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Comic Book / Rex Mundi

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In an alternate world, Magic still reigns and Feudalism never fell. The Bourbon's still rule France, the Protestant Reformation never took off, and the world is divided between the great empires. In this world, Doctor Sauniere is awoken late one night in October 1933 by his friend father Marin, and finds himself dragged into a conspiracy involving the Holy Grail and the ambitions of the upcoming politician, the Duke of Lorraine. Aided by his former colleague Dr. Tournion, Julien seeks to discover the truth behind the holy grail... but is he prepared for the full enormity of what he will discover.


The Rex Mundi comics contain the following tropes:

  • Alternate History: Aside from the existence of magic and the secret history revolving around the Knights Templar, the main point of divergence from our world is the failure of the French Revolution around 1800, resulting in the death of Napoleon in prison, the reassertion of feudalism across Europe, the splitting of America with the Civil War and the general stalling of the Age of Enlightenment.
  • Ancient Conspiracy: The Priory of Sion, led by the Duke of Lorraine.
  • Archnemesis Dad: The Duke of Lorraine for Isabelle.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil: The Duke of Lorraine is a genocidal lunatic who wants to conquer Europe and the Middle East as part of an attempt to create an "Empire of Christ".
  • Bittersweet Ending: Lorraine is defeated, and since most of his inner circle was wiped out that means that Genevieve and the others have a chance at a better life. However Europe has been devastated by war, and it's not clear whether Julien survived his final battle with Lorraine.
  • Break the Haughty: Father Moricant experiences this in Volume 5, culminating in him committing suicide. He gets better, and becomes a lot more easy going as a result.
  • Character Development: Julien, though a good person, is a relatively unambitious individual at the start; by the end he's a full blown hero.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Julien crosses it at the end of Vol 4 and only snaps out of it towards the end of Vol 5.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Probably one of Lorraine's ONLY redeeming qualities is that he does love his daughter despite their fraught relationship; he also treats a former subordinate of his extremely well even though the man was fighting on the other side. It's also heavily implied that the only reason he didn't have Julien murdered right away was because he was Dr. Tournion's friend.
  • Ghostapo: Played with; the Nazis aren't a thing in this universe (World War 1 never happened and what was otherwise Imperial Germany became the "Prussian Empire"), but thanks to Putting on the Reich and a lot of mystical doings surrounding the Holy Grail, Lorraine and his supporters essentially become this reality's equivalent.
  • Heel–Face Turn: After coming back from the dead in a way similar to Jesus, Father Moricant mellows out considerably, joining Julien's band in the final battle.
  • The Mole: Dr. Tournion, though a more sympathetic example than most.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: Lorraine is openly bigoted against Jews and Muslims, and even begins to initiate ethnic cleansing in conquered lands before his death at Julien's hands.
  • Putting on the Reich: Hitler isn't around and the "Prussian Empire" basically fills in for what was otherwise Imperial Germany, but Lorraine and his order eventually take on very Nazi-esque tones.
  • Rags to Riches: Genevieve is a dark take; she's of common birth and rises to become Lorraine's Empress.....but Lorraine himself is a psycho in the midst of loosing his sanity.
  • Richard Nixon, the Used Car Salesman: Napoleon Bonaparte in this world was arrested on trumped up charges and died of tuberculosis in prison.
  • Sanity Slippage: Lorraine undergoes one over the course of Vol 6.
  • The Hero Dies: It's left unclear if Julien survives his final battle with Lorraine.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Lorraine experiences one over the final issues to the point that he's completely lost his sanity by the time he and Julien have their final battle.
  • Villain Protagonist: Even though they never meet until the final arc, Lorraine gets as much focus as Julien over the course of the story.

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