History Webcomic / Gaia

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Eldor [[https://web.archive.org/web/20211208194614/http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2014/07/15/the-letter-of-jael-bara-069/ dispatches of]][[spoiler: Delvor]] in a [[FateWorseThanDeath gruesome way]]. He was an AssholeVictim, though. Later turns into a PetTheDog moment for Eldor when he spares the guards.

** We have a scene [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2018/05/25/the-way-back-home-132/ here]] where Eldor walks through a small unit of warriors and wizards, complimenting them on their skill (and taste) to "pick something up" from inside San, even asking permission before grabbing inside her.

** Viviana's biggest fear is losing a hand (reasonable for a thief, and probably inspired by [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2013/12/03/the-letter-of-jael-bara-007/ this horrific incident from her childhood]]). A 10% probability that she might lose one of her hands nearly causes her to funk out on the most important heist of her career, and the loss of one of her hands figures prominently in her later nightmare.

* TheAllegedSteed: Viviana's horse [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2014/11/25/breaking-all-barriers-023/ Casper]]. Vivi, who is not a bold or skilled rider, values him for his gentleness.

* FakeOutMakeOut: Unsurprisingly, [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2013/03/26/shadowdancers-092/ Viviana and Ilias end up doing one]] while UndercoverAsLovers.

** There are a lot of references to various hand and arm tropes, mostly involving Vivi. There's her personal interests (gadgets) and chosen career (thief), a nightmare in which losing a hand figures prominently, a childhood incident when she did witness someone losing a hand, an encounter with a villager who has severely injured her forearm with a hedge cutter, and even a [[TheseHandsHaveKilled These Hands Have (almost) Killed]] moment after her attempted assassination of Eldor (she actually did managed to kill Sylas, though she doesn't know it.) There's also the prison official who loses a hand to a PortalCut in Lili's escape attempt. Not to mention the mysterious symbol on Vivi's hand at the end of ''[[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2013/10/29/the-tower-in-the-sky-049/ The Tower in the Sky]]'', and later in [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2015/05/15/breaking-all-barriers-070/ her next vision in ]]''[[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2015/05/15/breaking-all-barriers-070/ Breaking All Barriers]]''. All of this implies that her hand or hands may be a key to the climax.

* GutPunch: [[spoiler: [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2012/02/21/the-red-hall-042/ That panel]]]]. See Wham Episode entry below.

* HorsingAround: Casper may be gentle but he has his limits, as demonstrated when [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2015/01/02/breaking-all-barriers-034/ he spooks and bolts in the forest, dumping Viviana.]]

* InterrogationByVandalism: Viviana intimidates Silas Audin [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2015/08/14/breaking-all-barriers-096/ by slashing a painting]] with an AbsurdlySharpBlade -- which also serves to demonstrate how ridiculously sharp the rainbow knife is before Ilias threatens him with it directly.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Eldor [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2014/07/15/the-letter-of-jael-bara-069/ dispatches of]][[spoiler: Delvor]] in a [[FateWorseThanDeath gruesome way]]. He was an AssholeVictim, though. Later turns into a PetTheDog moment for Eldor when he spares the guards.

** Viviana is shown shirtless (but wearing a bra) while having some blood washed out of her hair in [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2015cp03/03/breaking-all-barriers-050/ the last panel of this page]]. There was some debate whether this was a JustifiedTrope or not until Novil stated that not showing skin at that point would be as stupid as showing skin without reason.
** Viviana is shown in lingerie in a sex scene [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2016/01/05/breaking-all-barriers-136 starting here]].
** In [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2019/10/01/the-last-queen-of-gaia-053/ this scene]], Viviana takes her top off to make out with Ilias, only to be interrupted by Lili (who seems to have walked into the bedroom straight through the wall). Wearing just her bra and shorts, Viviana berates Lili for walking in on them, but then gets dressed again.

* SchizoTech: A swords-and-sorcery fantasy setting that somehow manages to have most of the trappings of a modern industrial society, like paper bags, spiral-bound notebooks, light bulbs and modern clothing. [[spoiler: There's also hidden Elves who display a science-fiction level of {{MagiTek}}]] Surely a society that can manufacture [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2016/01/05/breaking-all-barriers-136/ modern underwire brassieres]] could also manage firearms or internal combustion engines?

* ShipTease: Ilias and Viviana, who have gone UndercoverAsLovers and [[FakeOutMakeOut kissed]], as well as [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2014/11/04/breaking-all-barriers-017/#comments other moments]].
** The ship was formally launched in January 2016, [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2016/01/05/breaking-all-barriers-136/ though you will note that Vivi is still teasing Ilias.]]

* LoveTriangle: A semi-platonic [[TriangRelations Type 7]] between Lili, Ilias and Sandril, later broken when Ilias falls for Vivi.

* AlienLunch: Ars makes one out of a variety of potion ingredients. Which ends with a small explosion.

* ZeroEffortBoss: [[spoiler: ''The BigBad.'' All of Eldor's work to make Lilith strong enough to destroy the shield around Gaia's source wound up giving her the capability to destroy Bhaal and most of her domain in a single blast.

* GodIsEvil: On one side of the coin, even if what [[spoiler: Eldor]] says about Bhaal ''is'' true, the fact of the matter is that, at best, Bhaal grew into a power-made villain as a result of Gaia's own covetous. It's debatable whether Gaia was evil, though Viviana postulates that [[VillainHasAPoint Eldor]] could be right about Gaia being less than benevolent; the world will never know because any method of looking into the matter has long since passed since the end of the first age, when there was enough evidence around to make a solid argument. On the other hand...

** When he finally realizes he's been played for the entire comic like a fiddle and his actions resulted in [[spoiler: Greendew's great tree toppling, King Orlik]] dismisses his guards and blasts his brains out with a wand.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: 'Evil' is stretching a bit, though the '''very''' ambitious [[San and Savos]] love each other deeply.

* It's eventually revealed [[spoiler: he isn't actively malicious at all, just deliberately misinformed by a higher power that saved him in his time of need. He's been slavishly devoted to Bhaal ever since she found favor in him, and has been feeding him half-truths about how she was a victim of Gaia's depravity.]] That being said, Lilith and Viviana both point out that, justifications or no, he's intentionally done a lot of cruel things to get his way, such that it's easy enough to call him 'evil.'

* HeroiceSacrifice: [[spoiler: San de Vertis dies making sure Viviana makes it through the mental labyrinth in Vis, putting up a good show of confidence that she'll make it out just fine so that Viviana can exit her nightmare; as revealed by the rest of the party immediately after, San was ''fully'' aware of the fact that what she was doing was a suicide mission, even for her, and that she'd chosen to be the sacrifice when it became clear only herself or Lilith could perform the task.]]

* AllThereInTheManual: While the characters are introduced normally in the webcomic, the webcomic is accompanied by extra sections explaining the setting.

* DrivenToSuicide: Several of Eldor's prototype [[MacGuffinGirl MacGuffin Girls]] over the years [[spoiler: most recently Lilith]].

* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Lili]] does appear to have gone over to the dark side under the baleful influence of an ancient magical tome.

* GoodIsNotNice: Gaia's chosen San de Vertis acts like a WellIntentionedExtremist in public and talks like a power hungry schemer in private.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: a DiscussedTrope InUniverse regarding Lillith; while all agree that she's a dangerous TykeBomb, whether she's an ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl (as Ryn suspects) or a MacGuffinGirl (King Savos calls her a "magical machine") depends upon her degree of free will.

* ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl: Ryn jumps to the conclusion that Eldor has spent decades trying to create a PersonOfMassDestruction based on decades of newspaper accounts of the deaths and disappearances of girls and young women [[spoiler: and believes Eldor finally succeeded with Lili]]. Each girl was conceived in the shadow of the Great Tree during the Greendew Spring Festival and subsequently raised in Oakdale. He may be wrong, but...

* FiveManBand: Lilith, Sandril, Ilias, Ryn and Alissa, with Viviana becoming the SixthRanger in "Breaking All Barriers"
** Broken up into [[BattleCouple Battle Couples]] Viviana and Illias and Alissa and Ryn at the end of "Breaking All Barriers" [[spoiler: with Sandril gone missing and Lillith revealed as either a TykeBomb or a MacGuffinGirl]]