Line #14 ComicBook/SecretSix


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/secret-six-10.jpg]]
2	A [[LegionOfDoom team of supervillains]] in Franchise/TheDCU, there have been several incarnations of the Secret Six, with the current team created by Creator/GailSimone and Dale Eaglesham. This incarnation is made up primarily of villains who are cooperating for personal and commercial reasons, working as a team to commit crimes and perform services for an exorbitant fee.
3
4	This version of the Six first turned up in ''[[ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis Villains United]]'' #1 (July, 2005), fighting against the Society of Supervillains. After all, just because they are all evil [[EvilIsOneBigHappyFamily does not mean they get along]]. They had a mini-series (''Six Degrees of Devastation'') before finally getting their own monthly title. [[http://www.606studios.com/bendisboard/showthread.php?208178-Okay-About-Secret-Six The series was cancelled]] as a part of the ComicBook/{{New 52}} relaunch and replaced by a reboot of the ComicBook/SuicideSquad featuring a few key members, such as Deadshot and King Shark, and Tremor reappears in Simone's new comic ''ComicBook/TheMovement''.
5
6	Ragdoll appeared in Gail Simone's ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}'' comic, along with a nod towards Scandal, Knockout, and Liana Kerzner.
7
8	A new ''Secret Six'' volume launched in December 2014, with Simone as author, Ken Lashley on artwork and covers by Dale Eaglesham. Catman and Black Alice returned from the previous run. New members to the team are pre-established characters Strix and Shauna Belzer, the new Ventriloquist, and brand new characters Porcelain and Big Shot. More information [[http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2014/09/simone-lashley-want-to-six-you-up/ here]].
9
10	In October 2018, it was announced that a television series based on the team was in development at Creator/{{CBS}}, but it's not clear which run the show would pull from, or which characters would be featured.
11
12	Has a [[Characters/SecretSix character sheet.]]
13
14	Do not mumble when ordering at your local Comic Guy, lest he might confuse it with Dynamite's "Sacred Six". See also [[Characters/MarvelComicsSinisterSix Sinister Six]], which are from [[Creator/MarvelComics the rival company]] and made mostly to counter ComicBook/SpiderMan.
15	----
16
17	[[foldercontrol]]
18
19	[[folder:Volumes 2 and 3]]
20	!!This second volume provides examples of:
21
22	* AbusiveParents:
23	** Catman's father was an abusive wife-beater who forced his son to shoot a tied-up lioness who was nursing a cub in order to [[ARealManIsAKiller make him a man]]. He ultimately planned to kill his wife and frame Catman for the crime. Catman later [[spoiler:accidentally shot his mother while trying to defend her from a murder attempt by his father, who then tried to frame Catman for it. [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice It didn't]] [[SelfMadeOrphan work out too well for him]].]]
24	** Scandal's father is ComicBook/VandalSavage, an immortal cannibal conqueror who tried to have her raped by a sexually depraved midget. The clawed weapons she wields were given to her by him in order to continuously remind her of her dead mother, who Vandal threatened to murder if she failed his physical gauntlet. When she was ''ten''. Lampshaded by Catman when, while fighting Vandal Savage, he notes to Scandal that he is amazed that her father is an even bigger bastard than his father.
25	** Deadshot's father abused him, his brother, and his mother, while the latter manipulated his brother into attempting to murder their father, and later hired a pedophile to kidnap Deadshot's son to make him finish the deed, resulting in her grandson being raped and murdered by said pedophile.
26	** Ragdoll's father is a child-molesting cult leader who likes to mutilate himself.
27	** Bane's dad is a blind, arrogant crime lord named King Snake, the alias of one Sir Edmund Dorrance. While working as a mercenary he got Bane's mother pregnant... and left the two of them to ''languish in prison to serve out his life sentence''. Said prison, as you may gather from the fact that it let that happen in the first place, is a notorious hell hole and Bane only survived by becoming the biggest and meanest evil bastard in the whole place.
28	** Parademon was raised by Granny Goodness, who canonically puts all the above to shame.
29	* ActionGirl: Plain and simple, the women of this series will ''mess you up''.
30	* AllegianceAffirmation In the ''Villains United'' miniseries, the Secret Six are kidnapped by the Society of Supervillains and subjected to brutal torture. However, there's a twist: their captors keep going easy on Scandal, which causes her teammates to wonder if she's been selling them out for better treatment. After they finally manage to escape, Scandal grabs Fatality, one of their guards, bites her ear off, and then swallows it. As Fatality is an AxCrazy BloodKnight whose entire schtick is [[DisproportionateRetribution violently avenging slights against her]], and therefore Scandal has just made one hell of an enemy, the other Secret Six members quickly decide that she's probably not a traitor.
31	--->'''Ragdoll:''' She makes a compelling case with that ear thing, don't you find?
32	* AndIMustScream: The punishment Catman's father receives in hell: Every day, Catman's mother (Now a lioness with a human face) devours and excretes him, with him being conscious and aware the whole time. His body then reforms itself, so he can go through it again. For Catman's mother, her role is a reward rather then a punishment.
33	* AndYourLittleDogToo: In issue 35, an hour-long beating doesn't convince the Penguin to go along with Bane's plan; it's when Ragdoll threatens to feed his pet penguins to King Shark.
34	* AnimalThemedSuperbeing: Cat-Man and King Shark.
35	* [[AntiVillain Anti-Villain Protagonist]]/[[AntiHero Anti-Heroes]]: Even the most psychotic of the Six are, to some extent, sympathetic characters, and the main practical difference between them and an average NinetiesAntiHero vigilante is the fact that they generally fight (other) villains for profit. An exception to this rule is former member [[TokenEvilTeammate Cheshire]], who Creator/GailSimone has [[WordOfGod stated]] she always writes without any redeeming characteristics since she once [[NukeEm killed a country]].
36	* ApologeticAttacker: Ragdoll often apologizes for killing people. Once he apologized in the person's native tongue for not killing them.
37	* ArtifactTitle: After Black Alice joins the team, it has seven members, and the number never drops back to six again. During the last couple of story arcs, there are actually ''eight'' people in "Secret Six", a discrepancy that's [[LampshadeHanging pointed out]] by one of Scandal's servants.
38	* AscendedMeme: In issue 35, King Shark sings his own version of the [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-singing-shark "I'm a shaaaaark" song]].
39	* TheAtoner:
40	** Issue 24 seems to imply that ''all'' the characters secretly wish to atone, even though many continue to act in a despicable manner throughout the series. An Main/{{Elseworlds}} issue, it ends with the characters wishing that, even if only this once, they could have been the heroes.
41	** Bane ''was'' this in his own messed up way. When he found out that, because the world does not conform to his own particular sense of right and wrong he was apparently going to hell, he decided to give up on being the Atoner and do what he had originally wanted to: Conquer Gotham and break the Batman.
42	* AxCrazy: Bane's pretty much the only one who doesn't regularly display these tendencies. You know your team has a problem when a man whose entire childhood was spent fighting for his life in one of the world's worst prisons is the only consistently level-headed and emotionally stable member.
43	* BadassBoast: "You'll run. You'll hide. And in the dark...[[PrepareToDie I will find you]]."
44	** And from the Secret Six's promotional video advertising their services: "Your enemies are our enemies, and most of our enemies are dead."
45	* BadassCrew They are like a family. A strange, evil, badass family who have stabbed/shot each other many times.
46	* BallsOfSteel: Ragdoll is at one point the victim of a GroinAttack, but he simply takes it and replies, "I had those removed for getting in the way." Catman compliments him on how devoted he is to being a freak. [[FridgeLogic He still seems to have a sex drive]], so he must take replacement hormones.
47	* BarehandedBladeBlock: Bane combines this with OffhandBackhand to catch a baseball bat.
48	* TheBaroness: Jeanette, who has more than a touch of sadism and works as a professional dominatrix.
49	* BerserkButton: Ragdoll is hardly a nice guy, but when teamed with killers like Bane and Deadshot, he seems less dangerous and certainly [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} less focused]]. However, if you threaten Black Alice, he will [[LetsGetDangerous kill you painfully]].
50	** Don't bring up Scandal Savage's [[ComicBook/VandalSavage dad]] or do anything to remind her of him. ''Just don't do it''. You'll be ''very'' lucky to still be in one piece if you make him enter her mind. Actually, that's probably the easiest way to piss Scandal off, given that she is definitely the most AxCrazy of the team and has a ridiculously short fuse, and being insane.
51	** And speaking of Scandal, don't hurt her or even threaten her in front of Bane. Remember what he did to [[ComicBook/{{Knightfall}} good 'ol Bats?]] He'll do that to you. Seriously, don't fuck with Scandal in front of Bane.
52	** Finally, do not threaten [[PapaWolf Catman's]] son. DO. NOT. DO. IT. While the rest of the team will either shoot you, slice you up, cave your head in, or rip you apart if you piss them off, Catman will make it slow. '''''VERY''''' slow. If you're lucky, you'll escape with either [[EyeScream part of your face missing]] or four new assholes. You probably won't be lucky, however.
53	* BilingualBonus: As his slave-based prison island collapses around him, Smythe bemoans the death of his "beautiful dream". [[spoiler:This is the rough translation of the French-named "Belle Reve" prison headquarters of the ComicBook/SuicideSquad, from where the Six's secret benefactor Amanda Waller acts.]]
54	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Catman's son is still alive and has been adopted to a loving family and his kidnappers have all been killed, but Catman is unlikely to ever see him again and he tells Jade that their son is dead to keep her from looking for him. Most of the team has overcome their own personal problems and the team has successfully rescued Liana. But in the end Bane led the team into an unwinnable situation so he could 'rid himself of responsibilities for others' and everyone on the team gets captured by heroes, with the text indicating that many of them have broken bones at best.]]
55	* BlackAndGrayMorality / EvilVersusEvil: The Six may varying degrees of scum, but the people they have fought have included a Society of Villains set out to mind rape superheroes and conquer the world, a sociopathic immortal cannibal, a sadistic poison obsessed assassin, a midget misogynist rapist, and the Nightmare Fuel incarnate Junior. The Six are bad, their foes are ''worse''.
56	* BlackComedy: Violence and killing is often played for laughs in this book. The whole sequence with Deadshot and Catman shopping for ice cream at the beginning of the ''Unhinged'' arc, especially the part where Deadshot keeps casually ribbing Catman about his lovelife while a thug levels a gun at his head, highlights the humor that is inserted into theoretically life-or-death situations.
57	* BloodCountess: Jeannette has many of the stereotypical traits of the blood countess, being obscenely wealthy, a widow, and having her own "castle" (in this case a hotel/casino in Las Vegas), but she is obsessed with violence and torture, not blood, and is a banshee rather than a vampire. Her origins name-check the ur-example; she was originally a servant of Lady Bathory and became undead after a botched execution for her role in Bathory's death.
58	* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Most, if not all of Ragdoll's dialog.
59	* BreakTheHaughty: Tried multiple times on multiple members of the team. Ends ''exceptionally'' badly, every time.
60	* BreatherEpisode: Immediately after the extremely dark "Cats in the Cradle" storyline we get the stand-alone issue "Predators," which chronologically takes place before the previous story and is pretty much just 22 pages of the Six kicking ass.
61	* BrotherSisterIncest: Heavily implied to have gone on between the second Ragdoll and his sister Alex [[spoiler:aka Junior.]] And that is the LEAST disturbing thing about the family. Ragdoll's home life was sort of like "I love Mallory" from Natural Born Killers. Only with a less caring father.
62	* TheCameo: Issue #7 of the ongoing series features an extremely gratuitous (but awesome) appearance from the ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey, a team that Gail Simone famously wrote before the Secret Six. Inexplicably, the roster shown there did not at all match the one used by then-current writer Tony Bedard, swapping out Manhunter, Misfit and Infinity for Grace Choi.
63	* CarnivalOfKillers: Multiple teams of killers have been assembled with the intention of taking down the Secret Six.
64	* CastFullOfGay: A minor example, but of the main cast there's a lesbian woman (Scandal), two bisexual women (Jeanette and Kay / Knockout) and one possibly bisexual man (Catman, confirmed by WordOfGod).
65	* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: This is getting to be a hobby of Cheshire's. [[spoiler:Too bad for her that the Society is not GenreBlind.]]
66	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Ragdoll is a VERY disturbed version of this trope.
67	-->"I wonder what it's like to @#$% a butterfly?"\
68	"It's probably all squishy and awkward..."
69	** King Shark, while nowhere near as out there as Ragdoll, is still a tad on the quirky side of things.
70	* CombatPragmatist:
71	** Catman mainly uses knives and claws, but he has been known to wade into combat with a tire iron, a frozen pint of Butter Brickle ice cream, or even [[NowThatsUsingYourTeeth his teeth]].
72	** Deadshot is not above running people over a car. When Yasemin, a former Turkish gunrunner that is now working for [[ComicBook/SuicideSquad Amanda Waller]], fails in an assassination, everybody explains that Deadshot would not have failed. For her own pride and to prove her skill, Yasemin later challenges Deadshot himself when the Suicide Squad is attacking the Secret Six in order to re-recruit him. She explains that, on the count of three, they will draw and fire to see who is the better shootist; he shoots her before she even finishes talking. Over her body he explains "You take the shot you have."
73	* TheComicallySerious: Bane. Trying to be fatherly to a grown woman by talking to her like she is five years old is only the start of it. Not to mention his attempt to comfort an actual five year old, [[http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67/AthenAltena/tumblr_l49ah3Jrx21qzl89so1_1280.jpg which did not go so well]].
74	* ContinuityNod: Knockout's murder occurred in ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'', and was used as a significant plot point in the first ''Secret Six'' storyline.
75	** Giganta's boyfriend, [[ComicBook/TheAtom Ryan Choi]], was killed by Deathstroke in the ''Titans: Villains For Hire'' series. Since Giganta was serving on the same team as Dwarfstar, the man who paid to have Ryan iced, she [[spoiler:seduced and apparently tortured Dwarfstar after taping him up.]]
76	** This itself was later followed up on in ''Titans'', where Dwarstar was shown in a hospital. [[ComicBook/TheAtom Ray Palmer]] explicitly mentioned the incident with Giganta in order to taunt Dwarfstar.
77	* CrazyPrepared: When Deadshot tells the story of when he first fought Batman he gets to the climax of the encounter, when he had Batman dead to rights at point-blank range, and says he shot Batman right in the chest. Batman, however, did not die as planned and then disarmed and apprehended Deadshot. The priest whom Deadshot is speaking to asks for clarification. Did Deadshot miss? Did the bullets bounce off Batman? No, Deadshot explains that the answer is actually ''scarier'' than a person able to dodge bullets or withstand gunshots: Batman had gotten to his gear before the fight ''and replaced his bullets with blanks''.
78	* CreepyCrossdresser: Ragdoll once took the opportunity to try on parts of Wonder Woman's costume. He very clearly enjoyed it.
79	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass:
80	** Ragdoll. Most of the time he is a wacky, freaky contortionist who is capable but eccentric and mainly spouts nonsensical and/or creepy one liners. But when he hears that Smyth has ordered the deaths of his team mates? He BEATS A WRENCH INTO HIS SKULL and stands over his twitching body calmly noting he's a "Very bad man". We should also mention [[spoiler:coming to Black Alice's rescue in issue #19]].
81	** Mad Hatter, who is dismissed as borderline useless for his love of "hat crimes". [[spoiler:Then the team gets its ass handed to them by the Doom Patrol, and Mad Hatter takes THEM down on one page with such merciless ease that the Six are sufficiently disturbed to instinctively stop him.]]
82	* DarkActionGirl: Plain and simple, the women of the Six will ''seriously'' @#$& you up.
83	* DatingCatwoman: In a gender switch Catman has this relationship with ComicBook/{{Huntress}} which Deadshot commented on as, "It's the closest thing you can get to doin' it with Batman."
84	* DeathByDisfigurement: [[spoiler: Tarantula]] takes a beating from Junior and loses several of her front teeth. She sacrifices herself moments later in order to take Junior down.
85	* DestructoNookie: Scandal and Knockout had a habit of demolishing the hotels they stayed in.
86	* DisproportionateRetribution:
87	** Do not touch the Hatter's hat, you will pay by the finger.
88	** Never try to interrupt Junior on the phone. Seriously. Do not do it. Whoever you need to call, it can wait.
89	* DownerEnding: Issue 24 is a non-continuity Main/{{Elseworlds}} story that has characters from the Six in a Wild West setting. They face off against a gang of thugs and crooks led by a Wild West version of Junior. Expecting them to win? They are not that lucky.
90	* DuctTapeForEverything: Scandal uses duct tape to tie up and gag Pistolera after she tries to assassinate Knockout. Giganta later [[spoiler:duct-tapes Dwarfstar's mouth shut to keep his screams from alerting the other Sixers while she tortures him]]. Ragdoll later uses duct tape to tie up and gag Bumblebee from the ComicBook/DoomPatrol, whom he wants to take home as a "souvenir".
91	* DysfunctionJunction: Scandal's father is Vandal Savage, the first murderer. Catman's father was a big game hunter who was a complete and utter bastard to everything and everyone around him. Ragdoll's father was an abusive cult leader. Jeanette was raised in the household of mass murderer Countess Erszebet Bathory. Bane spent his childhood in one of the hardest prisons in the world. Deadshot's parents hated each other so much, his mother hired his brother to kill his father - and Deadshot accidentally killed his brother trying to stop him. Black Alice's mother died of a drug overdose, and she brought her back as a zombie. The Six give a whole new meaning to the word "dysfunctional".
92	* Main/{{Elseworlds}}: Issue 24 is a non-continuity story that has characters from the Six in a Wild West setting. They face off against a gang of thugs and crooks led by a Wild West version of Junior. Expecting them to win? [[DownerEnding They are not that lucky.]]
93	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: We first see [[TheBaroness Jeanette]] on the phone to Scandal lounging on a couch, [[FunnyBackgroundEvent while behind her]] is a senator [[BoundAndGagged spread-eagled upside-down, ballgagged and moaning load enough that Scandal can hear him over the phone]].
94	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Weird, strange, and difficult to hold on to, but standards nonetheless... except for Cheshire. It seems to be what sets the Six apart from the villains they fight, as Vandal Savage, Junior and Smyth certainly do not have standards of any kind.
95	** For a specific example, Scandal tells the Mad Hatter to back off when he tries to mind-control Elastigirl into eating Beast Boy.
96	** It's even lampshaded by Catman that these standards make them different from the worst villains and puts them somewhere in the middle in terms of morality for their amoral mindsets
97	-->'''Catman:''' "On the far end of one side, there's the Justice League, all shiny and sweet. On the other far end, there's people like Joker and Darkseid, who'd kill everything and everyone, if they could. Us, we're in the grey zone. Neither side approves of either of us."
98	* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Parademon. Also the Lowlies, until we learn one's name (Insignificus, the only being in fiction more wretched and boot licking than Waylon Smithers).
99	* EvilCounterpart: Catman started off as a criminal version of ComicBook/{{Batman}}, complete with catarangs and Catmobile. A crossover with ''Battle for the Cowl'' features Catman and Bane, both of whom have in their own ways tried to replace Batman at some point in their career, discussing why they never could. Also, Ragdoll comes along for the ride, [[HilarityEnsues vowing to become the new Robin]].
100	* EyeScream: The Six seem to be one of the few villain teams to realize just how vulnerable the eyes are:
101	** In the original ''Villains United'' mini-series, Catman threw dozens of syringes into Captain Nazi's eyes and face.
102	** The leader of the [[ThoseWackyNazis Zyklon-B Boys]], a white supremacist gang who are [[TooDumbToLive stupid even for skinheads]], makes the mistake of TWICE trying to take down the Six. The first time Catman cuts out one of his eyes (He clearly has a fetish about Nazis and eyes). The second time? Deadshot gives him some symmetry. He does not have to suffer from it for long though, as Jeanette puts him out of his misery.
103	** Scandal gives Grendel a case of this as well.
104	** Catman outdoes himself in the finale of "Cats in the Cradle." He [[spoiler:BITES OUT Eric Wallace's eyes and tears off a good chunk of his face while he is at it]].
105	** In "The Reptile Brain" story arc, Ragdoll rips out King Sharks eye.
106	%%* FanDisservice: Junior.
107	* {{Fanservice}}: The characters get naked pretty often. Particularly in the first pages of #5 of the mini, where pretty much all of the Six are naked, from [[MsFanservice Knockout to Catman and Deadshot]] to [[{{Squick}} Mad Hatter]]. Also Bane, for those who are into bears. The only character who has not been at least partially naked by this point is [[FanDisservice Ragdoll]].
108	* FootsieUnderTheTable: [[TheBaroness Jeanette]] forgoes the table entirely, and just runs her bare foot up Deadshot's thigh from across the Six's transport.
109	* FullFrontalAssault: Oh, so much. Catman's flashbacks, Junior, Bane... [[Creator/GailSimone the author]] has admitted to enjoying seeing how many ways she can get her characters naked.
110	* GeniusBruiser: Creator/GailSimone has remembered that Bane is also a criminal genius, and he is starting to regain this status rather than being simple brute strength.
111	* GoodIsNotNice: A truly disturbing example in the Darkest House arc, where the Six go to hell. While there, Catman seeks out his abusive father, (who tricked him into murdering his mother and then tried to frame him for it before Catman killed him too),in order to make sure he suffers his eternal punishment. He does - his punishment is being eaten alive and reborn every night by a lioness who bears the face of Catman's mother. When Catman then says to Etrigan that his mother was a good person, and he had hoped she would be in Heaven rather than Hell, Eteigan gives a truly chilling revelation on what a heavenly Eternal Reward can be.
112	-->'''Etrigan:''' "Clouds and angels, paradise / the line of reward sometimes blurs / For if you can pay the asking price / You choose your heaven, and this... is hers!"
113	* GoofyPrintUnderwear: #11 gives us a look at the characters' nightclothes, and among others Scandal wears polka dot boyshorts while Ragdoll has a pair of yellow footie pajamas, complete with buttflap.
114	* GothGirlsKnowMagic: Black Alice is a Goth-styled anti-hero with the ability to effectively steal the powers of any magical being and temporarily use them as her own.
115	* GreatWhiteHunter: Catman's father was one of these. He was also an abusive asshole who believed that ARealManIsAKiller to the point that he forced his son to kill a tied up and tranquilized lioness.
116	* HauntedHeadquarters
117	* HeroicBSOD / VillainousBSOD: [[spoiler:Bane, after learning that, even as a NobleDemon, he's going to end up in hell regardless of any code of honor he thinks he has.]]
118	* HighTurnoverRate: Before getting their ongoing series the group had a hard time maintaining six members.
119	* HomoeroticSubtext: Catman and Deadshot, which everyone up to and including Simone has noticed, and Simone describes the subtext between them as being like "a neon sign", and given that we now know that Catman is indeed bisexual was probably intentional. Creator/NicolaScott, one of the artists who worked on the book, also gleefully [[http://stormantic.com/3673/art/catman-and-deadshot-by-nicola-scott drew a fan a picture]] of Catman and Deadshot in bed together.
120	* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: One of the most idealistic and sweet characters in the series happens to be Liana, a stripper who tends to cosplay as superheroines in a titty bar, who fell in love with Scandal despite her being a temperamental and vicious assassin.
121	* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: A group of wealthy sociopaths kidnap the Six and plan to hunt them for sport...it turns out as well for them as you would expect.
122	* ImplacableMan:
123	** Scandal has a healing factor and determination spawned by her immortal father Vandal Savage; she does not stop until she ''wants'' to stop.
124	** Catman's ''Cats in the Cradle'' story-arc features him simply moving forward through all opposition without even being slowed down.
125	* InformedAbility: During the Six's LastStand, Huntress's narration box says that the Six manage to kill a few superheroes. However, Doctor Light is the only hero present in that specific panel, and she doesn't look particularly dead. Any other supposed deaths are not shown or even remarked upon further.
126	* InNameOnly: The current Secret Six has nothing in common with the ''original'' Secret Six from UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age\|of Comic Books}} except for the number of members and a mysterious leader called "Mockingbird". However, it has surpassed the original in pretty much every way.
127	* InterspeciesRomance: [[spoiler:And eventually, marriage...]] between Scandal Savage, a (meta)human, and Knockout, an alien [[ComicBook/NewGods New God]] from Apokolips.
128	* IronicEcho: "Let it sink in or you'll never get through this."
129	* ItsPersonal: Scandal Savage decides to go after Big Barda and Hawkgirl because they both hit Knockout.
130	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: It might have been Scandal's hallucination, [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane or it might have been a legitimate event]], but dead ComicBook/{{New God\|s}} Knockout seems to possess a stripper dancing before Scandal to prod her into enjoying her life, as Knockout would rather Scandal happy than moping now that Knockout is dead.
131	* TheJailer: Mr. Smyth.
132	* JumpingOutOfACake: The rest of the Six hire a stripper dressed as Scandal Savage's dead girlfriend Knockout to hide in a cake and give her a lapdance on her birthday to cheer her up, but Scandal is too drunk to really realize what is going on (plus Knockout seems to possess the stripper for a moment [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy to tell her to be happy]]).
133	* {{Kneecapping}}: Unable to kill Lady Vic lest he incur Bane's wrath, Deadshot does this to her instead.
134	* KnightTemplar:
135	** Mr Smyth. He wants to make the world a better place, and he thinks the best way to do it is to lock ALL the world's criminals in a prison where murder and rape are common occurrences, feed some of them to a shaggy haired demon who is the child of the First Murderer, and return slavery to the world... hey, we never said he was ''sane'', just determined.
136	** Amanda Waller wants to police the world and take down bad guys, it is just that her methods of doing so vary from Morally Grey to Morally Black-As-Night territory.
137	* LamarckWasRight: Scandal is tough to kill, attributing that to her father's side of the family. Considering her father, Vandal Savage, has been around since the dawn of mankind it is not surprising.
138	* LastStand: Surrounded in a warehouse by dozens of superheroes, the Six decide to go out swinging by [[spoiler: dosing themselves on Venom and fighting]], even though they know it's hopeless. They get their asses kicked, but still manage to kill a few heroes. [[InformedAbility Supposedly.]]
139	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall:
140	** When Deadshot is [[spoiler:puking after being poisoned by Cheshire]], he narrates to himself, going on randomly about angels... and then asks the person helping him if he said that stuff about angels aloud. He is assured that he did not, and remarks that he worried about narrating out loud.
141	** Ragdoll does this in a few issues as well, most noticably in issue 29, a crossover with the Lex Luthor ''Action Comics'' storyline where he spends the issue talking directly to the reader. He even begins his narration by referring to things that happened in "that other book."
142	* LukeIAmYourFather: More like [[spoiler:"Ragdoll, I am your sister"]], but still. Well, ''he'' knew it, the readers (and everyone else) did not.
143	* MacGuffin: The Get Out of Hell Free Card.
144	* ManBitesMan: Almost everyone on the team has bitten someone at some point. To date; Scandal has bitten off a villain's ear, Bane has torn out a mook's throat, Ragdoll has bitten a man to death after locking up his power armor and Jeanette has bitten off three of a serial killer's fingers and Catman... well, look at the trope's page image. King Shark's special abilities are specifically noted as "Chewing and Biting".
145	* ManipulativeBastard: Their original leader, "Mockingbird" [[spoiler:(AKA Lex Luthor)]]. Also the current "Mockingbird" [[spoiler:(Amanda Waller).]]
146	* MarkedChange: Jeanette gets ProphetEyes, black marks on her face, deathly white skin and black streaks in her hair when she uses her banshee powers. We would tell you to run when you see that, but by then it is already too late.
147	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Deceased ComicBook/{{New God\|s}} Knockout appears to possess Liana, a stripper hired to cheer Scandal up, [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy to tell Scandal to enjoy her life]]. It is never revealed if this really was a paranormal event, or if Scandal was just having a drunken hallucination.
148	* MuggingTheMonster: Some skinheads try to rob the convenience store Deadshot and Catman are getting ice cream from. Deadshot seems more pissed about ''how'' they pull off the mugging rather than that they were doing it in the first place: "You don't respect me? FINE. But you will &* !$ing respect the GUN!"
149	* NeckSnap: Ragdoll's favorite move.
150	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Green Arrow thanks Catman for the heads-up on the Society's plan. Catman decks Green Arrow for pushing the villains by brainwashing villains who learn too much to the point where something like the Society is even possible.
151	* NightmareFetishist: Scandal, Parademon, Jeanette, Deadshot (sometimes) and definitely Ragdoll. We can add Black Alice to the list, being the first known person to find Ragdoll hot (well, in-universe, anyway).
152	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Scandal's new girlfriend Liana is a big ShoutOut to Liana Kerzner - both are gorgeous red-headed {{cosplay}}ers who've dressed as Knockout.
153	* NonindicativeName: The team currently has ''eight'' members, and [[ItMakesSenseInContext when they are filming a commercial]] [[LampshadeHanging it is pointed out that their name does not make any sense anymore]].
154	* NoodleIncident:
155	** How Scandal and Knockout ever met before ''Villains United'' is not revealed.
156	** There appears to have been some history between Jeannette and the Amazons (excluding Wonder Woman).
157	* NotSoHarmlessVillain:
158	-->'''Ragdoll:''' "Yes. I understand. You're one of '''those.''' One of those enemies who think I am only [[UglyCute adorable]], and not a threat to be measured '''more''' carefully. A joke, a jester, a 'jape in jammies. '''Do you know how many of those people are corpses now, [[spoiler:Scandal Savage]]?"'''
159	** The Six's take on the Mad Hatter initially sets him up as a goofy, hat-obsessed villain before he indulges in such acts as forcing cannibalism on others or making people drink boiling tea.
160	* NowThatsUsingYourTeeth:
161	** A tied-up Bane once ripped out a man's throat with his teeth.
162	** Catman bit out the eyes of the man who kidnapped his son.
163	** Ragdoll disabled an opponent's power armor and then started chomping into his unprotected face.
164	** An unarmed Scandal once bit off an alien's ear -- and swallowed it. Daddy would be proud.
165	* OddFriendship:
166	** Ragdoll and the Parademon.
167	** Catman and Deadshot are both fairly certain they are going to end up killing each other one day. Other than that they get along well.
168	*** Later lampshaded by Ragdoll, when he comments that the two should just accept their relationship instead of thinking they're going to kill each other someday.
169	* ObliviouslyEvil: When confronted with the fact that the whole team was hellbound for their actions in life, Jeannette and Bane were blatantly surprised despite all the evil acts they pulled. Bane was most traumatized by the news since he believed having a code of honor made him a righteous man despite all the evil deeds he pulled in his life. It doesn't.
170	* OffTheWagon: Bane references this trope by name when he [[spoiler:uses his venom to save Scandal]].
171	* OurBansheesAreLouder: Jeanette. She was betrayed and her husband had her decapitated. The execution was botched, and she 'found the banshee' as she waited to die. As a banshee, she is immortal, superstrong, has a sense for death and possesses a scream that can ''seriously'' screw up those who hear it.
172	* PapaWolf:
173	** Hurting Scandal is the only thing that will make Bane even ''consider'' resorting to his venom again [[spoiler:and he does at the end of the ''Unhinged'' arc]].
174	** Catman when his son is kidnapped. The other members of the Six recognize that, after what he did to get revenge, he might be too far gone even for them.
175	* ParentalSubstitute: Bane tries to be this for Scandal... with dubious results at best.
176	* PluckyGirl: Liana Kerzner.
177	* PowerCreepPowerSeep:
178	** The Mad Hatter's gimmick is hypnotizing people through various devices, usually some type of head gear or hat card. Of course, his effectiveness depends on him actually getting his gizmos on his targets. In Secret Six, he's able to mess up the Doom Patrol just by pointing at them. The series doesn't explain exactly how he did this, whether he's improved his technology or somehow picked up actual mind controlling powers.
179	** Captain Nazi is a [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] villain who has held his own against the likes of Black Adam (who is one of DC's most powerful characters), yet, he is handily beaten by Catman, who is street level at best, in the ''Villains United'' mini that led up to the series.
180	* PoweredByAForsakenChild: When Mirror Master was still on the team, one of the Six's mission involves breaking into a unspecified Southeast Asian dictatorship's power plant. It's run by a child emitting considerable power. They remove him, destabilizing the autocratic regime, but Mirror Master leaves the child alone in the Mirror Dimension.
181	* PsychoKnifeNut: Dwarfstar, whose very first act after joining Bane's new Secret Six team is to ask him how many women he has killed. Given that his teammates include Lady Vic, Jeanette and Giganta, Dwarfstar is probably going to get "fragged". Violently. [[spoiler:Instead he is seen hospitalized after being tortured by girl #3 for killing her boyfriend.]]
182	* PunkInTheTrunk: Jealous that he was not invited, Ragdoll hides in the trunk of Deadshot's car while he goes out on a date with Jeanette. Unfortunately, he forgets to leave the lid open and begins suffering from delusions due to the lack of water and oxygen. Deadshot only finds him ''three days'' after.
183	* RaisedByWolves: Catman lived among a pride of lions, being fully accepted by them and learning from them.
184	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Jeanette.
185	* ARealManIsAKiller: Catman's father was a firm believe of this philosophy, and once had Blake shoot a tied up lion cub in order to man him up.
186	* TheReveal:
187	** Junior is [[spoiler:Ragdoll's sister.]]
188	** Mockingbird is [[spoiler:[[ComicBook/SuicideSquad Amanda Waller]]]].
189	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Oho, Catman is going to tear those kidnappers a new one. He literally tore [[GiantMook Loki]] '''four''' new ones. With a tire iron. And then fed him to lions.
190	* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler:Junior.]]
191	* ShootTheFuelTank: Deadshot does this [[spoiler:to a ''gunship'']].
192	* ShoutOut:
193	** To ''ComicBook/TinyTitans'' of all things, when Ragdoll has a dream involving a similar artstyle (except more elaborate than that of Art Baltazar) and using the catchphrase "Aw yeah!"
194	** Issue 8 was titled "Double Date", the same titled as the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' episode Creator/GailSimone wrote which was the closest the series ever got to ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey''.
195	* SlapSlapKiss: Cheshire attempts to enact this after she and Catman fight in the second mini and ''earnestly'' offers to make love right in the middle of the battlefield. Catman is understandably freaked out, is horrified to find that he is actually considering it, and pointedly turns her down.
196	* SpeechBubbles: Ragdoll has a pretty, cursive font for his bubbles, while everyone else has more normal speech.
197	* SpiritualSuccessor: To the ComicBook/SuicideSquad. They share a member (Deadshot) and a similar theme of bad guys acting as (sort of) good guys. The connection was solidifed with a "crossover" between Secret Six and Suicide Squad (through a one-issue resurrection of the title as part of ComicBook/BlackestNight), and with long-time Squad scribe John Ostrander doing a couple of guest issues on ''Secret Six''.
198	* {{Squick}}: In universe, Catman finds the fact that Jeanette is technically dead and sleeping with Deadshot to be highly squick-y. Deadshot, naturally, is not that bothered by it. (And who can blame him?)
199	** On at least one occasion, Ragdoll says something so disturbing that it prompts Deadshot of all people to voice his concerns.
200	-->'''Deadshot:''' I don't like it when you share things with us, Merkel.
201	* StupidSexyFlanders: Judging by the responses to a question about who the hottest male member of the Six is, some otherwise straight men feel this way about Catman. It's alright, [[EvenTheGuysWantHim we understand]].
202	* TakeThat: The controversial ''Titans'' tie-in to ''ComicBook/BrightestDay'' involved the villain Dwarfstar hiring Deathstroke to kill Ryan Choi, a character Gail Simone co-created with Creator/GrantMorrison, and whom she wrote almost all the adventures of. As payback, Gail wrote a scene in issue #28 [[spoiler:where Giganta hospitalized Dwarfstar by way of torture]].
203	* TakingYouWithMe: Parademon detonates his collection of Mother Boxes at the end of Villains United. In a tragic twist, while many, if not all their attackers survive, he perishes.
204	* TeethClenchedTeamwork
205	* ThenLetMeBeEvil: Bane embraces villainy again after discovering he was damned.
206	* ThereCanOnlyBeOne: Ragdoll loves his position as the team freak. He is willing to maim for it too.
207	* TokenEvilTeammate:
208	** Although technically they are all [[AntiVillain villains]], Cheshire is undoubtedly the most evil, as Gail Simone has said she purposefully writes her without redeeming qualities [[NukeEm due to her history]].
209	** After Cheshire leaves, Dwarfstar takes the role of this until [[spoiler:Giganta hospitalizes him]].
210	** Scandal considers [[spoiler:Ragdoll]] to be this. Turns out, she was right.
211	* TooDumbToLive:
212	** After the [[ThoseWackyNazis Zyklon-B Boys]] manage to survive an [[MuggingTheMonster encounter with Deadshot and Catman]], having been viciously beaten and then ''lectured'', they decide to '''deliberately''' antagonize Deadshot in order to exact revenge. The thug who was following Deadshot is discovered and Deadshot, having promised not to kill anybody that night (he was on a date), rips out his eye, having already ripped out his other eye when the two first met. Now completely blind, the thug ''still'' persists in his plan for revenge, and the rest of the gang gathers in force. By now they have been beaten and mutilated on two separate occasions, so they are simply asking for a Darwin Award: after Deadshot beats them again, his ''date'' kills the lot of them, explaining that ''she'' did not make any promises for that night.
213	** The first team of mercs sent to kidnap Catman's child has a member who is this personified. Confronted by Cheshire offering to surrender he gets close to her, planning to rape her. Bear in mind that Cheshire is known throughout the DCU as one of the most lethal assassins to walk the earth and has a reputation as having once murdered a country full of people (something that only Black Adam and the Spectre can also claim) yet the merc gets close enough to allow her to bite his lips off and infect him with a powerful fast acting poison. DistractedByTheSexy may apply here given she was half naked but still, that is whole new levels of stupid.
214	** Dwarfstar also qualifies after [[spoiler:he puts out a hit on Giganta's boyfriend; when she finds out, the results are ''not'' pretty.]]
215	*** Randall, being a bigot and misogynist was already obviously a total moron. He earns his Darwin Award when, faced by a team of costumed SUPERVILLAINS he decides to threaten them. With a normal gun. After going into a tirade insulting them and a friend of theirs. Needless to say it doesn't end well for the little dumb-ass and he ends up getting a lovely bit of EyeScream courtesy of Scandal's blades.
216	* TooKinkyToTorture: Parademon ''enjoyed'' Granny Goodness' torture and Ragdoll gets off on being beaten up. ''How'' he gets off, given he castrated himself, is probably a question best not answered. In fact, ''any'' question about Ragdoll is probably one you do not want the answer to.
217	** And Parademon actually WANTS to stay in hell.
218	* TortureTechnician: [[spoiler:Turns out that Catman makes an awfully good one when you push him.]]
219	* TrademarkFavoriteFood:
220	** Catman pretty much [[RealMenEatMeat lives off raw steak]].
221	** Ragdoll has a fondness for raw gelatin and he loves his taffy. So much so that he wants to be buried in it when he dies (specifically either cinnamon or lemon-lime).
222	** Based on Bane's comments on the subject, fans have {{Flanderiz\|ation}}ed Scandal into being an ice-cream addict.
223	** Jeanette loves lollipops, [[EroticEating and we love them too]]...
224	* TrueCompanions: Issue #34 absolutely confirms the Six as this. They're a freaky, dysfunctional family, but they are a family.
225	* TwerpSweating: PlayedForLaughs, with Scandal's adult, normal and well-adjusted girlfriend as as the twerp, Scandal as DaddysGirl and Bane as the BoyfriendBlockingDad.
226	* UglyCute: Ragdoll, whom Black Alice finds cute in universe.
227	* TheUnseen: Mockingbird as of the "Depths" story arc. Smyth was working for him/her, but Mockingbird himself/herself was absent, though mentioned. Turns out [[spoiler:it is Amanda Waller]], although the Six did not know that at the time.
228	* VictorySex: Knockout has sex with Deadshot after the team survives a battle with the ComicBook/DoomPatrol, as it is apparently common for Apokoliptians to celebrate victory with sex and Knockout's girlfriend Scandal was busy at the time. Needless to say, Scandal is pissed when she finds out.
229	* VitriolicBestBuds: Catman and Deadshot.
230	* WaifFu: The rail-thin, crooked Junior is a rather grotesque and villainous example.
231	* TheWorfEffect: Jeannette's Banshee scream is powerful enough to leave ''Wonder Woman'' a gibbering mess.
232	* WorthyOpponent: Big Barda considers Knockout this after they fight to a draw, even though Barda was in control for a majority of it.
233	* {{Yandere}}: Black Alice for... Ragdoll...
234	* YouAreWorthHell: Literally. Scandal and the rest of the Six go to Hell to get Knockout back... [[spoiler:and succeed.]]
235	[[/folder]]
236
237	[[folder:Volume 4]]
238	!!This third volume provides examples of:
239	* BadassCrew: Similarly to the first volume, the Six start forming into the mother of all dysfunctional families. Their base is even a normal, suburban house.
240	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The Riddler did ''something'' to [[spoiler:Sue Dibny]] to convince her that she's in love with him and to attempt to blow up the Six.
241	* CanonCharacterAllAlong: Big Shot and Mockingbird are revealed to be [[spoiler: Elongated Man]] and Riddler.
242	* CensorBox: The cover of issue 3 uses this.
243	* ConservationOfNinjutsu: Strix very easily takes care of Riddler's goons in 4 panels in issue 6. The Riddler just stands there completely dumbfounded.
244	--> '''Riddler''': Wait. What? Steady '''''on.''''' What is '''''happening?''''' '''''Wait.'''''
245	* EarnYourHappyEnding: Before the title's cancelation, Gail Simone took the opportunity to slip this one in for Scandal, Knockout, and Liana.
246	* EatingTheEyeCandy: During the fight between Catman and ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, three female characters (and one who's gender fluid) decide they'd rather just sit and watch the beefcakes tussle.
247	* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are some very subtle hints that Big Shot [[spoiler:is actually Ralph Dibny, though the most obvious would be where he talks about having a sensitive nose]].
248	** Jeanette warns that one of the team is going to die soon. [[spoiler: It's Ferdie, Ventriloquist's puppet.]]
249	* FaceHeelTurn: A major theme of the book, as opposed to the more villainous previous book. Under Big Shot's tutelage, each of the characters wrestles with the idea of caring about other people for the first times in their lives. [[spoiler: Ventriloquist decides [[HeelFaceDoorSlam she doesn't like empathy.]] ]]
250	* GentleGiant: Big Shot. Definitely the muscle of the team, also the most polite.
251	* GothGirlsKnowMagic: Black Alice, just as with the previous volume.
252	* MindOverMatter: Shauna Belzer/Ventriloquist
253	* MrFanservice: Catman.
254	* PrecisionFStrike: Black Alice drops an uncensored s-bomb.
255	* PutOnABus: The previous villainous Secret Six was retconned, so previous members Knockout, Scandal Savage, Jeanette, and Ragdoll have never been part of the team. TheBusCameBack in this series, however, and they're frequent guest stars.
256	* ReallyGetsAround: Big Shot asks who had weird sex on his couch after a block party. [[{{Beat}} After a panel's consideration,]] everyone else raises their hand.
257	* TheReveal: [[spoiler:The Riddler]] is Mockingbird. Big Shot [[spoiler:is actually Ralph Dibny]].
258	* TheSpeechless: Strix.
259	* TeamDad: Big Shot, especially when it comes to Black Alice.
260	* ThrowTheDogABone: [[spoiler: Ralph and Sue Dibny are ''finally'' reunited.]]
261	[[/folder]]
262

Context ComicBook / SecretSix