Comic Book / Alix

aka: Alix Senator

Alix, right, and Enak, left.

Alix is a French-Belgian comic series created by Jacques Martin in 1948. It may be considered the serious, historically accurate counterpart to the more famous and cartoonish Asterix, which it actually predates. It is a classic example of the ligne claire school popularized by Hergé.

The title character is a young Gaul from the 1st century BCE who, after being captured and enslaved, is adopted by a rich Roman and becomes a Roman citizen himself. He goes through various adventures that take him all over The Roman Republic and beyond—at one point, all the way to Han Dynasty China—and becomes a friend of Julius Caesar. His sidekick is a teenage Egyptian boy, Enak, and his nemesis is a scheming Greek named Arbaces.

In 1999, the comics were adapted into an animated series that ran for twenty-six episodes.

In 2012, a sequel series titled Alix Senator started. As the name implies, it takes place several years later, with Julius Caesar long dead, Alix now a Roman Senator, and Enak having disappeared long ago.

In 2019, a prequel series titled Alix Origines started. It tells the story of Alix's life as a child when he still lived free in Gaul. It has a different art style closer to mangas. Death and other atrocities are present but, heavily toned down.

See the recap page for the list of albums and tropes in specific albums.

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Tropes in the original series as a whole:

• Afterlife of Service:
  • When a Gaul chieftain dies during a migration, his tribesmen spend time diverting a waterfall from its course to bury him there, with every man tossing a weapon into the waterfall once the dam is broken down.
  • Alix is gifted a magnificent horse by Caesar before heading on a mission. It's prophesied that he and the horse won't be together long, and at the end of the story he defuses a diplomatic situation by agreeing to give up the horse to be killed for a dead chieftain's tomb.
• Ancient Rome: The series is set about 50 BC. Alix is adopted by a rich Roman and so he becomes a Roman citizen. Most of the action happens in the Roman Republic and the area around.
• Arch-Enemy: Arbaces is the main opponent of Alix. He already appears in his first adventure, Alix l'intrépide and he is the main antagonist in the next three episodes. He last appears, so far, in album 25, where he murders Surena on the orders of King Orodes. Then he vanishes, as usual.
• Art Evolution: In the first album, Alix l'intrépide, Jacques Martin's drawing is quite awkward. In the next albums, he made some experimentations (for example, the style of L'Île maudite is very similar to Hergé's ligne claire). From the 4th instalment, La Tiare d'Oribal, the style becomes more stable.
• Art Shift:
  • Alix Senator has a darker color palette and the drawing is much more realistic.
  • Alix Origines has much brigther colors and is closer to manga's art style.
• Benevolent Boss: Alix owns slaves and servants, but he treats them well and with respect. Alix has been a victim of slavery himself and so this is probably a factor in his treatment of his slaves.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: In Antiquity, it was quite common to commit suicide rather than be killed or captured by the enemies. This happen a few times in the series like Sélémé who slit her veins rather than be lynched by an angry mob.
• Bittersweet Ending: Many adventures ends on a bittersweet note.
• Chaste Hero: Alix sometimes finds himself with women throwing themselves at him (and sometimes seems interested), but he always finds reasons not to pursue. (However, later albums get more ambiguous; "La chute d'Icare" never makes it clear whether or not Alix did get it on with Julia, Shallow Love Interest Of The Album. By "Roma, Roma", it's only the intervention of Octavian (the future Augustus Caesar) that keeps Alix from getting it on with Octavian's sister Lydia.
  • Though by Alix Senator he has a son, Titus.
  • "O Alexandrie" strongly implies that Alix and Cleopatra made out in the bathtub.
• Chromosome Casting: There are only male characters in the first six albums, as in many Franco-Belgian Comics of this period. Women only appear in the background. In Alix l'intrépide, there seems to be a female character, but it is actually Arbacès Disguised in Drag. The first female character to appear in the series is queen Adréa in Le Dernier Spartiate.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Alix will help anyone who's in distress, leading to many dangerous situations for himself.
• Conveniently an Orphan: In Alix l'intrépide, Alix hears that his mother is dead and that his father was sold into slavery years ago. So Alix has no family bond and he is free to live his adventures. Likewise, Enak is an orphan too.
• Crossover: The year Hergé died, Jacques Martin made a two-page story where Alix and Enak meet Rastapopoulos, the villain from Tintin.
• Derivative Differentiation: The first album of the series, Alix l'intrépide, was heavily inspired by Ben-Hur. The following albums take another direction.
• The Determinator: Alix is very determined to accomplish his goals and the missions Caesar gives him.
• Distress Ball: Of the two companions, Enak is one that get captured the most and need rescuing from Alix.
• Distressed Dude: In the first episode, Alix l'intrépide, Alix is often in danger and others have to save him. In the next episodes, this role is mainly taken by Enak, who is saved by Alix, but from time to time Alix has to be saved too.
  • Alix and Enak find themselves bound to crosses in "O Alexandrie".
• Flashback: Starting with L'Île maudite, there are Flashbacks in every album. Many of them give Exposition about past historical events.
• Frozen in Time: All the adventures of Alix, which have been published for more than 70 years, are set in a very limited time period of about three and a half years: between the Battle of Carrhae (May or June 53 BC) and Julius Caesar's crossing the Rubicon (January 10, 49 BC). The battle of Carrhae happens during the first episode, Alix l'intrépide. Twenty-five stories and 58 real-life years later, Alix meets general Surena again in C'était à Khorsabad. Surena was murdered in 53 BC, shortly after the battle, as far as is known. The only exception is L'Ibère (episode 26), which is set in 46 BC.
• Girl of the Week: Whereas there was no female character in the first six albums, there is generally a girl interested in Alix in the next instalments (Adréa in Le Dernier Spartiate, Héra in Le Dieu sauvage, Ariela in Iorix le Grand, Saïs in Le Prince du Nil, Sabina in Le Fils de Spartacus, Samthô in Le Spectre de Carthage, Malua in Les Proies du volcan, Archeloa in L'Enfant grec...). Alix never pursue the relationship.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Played straight with Alix, who is brave and wholesome to a fault.
• Historical Domain Character: Some interact directly with the main characters, like Surena, Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great, Titus Labienus, Vercingetorix, Octavius, Octavia the Younger, Cleopatra VII... Others only appear in Flashbacks.
• Homoerotic Subtext: The relationship between Alix and Enak isn't exempt of sexual undertones, meaning they don't qualify as Heterosexual Life-Partners. Word of God has it that the implied homosexuality is perfectly deliberate.
• Hotter and Sexier: The modern albums grow ever more risqué, with one girl throwing herself at Alix on a ship during a thunderstorm on the grounds that it'll make sex better, while one panel in "Saturn's Gold" features explicit wall engravings, all objectionable parts blocked by clothing or characters coincidentally raising their hands. Nudity was censored when the series started. However, in recent years, they started to show it more in the newest albums. The Shadow of Sarapis has an unusual lots of them with Cleopatra and her entourage going topless in her royal palace.
• Human Sacrifice: These rituals are frequent in various cults and religions of the era. Some of them like the cult of Baal, sacrifice only children by dumping them in fire. While generally tolerant in religious matters, the Romans will not permit human sacrifices in their conquered lands.
• Kid Sidekick: Enak is much younger than Alix.
• Long-Lost Relative: In "C'était à Khorsabad", Alix mentions that he wishes one day to find his sister Alexia. She does show-up in the prequel Alix Origines.
• Nightmare Sequence: Alix has a few, sometimes with prophetic elements.
• The Not-Love Interest: Enak, except, you know...
• Not Quite Dead:
  • Arbaces seems to die at least one in almost every album he appears in. Even when we're shown the body floating up in water (like in the end of L'Île maudite).
  • In La Conjuration De Baal , Arbaces makes a comeback after his last supposed death. He has sword duel with Alix and the latter plunge his sword in Arbaces's heart. However, Arbaces's body is quietly taken away while Alix was occupied elsewhere. The body is brought to a temple of Baal which Alex and the Romans attack. During the confusion, the body disappeared and it's left ambiguous either Arbaces was brought back to life or someone took it away.
• Primary-Color Champion: Alix always wears red clothing while Enak always wears blue clothing. Keeping with the theme, Alix's sister, Alexia, wears a blue dress.
• Recruit Teenagers with Attitude: Alix is very young and Enak is just a kid. This is lampshaded in the series: in the beginning of L'Île maudite, the citizens of Carthage start laughing when they hear that Caesar has sent a young guy like Alix to help them. In La Tiare d'Oribal, Varius, a Roman officer, tells Alix that they are just kids. However, Caesar assigns Alix many dangerous missions, with little or no justification. In Le Sphinx d'or, for example, Caesar tells he chose Alix because he knows many oriental languages. In Iorix le Grand Alix is sent to lead a legion of Gaulish veterans home to Gaul, which is already under the command of experienced, tough Gaulish officers apparently because Alix is the only man for the job.
• Red Is Heroic: Most of the time, Alix is (scantily) dressed in red.
• Remember the New Guy?: C'était à khorsabad abruptly reveals that Alix has a long-lost sister named Alexia who was never alluded before and Honorus Galla has only mentionned having abducted Astorix, his wife and his son. Alexia nevertheless appears in the prequel Alix Origins.
• Scenery Porn: From the very first panel (which depicts a monumental gate of Khorsabad), the scenery (in particular the reconstitution of ancient buildings) is one of the main assets of the series.
• Second Episode Introduction: Enak, Alix's sidekick, is introduced in the second episode, Le Sphinx d'or.
• Shirtless Scene: Alix (and many other characters) are very often shirtless. Justified by the climate of the countries visited by Alix, by the ancient dressing habits, and by the damages suffered by Alix's clothes in the course of its adventures.
• Sissy Villain: Arbacès wears many jewels, including a necklace and two earrings. He is rarely directly involved in fights (from time to time, he punches one of his minions, but of course they do not dare to retaliate). In Alix l'intrépide, he is Disguised in Drag.
• Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Slavery is perfectly normal during the Bronze Age which really sucks for anyone who is one. Their life expectancy all depends on their master's whims, which are not in the slaves' favors. Benevolent slave owners are extremely rare.
• Supernatural Fiction: Despite the overall realism of the series, paranormal elements occasionally crop up.
• Sword and Sandal: The story is set in Ancient Rome.
• Undying Loyalty: Alix is strongly loyal to Caesar and later to Auguste.
• War Is Hell: Alix and Enak are caught in various bloody conflicts. It's not uncommon to see thousands of soldiers and civilians being butchered horribly in a single day.

Tropes in specific albums of the original series:

Tropes in albums that have a specific page can be found on that page (see the recap page for the list of album pages).

• Asshole Victim:
  • In Le Cheval de Troie, Hermia is very unpleasant toward pretty much everyone, especially to his brother-in-law Horatius. She's not shy about boasting her intention to have her daughter Daphne marry Horatius just for the sake of inheriting his wealth. No one will feel sorry for her death when Horatius set the whole Temple of Hera ablaze to kill himself and everyone in it.
  • In The Barbarians, Tullius Carbo is an arrogant, greedy warmonger. He plans to invade Germanic tribes just to steal their amber. During the expedition, he tries to rape a young girl. The girl stabs his chest with Tullius' own blade. He then collapse from blood loss and dies.
  • In Caesar's Will, Felix and Sylvia Severus, two supporters of Pompey, conspired to have Alix and Galva's daughter, Aurelia, executed for breaking into a Vesta temple. In the climax, Felix and Sylvia schemes are publicly revealed and they receive the sentences meant for Alix and Aurelia. Felix is whipped to death and Sylvia is sealed in a room with no windows, one loaf of bread, one cup of water and bit of oil for light.
  • The Roman governor Carbo conspired to get rid of all the Amazons and is also a pedophile. No one will cry when he falls of a roof while trying to escape from an angry mob.
• Batman Gambit: Knowing Alix and Enak will always stand-up for justice, Arbaces sends a slave to be mistreated by his master under Alix's window. Enak intervenes and he is kidnapped.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: In The Barbarians, two female slaves committed suicide rather than continue being prisoners to the Romans. It's implied that they were raped by Roman soldiers. Even if Alix freed them, the girls' tribe wouldn't have disowned them.
• Big "NO!": In Britannia, Viridoros let out a "big no" when Caesar was about to plow him to death.
• Broken Pedestal: Astéria to the Amazons. Having being inspired by their actions, she ran away to join them. Unfortunately, Sémélé, sister to the Queen of Amazons, kidnapped her for her own schemes and Astéria end up being a playtoy for Sémélé's co-conspirator, Carbo.
• Bystander Syndrome: A prince named Djerkao wants to marry his sister Markha to Enak. Cleopatra is skeptical of this political marriage, but when Djerkao offers her 10 chests of gold in exchange, she agrees and deliver Enak to Djerkao along with Alix in tow. After receiving the gold, Cleopatra considers Enak and Alix as part of Djerko's problems, not hers. Subverted later when the duo escapes from Djerkao and are captured by slavers who try to sell them to Cleopatra. She frees them and have the slavers executed.
• Cain and Abel: Like their historical counterparts, Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIV. They are co-rulers of Egypt, but they both conspire to get rid of the other.
• Clear My Name: In Roma, Roma, a blond-haired murderer passes himself off as Alix in one story, and of course everyone thinks he did it.
• Death by Materialism: In Britannia, to lose a band of pursing Britons, Brecca tossed pearls on the ground. The chasers fought among themselves for the pearls, not realizing that they were sinking deeper in the marshes.
• Despair Event Horizon: In Le Cheval de Troie, Horatius has fallen to despair and rage. He planned to adopt Heraclion out of compassion, but had to gave up those plans in order to save him. As part of the agreement, he's forced to marry his sister-in-law's daughter and gave away the Trojan Horse to the Trojan remnant. Humiliated and dishonored, he set the Temple of Hera one fire, killing everyone including himself. Alix, Enak and Heraclion were the only to escape unscathed.
• Disproportionate Retribution: In Britannia, when Ceasar has been betrayed by a Briton merchant named Viridoros, he boarded his galley and rammed Viridoros's puny little ship, leaving nothing but a wreckage and dead bodies.
• Dual Wielding: Acteus uses two swords in combat, a rare feat where everyone in his entourage carry a shield and a melee weapon.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Acteus' employer and owner is a Scrofa, a shady man who's willing to do others dirty work for money. After kidnapping the local governor's son for Dipsas, she intents to sacrifice the child, much to Scrofa's horror. He struggles with what to do next: killing the child will mean an afterlife in hell for him, while saving the child will lead to death by Dipsas' sorcery. In the end, he choose the former to save his own skin.
• Evil Chancellor: In The Demon of Pharos, Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIV are at odds with each other. Ptolemy XIV's top adviser, Nikanor, suggests a plan to kill Cleopatra without arousing suspicions which the pharaoh approves. Little does he knows that Nikanor plans to get rid of both of them and take power for himself.
• Evil Twin: Kinda. In La Tour de Babel, we hear that Arbaces has an identical brother, who is slightly less of an asshole to Alix, but they're still enemies.
• Happy Ending Override: La Tiare d'Oribal ends with Alix successfully putting Oribal back to his throne and waving him goodbye confident that Oribal will be a great ruler. In La Tour de Babel, we learn that Oribal soon became extremely unpopular for forcing Greek culture and religion on his people. This eventually culminated in revolts and bloody repression. Eventually, Arbaces' brother Adrocles sends Oribal' head to Alix.
• Imperial China: Visited (and escaped from) in L'empereur de Chine.
• Join or Die: Délia, Queen of the Amazons, gave women this ultimatum: join her in her revolution against the Romans or die. Anyone women who refuse are killed on the spot.
• Lizardfolk: Alix and Enak face off against a band of lizardfolk in Africa. They are armed with primitive weapons and haven't discovered fire. Alix theorized that they might be the survivors of an ancient race.
• Love Triangle: In the The Gladiator's Oath, Dipsas has fallen in love with her childhood friend, Acteus. However, Acteus brushes her off and much prefers Dipsas' sister, Veia, who only sees Acteus as a brother.
• Out-Gambitted: During "L'or de Saturne" (Saturn's Gold), Caesar orders Alix to gain support for one of his friend in the Senate, not knowing that some of his men have secretly defected to Pompey's side. Alix and Enak are captured and framed for the theft of the gold in Saturn's temple. The gold is secretly shipped to one Pompey's boat for his war against Caesar. Thankfully, Tullia, the fiance of one of the traitor named Petreius took a liking to Alix and helped him escape Rome. Instead of running away, Alix engineered a plot to get back at Pompey. He ran off with Tullia along with a crew of ex-slaves and then, quietly leaked the information to Petreius. Petreius is pissed and set up an ambush for the supposed passage of Alix's boat, not knowing that Alix's real plan is capturing the boat with the stolen gold that is now left undefended. In exchange for his life, Pompey's son is forced to write a declaration that exonerate both Alix, Enak and Caesar of the gold theft and confess Pompey's incrimination. It's very much the end of Pompey's rule in Rome, but this isn't shown.
• Playing with Fire: A girl Alix meets in Babylon in La Tour de Babel has a number of psychic powers, including pyrokinesis.
• Sole Survivor: Tullius Carbo plans to invade the Germanic tribes to steal their amber was doomed to fail from the start. He brought 200 men, horses, supplies, boats and chariots with scythed wheels. The chariots never saw action because the tribes live in densely wooded areas. The tribes let them invade their territory, but kept a close watch of all their movements. After Tullius Carbo died in undignified death, his men decide to return home. The timing couldn't be worse as the weather turned cold. Their temporary fort was burned and the men were crucified. Later, snow falls and the river freeze, blocking their way back. Alix, Enak and the rest of the army were force to walk on the frozen river as the tribes prepared their attack. They poured some inflammable liquid and set the river of fire. Only Alix and Enak made it back with their lives, everyone else died.
• So What Do We Do Now?: In Le Cheval de Troie, a group of Trojans obsessed with destroying the preserved, original Trojan Horse. When they succeed, well... A character even comments that there's nothing sadder than warriors with no war to fight.
• Spit Take: Cleopatra summons Alix and Enak for a special mission. The queen wishes Enak to marry a princess named Markha as the political marriage will unite the provinces of Sakhara. Enak spits out his drink when hearing this.
• Unwanted Spouse: In Le Cheval de Troie, Horatius is forced to marry his sister-in-law's beautiful daughter Daphne. The marriage is arranged by Hermia, who wants her daughter Daphne to be the sole heir of his vast fortune, while Horatius wanted to give his wealth to his soon-to-be adopted son Heraclion. There's obviously no love between the groom and the bride.
• Unwilling Suspension: Happens to Enak on one occasion, with sharp spears planted under him for added effect.
• The Usurper: The queen of the Amazons, Délia, makes no secrets that she wishes to overthrow the Roman governor Carbo and free her people. However, her own sister Sélémé plotted with Carbo to get rid of her so she can become queen and live a life of luxury rather than conquest.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Casear's Will reveals that general Galva secretly has two daughters, Aurelia and Cecilia. He invites Alix and Enak to the latter's wedding. Unfortunately, she's assassinated the night before the wedding.

Tropes in Alix Senator:

• All for Nothing: Khephren uses the line at the end of the fifth book. And with good reason: he betrayed his adoptive father and the Roman emperor, he's been castrated, and the statue he was looking was lost centuries earlier.
• Animal Theme Naming: The Raptor Conspiracy uses bird's names for their masked members. Their leader is "Vulture" and Alix is "rooster".
• Artistic Licence – History: The creators list what they made up for the story to help the reader. The historical Aggripa did die around the story's time period, just probably not disemboweled by trained eagles.
• The Atoner: Alix blames himself for Enak's death, and understandably breaks down when he hears Khephren and Titus are in danger.
• Attack Animal:
  • Aggripa and several Roman politicians are murdered by trained eagles, and their trainer uses swarms of falcons in Egypt.
  • Cybele's priests use lions to get rid of dead bodies.
• Badass Army: A Roman escort demonstrates how they conquered the world (via superior tactics) against a Spartan horde. In a narrow mountain pass no less.
• Boomerang Bigot: Édorix, the (fictional) son of Vercingetorix hated being taunted and bullied because of his Gaulish roots. One day, he snapped and killed his Roman tormentors with an axe. After changing his name to Caius, he became full-fledged Roman solider and carried a violent hatred of Gauls. The Gaul he hated the most was his own mother who he blamed for outing him as a Gaul in front of everyone. Caius has repeatedly tried to kill her for this.
• Broken Pedestal: Khephren is sad to have never met his father, Enak. Enak turns out to be alive and stayed in Egypt to raise Cesarion. Enak is also wanted for treason against Rome. Moreover, Enak wanted his son to have a better life, so he gave Khephren to Alix through a slave. However, Khephren felt betrayed that his father chose to raise a stranger over him. The reunion between the two is so bad that Enak returns to Egypt alone.
• Burying a Substitute: In Alix Senator, Alix puts up a cenotaph in Enak's memory (he died during Egypt's final battle with Rome), since they Never Found the Body. Except Alix knew Enak wasn't in the battle, he deserted in order to get his wife and child to safety. Double subverted as it later turns out that Enak was alive the whole time, unable to reveal himself due to getting caught in an anti-Roman conspiracy.
• Creepy Souvenir: Caius chops off the hands of his victims, be Romans or Gauls. He then keeps theirs hands as trophies.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: General Rufus killed Enak and Cesarion before the start of this series and stayed loyal to emperor Auguste. In reality, Enak chopped off Rufus' hand forcing him to flee. Later, Rufus tracked down Cesarion and was about to kill him when he changed mind. He saw Cesarion as the true heir to Caesar and secretly helped him for 30 years.
• Crippling Castration: The priests of Cybele are men who give their manhoods to the goddess. Khephren suffers the same fate later.
• Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Enak gave Khephren as a baby to Alix so he could be raised by his best friend. He didn't want his son to suffer because Enak has become a wanted criminal for betraying Rome. When Khephren learns the truth, he rejects his father for abandoning him.
• Darker and Edgier: The sequel is a lot darker, with a contemporary art style that doesn't hesitate to show sex or bloody deaths, not to mention Enak having died sometime before and Alix having lost his youthful idealism (he no longer hesitates to have a prisoner tortured for information, and gives an enemy a Mercy Kill after threatening him with a slow death).
• Defecting for Love: While no sides is truly evil or heroic, Enak defects to Cleoptra and Mark Anthony's faction when civil war erupts in Rome. His actions were motivated by his love for one of Cleopatra's handmaiden. Also, Egypt is his home country so he was hoping for its liberation from Rome's grasps. Rome views Enak as a traitor and he is marked for death.
• Disappeared Dad:
  • Enak is dead (though we don't know why or how), and his son Khephren is raised by Alix alongside his own son Titus.
  • The sequel clarifies that Enak died during the battle of Actium. Except he didn't: he ran away to put his wife (one of Cleopatra VII's handmaidens) and son out of danger, but died without leaving a body, leaving Alix to put up a gravestone and preserving the memory of his friend by omitting his cowardice. He is, of course, still alive, albeit old and not having seen his son in more than ten years.
  • In a flashback, we are revealed how Alix's father died and how Alix became a slave in the first issue. They were both part of Crassus' army in a failed attempt to conquer Parthia.
• Downer Ending:
  • The fifth volume ends in utter defeat: the Girl of the Week survives but her tongue has been cut out, and Khephren, having been caught and castrated by the priests of Cybele's temple, learns the statue he broke in to find was never there to begin with, as it was stolen by Alexander the Great.
  • The sixth isn't much better: The Roman governor of Egypt turns out to be in cahoots with the bandits Alix has been fighting against, and they're now at his mercy.
  • The seventh one, apparently going for some sort of record, ends with Khephren finding the statue and grabbing onto it as it falls into lava along with its worshipers, having abandoned his family in the pursuit of his dreams of power. Titus' mother is finally revealed (the Emperor's sister), but the family's joy is quenched on seeing Enak mourning his son.
  • At the end of the 9th volume, Lidia dies from Orichalcum poisoning which is highly toxic in this universe.
• Eyepatch of Power: Heb permanently wears a scarf over one eye.
• Fake Defector: Despite his loyalty and friendship with Auguste, the Emperor plans to destitute Alix of his seat in the Senate. Not only that, Enak and Titus are to be executed. Heartbroken, Alix goes to the Raptor Conspiracy and agrees to assassinate Auguste in exchange for sparing his friends and restore his place in the Senate. In reality, he went to the Emperor immediatly after meeting the Raptor Conspiracy and revealed the truth to him. Auguste spares Alix's family in exchange for the information.
• False Flag Operation: Caius kills his own soldiers and places the blame on a community of reclusive Gauls. He almost succeeds in starting a war between Romans and Gauls, if not for Alix's intervention.
• Gambit Pileup: The various machinations surrounding Rome in the first story arc:
  • Auguste is ruling over The Empire and wants to keep it that way.
  • Cesarion, son of Caesar and Cleopatra, still lives. He wants a bloody revolution to overthrow Auguste to rule over The Empire.
  • A third party, the Raptor Conspiracy, kidnaps Cesarion so he can overthrow the Emperor and restore the Republic.
  • The secret leader of the Raptor Conspiracy, Livie and Auguste's wife, knows that Cesarion is as bad as Auguste. She plans to lead from behind or get rid of him after getting rid of Auguste.
  • Alix is caught in the middle and has to pick a side.
• Generation Xerox: Titus and Khephren seem to have the same type of adventures as their fathers. Khephren is much more proactive than Enak ever was, however.
• Green-Eyed Monster: When traveling to Petra, Titus' girlfriend, Cammo, is seduced by Alexander, the son of the chancellor. Titus becomes jealous and at one point, he tries to kill Alexander. Being a young teen, Titus is no match for Alexander who is an adult. Titus is therfore humiliated him in front of everyone for losing the duel.
• Historical Character's Fictional Relative: Alix's son Titus is eventually revealed to be the son of Augustus's sister, Octavia the Younger.
  • Lydia, Augustus's sister, is an aversion: while the name doesn't appear in history, the biographical details the series provide makes it clear that Lydia is the historical Octavia the Younger. The name change (which first appeared in the original series) likely served to distinguish her from her brother, Octavian.
• Love Potion: Titus buys one so he can win back his girlfriend from Alexander. However, when Cammo starts to enumerate the reasons why she likes Alexander over him, Titus becomes angry. He throws the love potion on the ground and leaves to kill Alexander.
• Macguffin: The Statue of the Cybel is sought by various parties. Anyone who adores it are said to be destined for greatness. Caesar has found it in the past and so did Alexander the Great before him. Augustes also found it, but decided not to use it, as he wished to become his own man.
• Monumental Damage: The "mother of pyramids", where Cesarion plots to reconquer Egypt, does not survive the album.
• Missing Mom: Titus' mother died when he was still a child. Of course she's alive. She's the Emperor's sister, but due to her position she and Alix could never be seen together, much less raise a child.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Against's Alix advice, governor Vanik orders his army to destroy a village of Gauls living in a forest in retribution for killing his men. They fall into a trap and everyone is killed save for Alix and Vanik. The Gauls explain that the one responsible for the inital attacks was none other than Vanik's second-in-command, Caius, who has a deep hatred of Gauls. When he realized that the Gauls were telling the truth, Vanik deeply regrets his actions and took steps to restore peace between the two communities.
• No True Scotsman: Heraklion, a Spartan friend of Alix, is pissed that 300 Spartans set an ambush in a canyon outnumbering Alix and his escort 5 to 1.
  I know you're not Spartans! You are unworthy of Leonidas! The Persians were 200,000 at Thermopyles! 200,000 not 60!
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Livie wishes to overthrow her husband Auguste and restore the Roman Republic. Much later, she confines that she wants to become emperess of the Roman Empire.
• Painless Death for a Price: After dispatching a band of assassins, Alix says he'll leave their gutstabbed leader to die a slow death in the desert if he doesn't reveal the name of his employer, but give him a quick death if he does.
• Put on a Bus: Enak returns to Egypt after his secret is found out.

• Tampering with Food and Drink: Discussed with Alix and the chancellor of Petra. The chancellor explains that one can become immune to poisons by taking small doses of it. He then mentions that his son Alexandre isn't immune because it take years to take effect. As he says those words, his son falls ill because of the spiked wine he shared with Cammo. Alexander dies moments later while Cammo manages to spit out the poison and survives.
• Too Dumb to Live: Khephren is obsessed with finding the statue of the Cybel that will him the absolute ruler of the world. When it's dumped into the lava, he clings to the statue and refuses to let it go. Unsurprisingly, he doesn't live for very long.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Downplayed. Cammo was just a young teen living on the streets when Titus helped saving Cammo's older sister. Titus and Cammo became lovers and she left the streets to live with the care of Titus's father, Alix. Cammo's sister became an acolyte for some temple thanks to Alix's contacts. During a diplomatic misson to Petra, Cammo falls for Alexander's flirting and Titus feels betrayed by her. Cammo admits she's been ungrateful and feels conflicted between Titus and Alexander. However, after learning of Titus' failed attack on Alexander, she fully rejects him and stays Alexander.
• Undying Loyalty: When about to raid a temple, Alix's Roman guards claim they'll follow him to Hell... for a year's salary.
• Who's Laughing Now?: As a teen, Édorix was bullied by other Roman teens for being a Gaul. One day, Édorix turned the table on his bullies and killed them with an axe. After rejecting his Gaul's origins, he became a serial killer, targeting anyone that gets in his way, with Gauls as his favorite victims.

Tropes in Alix Origines:

• Attempted Rape: Alexia was about to be raped by a Phenician slaver when Alix subdued the attacker.
• Benevolent Boss: Alix and Alexia are well treated by their new employer, governor Canelus. They get paid for their work and they befriend the governor's son.
• Big Brother Instinct: Inverted. Alix is younger than his sister Alexia, but shows lots of bravery in protecting her.
• Big Damn Reunion: At the end of album four, Alix and Alexia are reunited with their father. Astorix was freed from servitude because he saved Queen Berenice.
• Bolt of Divine Retribution: When Rahotep orders his guards to kill Queen Berenice, the high priest Hekanakht, implores Ra to smite the assassins. Then, Ra's statue shoot rays of light and kill all the traitors.
• Call-Forward:
  • In the original series, a band of wolves in Gaul are friendly to Alix without any explanation. Here, it's shown that Alix saved one of their pup.
  • Honorus Galla show up in the two first installments. He is the one who arrested Alix's familly and sent them off to slavery.
  • Aldéric and Ansila are present and we now know how they came to power. Alix's cousin, Vanic, is also introduced.
  • Enak makes his debut and we are shown how he got adopted by Josah.
  • Various characters from Alix's later life make their debut: Julius Caesar, Galva, Pompei just to name a few.
• The Cameo: Enak and Cleopatra both make a small appearance in the fourth book.
• The Coup: Alderic, one of Astorix's entourage, plants false information on him that he intents to betray Caesar to the Helvetes. The scheme works and Alderic has no problem getting elected chieftain in Astorix's place.
• Damsel in Distress:
  • Alix saved the life of Flavia Graccus, the daughter of Legate Graccus. She gives him a peck on the cheek to thank him.
  • Alexia needs a lot of rescuing from her younger brother in the third album, at least three times. At one point, she does save Alix's life.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Slavery is norm during the Bronze Age. Alix's father is a powerful chieftain and has own many slaves. Alix himself sees no problem with that, at least until he becomes a slave along with his sister.
• The Determinator: Tahoser is willing to everything in her powers to achieve her goals, a trait she shares with Alix. Tahoser smuggled herself in her father's boat to follow her father and Alix. Later, her father left Alix and Tahoser behind to protect them. Rather than staying behind, she and Alix jumped into the Nile to get back on the boat.
• Disappeared Dad: Astorix is sold to Egyptian slavers leaving Alexia and Alix to fend for themselves with Phenician slavers. Subverted later when Alix finds him and they reunite with Alexia at governor Canelus' mansion.
• The Dragon: The druid Ansila is Alderic's advisor and co-conspirator in their plot to rid of Astorix and lead the clan for themselves.
• The High Queen: The current Queen of Alexandria is Berenice, who is also Cleopatra's older sister. She's shown to be very supportive of the populace and properly rewards those loyal to her. Berenice also frees Astorix from slavery after the latter saved her from a murder attempt.
• Hope Spot: Astorix, Myrdinna and Alexia are taken to be sold as slaves. Alix with his cousin Varic and other loyalists make an attack to free them. Unfortunately, the raid failed and Myrdinna is killed while protecting Alexia. Alix is captured while Varic and the rest of the band flee.
• Important Haircut: When Alix is sold to slavery, the Phenicians orders his sister to cut his hair. This is to signify that Alix's life will change forever and there's no turning back.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Tahoser is a cat lover. She has at least 10 cats in her house and her favorite one is named Timpoht. She even brings him along for her adventure.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Astorix, Alix's father, is sold to slavery. Considering he was a slaver owner himself, well tough luck.
• Missing Mom: Alix and Alexia's mother, Myrdinna, is killed during failed ambush to free them.
• Nice Guy: Tahoser is a very kind girl. She adopts stray cats she find on the streets. When she saw Alix all alone by himself, she invites him to stay at her house and she helps him find his father.
• Offing the Offspring: The King of Alexandria, Ptolemee XII, exiled himself to Rome after a revolt. Her daughter, Berenice, ascend to the throne. Ptolemee XII isn't to happy about this and plots to kill her own daughter.
• Properly Paranoid: While Alix and Alexia are runaway slaves, they meet other orphans who steal and hunt in the woods. The band offer them a place with them. Alix is highly suspicious of them, the brother/sister who lead the group in particular. Alexia calls out her brother for his paranoia. Later, Alix turns out to be right. The duo are not orphans and their father makes regular sacrifices to their dark god with Alexia chosen to be next victim.
• Street Urchin: Enak makes a cameo in the fourth book. He explains to Tahoser that his parents are dead and he lives on the streets. Tahoser takes pity on him and gets him adopted to a kind old merchant named Josah.
• Taking the Bullet: Myrdinna shields her daughter from a throwing spear, costing her life.
• Time Skip: A little more than a year pass between album three and four.
• Treacherous Advisor: Rahotep, Queen's Berenice first advisor, is secretly trying to kill the Queen.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Alix's father is betrayed by his entourage and the whole family is taken away by the Romans for treason. Even if Alix and Alexia manage to return to Gaul, everyone in their clan will turn their back on them or worse.

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