Line #109 Webcomic/TheGlassScientists


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tgs_ch3_pg00_b_9.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Cover of ''Chapter 3: At the Good Intentions Paving Company''. Counterclockwise: The shadowed figure of Edward Hyde, Rachel Pidgley, Henry Jekyll, and Robert Lanyon]]
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4	''[[http://www.theglassscientists.com/ The Glass Scientists]]'' is an ongoing GaslampFantasy webcomic about mad science, magical secrets, and monsters both within and without. It has a short stand-alone prequel, ''Webcomic/BleedingHeart''. The writer and artist is Sage Cotugno AKA Arythusa, who previously worked on ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' and as a director on ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse''.
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6	The city of UsefulNotes/{{London}} is not the best place to be a [[MadScientist mad scientist]]. Thirty years after the death of the infamous Dr. Franchise/{{Frankenstein}}, its citizens have [[TorchesAndPitchforks gotten awfully good]] at [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman killing creatures]], [[ScienceIsBad destroying laboratories]], and [[BurnTheWitch generally wrecking anything new or strange-looking]]. Soon, every scientist within city limits will find themselves behind bars, unless someone can turn their luck around, and fast.
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8	This someone, it turns out, is a respected gentleman, an illustrious socialite who also happens to be a scientist himself. He believes that rogue science can survive -- and thrive! -- as he has, if only they could improve their reputation in the public eye – and he plans to give them one hell of an image makeover. Together with his Society for Arcane Science, he can end the reign of fear and superstition that has held London captive for decades so long as no one discovers his one little secret, a secret that could ruin him and unravel the lives of everyone he knows.
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10	This man’s name is [[Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde Dr. Henry Jekyll.]]
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12	''The Glass Scientists'' updates on Mondays, and the creator [[http://glass-scientists.tumblr.com/ runs a blog]] for readers' questions and inspirational art.
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15	!!This webcomic provides examples of:
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17	* AdaptedOut: Utterson, the narrator, viewpoint character, and AudienceSurrogate in the original ''Jekyll and Hyde'' novel, will only appear as an EasterEgg as the author believes him to be redundant to the story.
18	* AdmiringTheAbomination: Jekyll is highly prone to this, and wishes to instill such wonder in others. In some cases, such as his presentation of his pet Church Grim Zosimos, he succeeds.
19	* AmazonBrigade: The Forty Elephants [[note]]who were based on a ''real'' gang, by the way[[/note]], an all-female gang of thieves and swashbucklers feared by the inhabitants of London.
20	* AudienceSurrogate: The reader learns about the Society through Jasper, an overeager young mad scientist-turned-werewolf.
21	* BarBrawl: Hyde happily engages in fights in seedy establishments whenever he's out at night.
22	* BigEater: Jasper, as shown [[http://www.theglassscientists.com/comic/page-11-2 here]] and [[http://www.theglassscientists.com/comic/page-02-4 here.]]
23	** Hyde is reportedly also one, to compensate for Jekyll's constant meal skipping.
24	* BigEntrance: Jekyll has a four-page long one as he drives in TheCityNarrows in a shining coach pulled by magnificent white stallion accompanied by clouds of BishieSparkles. The entire crowd is staring in stunned silence even before he shows himself and starts chatting with the policemen like it's no big deal.
25	* BigDamnKiss: Jekyll and [[spoiler: Lanyon, after they talk about their past and admit they still love each other.]]
26	* BigWhat: Both Jekyll and Hyde's reaction when they hear Lanyon's plan to put all blame on Hyde in order to get the Lodgers released from jail.
27	* BishieSparkle: Jekyll, to the point that if he's speaking while not visible on-panel, his ''speech balloons'' will sparkle to denote that it's him talking.
28	** Hyde also gets them when displaying his fancy cape to Rachel - a cape he tore up at the bottom like fashionably-ripped jeans.
29	** Lanyon too emits sparkles when he exaggerates the posh manners of the upper-class.
30	* BlackMarket: The Blackfog Bazaar, where a rogue scientist can get all ingredients they need, no matter how illegal they are. Jekyll doesn't visit it because of his, and its, reputation, and only gives into letting Hyde go after serious temptation. [[spoiler: But events interfere and he can't go anyway.]]
31	* BrokenPedestal: Frankenstein was Jekyll's childhood idol, and his inspiration to go into alchemy. When he meets her for the first time, his expectations ''shatter'' - she is rude, abrasive and accuses him of being a slut who sells out mad science for money and respectability.
32	* BuildingOfAdventure: The Society for Arcane Sciences is quite... eccentric compared to the rest of London.
33	* CanonForeigner: Jasper developed from a side character to this.
34	* ClockworkCreature: Miss Flowers specializes in creating these. She can be seen creating a clockwork snail in her introductury panel. She even brings some of them to battle with Dr. Moreau.
35	* ChemistryCanDoAnything: Neo-alchemy can do basically anything. It can heal wounds, turn objects to gold, help werewolves retain their minds during transformation, create alternate personalities...
36	* ChekhovsGun: Rachel first appears covered in blood and holding a kitchen knife. The first time it's just to play a prank on Jekyll. Then the kitchen knife appears again, this time as she’s plunging it into the shoulder of one of Dr. Moreau's monsters, splattering it with blood.
37	* TheCityNarrows: Bethnal Green, an infamous Victorian slum (which, once upon a time, was actually fields, hence the name), which Hyde describes as "The city's oily belly, a foul-smelling swamp belching half-digested dreams" where shadows and wickedness abounds. He, of course, loves it.
38	* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Jekyll's eyes and clothing accessories are red, whilst Hyde's are green - matching the colors of their respective transformation potions.
39	* CoolHouse: The Society for Arcane Sciences is a BigFancyHouse with a conservative outward facade based on the Royal College of Surgeons in London. However, it's hiding an architectural pit of various mad scientist technologies all competing for space. Sage Cotugno describes it as a "rogue science mullet" with "respectability in the front, madness in the back."
40	* TheDarknessGazesBack: [[http://www.theglassscientists.com/comic/page-01 On the very first page]], staring out of a sewer grate, courtesy of a nestful of soot-mice.
41	* DeathByOriginStory: [[spoiler: Rachel’s little brother [[{{PosthumousCharacter}} Eli]] dies in an accident before the events of the comic start, causing Rachel to be more overprotective over Hyde as a result.]]
42	* TheDogBitesBack: After enduring Frankenstein's abuse, it is not until [[UngratefulBastard she belittles him after he successfully diagnoses her and makes the cure for her]] does Jekyll lose what little patience he has left, allowing Hyde to slip through and giving her a particularly spiteful TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.
43	--> '''Jekyll/Hyde''': Maybe you're right. Maybe I ''am'' just a fraud. Maybe I'll ''never'' be a true, noble scientist like you. But where did all that nobility get you, in the end? Where did it get ''Elizabeth''?
44	* EveryoneIsBi: Sage ([[AuthorAppeal who is, themself, bisexual]]) stated this is the case on their blog, while Jekyll and Hyde are Bi/Pansexual, respectively.
45	* ExtranormalInstitute: The Society for Arcane Science has all markings of being one.
46	* {{Fainting}}: Happens to Jekyll in chapter XIII, just as he's about to give a big, important speech. This is probably a combination of exhaustion and Hyde doing ''something'' behind the scenes, but reads almost like a heart attack.
47	* FantasticScience: Essentially what every mad scientist studies.
48	* FantasyForbiddingFather: Downplayed; Lanyon's father is pulling his funding for the Society, as he won't support an expensive project with a bad public reputation.
49	** Eventually averted, as it turns out [[spoiler: that Lanyon lied about his father's motivations for pulling the funds. The actual reason is that Robert called it blood money; esentially prompting his father to withdraw the funds [[EvilIsPetty in spite]]. Or so [[UnreliableExpositor he says]].]]
50	* FantasyKitchenSink: The TGS-universe is a place where basically AllMythsAreTrue and all kinds of pseudoscientific theories are legitimate scientific fields of study. You can also expect to run into various figures from Victorian horror and sci-fi literature. Aside from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, you'll also meet Mr. Griffin, the Invisible Man, Dr. Frankenstein and the Creature, and Dr. Moreau. And of course, there are all sorts of fantastical creatures, from biblical monsters like the Leviathan, to several kinds of werewolves, to small critters like the mud Phoenix and soot mice.
51	* FictionalFieldOfScience: Everyone of the Lodgers specialize in one particular field. There's cryptobiology, neo-alchemy, and experimental candymaking, among others.
52	* GilliganCut: Lanyon worries about how the play "Mad Galvinist" right across the street from the Society of Arcane Sciences might influence people with its anti-science-message. Jekyll brushes this off as it is only a play, "how bad could it be?" Cue the next page, where a shocked Jekyll, while watching the play had to concede that it really ''is'' bad and could affect people's opinion.
53	* GlowingEyesOfDoom:
54	** [[http://www.theglassscientists.com/comic/page-05 The werewolf.]] Subverted when it turns out that it's not trying to bring about doom, just escaping from a TorchesAndPitchforks mob.
55	** The Leviathan skeleton also seems to have these. If it's ever fully reanimated, that will probably be a sign of certain doom.
56	** Again subverted with [[FrankensteinsMonster Frankenstein's creature]]. His eyes glow in the dark, and people are running away from him, but he isn't doing anything particularly threatening.
57	* GrandTheftMe: [[spoiler:After being trapped in Jekyll's mind for two weeks, Hyde figures out a way to nab control for himself by taking advantage of Jekyll's slip ups from stress. This gives him free reign of their shared body, allowing him to consume the potion to become himself. Unfortunately, a livid Jekyll later works out how to perform the trick for himself and takes over Hyde's body, vowing to lock Hyde up in his subconscious ''permanently'']].
58	* GratuitousLaboratoryFlasks: Ladies and gentelmen, [[http://www.theglassscientists.com/comic/page-01-6 the lab where Jekyll first made his potion]]. It is gloriously stacked with glass, and the glass is gloriusly full of bubbling, colourful liquids. Mad, erm, Rouge Science at its finest!
59	* HeroesLoveDogs: Jekyll is an ''amazing'' dog person, regardless of whether the dog is alive, a Church Grim or a werewolf.
60	* HydePlaysJekyll: Happens literally several times, as well as its converse with Jekyll playing Hyde.
61	* IncomingHam: Lanyon enters the comic and the Society VERY LOUDLY!
62	* InnerMonologue: Hyde narrates the opening three pages of the comic, and tends to monologue whenever he's out having fun at night.
63	** InnerMonologueConversation: Hyde's narrations are sometimes interrupted by Jekyll, usually to point out his tendency for especially obtuse PurpleProse.
64	* IslandOfMisfitEverything: The Society of Arcane Science is a haven in London built by [[Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde Dr. Henry Jekyll]] to house and support people who stock and trade in eclectic MagicPoweredPseudoscience (like SteamPunk engineering, crypto-biology, ectoplasmic pathology, [[PowerUpFood experimental confectionism]], etc.), the world outside too hostile towards "rogue science" after the events of ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' occurring.
65	* ItsAlwaysSunnyAtFunerals: [[spoiler: Eli’s funeral is on a sunny day.]]
66	* JekyllAndHyde: Jekyll keeps a respectable front in public while Hyde is let loose to act on his whims. Both sides know everything they worked for will fall apart if their secret gets out.
67	* JerkassHasAPoint: Frankenstein is a terrible, terrible jerkass, with her own share of dribbling IdiotBall, but she's right on two points (so far): one, that Jekyll's dualist theory of human psyche is ridiculous; and two, that he's [[TheMadnessPlace losing himself in his work, neglecting everything else]]. Mind, she actually approves of that, as it befits a proper MadScientist.
68	* KrakenAndLeviathan: A giant Leviathan skeleton hangs from the ceiling of the atrium of the Society. The scientists aren't quite sure if it's actually the biblical beast or more of an EldritchAbomination - but they're pretty sure it's not completely dead.
69	* LessEmbarrassingTerm: Dr. Jekyll prefers the term "Rogue Scientist" to "MadScientist."
70	* MadScientist: Though the general public fears mad scientists, Dr. Jekyll is keen on rebranding them as beneficial and harmless--Rogue Scientists, if you will. Mad Science is The Society for Arcane Science's bread and butter. Also, Jasper is a nascent Mad Scientist himself.
71	* MentalWorld: Hyde retreats into what appears to be the interior of an infinite mansion house filled with Jekyll's memories, after being put under "house arrest", per se, for [[spoiler: accidentally blowing up a street whilst attempting to stop Dr. Moreau.]]
72	* TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf / TheShadowKnows: Jekyll and Hyde can manifest in each other's reflections and shadows, depending on who's in charge.
73	* MistakenForRomance: The Society lodgers are confident that Jekyll and Hyde are not only two people, but also lovers. No word on Jekyll's opinion on the subject, but apparently Hyde gleefully supports the misconception.
74	* NightmareFetishist: Jekyll and Hyde fit this in different ways, with Jekyll heading a movement to safely manage the affairs of supernatural creatures, while Hyde is utterly enthralled with the atmosphere of the seedy underbelly of London.
75	* NotHimself: [[spoiler: At one point, Hyde manages to take control of Jekyll to verbally chew out Frankenstein.]] Jekyll is surprised at his own strange behaviour.
76	** Later in the same chapter, [[spoiler: while Jekyll is at an emotional low point, Hyde manages to take control of Jekyll for a moment and ends up hitting Lanyon. To Lanyon, this is so out of character that he isn't even sure how to react at first.]]
77	* NoMoreForMe: When Hyde first sees the Creature, his first thought is that he must have overdone the absinthe.
78	* MonsterMash: Downplayed, but Dr. Jekyll, a werewolf, and Frankenstein's monster are all in the same city together and are later joined by Dr. Moreau and his hybrid monsters.
79	* {{Motifs}}: Facades. Metaphorical facade of respectfulness maintained by Jekyll is the central one, but the motif recurrs, for example when he explains to Jasper how presentation matters, using his own beautiful lab cabinets (filled with bottles of deadly poisons) as an example.
80	** Also, {{Color Motif}}s: red goes for Jekyll, green (SicklyGreenGlow or otherwise) symbolises Hyde.
81	* NoTrueScotsman: Frankenstein accuses Jekyll of not being a "true scientist" frequently, claiming that he "slavishly ape[s] the work of others" when brewing his medicines and that he only treated her not out of hippocratic duty, but just to uphold his reputation to a society that no "true scientist" would be caught dead in.
82	* PurpleProse: Hyde, while narrating, waxes poetic about the vicious, cutthroat slums of London.
83	* OohMeAccentsSlipping: When Hyde is confronted by Frankenstein's Monster he attempts to put on his standard Cockney accent. [[http://www.theglassscientists.com/comic/page-05-4 While drunk on absinthe.]]
84	-->'''Hyde:''' Oi! Wodder ''yew'' lookin' at? Yew gotta ''problem'' wit' me? I'll ''fight'' ye, just yew ''watch!''\
85	'''[[spoiler: The Creature:]]''' Good lord, what is ''that?'' Are you trying to do some kind of ''Cockney Accent?''
86	** This also happens to Jekyll, when he's exhausted from lack of sleep. His native Glasgow accents slips out.
87	* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Werewolves in the TGS-verse look roughly lupine, except they’re much larger than regular wolves and even people. Their front paws are more akin to human hands, while their hind feet have long toes like rats. There’s also a difference between recently turned and older werewolves, who tend to look more bestial in their human form and live apart from human society.
88	** Jasper's werewolf form is also different due to what Jekyll calls the worst case of wolfsbane poisoning he's ever seen. The transformation occurs on any night where the moon is visible and causes rapid shifts between various levels of human and wolf forms.
89	** Morcant on the other hand is an old werewolf with life-span, stretching out over centuries. Her kind usually live in packs and stay out of human society. According to the creator, were she ever to meet Jasper, she'd consider him a tiny baby and he'd be terrified of her.
90	* RedEyesTakeWarning: Inverted with Jekyll - it's him who has red eyes, not Hyde. It's green eyes you should be worried about.
91	* RedGreenContrast: Jekyll's eyes and clothing accessories are red, whilst Hyde's are green - matching the colors of their respective transformation potions.
92	* RedOniBlueOni: Hyde and Jekyll. Hyde is energetic, extrovertic Red, while Jekyll, an image of politeness and self-control, is Blue. Ironically, their color schemes are reversed, with Jekyll wearing red and having red eyes, while Hyde has eyes and clothes of green (not blue, but a cool color nonetheless).
93	* RightForTheWrongReasons: Frankenstein remarks that Dr. Jekyll is "rotten on the inside". She makes these remarks because she thinks he is a VillainWithGoodPublicity, having no knowledge of Hyde.
94	* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment: A larger theme in the story represented by the conflict between Frankenstein and Henry Jekyll.
95	** Frankenstein represents {{Romanticism}}. She possesses a powerful passion for her studies that overrides her common sense. She is against traditional, bureaucratic methods of the scientific community and encourages the lodgers to leave the safe conditions of their labs and explore the world. She was even responsible for single-handedly ruining the general public's trust in science due to her mad experiments and seems to take pride in it (even if such a lifestyle is what made her so violently ill in the first place), her hatred for Jekyll stemming from his desire to make it SafeSaneAndConsensual when it should be scary to the ignorant. Jasper even refers to her as a "Romanticist", comparing her to the [[UpperClassTwit idealistic rich-men]] that would glorify his family's poverty and leave their comfortable lives for the "purity of nature", only to nearly die due to their lack of survival skills.
96	** Jekyll represents UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment. While Frankenstein believes that science is meant to make the ignorant fearful, Jekyll believes in the [[ScienceIsGood inherent goodness in deconstructing the unknown]], creating a bureaucratically-funded [[IslandOfMisfitEverything institution]] for researchers of [[MagicPoweredPseudoscience fringe science]] with the intent of regaining the general public's trust. With that said, his attempts to uphold this idealized system is shown to wear on him, turning him to [[TheAlcoholic drink]] and forcing himself to [[BeneathTheMask hide behind a facade]] that contradicts his beliefs (he's an agnostic pretending to be Anglican), his tastes (he goes to high-brow operas for conversation, but he actually prefers low-brow penny-dreadful plays), even his own nationality (he speaks in an RP accent while he's from Glasgow). Even his own belief in science betrays him in the form of Hyde, the product of an experiment gone wrong that embodies his own repressed id that torments him in his every waking moment.
97	* ScienceIsBad: A common belief in the setting. There's even a theatre play subtitled "Beware the destructive power of science!"
98	* ShadowArchetype: While Jekyll's dualist theory of human psyche [[ShownTheirWork was there in the book]], Frankenstein seems to be quite [[JerkassHasAPoint right to dismiss it as a load of bull]]. Instead, it's strongly hinted that Hyde is Jekyll's Shadow Archetype, everything he doesn't want to be - embodied.
99	* ShoutOut: This version of Literature/{{Carmilla}} is a member of the [[Film/TheVampireLovers Karnstein Coven]].
100	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Hyde makes a rather big deal out of how much he hates Lanyon's 'stupid chubby cheeks'.
101	* TakeThat: The theatre play warning of the dangers of science is one to the Universal ''Film/{{Frankenstein 1931}}'' movie as well as adaptations of ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' that add love interests, particularly the ''Theatre/JekyllAndHyde'' musical.
102	* TalkingToThemself: Hyde, as seen [[http://www.theglassscientists.com/comic/page-04 here]], argues with Jekyll as a peeved conscience.
103	* TechnicolorMagic: Jasper's wolfsbane poisoning manifests in light purple foam at his mouth.
104	* TechnicolorScience: The Society lives by this trope, but particularly Jekyll's transformation potion with a SicklyGreenGlow.
105	* TeleportationMisfire: The society apparently has a teleporting cat, and going by poor thing's [[http://www.theglassscientists.com/comic/page-15-2 expression and place of landing]], it doesn't really control it.
106	* TheUnmasquedWorld: Church Grims and werewolves are par for the course and the story of Doctor Frankenstein is a well-known scandal that had tarnished the reputation of Science.
107	* TheyCalledMeMad: Jekyll brings this up to Jasper and remarks that it's an easy way to get pegged a mad scientist.
108	* ThroughHisStomach: Rachel lovingly bakes a batch of cookies for Jasper (several of which are stolen by Hyde).
109	* TorchesAndPitchforks: A mob convenes to attack the werewolf in record time. One person actually brings ''knitting needles'' to the fray.
110	* TransformationSequence: Jekyll transforms into Hyde in [[http://www.theglassscientists.com/comic/page-14-3 Chapter 3, Page 14.]]
111	* TrashcanBonfire: As seen [[http://www.theglassscientists.com/comic/page-02 here]], in Bethnal Green.
112	* UngratefulBastard: Both Frankenstein, who constantly berates and condescends to Jekyll, despite his efforts to help her - and the lodgers once she persuades them that the Society is holding them back and that they could survive on passion alone and they all decide to stop working on their presentations and abandon Dr. Jekyll. The only one who sticks by him is Jasper, something Jekyll appreciates.
113	* UnspokenRetort: Discussed as Jasper recounts how he "told" his professors "[[TheyCalledMeMad You think me mad?! I'll show you who's mad! I'll show you all! WAHAHAHA!]]"
114	-->'''Jasper''': Or um, that's what I said in my head. I actually said something like "Yeah, that's fine I guess". But in a defiant way, y'know?
115	-->'''Jekyll''': I am familiar with the sentiment.
116	* UpperClassTwit: One of the reasons why Jasper isn't as impressed with Frankenstein's [[{{Romanticism}} Romantic]] lifestyle as the other lodgers is because he and his family have encountered posh, city types much like her that think they could forgo their comfortable lifestyles for the "purity of nature", only for their lack of survival skills to nearly kill them off [[{{Irony}} as nature dictates.]]
117	* UnreliableExpositor: This is quite subtle, but when the characters (especially Lanyon) recount something, their recounts tend to be colored by their feelings about the matter. For example, it's not that Lanyon lies about his father cutting the funds, he just interprets the fact much more harshly that it really was.
118	* UsedToBeASweetKid: Alice Liddel was depicted as a logical but otherwise sweet kid in ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland''. Here she hosts the Looking-Glass Circus in the [[BlackMarket Blackfog Bizarre]] and is demanding monetary retribution for Hyde's antics alongside Literature/{{Carmilla}} and [[Literature/{{Illuminatus}} a Nameless High Priest]]. %%is it really this trope?
119	--> '''Alice''': We'd havta make an '''example''' outta you, wouldn't we?
120	* VomitIndiscretionShot: You get a full view of Frankenstein spewing blood all over poor Jekyll.
121	* WeaponBasedCharacterization: The Lodgers bring a diverse range of weapons to the battle with Moreau, each pertaining to their areas of rogue science. Ms. Flowers brings her mechanical insects, Mr. Sinnet brings a flamethrower, Helsby has a harpoon, Maijabi unleashes ghosts from a bottle, and Mr. Bird brings a potted plant. In addition Rachel, the cook, brings a large kitchen knife and Mr. Hyde brings an umbrella.
122	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: The policemen (and the crowd) argue that a werewolf is more an animal than a human.
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Context Webcomic / TheGlassScientists