Crimson Sunset
is an ongoing fanfic crossover of Star Wars and Animorphs, written by Dr. Vadam.
Crimson Sunset contains examples of:
- Admiring the Abomination: Downplayed: In chapter 19, Asmodeus admits that while he recognizes and despises the Hutts for the arrogant, cruel, greedy criminals that they are, he does have a certain admiration for their Go-Go Enslavement habit of putting their slave girls in skimpy, yet attractive and stylish outfits.
- Ambition Is Evil: Qi'ra desires and plans to make Crimson Dawn powerful enough to overthrow the New Republic, so that she rechristen it "The Crimson Empire" and make herself the new Empress of the galaxy.
- Animal Lover: Asmodeus is very fond of and cares deeply for animals, wanting to save them from being abused, giving a wounded one a Mercy Kill, and showing affection for his own pet rat.
- Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?: Qi'ra quite understandably expects Asmodeus to rape her after he captures her and has her stripped nude in front of him, but he refuses.
- Asshole Victim: Isdain is tricked and killed by Qi'ra, but no one is sad to see him go considering he was a cruel, arrogant, bull-headed Imperial Moff who fully believed in the Galactic Empire and its faulty Might Makes Right mentality.
- Arm Cannon: Qi'ra's mecha-suit, the Crimson Sentinel, has one of these.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Crimson Dawn horribly mistreats the donkey-like Fathiers they use in their quarry, giving them little food and water, pushing them past their physical limits and leaving one to die a slow, painful death when it finally loses out.
- Battle Cry: An unusually subdued variation: The Hork-Bajir say Asmodeus's name before going into battle.
- Being Evil Sucks: An understated running theme in the story. Qi'ra feels some guilt and regret over the awful things she's done and the selfish choices she's made, but continues doing them anyway out partly out of her own selfish desire for power, and partly out of a cynical belief that she's gone too far to back out. Her inability to change her ways ultimately leads to a long Humiliation Conga at the hands of Asmodeus.
- Berserk Button: Downplayed: While Asmodeus does not strike Qi'ra, he is visibly enraged when she calls him "odd-eyes."
- Big "WHAT?!": Qi'ra lets out quite a few of these, most notably when she learns her bases are being attacked by the Hork-Bajir, and when Asmodeus orders her to be stripped nude.
- Bodyguard Betrayal: A variation: In chapter 20, Asmodeus reveals that Qi'ra's top lieutenant, Inu, betrayed her by telling him about the droid factory and giving him the override codes to take control of her battle droids.
- Bound and Gagged: After capturing Qi'ra, Asmodeus cuffs her hands behind her back and gags her.
- Cliffhanger: Chapter 24 ends with Asmodeus trying to decide whether or not to kill Qi'ra, or keep her as a sex slave.
- Cool Starship: Asmodeus's unique personal ship is described as resembling a dragon, with spiky wings, a jaw-shaped bow, and a tail-shaped stern.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Asmodeus's forces deal several of these to Crimson Dawn, defeating their ships in space battles and their soldiers in firefights with ease. Notably, when they attack and board The First Light, they massacre the entire crew without a single casualty despite being outnumbered 4-1.
- Curb-Stomp Cushion: During the battle on The First Light, a Dowutin thug named Brutus physically attacks a Hork-Bajir and manages to get in several hits... but then gets disarmed and beheaded a few moments later. Similarly, when Qi'ra fights Asmodeus, who is in a Hork-Bajir morph, she manages to land a few blows on him, but still loses the fight.
- Dark and Troubled Past: In chapter 4, Qi'ra reflects on hers, remembering how she grew up in poverty as an orphaned thief before being separated from her Love Interest Han and becoming a member of Crimson Dawn... a position she did many unspeakable things to get.
- Asmodeus is also implied to have one, as he mentions having witnessed the arrogance and cruelty of sentient beings.
- Dining in the Buff: In chapter 18, both Asmodeus and Qi'ra eat their breakfast after sex, without putting on clothes. As he eats, Asmodeus also ogles Qi'ra's naked body.
- Dishing Out Dirt: In the climax, Asmodeus uses his Roggwart morph to rip up chunks of cement from the ground and throw them at Qi'ra and her thugs.
- Distracted by the Sexy:
- Isdain is immediately attracted to Qi'ra and is very distracted by her beauty, which she takes full advantage of.
- Downplayed when it comes to Asmodeus, who also finds Qi'ra attractive and often thinks about her looks, but doesn't allow it to lower his guard.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Asmodeus quite regularly ogles a naked Qi'ra. In chapter 9, he takes a long moment to stare at her nude body after she is stripped, and he takes a particularly long moment to appreciate her butt when she reluctantly turns around so he can cuff her hands behind her back. He also takes many more times to stare at her naked breasts.
- Elite Mooks: The Hork-Bajir appear to be this under Asmodeus's command. They easily overpower any other Mooks who get in their way.
- Fatal Flaw: For Qi'ra, its a combination of arrogance, ambition and selfishness. She thinks very highly of herself, is overly confident in her abilities, tends to underestimate other people, desires even more power despite already being rich and powerful, and always puts her own needs and desires before those of others. These flaws are part of the reason she gets targeted and ultimately gets so easily outwitted and humiliated by Asmodeus.
- Femme Fatale: Per canon Qi'ra is an attractive and flirtatious woman who charms her way around people to serve her own interests or to get them to lower their guard, notably doing so with Isdain.
- Flying Saucer: Asmodeus's massive flagship is described as looking like a giant, circular disk.
- Fury-Fueled Foolishness: While fighting Asmodeus in her Mecha suit, Qi'ra becomes so angry, desperate and frustrated that she starts shooting at everything in sight in her attempts to kill him. She ends up killing some of her own followers and ruining her own droid factory as a result.
- Go-Go Enslavement:
- Leia's humiliating enslavement at the hands of Jabba is mentioned in Qi'ra's thoughts.
- After pretending to submit to Asmodeus, Qi'ra herself is given a silver slave bikini to wear.
- Hate Sink: Finiren; the Crimson Dawn lieutenant in charge of the operations on Serenno, is clearly meant to be despised by the readers: He's an arrogant, rude, cruel thug who bosses his subordinates around, never does any hard work himself, and worst of all, he horribly, gleefully and needlessly abuses the innocent animals they use as cheap labor. No one sheds a tear when Finiren is killed by Asmodeus.
- Honey Trap: Qi'ra is a master of this.
- She lures Imperial Moff Isdain into a false sense of security by flirting with him and then spraying him with sleeping gas while his guard is down.
- She attempts a similar tactic with Asmodeus while in his captivity, even sleeping with him, but as it turns, he actually did not fall for it.
- Humiliation Conga: This entire story is one big one for Qi'ra:
- Her entire criminal empire is taken down practically overnight by Asmodeus and his minions.
- She gets lured into a trap where her fleet is destroyed, her flagship is boarded and she gets soundly defeated in a fight by Asmodeus, and then humiliatingly stripped and trussed-up.
- She is mocked and tickle tortured for weeks until she finally cracks and gives up information.
- She reluctantly sleeps with Asmodeus and lets him dress her in a demeaning Go-Go Enslavement outfit in an attempt to lower his guard.
- She tries to lure Asmodeus into her own trap, only to get outwitted and captured again.
- It's All About Me: Qi'ra isn't completely heartless, but she puts her own needs and interests first. This proves to be part of why Asmodeus manages to outsmart her again. In wallowing so much in her own suffering, Qi'ra forgets that Asmodeus also captured some of her henchmen, including her second-in-command, Inu, who knows her greatest secrets...
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: Asmodeus is very delighted when he captures Qi'ra, seeing her as an unexpected, but not unwelcome bonus in his taking down Crimson Dawn.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: A reluctant variation: When Qi'ra gets into her giant mecha-suit to fight Asmodeus, she doesn't have time to put anything on over her Go-Go Enslavement outfit, so she gets into her mecha still scantily-clad in said outfit.
- Lizard Folk: Per Animorphs canon, the Hork-Bajir are described as this: tall, muscular, bipedal reptilians with scaly green skin, bird-like beaks, natural claws, and horn-blades on their limbs, heads and long, strong tails.
- Love Cannot Overcome: Qi'ra reflects on how she chose her ambitions over her love for Han Solo, a choice she still feels guilty about, but knows she can never take back. She comes to regret this even more after being humiliatingly captured and imprisoned by Asmodeus.
- Manipulative Bastard: Asmodeus and Qi'ra are both this, each one trying to manipulate the other. Asmodeus ultimately wins.
- Male Gaze: Qi'ra is constantly subjected to this, with many lines taking detailed notes of her gorgeous body, bosom and butt.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": All of Crimson Dawn has this reaction when they see Asmodeus's flagship and how massive it is.
- Mecha: In chapter 22, it is revealed that Qi'ra has secretly built a nine-meter tall red mecha-suit called 'The Crimson Sentinel', which she uses to fight Asmodeus.
- Mecha-Mooks: Qi'ra is planning to build an army of these in the form of super battle droids.
- Mercy Kill: Asmodeus does this to a Fathier which Crimson Dawn cruelly left to die of injury and exhaustion.
- Mile-Long Ship: Asmodeus's flagship is described as being "many, many times" larger than the biggest Star Destroyer.
- Mister Big: Downplayed, but still present. Asmodeus turns out to be a normal-sized human who leads the Hork-Bajir, who naturally tower over him.
- Mr. Fanservice: Downplayed with Asmodeus. He gets a single nude scene after sleeping with Qi'ra that describes his pale, yet slender and muscular form.
- Ms. Fanservice: Qi'ra is this in spades. She's a very attractive woman whose beauty is described in great detail many times. She spends a good portion of the story completely naked and then dressed in a skimpy, but attractive Go-Go Enslavement outfit which while demeaning, really flatters her body.
- Mythology Gag: There are several references to Star Wars canon in the story:
- It is mentioned that Crimson Dawn was forced into hiding by the Empire, which is similar to them being destroyed in Star Wars: Crimson Reign.
- The Hork-Bajir nearly breach a set of blast doors by punching them, like how the Dark Troopers did in The Mandalorian.
- Off with His Head!: The Hork-Bajir kill two Crimson Dawn thugs: a Weequay named Rueben, and a Dowutin named Brutus, by decapitating them.
- One-Winged Angel: In chapter 23, Asmodeus transforms into a huge, terrifying Shadow Roggwart to fight Qi'ra in her Mecha-suit.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Most of Asmodeus's ships are described as this: none of them surpass a length of 320 meters, but they are so fast and so heavily armed and armored that they are able to decimate most of Crimson Dawn's ships and stationary bases with ease. Averted when it comes to Asmodeus's flagship, which is massive both in size and firepower.
- Quality over Quantity: In chapter 3, it is revealed that, under Qi'ra's orders, Crimson Dawn has secretly taken over an old, but still functional droid factory on Geonosis and is using it to build an army of B2 super battle droids, which are more advanced than the B1 droids that made up the bulk of the late Separatist army, being physically stronger, and more heavily armed and armored.
- The Queenpin: Qi'ra still leads the crime syndicate Crimson Dawn in this story... though not for long.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Hork-Bajir and Asmodeus's Roggwart morph are described as having gleaming red eyes.
- Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Qi'ra. She spends a good chunk of the story in the nude and her naked body is described in detail... because she was stripped against her will by her captor, Asmodeus. She finds having to be naked all the time, for days on end, shameful, humiliating, and unbearable. She is glad when he finally offers her something to wear.
- Romanticized Abuse: A slightly complicated example: While the narrative casts Qi'ra's captor, Asmodeus, in a complicated light and Qi'ra suffers deep humiliation from what he does to her, the scenes where he trusses her up, tickle tortures her and eventually has sex with her after she finally pretends to give into him after days of torment, are still clearly written to titillate.
- Sadist: Asmodeus takes a great amount of pleasure in tormenting and humiliating Qi'ra by stripping her naked and then keeping her naked and tickle torturing her for days on end.
- Shameful Strip: After capturing Qi'ra, Asmodeus has his Hork-Bajir tear off all of her clothes, for three reasons. One: to make sure she can't hide any weapons. Two: he wants to see her naked body because he finds her attractive. And Three: he wants to humiliate Qi'ra for his own sadistic amusement. Qi'ra is of course very deeply humiliated by this, but while she does initially protest and fight back, she does not try to cover herself after they are finished stripping her. Asmodeus continues to keep Qi'ra naked for days while holding her captive, in order to increase her shame and humiliation.
- Shout-Out: In chapter 22, Qi'ra says she will "take what is hers with fire and blood,"- a clear reference to the character of Daenerys Targayen, who was acted by the same woman as Qi'ra.
- Slave Collar: Asmodeus forces Qi'ra to wear one.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Isdain is still the arrogant, entitled bully he is in canon, trying to intimidate Qi'ra into giving him her resources on the grounds that he was a high-ranking member of the Galactic Empire... which no longer exists.
- Smug Snake:
- Played straight with Isdain, who is so full of himself and believes himself untouchable, but no longer truly has the power to back it up. Its worth noting that he was never truly powerful on a personal level to begin with: he always needed the Empire to back him up.
- Downplayed but still present with Qi'ra. She's undeniably smart, cunning and dangerous and she knows it. She is after all a talented manipulator and a skilled fighter with a lot of experience and training from Darth Maul himself. That being said, Qi'ra has a bad habit of underestimating her enemies, and at the end of the day she is not as formidable or as brilliant as she thinks she is. She continually underestimates Asmodeus, and gets outsmarted and outfought by him at every turn, which increasingly frightens, frustrates and enrages her.
- Spanner in the Works: Qi'ra's plans for galactic domination are impeded by the intervention of Asmodeus and his followers.
- Super-Strength:
- The Hork-Bajir are immensely strong, being able to send full-grown humanoids flying like ragdolls, rip open blast doors and nearly breach blast doors that can't be pulled apart by hammering them with punches.
- Asmodeus's Shadow Roggwart morph is also massively strong, able to defeat the Crimson Sentinel (a big Mecha even taller that it is) in a contest of raw physical strength, knock it down and eventually rip it apart. It can also rip up chunks of cement from the ground and throw them with ease.
- Sympathy for the Hero: Qi'ra feels some pity for Leia's enslavement at the hands of Jabba.
- Tickle Torture: Starting in chapter 12, Asmodeus does this to Qi'ra, constantly tickling her with his fingers or with feathers while her arms are raised from being chained to a ceiling.
- Unwilling Suspension: Asmodeus does this to Qi'ra in chapter 25 by chaining her to a ceiling.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Asmodeus has the power of the Animorphs, being able to transform into any animal or sentient being whom he has touched and absorbed the DNA of.
- Wham Line: In chapter 20, Asmodeus says three words that are this to Qi'ra. Override Code: Solo. This phrase is a secret code that allows Asmodeus to take control of her super battle droids.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: While he is undeniably sadistic in killing his enemies and in capturing, humiliating and torturing Qi'ra, Asmodeus does genuinely care about animals and his desire to make the galaxy a safer place for them by destroying the crime syndicates is sincere.
