Accidental Murder: Erickson unintentionally kills Dr. Brandyworth in a struggle over the former's gun. In the end, Erickson emerges victorious by having accidentally shot Dr. Brandyworth in the head. After shooting his doctor, Erickson admits to Atom Eve that it was an accident.
Adaptational Context Change: In the comics, Dr. Brandyworth installed the mental blocks keeping Eve from using her powers on organic matter to keep her from being too powerful. Here he installed them as a precaution from accidentally using her powers on her own body to maintain physical stability. Either way she can bypass these blocks which exponentially increases what she can do with her matter transmutation powers, including self-healing, both cases making her essentially a Physical God.
Ambiguous Situation: Nolan in the stinger. Upon the realization that Mark may never develop superpowers, effectively undermining his greater mission on Earth, Nolan becomes visibly enraged at the possibility. However, his expression quickly changes to that of regret and sadness, but it's not revealed what his actual feelings are at this point.
Artificial Family Member: Brandyworth for Eve. Brandyworth was the one who experimented on Eve while still in Polly's womb and cares for Eve like any true father would.
Artistic License – Chemistry: The demonstration of Young Eve's chemistry knowledge is weirdly all over the place. Her description for why mercury is liquid at room temperature is incomplete, though in a manner that makes sense in context. Her actually using the term "6s electrons", however, makes no sense unless she's actually studied some chemistry or had the terminology implanted in her brain—the "s" designation is arbitrary and doesn't come from anything intuitive to someone who actually sees molecules. Also, the molecular models she makes have no relation to the substances they're supposed to represent. The supposed magnesium is particularly silly: magnesium is an element itself, but the model is made of three different elements: carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, if the standard colours are being used.
Baby Factory: After Polly died, the military retrieved her body, revived her from clinical death, though still brain dead, and strung up her body on life support in a tube to birth more test subjects attempting to recreate the success with Eve.
Badass Boast: When Eve's powers fully awaken, she delivers one to Erickson and the doctor he was working with to create the Phases, and it's the last thing they hear before she wipes their memories of her ever existing.
Eve:I see it all now. Every single molecule around us. I can touch them, taste them, control them. I could rearrange your cells to make you whole new people from the monsters you are. You ruined my life. Took everything from me. Killed people I didn't even know I loved! I am Samantha Eve Wilkins, and I DEFY you to even REMEMBER who I am!
Baldness Means Sickness: Polly's body after being recovered by the military and placed inside a giant tube has resulted in all of her hair rotting away. Combined with her body being used to create more Phase subjects has resulted in her decaying away.
Berserker Tears: At one point Phase Two cries as he beats down on Eve's shield, likely from the physical pain of his degrading body and the emotional pain of his life as it is.
Beta Test Baddie: Inverted with the Phases. Eve is a Super Prototype that the Phases were created in a failed effort to replicate, and they resent her for it. Phase Two bitterly rants that their powers are flawed, unstable and ultimately fatal, and that their military handlers treat them like garbage for not measuring up to "Phase One".
Beware of the Nice Ones: Dr. Brandyworth is generally a Nice Guy that cares for Eve and is willing to protect her from the military wanting to use her as a weapon. He can also be a genuine threat as he protects Atom Eve by ramming a Phase subject with his car and fighting off Erickson in a gun struggle to avenge Polly.
Big Bad: Erickson is this, being the one to experiment to make Atom Eve who she is currently.
A Birthday, Not a Break: Eve discovers the truth of her origins, is forced to fight the "siblings" she never knew she had, has to watch them die, gets kidnapped by the military, has her biological mother and the closest thing she had to a true father die in her arms, her powers fully awaken, and finally has to go home to her adoptive parents, only for her dad to chew her out and tell her that they're the only "family" she has… all on her 14th birthday.
Bloodless Carnage: Played for Horror and Downplayed. The Phases are capable of bleeding, but once they die, they only leak out a small amount of pinkish liquid. For Phase Two, he ends up disintegrating into the air with his entire body not bleeding and a corpse not being left behind.
For the Phase subjects, they have the ability to temporarily move their grotesques bodies, but they cannot be outside of their tubes for too long. Prolonged exposure to the outside environment results in their bodies quickly decaying, until there isn't even a corpse of themselves.
Polly's body looks much worse inside her tube than when she supposedly died in trying to give birth to Eve. Polly's head becomes bald and her entire skin appears to be malnourished inside her tube. The only reason she is able to survive is because of the technological implants placed around her body.
Boom, Headshot!: Dr. Brandyworth is accidentally shot in the head by Erickson while they are fighting over a pistol.
Book Ends: The special opens with a look at the Guardians of the Globe several years ago, introducing Omni-Man as their latest member in his costume modified to what he wears in the present day. It ends with a stinger about Nolan being quietly frustrated that Mark hasn't developed his powers yet.
Brought to You by the Letter "S": Discussed among the Guardians of the Globe when Omni-Man shows up with a new suit that has an "O" insignia highlighted by red portions. He says that every hero is putting a letter insignia on their suit nowadays, making The Immortal wonder if the giant yellow rectangle across his torso is supposed to be an "I."
Conflicting Loyalty: Nolan gives out a terrifying Death Glare once Debbie and Mark leave him alone to take a bath. Nolan's anger is supposedly because of Mark being unable to develop superpowers to serve Viltrum, before quickly shifting to a expression of remorse. Despite Nolan being loyal to Viltrum, he also wants to be a responsible father to Mark.
Crippling Overspecialization: Eve has a comprehensive understanding of molecular physics to supplement her powers, making her a prodigy in chemistry. However, this only applies to that specific field and she lacks basic knowledge elsewhere. So when she goes to a special school for the gifted, she falls behind in other areas. In addition, this knowledge was implanted in her subconscious for her abilities, meaning she has no conscious interest in the science itself, which furthered her educational decline.
Dead-Hand Shot: The sparks of power emitting off Polly become so strong that it ends up killing her and knocking out the doctors. When Polly dies, the only part of her body that can signify her death is when a camera shot shows her hand falling down. Subverted, as she ended up Not Quite Dead when her body was recovered and revived.
Death Faked for You: Dr. Brandyworth declares to the military that Eve had died in her birth, so that the military will leave her alone and not treat her as a weapon. It turns out, however, that Eve survived her birth and was secretly given to a set of parents who has just lost their child, with no one the wiser.
Death Glare: Right after Debbie leaves Nolan to give a bath to Mark Grayson's duct-taped body, Nolan briefly gives off an angry look because of Mark's powers not manifesting. Nolan's Death Glare quickly disappears and his face is filled with a saddened look, most likely for his Conflicting Loyalty towards his family and Viltrum.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: Eve's early obsession with chemistry and her family's subsequent frustration from her not being "normal" about it is evocative of the struggles of growing up as a neuro-atypical person, particularly as one on the autism spectrum.
Domino Mask: Eve in her original superhero outfit has a mask that covers the skin of her eyes, yet exposes her face. Despite believing that it will hide her face from the public, the camera of the military wanting to claim her succeeds in identifying her face.
Doomed by Canon: The original Guardians of the Globe working together to stop the Lizard League will eventually meet their demise by Omni-Man. Black Samson, although a current member of the Guardians at this time will eventually lose his powers in a Noodle Incident by the time of the present.
Downer Beginning: The episode begins with the Lizard League charging into a military lab to steal some important materials. Meanwhile, inside the lab, Dr. Brandyworth is struggling to transport Polly to hospital to deliver her baby and is being pressured by Erickson to go into a military hospital instead. He refuses and upon arrival Dr. Brandyworth warns the doctors to be careful of extracting the baby, but a powerful aura emits out of Polly, which kills her and knocks all the staff in the room unconscious. Eve is secretly given to another family to live out a "normal" life and Dr. Brandyworth is arrested by the military.
Downer Ending: Eve discovers her origins, but loses her entire biological family in a single day, along with the man who loved her like a father. She goes home to the only family she ever knew, which is an unhappy, dysfunctional environment that doesn't appreciate her for how special she is. All she has of her biological family is a picture she creates depicting them as a healthy, "normal" family, a grim reminder of what was stolen from her.
Dramatic Irony: By the end of the episode, Adam tells Eve that, like it or not, he and Betsy are the only family she has. Unfortunately for her, he is technically right. Having lost everyone else, they are the only family she has left.
Duct Tape for Everything: Mark applies lots of duct tape on his body because he believes that the tape will allow him to perform many types of heroic tasks. Heroic tasks that Mark plans on committing with the duct tape include taping up criminals and fixing up damaged buildings.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Omni-Man briefly shows an angry glare from Mark's lack of superpowers, but it quickly subsides with remorse because of his love for his family.
Foil: Adam Wilkins is set up as this to Nolan Grayson/Omni-Man. Adam is an average human that just wants Eve to be normal and "not weird," and doesn't appreciate her special gifts and intelligence. What's more, the very basic act of being a caring parent seem to be foreign to him, as he is more concerned with what his neighbors would think rather than trying to help his only daughter. Nolan on the other hand is an incredibly caring father (all things considered) who wants Mark to develop his powers, but is clearly conflicted regarding his greater duties and his growing sincere affection for his family. Essentially, Adam Wilkins refuses to change for his family, while Nolan is clearly in the process of doing so whether he likes it or not.
Foreshadowing: When Phase Two says that he and the other Phases are Eve's "siblings", it seems he's metaphorically referring to how they were all produced by the same secret military experiments (and maybe Phase Two himself meant it that way). Later it's revealed that the Phases are literally Eve's biological (half) siblings, made using her brain-dead mother in an attempt to recreate the success of Eve/Phase One.
Freudian Excuse: We see why Eve's parents are so desperate for her to have a normal life: they lost their biological daughter in childbirth, and unbeknownst to them Eve was swapped for their dead baby to keep her survival a secret. Clearly, nearly losing her once was more than enough.
Friendless Background: Eve spent her entire life distant from all other children due to how her developing superpowers affected her personality. She was isolated from all the other students at the gifted school she went to, and when she had to go back to a regular public school she had no friends of her own. Eve had one friend growing up, Val, but that friendship ended when Val was freaked out by Eve displaying her powers to her.
Gone Horribly Right: The project director wanted a super solider capable of rewriting reality itself. He got it in the form of the various test subjects. However, without the mental blocks that Dr. Brandyworth implanted in Eve to limit her destructive potential, all the other subjects had their powers turn on themselves before they were able to control it, leading to their destruction.
The project director also gets the exact super soldier he wants after killing Dr. Brandyworth and Polly, along with leading to the death of all of her "siblings." Eve unlocks her full potential, and turns her wrath on him. Luckily for him, Eve isn't the killing type.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: When her mother and Dr. Brandyworth are killed by the project director, Eve achieves the full potential of her powers and bears down on them for all their horrific crimes against her and her family. Not being a killer, she instead blanks their memories of her existence.
Eve: I am Samantha Eve Wilkins, and I DEFY you to even remember who I am!
Lovecraftian Superpower: Kept alive long enough to gain some control of their powers, the Phases all have the ability to expand and shift their anatomy in a way reminiscent of AKIRA's infamous Superpower Meltdown. Phase Two can meld his flesh with objects, essentially grasping them to turn arms into clubs, while the other Phases can shape their biomass in various ways like tentacles or claws.
Mentor Occupational Hazard: Dr. Brandyworth is portrayed as a Mysterious Watcher that stalks Eve, but only to protect her from the military and to care for her. Once Eve and Dr. Brandyworth confront each other, the latter explains to Eve her origins and how her powers work. When both of them are captured by the military, Dr. Brandyworth is killed off near the end of the episode in a fit of rage from learning that Eve's biological mother was kept alive all along.
Muggle Foster Parents: Deconstructed hard. The Wilkins were not prepared to raise a special child, let alone a superhuman one. They refuse to accept Eve will never be "normal" and care too much about being seen as the neighborhood freaks, all contributing to Eve growing up misunderstood and unloved.
No Body Left Behind: Phase Two's body is slowly turning to mist outside of his tube's protection. As Atom Eve begs Dr. Brandyworth to save Phase Two, Dr. Brandyworth admits that Phase Two can no longer be saved. Afterwards, Phase Two's body completely disappears from Atom Eve's arms and evaporates into the air.
Not Quite Dead: At the beginning of the episode, it seems as though Polly had died from trying to give birth to Eve. Before the reveal that Eve's mother is alive, hints of her existence are given from Eve's siblings declaring that they are related to one another. The fact that the Phase clones are related gives the implication that Eve's mother is being used for research. Eventually, Erickson makes the reveal that Eve's mother is in fact alive, but is braindead and kept alive on life support.
Origins Episode: The entire premise of this Special is to showcases how Eve gained her molecular powers and her original purpose in life. Before being born, Eve was intended to become a superweapon for the military. However the lead scientist, Dr. Brandyworth, comes to care for her and decides to fake her death and give her to a grieving couple at the same hospital. Eve lives normally with her adoptive family until gaining her superpowers and investigates her past after reuniting with Dr. Brandyworth.
Outliving One's Offspring: The Wilkins lost their baby due to unspecified complications in childbirth. We get to see how absolutely devastated they both were by the loss, as well as how elated they became when they seemingly got her back. (In reality, then-baby Eve was substituted with the dead one.)
Painful Adhesive Removal: Mark's duct taped body forces Debbie to give him a bath since the adhesive tape place on his body will be hard to remove.
Parental Favoritism: Deconstructed. Erickson and his doctor frequently talk about how "perfect" Eve, compared to the newer Phase subjects that where created after her. Eve's stable body allowed her to manipulate matter and live freely, while the other subjects had to hear about how their own existence didn't even matter to the military. It later results in all of the Phase subjects resenting Eve for how perfect her life was and how they had to constantly suffer inside their tubes.
Power Incontinence: Eve's siblings have this in spades. Because they lack Eve's mental blocks regarding organic matter, their powers are out of control and affect their own cellular structure. Eve's mental safeguards allow her to master her abilities to the point that when she can move past the mental blocks, she is capable of doing so without destroying her body.
Power Limiter: The success of Dr. Brandyworth with Eve was due to him installing mental blocks that prevent her from using her powers on organic matter. This kept her powers from affecting her own body and degrading its integrity over time. Bypassing these blocks later, through emotional and physical trauma gives her godlike awareness and control over everything around her, allowing her to do precise alterations like erasing memories.
Reveal Shot: Inside the lab of the military, Erickson reveals to Eve and Dr. Brandyworth the truth as to how the Phase experiments were related to Eve. Erickson lifts up a canister that contains the body of Polly, who is braindead and being exploited to create more mutated children. The Phases were literally Eve's siblings.
Required Secondary Powers: Eve shows an intrinsic understanding of how molecules fit together, and can draw diagrams and build models of complex molecular chains before she can read.
Scary Black Man: Erickson is an intimidating leader of the military that is desperate to have Eve claimed as his own weapon to utilize. He has no interest in reasoning with Dr. Brandyworth of nothing getting what he wants and is constantly experimenting with more Phase subjects to create the perfect weapon. Along with being a Scary Black Man, Erickson has no qualms exposing Eve to her barely alive mother.
The would-be dognappers, upon seeing the young Atom Eve for the first time, refer to her as a Powerpuff Girl.
One of the dognappers shoots down his partner's concern over the puppies' livelihood, recommending the exact same suggestion Bob Barker popularized on The Price Is Right: spray and neuter your pets.
Upon joining the cops on the highway, Atom Eve quickly suggests that they should form a perimeter. The cop balks at her appearance and tells her to get lost, until Atom Eve impressively defends them from one of the Phases' attacks. Without missing a beat, the cop immediately orders the suggested perimeter. This mirrors a similar scene between Captain America and an NYPD cop in The Avengers (2012).
Special Edition Title: This special has the usual Invincible title card, but then it transmutes to become an Atom Eve title card.
The Stinger: After the Atom Eve Special ends, a question appears on the screen and asks the viewers as to what Mark was doing the entire time. The Stinger shows Mark as a kid wearing duct tape as a way to compensate for his lack of Viltrumite superpowers. After Mark and Debbie leave the room, so that she can help him remove the duct tape with a bath, Omni-Man gives the camera a Death Glare, presumably because of Mark's lack of powers. Then it vanishes, showing his conflicted feelings.
Super-Power Meltdown: All of the other Phase subjects have this. Without Eve's mental blocks, their powers are raging out of control and affecting their bodies first. They only manage to last a short while outside their tanks before their bodies completely destroy their physical forms.
Tragic Monster: The Phases are all failed attempts to recreate Eve as the ultimate weapon that fail due to missing a crucial element in their development that keeps their powers stable. Treated like nothing but failed assets, they spend their lives either in suspended animation or listening to their dehumanization as their bodies fall apart. While Phase Two carries a lot of resentment towards Eve and Dr. Brandyworth for this and makes his first impression trying to kill them, he ultimately dies in her arms solemnly wishing things could have been different.
Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Due to how Eve's abilities affect her mental state, it's shown that she displayed odd behavior as a child, like sitting and staring at the floor or at a tree for hours on end. She was also able to tutor her teenaged babysitter regarding complex scientific theories despite not being old enough to read.
Two Lines, No Waiting: The Stinger for this episode asks "Where was Mark Grayson during all this?" then shows us that, as a kid, Mark covered himself with duct tape based on the idea that it would grant him the superpowers necessary to become a great hero.
The Un Favourite: Erickson and his doctor frequently talk about what makes Phase One the perfect weapon, and they never acknowledge the life of the newer Phases. Phase Two for example is only examined for his ability to manipulate his body and when he isn't able to do it, the doctor locks him up inside his tube, not caring of Phase Two's determination to try harder. The other Phases end up fairing worse, as their bodies have become too unstable to properly utilize their abilities and they don't even know how to speak.
The Un-Reveal: While Eve finds out about her biological mother, Brandyworth explains he never knew who her father was: her mother was a pregnant homeless woman they recruited, and she herself might not have been certain about his identity.
You Are Number 6: Every subject that were created by the project were given numbers in sequence as the closest thing to their names. Each Phase subject produced after the first ended up weaker, as Dr. Brandyworth did not assist in their creation. Phase One is the only one who defies this trope, as she is given the name, "Samantha Eve Wilkins", to have a normal life.
You Monster!: Brandyworth says this to Erickson after seeing what he did to Eve's Mother.
