Line #31 Literature/JakeAndTheDynamo


1	[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jake_and_the_dynamo_1.jpg]]
2
3	''Jake and the Dynamo'' is a MagicalGirl novel series by Creator/DGDDavidson. Originally released episodically as a WebSerialNovel, it was eventually published in e-book form. The first novel in the series, ''The Wattage of Justice'', was published by Superversive Press in 2018.
4
5	In the far future, remnants of mankind inhabit the city of Urbanopolis, under constant assault by the forces of evil and darkness, represented by the Dark Queen's {{kaiju}} army and many other nefarious foes. The city only survives thanks to the benevolent Moon Princess, who had ascended into heaven with the promise to someday return. But the city is not defenseless, as the Moon Princess gave it protectors in the form of magical girls; every so often, a girl is born with exquisite powers to use for protecting Urbanopolis from the relentless monster attacks.
6
7	Fourteen-year-old Jake Blatowski doesn't really care about magical girls much, though, and is more excited about his upcoming graduation to high school. Unfortunately, a computer glitch causes him to get moved back to fifth grade, and that's not the end of Jake's troubles. By sheer coincidence, Jake discovers that his new classmate Dana Volt is actually the famed Magical Girl Pretty Dynamo, and he finds himself involved in her battles against the rampaging monsters... and now everyone is convinced he is her new boyfriend. Unfortunately, so is the nefarious Dark Queen, who seeks to take down Pretty Dynamo by targeting her loved ones.
8
9	Jake Blatowski really isn't going to have a fun time.
10
11	----
12	!!This work contains examples of the following tropes:
13	* ActionDuo: Dynamo and Jake are the badass/action survivor pair, though he has to babysit her more often than the other way around.
14	* ActionSurvivor: Jake’s power is not getting killed even when everything is out to get him.
15	* AliensSpeakingEnglish: The robot dinosaurs speak to each other in English.
16	* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Chai Square, a statistician troll who knows his opponents' fighting style exactly, and thus can predict their next action with perfect accuracy.
17	* {{Badbutt}}: Because it pretends to be family-friendly except not really. Pretty Dynamo might qualify for this. The Moon Princess’s personal gang of thuggish magical girls definitely do. And Sukeban Tsubasa, to appear later, is a parody of this trope.
18	* BigBrotherInstinct: Why Jake keeps coming back for more punishment.
19	* ButtMonkey: Jake, from the very beginning, is constantly subject to every kind of misfortune.
20	* CastFullOfCrazy: About everyone behaves more or less eccentrically. Maybe with the exception of Jake.
21	* CityOfAdventure: Urbanopolis, where the world comes to you.
22	* ConservationOfCompetence: The Dark Queen and her minions. Aaand the magical girls.
23	* CrapsaccharineWorld: A world full of cutesy magical girls where getting pancaked by monsters is considered commonplace.
24	* CrystalDragonJesus: The Moon Princess is revered like a deity. Though Christianity still seems to exist, as evidenced by the crucifix worn by Dana Volt.
25	* TheDeadCanDance: Jake accidentally manages to distract an encroaching zombie horde by playing [[Music/TheBeeGees "Stayin' Alive"]], as zombies cannot resist a good dance.
26	* DefiledForever: After Miss Percy catches Jake in a NotWhatItLooksLike situation with Dana, she's mainly concerned that nobody will ever marry her now.
27	* DesperatelyCravesAffection: Miss Percy.
28	* DreadfulMusician: Tuneless Ramona, to the point where her singing is a [[MusicalAssassin weapon of mass destruction]]. However, she's convinced that she's a fantastic singer.
29	* EvilIsNotWellLit: {{Lampshaded}} by the Dark Queen, who complains that the obligatory darkness in her castle makes it hard for her to see anything.
30	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:The Dark Queen was apparently once a magical girl, too.]]
31	* {{Familiar}}: Most every magical girl has one.
32	* FriendlyTarget: The Dark Queen decides to target Jake after becoming convinced that he's Pretty Dynamo's boyfriend.
33	* {{Geek}}: Do not ask Jake about his dinosaur cartoons.
34	* GeneralFailure: The Dark Queen. Perhaps she would have destroyed Urbanopolis a lot quicker if she could grasp the idea of sending more than just ''one'' kaiju at a time.
35	* GirlOnGirlIsHot: Ralph, upon considering the possibilities of a Pretty Dynamo/Sword Seamstress ship, almost gets a {{nosebleed}}.
36	* GoshDangItToHeck: They swear like cartoon characters in Urbanopolis. Watch out for Chelsea’s cluster-frick bombs.
37	* GratuitousJapanese: Stereotypical Japanese terms such as "UsefulNotes/{{baka}}" (idiot) or "hentai" (pervert) are thrown around a lot, especially by Pretty Dynamo.
38	* GrowingUpSucks: Magical girls lose their powers upon attaining adulthood. They typically have a lot of trouble adjusting after that, some even ending up in drug rehab.
39	* TheGunslinger: Rifle Maiden.
40	* HatesBeingTouched: Pretty Dynamo, as Jake often finds out the hard way.
41	* HeldBackInSchool: Jake, just before graduating to high school, ends up going all the way back to fifth grade.
42	* HotForStudent: Jake rescuing his teacher from space dinosaurs involves a couple of... awkward moments, including her all but asking for a NowOrNeverKiss. No wonder they agreed to [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain forget everything that happened]] afterwards.
43	* IWorkAlone: Pretty Dynamo works alone. Except when she works with Tesla. Which is all the time.
44	* {{Kaiju}}: The giant monsters dispatched by the Dark Queen which keep attacking Urbanopolis. They're actually referred to as kaiju in-universe.
45	* MagicalGirlWarrior: Most of the cast.
46	* MentorMascot: An additional role filled by the familiars.
47	* MinnesotaNice: Bossy the cow.
48	* MoodWhiplash: The novel alternates between moments of rather silly comedy, and truly dark episodes which read like a [[DarkerAndEdgier gritty]] {{Deconstruction}}.
49	* MusicalAssassin: This is Tuneless Ramona's schtick. Both her singing and dancing are so abominable that they're essentially weapons of mass destruction. They're just as dangerous to the innocent bystanders and her allies as they are to the monsters, though.
50	* NameAndName
51	* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Chapter 5 involves the city being attacked by robot dinosaurs from space.
52	* NoEndorHolocaust: Thoroughly {{averted}}. Every monster attack has countless casualties, and death by {{kaiju}} is considered common.
53	* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup: Grease Pencil Marionette was created by a genius scientist who died upon activating her, and so she is likely to be the last RobotGirl ever built.
54	* NotWhatItLooksLike: In one scene, Dana drags Jake inside a cupboard to yell at him, and they end up falling out. It's at this moment that their teacher walks in and sees Jake lying on top of Dana, gripping her wrists... and this after several instances of him committing [[AccidentalPervert "inappropriate conduct"]] towards her.
55	* OnlySaneMan: Jake certainly feels like this, and it's hard not to agree with him.
56	* PervertRevengeMode: Several times Jake finds himself on the receiving end due to his AccidentalPervert moments with Dynamo.
57	* PortmanteauCoupleName: After Jake "Barfing Boy" Blatowski is seen with Magical Girl Pretty Dynamo, the newspapers begins speculating whether "Dynabarf" is an official couple. [[invoked]]
58	* PowerLevels: All magical girls have a 0-10 "competency rating" assigned by the city's Threat Assessment Board. Tuneless Ramona stands out as having an ''infinite'' rating, due to once managing to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu defeating]] an EldritchAbomination.
59	* PungeonMaster: Chai Square, the statistics-obsessed monster, enjoys making statistic-related puns (at one point he has to stop and explain a particularly obscure one).
60	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Grease Pencil Marionette looks sixteen, but as a RobotGirl she does not age, and is in fact over 200 years old.
61	* RobotGirl: Grease Pencil Marionette, who was meant to be the first of a robot army that was to take the place of the magical girls.
62	* RudeHeroNiceSidekick: Pretty Dynamo and Jake.
63	* SecretIdentity: Most magical girls keep their civilian identity secret.
64	* ShipperOnDeck: The citizens of Urbanopolis as a whole. They seem to be ridiculously obsessed with shipping the magical girls with each other, or with other people. Speculation on their relationships is darn near SeriousBusiness.
65	* ShockAndAwe: Pretty Dynamo's powers are electric in nature. Apart from electrifying her body and shooting ball lightning, she uses electric weapons.
66	* SirSwearsALot: One of the monsters mentioned is the EldritchAbomination [[Literature/CthulhuMythos Cuss-Lulu]], a "a giant octopus with a potty mouth" which is constantly yammering out a barrage of unpronounceable swearwords.
67	* StevenUlyssesPerhero: Pretty Dynamo's real name is Dana ''Volt''.
68	* SupportingProtagonist: Pretty Dynamo has all the superpowers, but the story is told from Jake’s POV.
69	* UnusualEuphemism: Pretty Dynamo uses "Zap!" as an all-purpose curseword.
70	* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Don't ever expect the author to tell you where Urbanopolis is located on a map.
71	* WorldOfActionGirls: The premise.

Context Literature / JakeAndTheDynamo