| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/parsifal.png]] |
| 2 | |
| 3 | The ''Black Moon Chronicles'' (French: ''Chroniques de la Lune Noire'') is an epic DarkFantasy [[ComicBooks comic series]] by French author François Marcela-Froideval and illustrated by Olivier Ledroit, who is better known by English speakers for his work on Creator/PatMills' ''ComicBook/{{Sha}}'' and ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'' . |
| 4 | |
| 5 | It deals with the VillainProtagonist / AntiHero Wismerhill, a [[HalfHumanHybrid half-elf]] [[ParentalAbandonment from an unknown father]] allying with EvilSorcerer Haazheel Thorn in order to overthrow the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire-esque empire of Lhynn. |
| 6 | |
| 7 | Sounds simple enough, no? Guess again. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | Turns out that Wismerhill is the lynchpin of a GambitPileup involving prophecies, gods, demons, elemental forces, and immortal archmages and that his choices will ultimately decide the fate of his entire world. And with so many different clashing agendas, few things are as they seem, and fewer people can be trusted... |
| 10 | |
| 11 | !!Volumes |
| 12 | |
| 13 | #1 ''Le Signe des ténèbres'' (''Sign of Darkness'', 1989) |
| 14 | #2 ''Le Vent des dragons'' (''Dragon's Wind'', 1990) |
| 15 | #3 ''La Marque des démons'' (''Mark of the Demons'', 1991) |
| 16 | #4 ''Quand sifflent les serpents'' (''When Snakes Hiss'', 1992) |
| 17 | #5 ''La Danse écarlate'' (''The Blood Dance'', 1994) |
| 18 | #6 ''La Couronne des ombres'' (''Crown of Shadows'', 1995) |
| 19 | #7 ''De vents, de jade et de jais'' (''Of Winds, Jade and Jet'', 1997) |
| 20 | #8 ''Le Glaive de justice'' (''Sword of Justice'', 1999) |
| 21 | #9 ''Les Chants de la négation'' (''Songs of Negation'', 2000) |
| 22 | #10 ''L'Aigle foudroyé'' (''Struck Down Eagle'', 2002) |
| 23 | #11 ''Ave Tenebrae'' (''Ave Tenebrae'', 2003) |
| 24 | #12 ''La Porte des Enfers'' (''The Gate of Hell'', 2005) |
| 25 | #13 ''La Prophétie'' (''Prophecy'', 2006) |
| 26 | #14 ''La Fin des temps'' (''End of Times'', 2008) |
| 27 | #0 ''En un jeu cruel'' (''A cruel game'', 2011) |
| 28 | #15 ''Terra Secunda'' (Book 1/2, 2012) |
| 29 | #16 ''Terra Secunda'' (Book 2/2, 2014) |
| 30 | #17 ''Guerres ophidiennes'' (''Ophidian Wars'', 2015) |
| 31 | #18 ''Le Trône d'Opale'' (''The Opal Throne'', 2017) |
| 32 | #19 ''Une semaine ordinaire'' (''An Ordinary Week'', 2018) |
| 33 | #20 ''Une porte sur l'Enfer'' (''A Gate to Hell'', 2019) |
| 34 | #21 ''Sic Transit Gloria Mundi'' (2021) |
| 35 | |
| 36 | Volume 14 is the final album of the first arc. The French version was released on 21st of November 2008. Subsequent volumes have been released, concerning Wismerhill as the leader of a dozen-odd {{Fantasy Counterpart Culture}}s that escaped the destruction of the old world. |
| 37 | |
| 38 | Two spinoff prequel series were made: ''Methraton'', which reveals more of the title character's past and goals against a backdrop of the setting's distant past, and ''Les Arcanes de la Lune Noire'', recounts the origin story of Wismerhill's companions and what their lives were before the main series' events; so far, one-shots covering [[BloodKnight Ghorghor Bey]], [[LoveableRogue Pile-ou-Face]], [[ThePaladin Parsifal]] and [[TheDragon Greldinard]] have been released. A prequel detailing Wismerhill's origins has also been released. Finally, the comic has been adapted into a strategy video game. |
| 39 | |
| 40 | While the comic was originally only available in France and several other European markets, Dargaud is translating the volumes into English as of 2017. |
| 41 | |
| 42 | ---- |
| 43 | !!Tropes: |
| 44 | |
| 45 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 46 | |
| 47 | [[folder:A to D]] |
| 48 | * AccidentalMisnaming: Haazheel Thorn mishears Krell-Dinard (Dinard's name after "he" tames a Krell) as Greldinard, and is not the kind of person you point this out to. |
| 49 | * ActionGirl: Feydriva (before her [[StuffedIntoTheFridge fridging]]) and Hellaynnea. |
| 50 | * AcquiredPoisonImmunity: The master of the ThievesGuild that Pilou grew up in kept the other criminals in line by putting poison in their food and providing an anti-toxin at the end of every day if they had fulfilled their quota. Pilou starts to take a small portion of the poison every day to build up an immunity so he can one day escape. |
| 51 | * ActuallyPrettyFunny: When Wismerhill and Pilou run into Ghorghor Bey's warband, the dreaded warlord attempts to claim Pilou's two {{Empathic Weapon}}s for himself, only for Pilou to repeatedly summon them back. This initially pisses off Ghorghor, who considers having them both killed on the spot, before switching gears and admitting that it takes guts to taunt him like that. He happily embraces the two and inducts them into his army. |
| 52 | * AffairBlameTheBastard: In their youth, Wismerhill and Ghorghor Bey were both raised by men who did not father them, and abused them horribly for it. In Wismerhill's case, his mother had an affair with a demon lord disguised as a handsome elf prince. In Bey's case, his mother was raped by an ogre. They both get their revenge eventually: Wismerhill by personally murdering the man, Bey by leaving him to die as their town is besieged by another ogre raid. |
| 53 | * AllowedInternalWar: The sprawling, feudal Empire of Lynn has very little control over its provinces outside the capital region, so is often unable to stop them from going to war with each other, while the Emperor spends most of his time on various campaigns against insubordinate governors and nobles to reassert the crown's authority. |
| 54 | * AllThereInTheManual: Sort of: Pilou's tearful reunion with [[spoiler:his adoptive dragon family]] comes out of nowhere in the main series, but is explained in his own spinoff book. |
| 55 | * AllTrollsAreDifferent: In this case, [[HealingFactor similar in abilities]] [[KillItWithFire and weaknesses]] to both ''D&D'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' trolls, but 20+ feet tall, with a more-or-less caucasian skin tone, giant noses, and a resemblance to something out of Creator/JimHenson's creature shop. |
| 56 | * AndShowItToYou: Wismerhill finally defeats [[spoiler:Haazheel Thorn]] by tearing his heart out of his chest. |
| 57 | * TheAntichrist: Hints are dropped early in the series that Wismerhill's DisappearedDad might be TheDevil himself. [[spoiler:It's a RedHerring; Lucifer's son is actually Haazheel Thorn. Wis's dad is actually Pazuzu, a demon prince disguised as an elf]]. |
| 58 | * AnArmAndALeg: During the final battle with Haazheel Thorn, Thorn rips off Hellaynnea's arms when she tries to stop him from killing Wismerhill. |
| 59 | * AntiHero / AntiVillain: Wismerhill, and by extension pretty much every member of his TrueCompanions (even the [[SuccubiAndIncubi succubus]]), dance constantly back and forth over the line between both. While some like Shamballeau the mage or Murata the samurai aren't as morally questionnable in their own actions, the fact that they have no problem hanging around the others speaks for itself. |
| 60 | * AristocratsAreEvil: Played with. Some nobles are little more than bandits with a fort (like the former proprietors of Wis' first fiefdom); others are sadistic assholes (most prominent in Ghorghor Bey's BackStory); the Baron of Moork is TheDragon to the BigBad. But then you have [[IncorruptiblePurePureness Lord Parsifal]] and [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Emperor Haghendorf]]. Most imperial nobles seem to be of average morality. |
| 61 | * ArsonMurderAndAdmiration: |
| 62 | ** When captured by Ghorgor in the first book, Pilou plays a trick on him, teleporting his swords back to himself whenever Ghorgor tries to look at them. Ghorgor is so enraged by this that he... takes Pilou and Wismerhill into his warband. |
| 63 | ** Wismerhill is very amused when mage Shamballeau kills 20 of his soldiers in an explosion, going from initial anger to happily adopting him as part of his own growing band. |
| 64 | * ArtifactTitle: In the second cycle [[spoiler:with Haazheel and his religion dead, there's no more Black Moon to chronicle about. Instead, we follow Wismerhill facing new threats on the second Earth such as an army of snake folk or a conspiracy against him.]] |
| 65 | * AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Hell is ruled by whatever demon is strong enough to fight off any contenders. For aeons, Lucifer kept the other princes in line by being a BadBoss. When he goes missing with his army, Beelzebub takes over the vacant throne because no one dares to question him, as he immediately demonstrates by devouring a lesser demon who opposes. |
| 66 | * BadassNormal: Murata, unlike most of his allies, does not have any inherent magical powers (Wismerhill, Hellaynnea), powerful magic weapons (Pile-ou-Face) or incredibly size and strength (Ghorghor). He's just a very well-trained human {{Samurai}}. |
| 67 | * BaitAndSwitch: Magnifico's troupe use this to their advantage, calling for challengers to face their champion while standing next to a dwarf. The local meatheads line up for an easy win... only to learn that the dwarf just opens the curtain to reveal the ''real'' champion, a full-grown half-ogre (as tall to the men as they are to the dwarf). |
| 68 | * BaitAndSwitchGunshot: When [[ThePaladin Lord Parsifal]] and his Knights of Justice visit the impregnable castle Altenberg to persuade the Knights of Light to rid themselves of their corrupt leadership, the commander in charge of the castle orders his soldiers to kill Parsifal with crossbow bolts despite the high priest having granted Parsifal safe passage. His soldiers fire on their commander instead. |
| 69 | * BankruptcyBarrel: After Wismerhill and Pile-ou-Face rob a merchant, they leave him with only a barrel. |
| 70 | * BarbellBeating: While trying to escape an evil aristocrat, the strongman of Ghorgor's circus punches out a guard with his dumbbells. Unfortunately it's not enough and they're captured or killed. |
| 71 | * BaseOnWheels: Wismerhill buys a traveling castle from the dwarf masters to use in his next campaigns. The dwarfs even shaved off half the price since the lord who originally commissioned it had spontaneously died. |
| 72 | * {{Beelzebub}}: He's a morbidly obese demon [[TheWormThatWalks made up of thousands of flies]]. Beelzebub immediately usurps the throne of hell when he realizes Lucifer is gone and declares war on the remnants of humanity. |
| 73 | * BetrayalByInaction: When Emperor Haaghendorf and his army are about to fight the evil forces of the Black Moon, he calls upon the two autonomous military orders to assist him. The Knights of Light led by Fratus Sinister arrive on the battlefield but stay out of any fighting in the hopes that Haaghendorf will be killed and they can seize power from whatever's left, even [[ShootTheMessenger shooting numerous imperial messengers]] sent to ask them for reinforcements. However, Haaghendorf sees through this deception and demotes Fratus Sinister after winning the battle singlehandedly. |
| 74 | * BewitchedAmphibians: When Lucifer organizes an invasion of the second Earth after humanity has vacated the old one, he turns himself into a frog and turns back into his demonic self after Hellaynnea kisses him. |
| 75 | -->'''Lucifer:''' Oh, I'm a prince alright, just not a charming one... |
| 76 | * BigBadassBattleSequence: Since the Empire of Lhynn and its vassals and enemies are in a near constant state of warfare, there are numerous examples of massive battles and city sieges being waged between armies of knights, mages, dragon riders, orks, elves, giants, and war machines. Ledroit's artwork is impressive for its attention to detail. |
| 77 | * BigEater: Ghorgor, naturally. His old circusmaster friend is able to keep up with him, despite being a short human. |
| 78 | * BigFancyCastle: Altenberg, the seat of the [[ChurchMilitant Knights of Light]], is an absolutely MASSIVE seaside castle that could withstand any siege. |
| 79 | * BigGood: Methraton is the greatest force for good who (unlike {{God}}) actually takes an active interest in the affairs of the mortal realm. He's virtually a god in his own right, but he's really just an immortal [[TheArchmage archmage]]. His most significant act is probably [[spoiler:providing the portals used by the different nations in the world to escape the coming destruction of Earth.]] |
| 80 | * BigRedDevil: Most of the demons of Hell take the form of giant red humanoids with horns and wings. |
| 81 | * BigWhat: [[BigBad Haazheel Thorn]] is not happy after he learns that Wismerhill has betrayed him and closed the HellGate that he had opened to conquer the world. |
| 82 | -->''He dared doing '''WHAAAAAT'''!? |
| 83 | * BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Wismerhill manages to save many of the world's civilizations from the impending destruction of Earth (primarily human ones), but many (primarily barbarian ones, whether human or monstrous) are left to hang, and some of them (like the dwarves and elves/fey) choose to FaceDeathWithDignity instead.]] |
| 84 | * BlackAndGreyMorality: Wismerhill and his friends are primarily self-interested warlords, but the BigBad Haazheel Thorn is an EvilSorcerer and OmnicidalManiac. |
| 85 | * BlackSwordsAreBetter: When Wismerhill becomes the commander-in-chief of the armies of the Black Moon and one of the Lords of Negation, his master Haazheel Thorn gifts him with a black sword forged out of steel from the land of the dead. His main sword earlier on was also black, with red highlights. |
| 86 | * BoisterousBruiser: Ghorghor Bey, all the way. He's a bloodthirsty half-ogre warlord who loves nothing more than fighting, drinking, and tumbling with his men. |
| 87 | * ButtMonkey: Ian the inept ranger. |
| 88 | * ChainmailBikini: Feydriva and Pilou both wear armor that exposes quite a lot of their well-formed bodies. Although Pilou at least has the excuse that he's also a thief, so carrying less bulk is a plus. |
| 89 | * ChildByRape: Ghorghor Bey was conceived when his mother's small northern village was attacked by a group of man-eating ogres and she was discovered by a young ogre who, struck by her beauty, decided to rape her instead of eating her. She still loved her [[HalfHumanHybrid half-human half-ogre]] baby boy (partly because his birth crippled her for life, meaning she wouldn't be able to have children again), but to the rest of the village (including his step-father) he was [[AllTheOtherReindeer some sort of abomination]]. |
| 90 | * ChurchMilitant: The two religious knightly orders of the empire, [[CorruptChurch the Knights of the Light]] (patterned after UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar) and [[SaintlyChurch the Knights of Justice]] (patterned after UsefulNotes/TheKnightsHospitallers). [[spoiler:Eventually, the former is absorbed by the latter after they try to overthrow the emperor.]] |
| 91 | * ColorCodedArmies: The factions seen in battles are often easily identified by their colors. The Empire of Lynn is red, the Order of Light is white, the Order of Justice is blue, and the Black Moon is green. |
| 92 | * ConjoinedTwins: Ghorghor Bey's first love(s) as a young man were the conjoined sisters who travelled along as part of the FreakShow exhibition of the traveling circus group that Bey had joined. They were later killed by a [[EldritchAbomination Dzorak]] when the group had to escape the clutches of an evil nobleman. Bey did get his revenge on the duke in question, but he wasn't reunited with the twins until years later when Wismerhill resurrects them as a token of friendship to Bey and even goes to the trouble of giving them separate bodies. |
| 93 | * CoolShip: The flagship of the Tharque Empire, a maritime nation that once ruled most of the known world, is made out of the skeleton of a dead sea monster. It utterly dwarfs the other ships, and is even powered by magic so that it can row itself. |
| 94 | * CoolChair: |
| 95 | ** Gredinald's throne (later Wis's). Turns out to be a potent magical artifact too. |
| 96 | ** Haazheel Thorn's throne is a massive crystalline beast with SpikesOfVillainy that makes the [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire Iron Throne]] look friendly. |
| 97 | * CoolHelmet: Everyone who wears armor. One recurring mook looks like [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason]], while [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/parsifal.png Parsifal's]] looks like the good-guy version of a [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Khornate Berserker's]]. |
| 98 | * CosmicChessGame: The entire plot of the series was set in motion by Lucifer and his minion Pazuzu when they decided to play a game where Pazuzu couldn't just [[LetTheBossWin let his boss win every time to escape his wrath]]. Each of them would create a child on Earth and let them battle for the fate of the world. |
| 99 | * CourtMage: Any lord of high enough standing employs at least one mage if they're smart about it, since not being prepared against the enemy employing magic against them could cost them their heads in this war-torn setting. |
| 100 | * CrapsackWorld: War is virtually constant in this [[DarkFantasy Dark]] HighFantasy world (often as [[CosmicChessGame proxies for divine forces]]), the rulers are either brutal pragmatists trying to salvage what's left ([[TheEmperor Emperor Haaghendorf]]) or total monsters who just want to destroy and kill everything and everyone ([[SorcerousOverlord Haazheel Thorn]]), feudal holdings and cities are often ruled by cruel nobles or unscrupulous magistrates, and even outside the cities dozens of warlords regularly go on their own campaigns of killing and plunder. Never mind the nigh-infinite list of creatures that feast on unfortunate wanderers who are too stupid to not travel in armed groups, or kill anyone in their territory regardless of intentions. Basically, EverythingIsTryingToKillYou, or [[SoulEating suck out your soul to dine on it]], [[FateWorseThanDeath or worse]]. |
| 101 | * CrystalDragonJesus: The Church is built on an alliance with God, represented by [[Literature/TheBible two stone tablets]] that are later destroyed. It's far from the only religion in the empire, though. |
| 102 | * DeaderThanDead: Despite DeathIsCheap being a thing, there are some things you just can't come back from, such as having [[SoulEating having your soul be a demon's snack]] or being destroyed by oblivion-invoking effects, like the BreathWeapon of the Lords of Negation's dragon mounts, or a Sphere of Annihilation. |
| 103 | * DeathIsCheap: |
| 104 | ** Justified in that Haazheel Thorn is a stupidly-high level mage and demigod in an RPGVerse. To quote the man himself just before he resurrects [[spoiler:Wismerhill]]: "Dead again? It's starting to become a habit...". In fact, the only time he gets angry about this is because Wis goes on a dungeon crawl through an undead prince's palace ''without'' having him along. |
| 105 | ** Zigzagged after [[spoiler:Parsifal and Gredinald have their climactic duel. Greldinald later reappears as if getting a sword buried in your helmet is no big deal, but Parsifal's decapitated head being replaced on his body and brought back to life by a massive prayer is treated like a miracle, although nobody, even Parsifal himself, is surprised it worked.]] |
| 106 | * DeityOfMortalCreation: ZigzaggedTrope. There's no indication that the various gods known to exist, including {{God}} himself, Lucifer, or the Oracle were created by the sentient races. However, on Terra Secunda the new human society ends up accidentally creating a new GooGooGodlike deity through their belief alone, The One and Only, despite Methraton's misgivings. |
| 107 | * DemonicPossession: The demon Urmarcht takes over the body of warlord Ghorghor Bey as he's defending a stronghold that his forces have occupied from a counterattack by the Knights of Light. The demon leads him to abandon his defense at the gate tactics and instead meet the knights in open battle so that he and his forces will easily be wiped out. |
| 108 | * DemonLordsAndArchdevils: Lucifer is the infernal High Prince who rules over all Hell, but there are various lesser Princes and Dukes ruling one of its 666 domains. Among those mentioned: |
| 109 | ** Urmarcht is a "high demon" who directly works for Lucifer and Haazheel Thorne. |
| 110 | ** Oghun is a BlindSeer and demon prince who participates in the demonic invasion of Earth, being more specifically tasked by Lucifer to [[KillTheGod kill the Oracle]] so no non-demonic source of prophecy remains. |
| 111 | ** Pazuzu is the Prince of Demons and TheDragon to Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness. [[spoiler:He is also Wismerhill's father.]] |
| 112 | ** Beelzebub is the Prince of the Flies, a giant bloated demon whose body is composed of tens of thousands of flies amalgamated into one form. |
| 113 | ** Helle is an infernal archdemoness who was originally allied with Lucifer before making a deal with Beelzebub to invade Terra Secunda. |
| 114 | * DestinationDefenestration: As the Baron of Moork, Wismerhill is badgered by the guild leaders who demand more rights of him. He eventually gets so annoyed that he throws the head of the guild through the castle window to his death. Two scared engineers then respectfully ask their lord if they should restore the window, given that they've already had to repair it twice that very week. Wismerhill is so amused that he promises them he'll just use a sword next time. |
| 115 | * DirtyCoward: When Wismerhill first goes on a campaign against the empire, some cities who surrender before his army can sack them take groveling to a degree that disgusts their conquerors and pillagers, even offering their wives and daughters. |
| 116 | * DistractedByTheSexy: Early on in the series Wismerhill and his friends develop a routine where Feydriva will suffer an "accidental" WardrobeMalfunction when one of her {{Breast Plate}}s falls off so that Pilou can steal the purse of any gentleman who will be distracted by this sight. |
| 117 | * DragonHoard: The oldest and biggest dragon in the world, [[MonsterProgenitor who spawned the rest of his race]], has been sleeping for thousands of years BeneathTheEarth on top of a huge pile of gold. |
| 118 | * DragonRider: Dragons are used as steeds by particularly badass warriors. The Dragonlords of the mountains in particular specialize in this form of warfare, and the Emperor of Lhynn has some of the most impressive dragons in the entire setting. |
| 119 | ** Prior to the Empire's confrontation with Haazheel Thorn's [[spoiler: decoy]] army, the latter [[NightOfTheLivingMooks animates an entire undead army]] to soften up the enemy, and its commanders are powerful undead lords mounted on [[{{Dracolich}} similarly undead dragons]]. |
| 120 | ** The Lords of Negation, the Black Moon's smallest, most elite corps (only a dozen or so) are mounted dark grey wyrms who seem to [[BreathWeapon breathe]] [[DisintegratorRay oblivion]]. |
| 121 | * DroitDuSeigneur: Pilou gladly practices it when Whismerhill temporarily put him in charge of the Empire. |
| 122 | * DroppedABridgeOnHim: |
| 123 | ** [[spoiler:Feydriva]] is rather suddenly killed off in the third album while the heroes visit a VanishingVillage. |
| 124 | ** [[spoiler:Fratus Sinister]] looks like he's going to play a major part in the final battle between Wismerhill's and Haazheel's forces, but he's casually killed by Hellaynnea. |
| 125 | * DyingCurse: [[spoiler:Haazheel Thorne]]'s last action when Wismerhill finally slays him in battle is to curse the entire world for his defeat, using his magic to ensure that [[ColonyDrop the moon will crash into the planet]] and exterminate all life. |
| 126 | [[/folder]] |
| 127 | |
| 128 | [[folder:E to L]] |
| 129 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The series was a lot closer to a RolePlayingGameVerse early on before moving to be closer to HighFantasy. |
| 130 | ** Wis is first introduced as a knight errant using a horse and lance to... [[NoKillLikeOverkill kill a rabbit]]. |
| 131 | ** Pilou's name originally referred to the fact that his personality changed depending on which sword he drew (as in "Heads or Tails"), this aspect was dropped pretty fast in favor of the standard LovableRogue personality. |
| 132 | ** The first dwarfs seen onscreen are a bunch of crass hairy bar-brawlers types who slap Feydriva's ass and yell out weird catchphrases like "Dwarf Power!" Those seen later fit OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame much closer. |
| 133 | * EldritchAbomination: |
| 134 | ** The Oracle as it appears in its true form to emperor Haaghendorf ([[spoiler:subverted epically in the last volume, which reveals ''her'' to be a HotGod]]). |
| 135 | ** The Dzorak/Dvorak (huge swamp-dwelling cycloptic [[TentacledTerror octopus-things]] only second in power to dragons among monsters, considered embodiments of foulness, and their name is a very common insult). |
| 136 | ** The infernal hekatonkheires (gigantic living weapons of mass-destruction of TheLegionsOfHell). |
| 137 | * EndIsNighEnding: The BigBad's contingency plan involves smashing the moon to the planet's surface, and cannot be stopped. Wis opts to evacuate as much of the planet's population off-world as he can (the elves and dwarves choose to stay instead). The sequel series is about his trying to rebuild civilization (several civilizations, in fact, as the assorted {{Fantasy Counterpart Culture}}s spread out over their new world), but make it better this time (he personally slaughters the ruling family of the Aztec equivalent when he finds out they're still practicing HumanSacrifice despite his explicit ban). |
| 138 | * TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Without spoiling anything else, let's just say that the last volume's title [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin is perfectly justified]]. |
| 139 | * EnemyMine: After Fratus Sinister is defeated by Lord Parsifal and has to go on the run, he joins up with the Black Moon to get revenge on both the emperor and on the dragonlords who abandoned him. Wismerhill even uses the trope word-for-word, stating that the enemy of his enemy is his friend. [[spoiler: It still doesn't end well for Fratus, mostly because he can't resist trying to betray his new allies.]] |
| 140 | * ExactWords: The dragons are bound to the Dragon Knights by a pact that has to last "until the end of the world". It comes to bite them in the ass in the very last volume, [[spoiler:when TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt is about to happen so the dragons consider the pact no longer in effect.]] |
| 141 | * {{Expy}}: |
| 142 | ** The demon nursemaids are pretty much the same as the less-than-fearsome assistants to the heroine of a previous work of Froideval's, ''Succubus'' (Hellaynnnea herself made a cameo in it). |
| 143 | ** The Empire is, for all intents and purposes, the Empire of TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy (including an alliance with a dwarven kingdom), minus the gunpowder. |
| 144 | * FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:The decision of both the dwarves and the elves/faerie folk as a whole when TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt comes knocking, instead of trying to save their skins by attempting to go through the same portal to another as the humans do.]] |
| 145 | * TheFagin: As a young elf boy Pilou was bought from a slave merchant by a criminal mastermind who trained children to be pick-pockets for him and ultimately full-time thieves if they were successful. This was just one part of his organization, as most of the criminals working for him were adults. One such thief took a liking to Pilou, mentoring him and protecting him from other boys, and when the mastermind did nothing to break that thief out of jail or prevent his execution, Pilou went after him. |
| 146 | * FakingTheDead: After the Black Moon loses a massive battle against the Empire and both [[BigBad Haazheel]] and [[TheDragon Greldinard]] are apparently killed off, it turns out that the whole thing was a diversionary tactic so that they could lay low for a while and rebuild their forces without the Emperor recognizing the urgency of nipping this threat in the bud. |
| 147 | * FalseFlagOperation: Haazheel and Greldinard stage the death of Wismerhill's father at the hands of the empire so that Wismerhill will join the forces of evil in the final battle for the fate of the world. |
| 148 | * FantasyCounterpartCulture: Wismerhill allows a dozen or so tribes to follow him through the gate to the new world, ranging from Mongols to Vikings to Aztecs. |
| 149 | * FeudalOverlord: The Empire of Lynn is swarming with unscrupulous nobles like this. The upper hierarchy of the Empire has no time to deal with them since they're far more occupied with keeping the realm from collapsing completely due to constant threats from within and without. For example, the tyrannical duke who imprisoned Ghorghor Bey's circus troupe after refusing to pay them for their services and incited his development into a barbaric warlord. |
| 150 | * FireAndBrimstoneHell: Hell is a fiery subterreanean landscape where the souls of the wicked are tortured and devoured by Lucifer and his giant red demons. |
| 151 | * ForTheEvulz: While nobody has motivations that are this simple, most characters indulge in villainy for their amusement from time to time, or have way too much fun doing their morally dubious job. |
| 152 | * FramingDevice: The second series is framed as a story told by one of Wismerhill's daughters to her own daughter about how grandfather became the emperor of this strange new world. |
| 153 | * FullFrontalAssault: Hellaynnea does this a few times. What else would you expect from a [[SuccubiAndIncubi succubus]]? |
| 154 | * GambitPileup: Haazhel Thorn intends to [[spoiler:give the world over to demons by opening demonic portals]]. But because Wis wasn't aware of it (and would NOT have approved anyway), he [[spoiler:closes one of the portals]], to Thorn's fury. |
| 155 | * GiantWallOfWateryDoom: When [[ColonyDrop the Black Moon leaves its orbit to crash into the world]], the moon's gravitational pull starts to cause earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and massive tidal waves. The old naval Empire of Tharque is destroyed by the mother of all tsunamis. |
| 156 | * GlamourFailure: Played for laughs when the hell-lord Pazuzu transforms himself and his demonic minions into an elf prince and his entourage so they can infiltrate a castle. One of the (male) demons who has been transformed into a noblewoman is rather transparent with his boorish body language unbecoming a high lady of the court. His boss incinerates him as a lesson to the others to remember to act their parts. |
| 157 | * GlowingEyesOfDoom: When they use their magic Wismerhill and Haazheel Thorn's eyes are burning red and green respectively. [[spoiler:Because they're both half-demons.]] |
| 158 | * AGodAmI: When Wismerhill asks [[SorcerousOverlord Haazheel Thorn]] if he is truly a demigod as his followers say, Haazheel says he might as well be. [[spoiler:In fact, he is the son of the most powerful demon in Hell.]] |
| 159 | * GroinAttack: [[spoiler:Frater Sinister]], in [[TooDumbToLive an unbelievably suicidally stupid move]], summons Hellaynnea for a one-on-one session with the succubus. She responds by biting off his penis and [[SoulEating sucking out his soul]]. |
| 160 | * HalfHumanHybrids: |
| 161 | ** Wismerhill is a half-elf ([[spoiler:later revealed to have been a demon prince in the guise of an elf]]) |
| 162 | ** Ghorghor is a half-ogre (his father was a very young ogre, his mother an unwilling villager). |
| 163 | ** [[spoiler:Haazheel Thorn is the offspring of the Prince of Darkness and a human woman.]] |
| 164 | * HavingABlast: Creating explosions is one of the many powers that a mage can learn. Shamballeau especially is very good at it, being introduced blowing up twenty soldiers who hassled him before Wismerhill adopts him into his crew. |
| 165 | * HeelFaceTurn: Hellaynnea. [[spoiler:Wis and Greldinard towards the end, after a fashion.]] |
| 166 | * {{Hellgate}}: It's opened by Haazheel Thorn on the Prince of Darkness's orders so TheLegionsOfHell can assist the [[ReligionOfEvil Black Moon]] in destroying the empire before laying waste to the rest of the world. [[spoiler:After Wismerhill discovers the plan was not simple to dismantle the empire but to create HellOnEarth all along, he marshalls his forces for an epic battle to banish Lucifer and his demons back to Hell and close the portal for good.]] |
| 167 | * HellOnEarth: Haazheel's [[spoiler:and his father Lucifer's]] plan is to destroy the Empire of Lynn and turn it into a demon-worshipping theocracy so that God will leave the Earth in disgust. Then the true invasion through the {{Hellgate}} can commence, as TheLegionsOfHell destroy all of humanity to turn the Earth into a new Hell. [[spoiler:Wis kinda threw a wrench in those plans by closing the gate, because he wasn't in on the plan.]] |
| 168 | * HighHeelFaceTurn: One artbook that goes into more detail about the Empire's workings is narrated by a FemmeFatale, who ends up falling for Wis and Hellaynnea by the end. |
| 169 | * HorseOfADifferentColor: Greldinard rides a Krell into battle, a giant armored four-legged XenomorphXerox which usally resides in volcanic landscapes. In fact, the only reason he survived the encounter was because his mother helped him from the spirit world to subdue the beast. |
| 170 | * HumanoidAbomination: Haazheel Thorn [[spoiler:and his father Lucifer.]] |
| 171 | * IKnowYourTrueName: Methraton is able to overpower Lucifer because he knows the Prince of Darkness' true name, then imprisons him in another dimension. |
| 172 | * IncorruptiblePurePureness: Parsifal and his Knights of Justice. |
| 173 | * IncrediblyConspicuousDrag: During Ghorgor's time with a traveling theater troupe, the lead actress of a Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet-like play fell ill. The manager hurriedly looked for someone to replace her and went with Ghorgor. Without informing the lead actor, who was forced to proclaim his love for the delicate girl as the balcony collapses under her weight. |
| 174 | * InertialImpalement: By waiting until the last possible moment to lift up their pikes, a group of pikemen under Murata are able to completely destroy a line of charging knights. |
| 175 | * InevitableMutualBetrayal: After going on several campaigns of RapePillageAndBurn on the edges of the Empire of Lynn, [[EvilSorcerer Haazheel Thorn]] goes to the capital city of Lynn with his entourage to pledge his allegiance to the emperor as his vassal. Everyone involved knows that this is just for show and war will soon continue, but both sides are stalling for time to strengthen their forces. |
| 176 | * InitiationCeremony: Wismerhill goes through two different and very elaborate ones, first when he becomes a high priest of the Black Moon by crawling through a cave system to undergo several trials, and second when he becomes the leader of the Lords of Negation, Haazheel Thorn's most elite soldiers. Both instances involve him dying and being resurrected as well. |
| 177 | * ItAmusedMe: The prequel shows that the entire plot was set off by a bet between [[spoiler:Lucifer and Pazuzu]], because the former wanted a game that wouldn't be deliberately lost by his opponent [[BadBoss for fear]] [[EvilIsPetty of retribution]]. |
| 178 | * ItsAllMyFault: Wismerhill blames himself for [[spoiler: the end of the world]] after [[BigBad Haazheel Thorn]] [[spoiler:uses his last ounce of magic to cause the Black Moon to crash into the Earth]], but the Oracle tells him that [[YouCantFightFate every possible path would have led him here]]. |
| 179 | * KillTheGod: Deicide is apparently possible in the setting. When Lucifer's demons rampage around the world after [[BigBad Haazheel]] opens the HellGate between their dimensions, they attack the Oracle's sanctuary intending to destroy the Oracle before Wismerhill intervenes and slays the demons. On the other hand, [[TheArchmage Methraton]] later specifically [[SealedEvilInACan seals Lucifer away]] after his defeat because he doesn't know of any way to kill a god. |
| 180 | * LastVillainStand: When Wismerhill finally betrays BigBad EvilSorcerer Haazheel Thorn, the latter arrives in the royal palace with his elite guard to punish Wismerhill. When his forces are all killed by Wismerhill's, [[VillainousBreakdown Haazheel snaps]] and [[OneWingedAngel transforms into a giant humanoid demon]]. He almost wins the battle singlehanded in this form, killing pretty much all of Wismerhill's allies before Wismerhill rips his heart out and destroys his former mentor for good. |
| 181 | * TheLegionsOfHell: The demons of hell are summoned in battle by Haazheel Thorn [[spoiler:and sent by Lucifer to TakeOverTheWorld after {{God}} is out of the picture]]. |
| 182 | * LetTheBossWin: The entire events of the series are set in motion because of Lucifer playing chess (and always winning) against his minion Pazuzu (who knows exactly how much Lucifer's promise not to kill the one who bests him is worth), who keeps losing so as not to incur his master's wrath. So they decide to [[CosmicChessGame play the game with mortals]] instead. |
| 183 | * LevitatingLotusPosition: The priests of the [[ReligionOfEvil Black Moon faith]] are often found floating in a lotus position when they're either meditating or accompanying their leader [[SorcerousOverlord Haazheel Thorn]]'s forces. |
| 184 | * LightIsGood: The Order of Justice, whose grandmaster Parsifal is an exemplar of the pious, lawful {{Paladin}} and KnightInShiningArmor. |
| 185 | * LightIsNotGood: The leadership of the Knightly Order of Light is held by grandmaster Fratus [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Sinister]], [[TheStarscream who has designs on the imperial throne]], and his cronies, all of them power-hungry, morally bankrupt assholes. |
| 186 | * LivingGasbag: On the second Earth Wismerhill's men run into miles-wide flying jellyfish that are either giant colonies of smaller jellyfish, or the smaller ones are the brain cells of a single being. |
| 187 | [[/folder]] |
| 188 | |
| 189 | [[folder:M to P]] |
| 190 | * MassiveNumberedSiblings: Wismerhill ends up fathering nine children (eight daughters and one son) with Hellheyna and his harem. |
| 191 | * MercyKill: During his imprisonment by the Empire, Dinard was shown mercy by an Imperial priest, who even taught him to read. So when the orcs breach the fortress, Dinard finds the priest and explains that he's going to kill him to spare his being tortured. The priest forgives and blesses him as he dies. |
| 192 | * MileHighClub: Wismerhill is carried by his WingedHumanoid lover Hellaynnea the succubus to have sex in the clouds. |
| 193 | * MilitaryMage: The army of the Black Moon contains entire units of military sorcerers casting spells at the enemy. Wis' giant warmachine has a specially designed bunker where his mages can cast spells in safety. |
| 194 | * MinionManipulatedIntoVillainy: Haazheel Thorn orchestrates the apparent murder of Wismerhill's long-lost father in a FalseFlagOperation to make the Empire of Lhynn appear responsible. When Haazheel offers him an opportunity for revenge, Wismerhill joins the SorcerousOverlord's army and becomes one of his most useful assets in the war against Emperor Haaghendorf. Wis later discovers the truth when his ''real'' father shows up to inform his son how Haazheel has been manipulating him all along. |
| 195 | * MirroredConfrontationShot: The cover of album 13, ''The Prophecy'', shows Wismerhill and Hazheel Thorn staring each other down with (literally) burning eyes. |
| 196 | * MonsterProgenitor: The dragon species was spawned by a single primordial dragon, who is of course [[StrongerWithAge the biggest]]. He doesn't show until the end of the world approaches when he wakes up from his centuries-long slumber to lead his children through the spacegate. |
| 197 | * MoonBase: The headquarters of the Black Moon are, astonishingly enough, on the Moon. It can only be reached through a portal deep in the swamps of the Barony of Moork, which on the outside only shows an illusion of a simple tower. |
| 198 | * [[ColonyDrop Moon Drop]]: The BigBad doesn't take defeat well. NOT. AT. ALL. |
| 199 | * MuggingTheMonster: Wishmerhill visits a powerful mage who claims to know where to find the oracle. The mage drugs him and straps him to a device intending to drain his lifeforce. He didn't know that Wismerhill possessed powers far beyond an ordinary half-elf. |
| 200 | * MultiArmedAndDangerous: During a massive engagement between the Black Moon and the Empire of Lynn, Haazheel Thorn transforms into a gigantic four-armed titan to throw magic blasts at the opposing armies. |
| 201 | * TheMultiverse: Apparently reality is made up of many different dimensions tied together by the four elements. After humanity leaves the Earth for a different world when it is about to be destroyed, it takes Lucifer one hell of an effort to find humanity again between all the different universes. |
| 202 | * MutualKill: [[ThePaladin Lord Parsifal]] and [[TheDragon Baron Greldinard of Moork]] both deliver each other a killing blow during a major battle between the Empire of Lynn and the Black Moon. However, both are later revived by the forces of light and darkness, respectively. |
| 203 | * TheNecrocracy: |
| 204 | ** Wismerhill and his entourage go on an unapproved mission to the southern provinces to invade a kingdom of the living dead. They mow down the skeletal armies outside the tombs fairly easily, but are almost killed by its [[OurLichesAreDifferent lich]] prince and his vampire, mummy and ghost lieutenants, surviving only thanks to their boss [[SorcerousOverlord Haazheel Thorn]]'s intervention. |
| 205 | ** Wismerhill himself, despite looking fully human, is a type of crypto-zombie when he became one of the Lords of Negation, BlackKnight super-warriors loyal to Haazheel Thorne. Long after Haazheel's grip on them has been broken and Wismerhill has become the Emperor of all humanity, he has to resort to consuming human lifeforce for a while until his mages find a way to supply him some other way. |
| 206 | * {{Necromancer}}: |
| 207 | ** Haazheel Thorn has control over the living dead, raising them as part of his army. He can also gift his servants with a [[BackFromTheDead straightforward resurrection]] if they've fallen in battle, but you better damn hope he considers you useful enough to bother. |
| 208 | ** He also spares Greldinald when he sees the unusual method his mother used. |
| 209 | * NightOfTheLivingMooks: Haazheel Thorn raises a gigantic legion of undead, lead by mighty [[DragonRider wyrm-riding]] undead lords... merely as a way to soften up the imperial armies before battle. [[spoiler:He still loses said battle... [[XanatosGambit just as planned]].]] |
| 210 | * NoSell: Methraton takes a full-powered attack from ''Lucifer himself'' and comes out of it with an expression of mild irritation, like someone threw a rock at [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} Dr. Manhattan]]. |
| 211 | * OriginsEpisode: Several characters from the main series have been given their origin story albums, namely [[LoveableRogue Pilou]], [[BoisterousBruiser Ghorghor Bey]], and [[ThePaladin Lord Parsifal]]. |
| 212 | * OurAngelsAreDifferent: They're giant winged humanoids serving {{God}} who, unlike the demons, only rarely intervene in the world, most notably when the Knights of Justice summon Gabriel to ask him to make the Knights of Light see the true way after being led astray by its corrupt leadership. |
| 213 | * OurDemonsAreDifferent: Various types of demons are seen. Most of TheLegionsOfHell are [[BigRedDevil big, red, horned humanoids]], though Lucifer himself looks could almost be mistaken for human. The [[SuccubiAndIncubi succubi]] also originate in hell, and are [[ShapeshiftersDoItForAChange ambiguously sexual shapeshifters]]. All demons love human souls, which they [[SoulEating eat for lunch]]. The BigBad himself is a half-demon spawned by the Devil [[spoiler: and the protagonist is revealed to also be a half-demon, spawned by Pazuzu]]. |
| 214 | * OurDragonsAreDifferent: Many sizes and colors, but mostly cosmetic differences as they're pretty much all big (human to {{kaiju}} size) reptilian flyers with fire breath (except for undead ones and negation wyrms, who breathe unlife and oblivion respectively). Most are (or at least seem) sentient, though several look like they have the intelligence of a cat or chimp more than a human one. |
| 215 | * OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Stout, short and bearded? Check. Live inside mountains (and active volcanoes)? Check. Master engineers, miners and smiths? Check. Greedy? Check. Love alcohol? Check. Hate orcs? Check. Fight equipped with massive war machines, heavy armor, axes and hammers? Check, check and check. |
| 216 | * OurGiantsAreBigger: They grow ''really'' big here, often easily [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever over 50 feet tall]]. They're also pretty much brutish savages who will happily join the Army of the Black Moon in their war against the empire. |
| 217 | * OurGodsAreDifferent: There are said to be many different gods, although [[PowersThatBe they're almost never seen]]. {{God}} and his angels occasionally help out the holy orders of knights who serve the empire but prefer to keep their distance from mortal affairs. The Oracle is another god, whose true form is a multi-headed EldritchAbomination [[spoiler:but is in fact a female HotGod.]] [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]], the Prince of Darkness himself, can be considered this, and likely one of the more powerful ones apart from {{God}}. |
| 218 | * OurHomunculiAreDifferent: After Haazheel Thorne's demise, the heroes are visited by a clone that the wicked sorcerer had created of himself to manage the Black Moon prayers (and is also far less evil-minded than him so he would be easier to control). He's basically just there to serve as MrExposition about Haazheel's final plan before he melts into a puddle because there's no more magic energy to sustain him. |
| 219 | * OurLichesAreDifferent: Wismerhill and his gang decide to go tomb raiding in a kingdom of the living dead in the southern provinces ruled by a lich prince. He's by far the most dangerous undead they face, and almost kills them (actually succeeding in some cases) with his magical powers. They survive (or get resurrected) only by summoning their boss Haazheel Thorn to help them out, who's an even more powerful dark wizard. |
| 220 | * OurOgresAreHungrier: They look more like brown-furred, club-wielding yeti. Half-ogres look more human but are just as big. How big? Ghorgor Bey uses a beer barrel ''as a drinking goblet''. |
| 221 | * OurOrcsAreDifferent: Similar to Franchise/{{Warhammer}} orcs, [[AttackAttackAttack with the same sense of tactics]], only usually with more humanlike skintones and racial hatred of elves. |
| 222 | * OutdoorBathPeeping: This is how the hero Wismerhill [[NakedFirstImpression met his first paramour]], Fey, bathing in a river. At first she's mad at the peeper, [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks throwing her bastard sword]] in a tree next to him ([[CantBatheWithoutAWeapon she may bathe nude, but she never parts with her weapon]]). However the virgin hero reacts quite innocently, having never seen a naked woman before, and she quickly warms up to him. |
| 223 | * PhysicalGod |
| 224 | ** Haazheel Thorn approaches this level of power. He's not actually a god, [[AGodAmI though he claims to be one]]. |
| 225 | ** Methraton, [[TheArchmage the Ultimate Mage]], ''definitely'' has this much power. He's not a god either, more of an immortal archmage, and [[AGodIAmNot hates it when people mistake him for one]]. |
| 226 | ** Lucifer himself, when he finally shows up personally to wreck Wismerhill's shit in the sequel series. [[spoiler: Too bad for him Methraton had anticipated this and exploits the LogicalWeakness inherent in being physically present on the mortal plane to magically bind and imprison him.]] |
| 227 | * PlanetaryNation: ZigzaggedTrope. After humanity settles on a new world after the forces of evil have destroyed the old one, [[TheArchmage Methraton]] tells the human nations that they have to pick one emperor from among their kings who will rule over the entire world, as he won't allow any more pointless warring between them. They select Wismerhill when he is the only monarch to refuse the throne. However, the other kings seem to retain a degree of autonomy (and their titles), given the feudal setting. |
| 228 | [[/folder]] |
| 229 | |
| 230 | [[folder:Q to Z]] |
| 231 | * RedGreenContrast: The dark magic of the Black Moon is green in color, but [[SorcerousOverlord Haazheel Thorne]] and his army of mages always dress in green and red robes. |
| 232 | * ReligionOfEvil: The Black Moon faith, which worships Haazheel Thorn. |
| 233 | * RoadApples: While walking through the Black Moon army camp, Wismerhill dodges a giant who just took a crap above him. Pilou notes that it would have been a [[UndignifiedDeath particularly embarassing way to go]]. |
| 234 | * RoleplayingGameVerse: The books start with a nobody called Wismerhill going on a journey and adding more friends to his party while facing various perils that are thrown in their way. It helps to explain a lot of what happens when you know that the series was inspired by one of Froideval's old ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' campaigns, and that he worked on ''AD&D'' for Creator/{{TSR}} in TheEighties. In fact the setting was originally meant to be the far western section of the supercontinent of Oerik in ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'', as shown on [[https://ghwiki.greyparticle.com/index.php/Oerik this 1996 official map]] (presumably retconned by the ''Chainmail'' miniature wargame which took place in the same geographic area). |
| 235 | * RoyalHarem: |
| 236 | ** Aside from Hellaynnea, a succubus and his main consort, Wismerhill gains around ten other wives, all of whom [[HeirClubForMen except one]] bear him a daughter. |
| 237 | ** Haazheel Thorn has his own harem of ''succubi'', who are otherwise unable to hurt him because of his vast magical powers. |
| 238 | * {{Satan}}: Lucifer is shown early on to be the true master of all demons, and it's hinted that he's more powerful than the gods (except maybe for {{God}} himself, who's unfortunately [[TheGodsMustBeLazy a lot less proactive]]). [[spoiler:Old Nick is also TheManBehindTheMan for much of the series' plot.]] |
| 239 | * ScaryImpracticalArmor: |
| 240 | ** Wismerhill's "leader of the Lords of Negation" getup. |
| 241 | ** Parsifal the paladin's armor is impressive too. |
| 242 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: |
| 243 | ** The most notable ones happen towards the series' end: [[spoiler:First, {{God}}, when it's obvious that with Lhynn in the hands of a puppet of Haazheel Thorn, the latter has a free hand in bringing about HellOnEarth, calls out for all his true faithful to go to Lord Parsifal's realm, and when the last of them passes through the gate, takes the land away to AnotherDimension of prosperity and security.]] |
| 244 | ** Then in the very last volume, [[spoiler:when TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt is about to happen by way of [[ColonyDrop Moon Drop]], [[TheArchmage Methatron]] organises the evacuation to another world of the population of humanity's greatest, most organised nations from all continents. [[ElementalEmbodiment The Winds]] go through with minimal fuss; [[OurDragonsAreDifferent The dragons]] are let through by Methatron out of pragmatism, as it's not certain the human forces would be able to stop them or survive trying (a few dozen dragons? Messy, but doable. The ''entire species''? Good luck); everybody else who tries (orcs and other savage humanoids, barbarians, what-have-you) is screwed unless they're among the small minority allied to the protagonists. The elves/fairy folk and the dwarves [[FaceDeathWithDignity choose another path]].]] |
| 245 | * ShapeshiftingSeducer: [[SuccubiAndIncubi Succubi]] are able to take on any form, [[ShapeshiftersDoItForAChange female or male]], to lure in victims. Hellaynnea does a very extended demonstration when she offers to serve Wismerhill, going through 30 or so forms, including his previous lover who had been killed. |
| 246 | * ShootTheMessenger: Very common in this setting. When one faction sends a messenger to another faction, they usually end up dead. |
| 247 | ** One of Ghorghor Bey's men is [[ForcedTransformation turned into a frog]] by the master of a sorcerer's stronghold after demanding their surrender. |
| 248 | ** Fratus Sinister and his corrupt cronies at the head of the order of the Knights of Justice shoot (with arrows) upwards of 20 imperial messengers one after the other. A variation in that they're shot ''before'' they even deliver the message, as Sinister want to keep plausible deniability as to why he didn't commit his forces to the absolutely ''massive'' battle taking place against the BigBad's [[spoiler:decoy]] forces (Fratus wants to take over the Empire, see). This bites him in the ass later on, as the savvy emperor isn't fooled, and Fratus gets a humiliating demotion from the Empire's aristocratic pecking order. |
| 249 | ** Wismerhill and his friends respond to a representative of the empire demanding that they hand over the Barony of Moork to its newly appointed lord by having the messenger roasted by a baby dragon and served up for dinner--[[BlackComedyCannibalism their own, not the dragon's]]. |
| 250 | * ShoutOut: |
| 251 | ** In Pilou's origin story, we get a crowd scene in which [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings a tall bearded man in gray with two shorter guys]] can be seen. Haazheel's Lords of Negation are also very similar to Sauron's Ringwraiths, being tall armored semi-undead faceless knights controlled by their master through [[RingOfPower Rings of Power]]. |
| 252 | ** Further cementing the RPGMechanicsVerse's nature, the elder dragons are classified by color, one of them a MultipleHeadCase [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons with each head a different color.]] |
| 253 | ** In their first appearance, the orcs were essentially ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy''-esque brutes with a wider range of skin colors. When they appear in Greldinald's spin-off, they're much closer to ''{{VideoGame/Warcraft}}'' orcs, from skin color to armor (though they still ride giant boars). |
| 254 | ** Dinard gets himself a giant monster called a krell to use as a mount that is, for all intents and purposes, a pantherish [[{{Film/Alien}} xenomorph]] the size of a bus. |
| 255 | * SicklyGreenGlow: Color of choice and standard side-effect of the magic of Haazheel Thorn and his Black Moon cronies. |
| 256 | * SkyFace: After the army of the [[ReligionOfEvil Black Moon]] sacks several cities, [[SorcerousOverlord Haazheel Thorn]]'s face appears in the sky to declare that the Black Moon is finally rising. |
| 257 | * SoulEating: |
| 258 | ** Souls from all the mortal races are devoured by the demons from hell, as well as succubi. [[spoiler:The main bad guy also dies this way when Lucifer [[YouHaveFailedMe shows his displeasure with his failure]].]] |
| 259 | ** The One is also found of eating souls like candies. |
| 260 | * SpannerInTheWorks: After Wismerhill [[spoiler:attacks, and closes, a portal to Hell, Haazheel is ''very'' angry indeed, as this marks the end of Wis being his puppet.]] |
| 261 | * SpikesOfVillainy: Ghorghor Bey's armor as a dreaded warlord is covered head to toe with massive spikes, to the point where nobody could conceivably even get near him without getting gored in the process. |
| 262 | * SpiritAdvisor: Greldinard's mother, who was a shamaness in life, continues to advise him as a spirit after her death. She actually plays a vital role in preventing Greldinard's youthful brashness from getting himself killed, as she uses her magic to bind a cave-dwelling monster to him so he can use it as a mount, and convinces the uber-powerful Haazheel Thorn to spare her son's life. |
| 263 | * SpoilerTitle: Album 14 is named ''The End of Days''. [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Guess what happens?]] |
| 264 | * SnakePerson: |
| 265 | ** Methraton's servant [[MeaningfulName Serpent]] is a half-snake warrior usually seen guarding his master's temple in the clouds. He also makes noticeable use of SssnakeTalk. |
| 266 | ** Some of the original inhabitants of Terra Secunda are the Ophidians, a race of snake people who don't take too kindly to the new invaders. |
| 267 | * SssnakeTalk: Serpent, Methraton's right-hand man. |
| 268 | * StoryBreakerPower: Wismerhill is perhaps a bit ''too'' powerful by the time of the second story arc on Terra Secunda where he's a GodEmperor. While his conflict with the Black Moon took years to unfold and finally killing [[BigBad Haazheel]] required immense effort and the help of all his allies, every conflict on Terra Secunda is resolved rather quickly with Wismerhill smashing Lucifer's demonic army, then smashing the Ophidian Army and kidnapping the Emperor with little effort, and then easily thwarting a ''second'' demonic invasion because his friendship with the new god pretty much gives him a DeusExMachina who does house calls. |
| 269 | * StormingTheCastle: Castle and city sieges usually amount to thousands of soldiers storming the gates and killing anything in sight. Having sorcerers, dragons, giants and other huge war beasts helps a lot. |
| 270 | * StrongerWithAge: Dragons only get bigger as they get older. The oldest dragon in the world and the progenitor of his kind is so big that he barely fits through the spacegate. |
| 271 | * TheStrongman: Ghorgor Bey was part of a traveling circus in his youth, which included a strongman who used his dumbbells as weapons. |
| 272 | * SummoningRitual: There are various rituals available to mages to can summon different demons. One of them gets one hell of a surprise when the demon turns out be Satan himself, who was looking for a doorway to reach mankind [[spoiler:after they had abandoned the previous world to escape its destruction.]] |
| 273 | * SupernaturallyYoungParent: When Lucifer and his son Haazheel Thorn finally meet, the latter looks like a frail old man while the former like somebody in his prime. Lucifer of course is an immortal deity, while Haazheel has been aging normally for decades. Part of Lucifer's plans for Haazheel involves ascending him to full godhood in exchange for delivering the Earth to him. |
| 274 | * ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Back in his ThisLoserIsYou days, Wis hunted rabbits with a jousting lance and a charger. |
| 275 | -->'''Wismerhill:''' Victory! The beast has perished! |
| 276 | * ThievesGuild: Pile-ou-face the elf was sold to the master of a thieves' and [[MurderInc assassins']] guild as a young boy and brought up in their trade. He was quickly hated by the other boys both for being a non-human and his talent at stealing thanks to being an elf arousing their jealousy. As an adult Pilou eventually sells out the entire guild to get revenge on the master for arranging the death of a friendly thief who had been a father figure to him. |
| 277 | * ThoseTwoGuys: The final battle against demons leaves two survivors, a hulking brute and a diminutive imp who's the brains of the outfit, though not by much. |
| 278 | * TreacherousAdvisor: in a way, the mage who worked for Ghorgor Bey's nemesis: |
| 279 | -->'''Lord''': Here he comes! Mage, do something! |
| 280 | -->'''Mage''': Sorry about this, lord, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere but I've got a teleport on the boil, goodbye!]] |
| 281 | -->'''Lord''': Mage? [[OhCrap Oh no!]] |
| 282 | * TreasureRoom: When Wismerhill and his friends invade the kingdom of the living dead and defeat its lich prince, the next thing they find is his enormous treasure room, which they plunder to fund their military build-up against the empire. |
| 283 | * TrueCompanions: While Wismerhill becomes more powerful and fearsome over the course of the story, he never loses his friends' respect and trust. In one story he takes time to buy rare gifts for his companions, and one companion in particular gets his dead lover(s) resurrected. |
| 284 | * UpperClassTwit: After the first defeat of the Black Moon armies, Emperor Haghendorf bestows the apparently vacated title of Baron of Moork unto a foppish aristocrat who thinks his new subjects will just welcome him with open arms. Wismerhill makes a good show of this before capturing the clueless nobleman and seizing his own feudal estates. |
| 285 | * VanishingVillage: The party stays in one unwittingly for a night near the beginning of the series. Used to facilitate the aforementionned [[StuffedIntoTheFridge fridging]]. |
| 286 | * VestigialEmpire: The Tharque empire, an AncientGrome FantasyCounterpartCulture that still has some impressive vestiges of its glory days, including [[CoolShip a ridiculously huge flagship made from the skeleton of a sea monster]] for its navy, supposedly still the mightiest in the world. |
| 287 | * VillainExitStageLeft: Subverted in ''The Opal Throne''. The Ophidian snake-emperor retreats after witnessing his army being destroyed, with the captions noting that he will bide his time, slowly rebuild his forces, and be back for another round. Immediately afterwards, Wismerhill in his giant form pursues and catches the Emperor, levels his palace, and forces him to submit by threatening to kill his Empress. |
| 288 | * VillainousBreakdown: At the final confrontation with Wismerhill in the imperial castle, Haazheel finally goes apeshit when his soldiers start to lose, going OneWingedAngel and destroying anything he sees. |
| 289 | %%* VillainProtagonist |
| 290 | * WouldHurtAChild: One of Wismerhill's nastiest KickTheDog occurs when he learns that the Aztec people practice human sacrifices and then orders the purge of the royal familly, children included. |
| 291 | * WhamShot: Albums often end on these to set up a {{Cliffhanger}}. For instance, one comic ends with Wismerhill returning to Moork to find his masters Haazheel Thorn and Greldinard, who had apparently both been killed, waiting for him inside the throne room. |
| 292 | * YinYangBomb: During Wismerhill and the Emperor's final battle, each remote-pilots a differently colored magic sphere that annihilates the other's troops. Wis crashes his into the Emperor's so normal battle can resume. |
| 293 | * YouCantFightFate: Much to emperor Haghendorf's chagrin. |
| 294 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:When TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt comes knocking, the dragons get rid of all their dragon knight servants/partners/protectors [[KillItWithFire rather spectacularly]] before [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere getting the hell out of Dodge]] through the same portal as the humans.]] |
| 295 | * YouKilledMyFather: Haazheel Thorn and the Baron of Moork arrange the violent death of Wismerhill's dark elf father ([[FalseFlagOperation actually, the demon Urmarcht in disguise]]) just before he could finally meet him and blame it on the empire to incite Wismerhill's fury against the emperor. |
| 296 | * YourSoulIsMine: Demons eat souls. Hellaynnea occasionally flies out at night to grab herself a snack. |
| 297 | * ZeroGSpot: A variation where Wismerhill is carried by his WingedHumanoid lover Hellaynnea the succubus to have sex in the clouds. |
| 298 | [[/folder]] |
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FollowingContext ComicBook / BlackMoonChronicles
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