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The region of France where Asterix's village is located is over 3,000 miles from Alexandria as the crow flies, and at least half again that distance as the galley sails (As one has to cross the entire Mediterranean, go through the Strait of Gibraltar, around Spain and up France's west coast). Even with crack rowing teams working multiple shifts, Edifis would take up at least half of his available time just getting to Getafix and bringing him back.

The construction of the palace is inhibited by Edifis' rival Artifis, who would love to see the former fed to the crocs. Artifis incites a worker's rebellion, and sabotages shipments of stone, both are stopped by the magic potion. Artifis tries to get rid of the Gauls by first trying to trap them in a pyramid, then framing them for attempting to poison Cleopatra and kidnapping Edifis. The Gauls are able to survive both attempts, and Artifis and his lacky Krukhut are forced to work on the palace ''without'' magic potion.

* BigBadEnsemble: Julius Ceasar and Artifis act as two separate big bads who, despite their common goal (both want to see Edifis fail) never join forces. Artifis tries to sabotage the construction by convincing the workers to go on strike, bribing the stone-delivery man to throw his load away, kidnapping Edifis, sending Cleopatra a poisoned cake and blame the Gauls for it, and having the Gauls locked up in a pyramid. Julius Ceasar on the other hand resorts to brute force, using his soldiers to lay siege to the construction site and attack the palace with catapults.

** Edifis' assistant Otis keeps talking about a machine that would allow the lifting and lowering of people or merchandise. Otis is an elevator-manufacturing company.

* SkewedPriorities: At one point Edifis expresses concern that the current stresses he's under will make him inedible by the time he's fed to the crocodiles, proclaiming that sacred crocodiles can't be fed just any old thing (Obelix naturally observes that this is crazy).
* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: While Caesar is present from the beginning, and the one responsible for making the bet with Cleopatra, he [[OrcusOnHisThrone sits back for most of the story]] while Artifis antagonises Edifis and the Gauls. Only after Artifis is dealt with does Caesar find out about the Gauls helping Edifis, prompting him to actively try and sabotage the construction. He's by far a bigger threat to the heroes than Artifis was, forcing the Gauls to seek help from Cleopatra herself.

Caesar learns of the Gauls' aid, and not wanting to lose face, tries to capture them. Though the Gauls are able to fend off the Romans, the palace gets wrecked. Asterix and Dogmatix send word of this to Cleopatra, and she puts Caesar in his place. The palace is completed, Edifis recieves his reward, Getafix recieves scrolls from the Library in Alexandria, and the Gauls return home triumphant.

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: When the captain of the boat transporting new stones to the construction site shows up empty handed, and claims there are no more stones, Obelix proceeds to beat him [the captain] in the face repeatedly (apparently toning the force of the blows down enough to not be fatal). It doesn't take long before the captain confesses how Artifis has bribed him to toss the stones in the Nile.

* VillainHasAPoint: The entire plot is kickstarted by Julius Caesar claiming to Cleopatra that the Egyptians have become decadent and Cleopatra betting him that they can build a palace in 3 months to prove him wrong. While the palace does get built, it only does so because Edifis calls in Asterix, Obelix and Getafix (who obviously aren't even Egyptians) to help with their magic potion, which you have to admit probably counts as cheating. They don't even build the palace according to Edifis' plans because Edifis actually ''is'' an incompetent architect at structures other that pyramids and Getafix has to correct them. So was Caesar really wrong...?

* CutASliceTakeTheRest: Obelix divides the poisoned cake into three pieces- two little ones for Asterix and Getafix, and one large one for himself! ("You greedy pig!" mutters Asterix.)

- -> “These Egyptians are crazy!”

* CreditsGag: In some editions of the album, the front cover listed all the things that had gone into making the book, including "14 litres of India ink", "1984 sheets of paper", "2 typewriters" and "366 pints of beer".

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-->'''Legionnary 1:''' We'll be an-Nile-late

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: While Cleopatra and Getafix are calmly discussing the poisoned cake, somehow not being drowned out by Asterix and Obelix having a shouting match over the appropriateness of eating leftover almonds in the presence of a queen.

-->'''Legionnary 1:''' We'll be an-Nile-lated!
-->'''Legionnary 2:''' One more pun like that and I desert!!

* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: The famous Arsenic Cake. See why in TamperingWithFoodAndDrink below.

* AteTheSpoon: The batter for the Special Iced Arsenic Cake - ''before'' Artifis adds the acid.

** In front of the pyramids Getafix tells Obelix: "20 centuries look down upon you." This is a reference to Napoleon's comment in 1797 to his soldiers during his campaign in Egypt when they were standing in front of the same monuments: "40 centuries are looking down upon you."

An AnimatedAdaptation of the well-loved ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' album, first published in 1963, was made in 1968.\\
A LiveActionAdaptation, named ''Film/AsterixAndObelixMissionCleopatra'', was released in 2002.

* AdaptationExpansion: Included a second encounter with the pirates, as well as an attempt by Caesar to quietly neutralize Getafix.
* AdaptationalComicRelief: Cleopatra's lion in the animated version.
* AdaptedOut: Edifis' scribe does not appear in the animated version.
* AnimatedAdaptation: Released in 1968. Features the first animated appearance of the pirates.

* BlackFace: The animated version has the black pirate in the pirate's nest turn white from fear when he sees the Gauls appear. This gag has been removed nowadays.

* DisneyAcidSequence: "When You're Eating Well You're Well" song in the animated film. In the Dutch version of the film, this is a DeletedScene.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The pirates look different in this film than in the comics and the later animated films. The captain is taller and more muscular, and his hair is more orange than red. The lookout in the crow's nest is smaller, and the wisecracking old pirate is replaced by a parrot.

* LiveActionAdaptation: ''Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra'', which came out in 2002.

* MickeyMousing: The animated movie contains lots of this, especially with the potion-empowered Egyptians effortlessly passing bricks around.

* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: The Special Iced Arsenic Cake takes this UpToEleven - the cake is made almost entirely out of poison. According to the VillainSong, it is made out of: Strychnine, Hemlock, Paraffin, Opium, a Leech in Scum, Chopped Frog's Spawn, Arsenic, Narcotic, Castor Oil, Snake's Blood, Crushed Tadpole, Glue, Rat Poison, Cobra's Venom, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Orange Juice (For flavor)]], Mandrake Root, Moldy Fruit and Vitriol.
** How Artifis managed to make a cake without eggs or flour is never explained. It's even lampshaded as, just before turning the large bowl of toxic batter upside down on the table without having baked it (revealing it as looking quite like a normal cake, which has somehow already been frosted), Artifis gives a wink to the viewer, as if to say "Just wait till you see our little trick!"
** It isn't explained, either, how he was able to bake something that contains ''petrol'' without exploding along with his mixture.
** Cleopatra's taster is MadeOfIron. It's a miracle he doesn't die on the spot after tasting the cake, which seemingly just gives him stomach pains. It might be fatal to him eventually, but by the time Getafix gives him the antidote, a few hours have passed.

* VillainSong: "The Arsenic Cake" song from Artifis and Krukhut in the animated film.

UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar has insulted UsefulNotes/{{Cleopatra|VII}} by saying that the Egyptians have become decadent. To prove him wrong, Cleopatra declares that she will have a palace for him built within three months. The Queen of the Nile warns her architect Edifis that if he fails to make the three-month time limit, he will be fed to the crocodiles. Since such a thing would not be possible without magic, Edifis goes to Gaul and enlist the aid of his friend Getafix, with Asterix, Obelix, and Dogmatix along for the ride.

* MeaningfulName: Artifis' henchman is named Krukhut ("Crew cut") in the English version, and has a shaven head when we first see him. This becomes an IronicName when he makes a vow never to shave his head again if the Gauls escape the pyramid in which he has abandoned them... and when they do escape, he keeps his vow, and has a full, thick head of hair by the end of the book.

A LiveActionAdaptation, named ''[[Film/AsterixAndCleopatra Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra]]'', was released in 2002.

* BigBadEnsemble: Julius Ceasar and Artifis act as two separate big bads who, despite their common goal (both want to see Edifis fail) never join forces. Artifis tries to sabotage the construction by convincing the workers to go on strike, bribing the stone-delivery man to throw his load away, kidnapping Edifis, sending Cleopatra a poisoned cake and blame the Gauls for it, and haveingthe Gauls locked up in a pyramid. Julius Ceasar on the other hand resorts to brute force, using his soldiers to lay siege to the construction site and attack the palace with catapults.