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1''[[https://tapastic.com/episode/8071 GATEKEEPER]]'' is a Tapastic (previously Website/SmackJeeves) webcomic about a young woman named Olivia Kane who becomes the intern of the respected criminal psychologist Jack Porter. Her mentor-to-be appears to be patient, kind, and intelligent, and she believes that she has found the perfect internship. However, when she makes a frightening discovery, she is soon introduced to the professional life of Gatekeepers -- cleaners tasked with concealing heinous crimes from the police.
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3It is written by Website/SmackJeeves user "boxno," who also happens to be "hiruda" -- author of a popular, but [[OrphanedSeries discontinued]], webcomic ''Webcomic/{{Rock Paper Scissors|Hiruda}}''. The work is a mix of action, mystery, and psychological thriller genres, though it may also have some shades of SliceOfLife if the beginning of the first chapter was any indication.
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5The author updates three times a week on a fixed schedule. It is meant to be a SpiritualSuccessor of sorts to ''Rock Paper Scissors'', and thus both works have much in common.
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7----
8!!This comic provides examples of:
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10* AccidentalPun: The series name is GATEKEEPER. Jack's last name is Porter, one in charge of a gate or door. This was not intended by the author.
11* {{Animesque}}: As a result of some anime inspiring the work in question, though it's relatively [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]].
12* AntiVillain: The Chief.
13* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:Well, Jack Porter, one of the characters right there on the comic cover, died in the fifth chapter. So, yes, all bets are off now.]]
14** [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted.]] He faked his death.]]
15* AStormIsComing: Olivia [[spoiler:leaves Jack's house, in the first chapter, when a storm seems to be coming. The storm picks up speed as Jack digs up the body in his garden. The storm is the reason that Olivia returns to ask if she can borrow an umbrella, only to see that body on the kitchen floor. Ominous [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadowing]] indeed.]]
16* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:Clair]] is this. She used to be a [[spoiler:back-alley nurse who worked on criminals, but is now working at a legitimate clinic to make up for it.]]
17** [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. She's always just been in it for the euphoria that comes from feeling like someone's savior, and keeps pictures of suffering patients behind a picture frame in her office...patients which she herself "creates" once she's working at a legal clinic and gets fewer that are in critical condition than she likes.]]
18* AuthorAppeal: The author has noted that she is studying psychology. Jack Porter works as a criminal psychologist and Olivia plans to become one too.
19* BewareTheNiceOnes: Regardless of Mr. Porter's generosity and kindness, one can't overlook the dead body in his kitchen.
20* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:Clair. See TheAtoner above.]]
21* BlueAndOrangeMorality: [[spoiler:Jack again!]] Apparently believes that the "lifetime societal value" of his clients outweighs their crimes, which is why he [[spoiler:[[CleanupCrew cleans up after murders]]. He genuinely believes that doing so is right.]]
22* BreatherEpisode: First half of chapter one is slice-of-life.
23* CharacterDevelopment: Olivia is shaping up to go through this. [[spoiler:Specifically, after being sent to prison after being found with Jack's blood all over herself, she decides that she's sick of being used and doesn't want to be a perpetual victim anymore.]] We'll see how that goes.
24* ChekhovsGun: Jack's biometric house security system is mentioned briefly when Olivia first arrives. [[spoiler:It reappears later to shock Olivia as she tries to escape.]]
25* CleanupCrew: Gatekeepers in general.
26* CuteClumsyGirl: Olivia, with her clumsiness and cute facial expressions. Even the author has stated that she finds her adorable.
27* DealWithTheDevil: Well, essentially. [[spoiler:After Olivia finds out about Jack's [[CleanupCrew profession]], he makes an offer like this, asking her to join him "as a Gatekeeper" for just a month. If she doesn't like it, he promises to give her a glowing recommendation letter so she can get hired wherever she wants. She accepts, with apparently little consideration.]] There are at least three or so things suspicious about the deal.
28** [[spoiler:For one thing, he never gives her the option to just, you know, ''not be a Gatekeeper at all'', for any duration of time. He is therefore only giving her the illusion of choice.]]
29** [[spoiler:Related to the above, should Olivia decide to go along with it for a month but then leave afterwards, what guarantee is there that she won't give away Jack's secret? None. If Jack is smart, he won't just [[HeKnowsTooMuch let her get away like that.]]]]
30** [[spoiler:Say Olivia goes along with it and, later, decides that she wants to continue working as a Gatekeeper; if she does, chances are she'll become increasingly desensitized to the work to the point that she'll become [[AffablyEvil just like him.]] Worse [[VillainProtagonist (or not?)]] is that there's a very real possibility she'll one day slip up and either go to prison or be put in extreme danger.]] To summarize, unless some sort of miracle happens, this is not going to go well for [[spoiler:her]] no matter what [[spoiler:she]] decides to do.
31** Well, she did end up [[spoiler:in prison, but for killing Jack. So, they both got a raw deal out of the whole mess. Even though he actually faked his death, he ended up in the hospital for it.]]
32* DownerBeginning: Page 2. Enter bloody corpse.
33* DramaticStutter: Olivia's stutters whenever she's nervous, unsure, apologetic, sad, etc.
34* DramaticThunder: Used to foreshadow [[spoiler: the dead body in Jack's yard.]]
35* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:Jack Porter did this, with help from his CleanupCrew among others. Not too many people were surprised since, if anyone could fake their death convincingly, it would be Jack.]]
36* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Jack apparently is, some time after Olivia leaves him alone in the house, from a stab wound and complications from his own congenital heart disease. The dead body turns up later.]]
37** DyingAlone
38** [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. He faked his death. Including the corpse.]]
39* EccentricMentor: Jack can be one at times. In his first appearance in the comic, he's shown having picked flowers and sporting gardening garb.
40* EstablishingCharacterMoment: When Olivia gets on the bus, she's pushed around by the other people and does nothing about it. This hints at her shyness and passivity.
41* {{Expy}}: Jack Porter is an {{Expy}} of [[Webcomic/RockPaperScissorsHiruda Mr. Friday]].
42* {{Foil}}: Jack and Olivia are foils of each other.
43* GentlemanAndAScholar: Jack Porter who is a published criminal psychologist and a generally charismatic person.
44* TheIntern: Olivia is the new intern for Mr. Porter, and displays interest in his field of criminal psychology.
45* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler:Jack]] is quickly shaping up to be one of these. He's [[spoiler:a psychologist and has been playing everyone around him for a long time at this point, what with his [[CleanupCrew profession]]. Olivia seems to be his current plaything.]]
46* InMediasRes: GATEKEEPER opens with the audience seeing a dead body on Mr. Porter's kitchen floor with no explanation and then flashes back.
47* MissingMom: Jack hints at this when he mentions Olivia's relationship with her mother is nonexistent.
48* NaiveNewcomer: Olivia Kane.
49* NiceGuy: Jack Porter. Incredibly so.
50** [[spoiler:AffablyEvil]]: Possibly, [[spoiler:considering what his second job is. He is a genuinely nice and warm person, despite cleaning up after murders routinely. He truly seems to believe that what he does is, in the grand scheme of things, right.]]
51* SharpDressedMan: Jack very often is. The police chief may be even sharper.
52* SherlockScan: Mr. Porter does one on Olivia when she enters his house. [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted however]]. Turns out Olivia's father gave him info beforehand.]]
53* ShrinkingViolet: Poor Olivia has a hard time asserting herself or engaging with others.
54* TraitorShot: [[spoiler:Jack]] has an unusual example. After he [[spoiler:talks to Olivia's father about what happened with her mother and says he's going to go talk to Olivia, Mr. Kane thanks him. When Jack tells him that he'll "put in a good word" for him, the panel shows nothing of his face but a big, devious, grin. Unusual in that Mr. Kane can still see his face, but only the audience knows what this grin [[ManipulativeBastard truly means]].]]
55* TheWatson: Olivia Kane to Mr. Porter. It's shaping up to be that way, in any case.
56* WhamShot: When [[spoiler:we see Jack Porter standing right there in Olivia's house.]]
57-->'''Jack: [[spoiler:My, my. You took a while getting back.]]'''
58** And another one later, [[spoiler:when we see Jack dead on a stretcher.]]

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