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[[File:cerebus.jpg|frame|Cerebus has just spotted a bus full of nuns. He is not amused.]]
''Cerebus the Aardvark'' was a comic book created by Dave Sim that developed slowly from episodic comedy to high drama to [[Author Tract]]. Beginning in December 1977 and ending in 2004, it clocks in at over six thousand pages, making it the longest work in comic form by a single author in the West. Somewhere around the sixth issue, Sim decided to devote the next twenty-five years of his life to producing a three hundred issue storyline with a [[Myth Arc|plotted-out beginning, middle, and end]].
Sim had begun ''Cerebus'' as a ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' [[Satire, Parody, Pastiche|pastiche]] in black and white line art, in the same vein as later independent comic ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]''. The silly parody starred a barbarian aardvark [[Anti-Hero]], back in the days when having a [[Funny Animal]] interacting with humans hadn't been done to death. Along the way, he ran into his [[Love Interests|Love Interest]] Jaka, who started off as a one-shot [[Stripperiffic]] character. Umpteen issues later, she would re-appear, now fully fleshed-out. He also met the Roach, a [[Superhero]] [[The Parody|parody]] initially similar to ''[[The Tick (animation)]]''. Much later, Sim would exploit the pathos inherent in the character.
Behind the scenes, Sim experimented with LSD and drove himself beyond exhaustion creating and publishing his comic book. Overwork caused Sim to have a [[Creator Breakdown]]. He even spent a day in a mental institution.
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While Sim gave us liberty to use his characters without the threat of copyright infringement lawsuits, it has yet to be adapted to any other medium. Oh, and once he dies (Sim, not Cerebus), all of his work will enter the public domain.
Generally accepted as proving that works of astonishing scope and dedication can be achieved if you don't mind going completely crazy in the process.
'''Story arcs'''
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** ''The Last Day''
Currently,{{when}} [[Animated Adaptation|an animated feature film]] is in the works. It will be an adaptation of the earlier issues, apparently with Sim's full blessing. If this has gotten your interest, the production company uploads the daily footage (aka "dailies") to their youtube channel [http://www.youtube.com/user/WhatComics here].
An even earlier (albeit short-lived) [https://web.archive.org/web/20140119073405/http://www.jazzbastards.org/cerebus/Cerebus_The%20A-V%20Room.html adaptation was done for radio] in the early eighties.
Not to be confused with the Guardian-Dog of Hades, '''[[wikipedia:Cerberus|Cerberus]]''', and ''certainly not'' with that [[Arthur (animation)|other aardvark]]. May have inspired a misspelling of a [[Golden Sun|certain video game boss monster]].
----
{{tropenamer}}
* Cerebus Ending -- Former Trope namer for [[Sudden Downer Ending]], but not an example.
* [[Cerebus Retcon]] -- This kicks in extremely gradually.
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* [[Reverse Cerebus Syndrome]] -- ''Guys'' can be seen as this after the overall serious nature of the "Mothers and Daughters" arc.
----
{{tropelist}}
* [[Aborted Arc]] -- An early story arc had Cerebus and a band of mercenaries capture a commander named Krull as part of an elaborate military campaign. A later story even depicts them having difficulty keeping Krull imprisoned, seeming to foreshadow an upcoming conflict or complication. However, Sim suddenly and unceremoniously dumps the story line, ultimately having it resolve itself offscreen. Not only that, it is never mentioned how (or even if) Krull affected the campaign's outcome.
* [[Acid Reflux Nightmare]] -- Jokingly referenced rather than used. In the ''Guys'' story arc, Cerebus has an alcohol-induced nightmare involving Roaring Rick Veitch and his Rare-Bit Fiends. This is a parody of Veitch's actual comic/dream journal ''Roarin' Rick's Rare Bit Fiends'', which was based off Windsor McCay's comic strip ''Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend'', whose title referenced the notion that eating too much [[wikipedia:Welsh rarebit|Welsh rarebit]] would cause nightmares.
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** Elrod is a parody of both [[The Elric Saga|Elric]] and [[Looney Tunes|Foghorn Leghorn]]. It's unclear whether Sim actually likes Elric, but he has a very high opinion of Foghorn and considers his cartoons to be some of the very best [[Looney Tunes]] shorts.
** One of the ''Latter Days'' chapters/issues is an [[Affectionate Parody]] of ''[[Peanuts]]'' and uses many of Schulz's narrative devices.
* [[The Alcoholic]] --
** Cerebus gets smashed whenever he can.
** Most of the male characters in ''Guys'' hit this trope to some degree as well.
* [[Alternative Calendar]] -- Cerebus creates a 4-month calendar...or ''tries'' to.
* [[Animate Dead]] -- Issue 1
* [[Animated Adaptation]] -- Besides [
* [[Annoying Arrows]] / [[Guns Are Worthless]] -- Both are thoroughly averted; one thing Sim consistently did right was to show just how effective both could be.
* [[Anthology Comic]]: Some of the one-shot specials (''Cerebus Jam'', ''The Cerebus World Tour Book'', etc.) fell into this category. Each story within was either helmed by Sim and a special guest collaborator, or by an artist with no involvement from Sim whatsoever.
* [[Anti-Hero]] -- Cerebus is a classic [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Type IV]], although before things got serious, he was really more of a parody than a straight example.
* [[Arc Words]]
** Whenever "Something fell!" shows up, expect something '''major''' to happen soon. It doesn't even have to be said to have power: {{spoiler|Jaka nearly falls off a gangplank at the end of ''Going Home'', but recovers and gets Cerebus out of a really dangerous situation. At the end of ''Form and Void'', she ''does'' fall down, and proceeds to add salt to an already open wound and cause Cerebus to finally and utterly reject her.}}
** "G'wan! Beat it! Scram!"
** "Mungu Mkono" (Swahili for "the Hand of God") in the latter parts of the story.
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* [[The Cat Came Back]] -- In ''High Society'', Elrod turns up at the Regency Hotel unannounced to meet Cerebus, much to the latter's annoyance. Cerebus beats Elrod over the head and pays a taxi driver to take the unconscious nuisance to the docks and put him on the next boat going far away. Of course, by the time Cerebus returns to his hotel room, he finds that Elrod, now sopping wet, has somehow managed to beat him there.
* [[Catch Phrase]] -- A few:
** Bear's constant use of "Whattyacall" (almost a [[Verbal Tic]]).
** Cerebus' "G'wan! Beat it! Scram!" advice to Rick.
** The Conniptin war cry:
{{quote|Might makes Right! Might for Right! Might for Might! Right for Might! Fight! Fight! Fight!}}
** Cerebus's favorite swear word: Tarim (the name for the god that he worships for most of the series).
* [[Celebrity Endorsement]]:
** In a sense. Sim, for his entire career, has been a very outspoken advocate for independent comic writers and titles, even creating a how-to book for self-publishing.
** [[Sonny Strait]] has confessed to being a fan and is mentioned by Sim several times in ''Collected Letters''.
* [[Celibate Hero]] -- Played straight initially. Then, it's subverted and finally retconned away entirely.
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* [[Characterization Marches On]] -- The Artist. Remember in his debut appearance how he was just a friendly, over-enthusiastic dimwit who was perfectly happy to be an [[Extreme Doormat]]? Remember [[Jerkass|what he was like]] [[Smug Snake|later on]] [[Not-So-Harmless Villain|in]] ''Church and State''?
* [[Charles Atlas Superpower]] -- The Roach from his Captain Cockroach incarnation onward, although he thinks it was through mystical means.
* [[Cheap Gold Coins]]: Averted. At one point, Cerebus is able to buy room and board at an inn for the rest of his natural life with a single gold coin.
* [[Cheeky Mouth]] -- Actually justified here, in that Cerebus has ''two mouths'' on opposite sides of his head.
* [[Chessmaster]]:
** Weisshaupt stands out as the most accomplished, but Astoria and Lord Julius are also particularly adept.
** Suenteus Po is a literal version; he is perhaps the wisest character in the series yet is so humble that he believes any sort of action on his part that affects the world, in ''any'' way, would be arrogance. Thus, he spends ''all'' his time and intellect on playing chess...by himself. This is the only thing he does ''for several decades''.
* [[Chess Motifs]] -- Scattered throughout the first half of ''Mothers and Daughters''
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* [[Child Soldiers]] -- In the Mothers and Daughters arc, Cerebus recalls killing a particularly annoying kid who also happened to be a captured enemy soldier.
* [[Children Are Innocent]]:
** Averted. Cerebus had very violent, war-themed daydreams as a child.
** The really creepy kid who {{spoiler|interrupted said daydreams and stabbed him}}.
* [[The Chosen One]] -- {{spoiler|Subverted. Cerebus '''was''' supposed to be this for the Pigts and [[What Could Have Been|would have had a grand destiny]] were it not for a seemingly-innocuous decision he'd made prior to his first encounter with them}}.
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* [[Creepy Child]] -- The bully who {{spoiler|stabbed Cerebus as a kid}}.
* [[Crossover]]:
** Cerebus guest-stars in issue #8 of the original ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]''. The book is drawn by ''Turtles'' creators Eastman and Laird, with the exception of Cerebus himself, who is drawn by Sim.
** Cerebus also appeared in the highly self-referential ''[[Spawn]] #10.''
** Death from ''[[The Sandman]]'' appears in a [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo|single panel]] in the opening pages of ''Flight'' (the 7th Cerebus tpb).
** The short-lived Cerebus Radio show had brief cameos by impersonators of [[Rocky and Bullwinkle]] in the adaptation of Issue 6. Bullwinkle does the pull-a-rabbit trick and pulls Cerebus out of his hat.
** Cerebus has also appeared as a major character in the first issue of Dave Ryan's ''War of the Independents'' alongside other characters such as [[The Tick (animation)]], [[Bone|Fone Bone]], [[The Savage Dragon]], and others. How big of a part he'll play in the overall series remains to be seen and, due to [[Development Hell|various]] [[Schedule Slip|problems]], will likely remain to be seen for quite some time.
* [[Cult]] -- Several show up in the early story arcs, including the Cirinists prior to their seizing power.
* [[Culture Police]] -- The Cirinists, in a rather idiosyncratic and selective way. Anything they believe harmful to the welfare of mothers and children will make them go into full [[Knight Templar]] mode. Pretty much anything else, they will ignore completely.
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* [[Decoy Damsel]] -- {{spoiler|Astoria}}, in her first appearance.
* [[Defeat Means Friendship]] -- Parodied. Elrod offers his friendship to Cerebus after their first encounter and subsequently follows him around, but is oblivious to the fact that Cerebus wants nothing to do with him.
* [[Defictionalization]] -- Happens in-universe: Joanne, introduced in the last "living with Jaka" scenario in ''Minds'', appears in ''Guys'' as an actual character.
* [[Department of Redundancy Department]]:
{{quote|'''Cerebus''': Elrod of Melvinbone plans to come and steal your gold tomorrow.
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* [[Doing It for the Art]]
* [[Doorstopper]] -- Why else would fans call the TPBs ''phonebooks''?
* [[Doppelganger]] -- {{spoiler|The Regency Elf}} has one, but she insists that they look completely different.
* [[Double Entendre]]: Cerebus telling Michelle that it's okay that the only guest room available is a girl's room, as he's slept in women's rooms before. Michelle gets the joke and plays off of it.
* [[Driven to Suicide]] -- {{spoiler|Bran Mak Mufin, Ham Ernestway}}
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** Surprisingly {{spoiler|the Cirinists, who were the closest thing the series had to a [[Big Bad]]}}.
** {{spoiler|The T'Gitans}} in the first phonebook.
* [[Dungeon Crawling]]: The first issue. Plot-wise, it isn't all that different from a ''[[Dungeons
* [[Dying Alone]]
** "You live only a few more years. You die alone, unmourned and unloved." {{spoiler|The Judge ended up being half right. Cerebus does die alone, unmourned and unloved, but lives for much longer than the rest of the cast except for Cirin.}}
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* [[Dying Race]] -- Elrod is the last ruler of one, {{spoiler|but this is eventually subverted}}.
* [[Eldritch Abomination]]:
** Some of these show up in the early issues.
** {{spoiler|Rick, in his insanity}}, sees {{spoiler|both Cerebus and Mrs. Thatcher}} in this fashion in ''Rick's Story''.
* [[The Empire]] -- The Cirinist-ruled region of Estarcion.
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* [[Expository Hairstyle Change]] -- After they're forced to clean up their acts by the Cirinists, [[The Rolling Stones|Mick and Keef]] are shown with unflattering bowl haircuts. They're not happy.
* [[Eye Scream]] -- "He knows Cerebus is squeamish about eyes." Indeed, he does. The Injury to the Eye Motif is even [[Lampshade Hanging|referred to by name.]]
* [[Fantastic Racism]] -- The Hsiffies are demonized in the early issues in the same way that Asian races have been in [[Real Life]].
* [[Fatal Flaw]] -- {{spoiler|Cerebus' fixation on Jaka}}. Even after {{spoiler|"Dave" shows Cerebus how a relationship between him and Jaka is doomed to failure, Cerebus still can't get past her}}, and it leads to very bad things.
* [[Faux Action Girl]] -- Although Red Sophia has beaten opponents before, we never see any of that onscreen.
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* [[Flip-Flop of God]] -- The philosophy and symbolism of the story is retconned whenever Sim's own personal views change.
* [[For Want of a Nail]] -- {{spoiler|"Dave" reveals to Cerebus in ''Minds'' that the entire series, except for the first issue or so, has been a chaotic, fractured version of what should have been Cerebus' real destiny; see [[The Chosen One]], [[Dismantled MacGuffin]], and [[Humongous Mecha]]}}.
* [[Four-Fingered Hands]] - Cerebus (four-fingered hands, three-toed feet), and {{spoiler|Sheshep Ankh, who looks human aside from his three-toed feet}}.
* [[From Nobody to Nightmare]] -- The Cirinists start out as just a non-violent, weirder-than-usual [[Monster of the Week]], but then things changed...
* [[Full-Circle Revolution]] -- In ''Latter Days'', {{spoiler|the society created after the overthrow of the Cirinists}} is very successful for many years, but eventually decays into an even worse situation.
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* [[Genius Bruiser]] -- Cerebus is one of the best warriors on Estarcion and rather intelligent. However, he is entirely unsophisticated, being interested only in fighting, drinking, sex, and indulging his short temper, and can be shockingly dim-witted at times.
* [[Genki Girl]]:
** The Regency Elf.
** Jaka acts this way in ''Going Home'', but not really anywhere else in the series.
* [[Genre Shift]]
* [[Go Into the Light]] -- Subverted. {{spoiler|Cerebus dies, goes into the light, and seems to be terrified. By itself, this pretty much indicates that Cerebus went to Hell. This was all fine and good until Sim suddenly decided he wanted an even more [[Broken Base]] than he already had. In the author annotations to the final trade paperback, Sim mentions the possibility that Cerebus actually went to Heaven and was just panicking needlessly at the last second.}}
* [[Go Mad
** [[Word of God]] in regards to {{spoiler|Rick's}} behavior in ''Rick's Story'', as a result of the events at the end of ''Jaka's Story''.
** A comedic version happens when {{spoiler|Cerebus}} finds out what the ''Rabbai'' comic is supposed to represent.
* [[Gotta Catch Them All]] -- Cerebus and the issues of ''Rabbai''.
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* [[Hermit Guru]] -- Po was retconned into being one by the time he actually showed up in ''Mothers & Daughters''.
* [[Heroes Want Redheads]] -- Played with rather cruelly:
** In the last "living with Jaka" scenario in ''Minds'', Cerebus cheats on Jaka with Joanne, which leads to {{spoiler|Jaka committing suicide}}.
** In ''Guys'', after Joanne shows up for real, she and Cerebus have a brief relationship that ends badly.
* [[Heroic Albino]] -- Parodied by Elrod of Melvinbone.
* [[Heroic BSOD]]:
** Happens to {{spoiler|both Rick and Cerebus}} at the end of ''Jaka's Story'', although {{spoiler|Cerebus's}} isn't revealed until ''Melmoth''.
** This also happens to {{spoiler|Cerebus}} at the start of ''Latter Days''.
* [[Heroic Fantasy]] -- Parodies this (at first).
* [[Hive Mind]] -- According to Bear in ''Melmoth'', the Cirinists are like this. {{spoiler|The real Cirin}}'s confession indicates that he's right.
* [[Ho Yay]]:
** Cerebus reveals in ''Minds'' that he has nursed an attraction to Bear and is rather conflicted about it.
** Oscar is very obviously flirting with Rick, but Rick's completely oblivious.
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** Played straight by Red Sophia
** Generally subverted by the Cirinists.
* [[
* [[Housewife]]:
** {{spoiler|Red Sophia retires from her [[Action Girl]] life-style}} and ''briefly'' becomes one of these in ''Church and State''. {{spoiler|She still keeps wearing the [[Chainmail Bikini]] all the time, though.}}
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* [[The Last Dance]] -- {{spoiler|Subverted. Cerebus goes out to singlehandedly face an enemy horde}} at the end of ''High Society'', {{spoiler|only to realize at the last second that the army consisted of former allies who stopped their attack and made peace upon recognizing him}}.
* [[Last of His Kind]] -- Elrod. {{spoiler|Ultimately subverted in ''Reads''.}}
* [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo]] / [[Captain Ersatz]] -- The Cockroach parodies many comic book characters, including [[Captain America (comics)]], [[Batman]], [[Moon Knight]], [[Wolverine]], [[Venom (Comic Book)|Venom]], and [[The Sandman]].
* [[Leeroy Jenkins]] -- Cerebus in the first issue. Subverted in that (1) he probably only made the mission slightly more difficult than it would have been and (2) that the mission's success was still mostly due to his participation.
* [[Lemony Narrator]] -- Cerebus in ''Latter Days''
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* [[Male Gaze]] -- Those parts of ''Jaka's Story'' told from Pud Withers' point of view.
* [[Manipulative Bastard]]:
** Weisshaupt and Astoria.
** Cerebus himself also shows some talent at this on occasion.
* [[May-December Romance]]
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** Take a guess who it is.
** Cerebus's boss during his brief stint as a shepherd during ''Latter Days''. One of the main reasons he got hired is that the boss liked having someone even shorter than he was around.
* [[
* [[Never Gets Drunk]] -- The Regency Elf
* [[Nice Guy]] -- Rick. Enforced by Sim's idea that it would make the [[Love Triangle]] more interesting if the guy who stood between Jaka and Cerebus was really likable himself.
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* [[No More for Me]] -- When a gardener spots what appears to be Lord Julius in a dress (actually one of his Like-a-Looks), he pulls out his flask, takes one last swig, then throws the rest away.
* [[No Name Given]] -- The Artist.
* [[Non
* [[No Sympathy]] -- Astoria treats the Cockroach this way near the end of ''High Society'', even after the guy nearly kills himself by [[Crowning Moment of Funny|becoming a substitute wheel for her coach]].
* [[Not Himself]] -- Cerebus, whenever he gets drugged.
* [[Not So Different]] -- Cerebus and {{spoiler|Cirin are both power hungry aardvarks who are prone to violent outbursts. Both are unexpectedly strong (he's a shrimp, she's middle-aged). Finally, both tend to zealously guard their egos.}}
* [[Not-So-Harmless Villain]]:
** In the first issue, Cerebus demonstrates that he's not just some cute cartoon animal when some random guy tries to grab his tail.
** There's also {{spoiler|The Artist.}} Remember back in Issue 25 when he was a friendly [[Keet|energetic guy]]? If you've read ''Church and State'', you might not.
* [[Opening Narration]] -- Issues 1-26 each had this.
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* [[The Only One Allowed to Defeat You]] -- Cirin's attitude toward Astoria.
* [[Orphaned Punchline]] -- Invoked by Cerebus in ''Latter Days'' when he recounts the most disgusting thing he ever said and spares his audience everything but the punchline.
* [[The Other Darrin]] -- ''Cerebus Live!'' where people read/performed scenes from the comic at various conventions. In the first series of skits (available at the bottom page of [
* [[Our Hero Is Dead|Our Albino Is Dead]] -- Elrod's death in Issue 22. The cover even advertised it as "The Death of Elrod". {{spoiler|However, later on, when Elrod learns what he is, he winks out of existence, and thus, actually DOES die.}}
* [[Painting the Fourth Wall]] -- Used in many ways over the course of the comic, sometimes ovbiously and sometimes less so.
** One of the most obvious ones happens during ''Minds''. "Dave" brings Cerebus close to Cirin to show that her telepathic denials of the truths he's trying to show her are so strong that they're actually distorting the "reality" around her, depicted as the edges of the panels fragmenting.
** After Cerebus wins the election in ''High Society,'' the several next issues are tilted and have to be read sideways, signifying that his world has been "knocked sideways." In the penultimate issue of the same storyline, where the crisis is a fact, for a few pages the direction of the panel spins around do that the reader has to keep turning the comic around in order to read it.
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* [[Post Script Season]] -- All lingering plot threads and character arcs were pretty much resolved by the end of ''Minds'', but [[Ending Fatigue|the series ran for another 3 arcs/100 issues]]...some people believe he did this solely because he'd earlier stated that the series would run for a total of 300 issues.
* [[Potty Failure]]:
** Cerebus, as a kid, got so scared during a church service in his hometown that he wet himself.
** At one point in ''Guys'', as an unconscious Cerebus is being carried off somewhere, someone notes a horrid smell and yells, "If he's shat himself again..."
* [[Precision F-Strike]]:
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* [[Public Domain Character]] -- Cerebus will become one when Sim dies.
* [[Punny Name]]:
** A sexually repressed momma's boy named Pud Withers.
** The Aardvark-based cult called the "Pigts".<ref>a pun on the Picts, an ancient Celtic people.</ref>
* [[Purple Prose]] -- This pops up a few times:
** The sections of ''Jaka's Story'' which depict Jaka's childhood, later revealed to be {{spoiler|a novel that Oscar has been writing about Jaka based on anecdotes from Rick}}.
** The sections of ''Rick's Story'' that are written very much like the King James Bible.
** Mary Ernestway's diary readings are a loose example.
::The first two are deliberate parodies; the diary, not at all.
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* [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]] -- Cerebus and the T'Gitans
* [[Rape as Drama]]:
** See the YMMV page for the series' defining example.
** It's strongly implied in ''Jaka's Story'' that {{spoiler|Jaka was molested as a young child. Sim later all but confirmed this, hinting (but later [[Jossed|Jossing]]) Julius as the culprit}}.
* [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]] -- The Artist gives one to Cerebus...in space, no less.
* [[Refusal of the Call]] -- Both Cerebus and Michelle intially do this with Weisshaupt's schemes. {{spoiler|Cerebus}} eventually gives in. {{spoiler|Michelle}} doesn't.
* [[Revenge]]:
** The motive behind Cerebus's actions in ''Melmoth'' and ''Flight''.
** This [[Unreliable Narrator|seems]] to be [[Cloudcuckoolander|the Roach]]'s motivation (in his first incarnation as ''The Cockroach'').
* [[Reverse Cerebus Syndrome]]:
** Issue 3. In all honesty, the first two issues were basically straight-up fantasy adventures that happened to star a [[Funny Animal]] and had ''some'' comic relief thrown in here and there. Issue 3 was where the parody started becoming apparent.
** ''Guys'', ''Rick's Story'', and ''Going Home''. They could also count as one huge [[Breather Episode]] considering how dark ''Form and Void'' was.
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** Cirin views Cerebus as this until ''Minds''.
* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]:
** Cerebus in ''Melmoth''.
** Both Cerebus and The Cockroach in ''Flight''.
* [[Robe and Wizard Hat]]
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** Jaka tries to get Cerebus to invoke this trope in ''High Society'', when Iest is under siege. {{spoiler|He refuses and slaps her in disgust. He later apologizes, but still claims that she was in the wrong for trying to convince him to run out on his men}}.
** {{spoiler|Astoria}} does this for real in ''Reads''.
* [[Seinfeldian Conversation]] -- Most of ''Guys'' consists of these.
* [[Seldom-Seen Species]] -- Who do you think?
* [[Self Insert]] -- Sim shows up in person near the end of ''Rick's Story'' and converses with Cerebus on the stagnation of Cerebus' life.
* [[Sexy Shirt Switch]] -- Cerebus and {{spoiler|Red Sophia}}.
* [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog]] -- One of the longest setups in comic history.
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* [[Shoo Out the Clowns]] -- Lord Julius is literally shooed out by Cerebus right before Cerebus does his rather infamous [[Rape as Drama|interrogation of Astoria]].
* [[Shout-Out]]
** ''Women'' features a major one to ''[[The Sandman]]'', in the form of The Clueless: Swoon (The Roach, parodying Dream), Snuff (Elrod, dressed as Death), Sulk (Despair if she was Red Sophia's mother), Sleaze (Desire, implied to be modeled on Astoria), Kay Sarah Sarah (the Roach as a female parody of Destiny)
** Issue 275 is a huge [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Peanuts]]''.
* [[Shrug of God]] -- {{spoiler|Whether Cerebus went to Hell (as the ending heavily implies) or whether he actually went to Heaven and was just panicking needlessly at the last second.}}
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* [[The Spock]] vs. [[The McCoy]] -- This is the essence of Sim's views on the differences between men and women, although '''greatly''' simplified.
* [[Status Quo Is God]] -- The first 25 issues typically followed this pattern: No matter how much money Cerebus made on a job or through one of his schemes, he'd either lose it or simply waste it away and be forced to continue his career as a wandering mercenary.
* [[Stepford Smiler]] -- Cerebus becomes one to increasing degrees in ''Going Home'' and ''Form and Void'', per advice from Victor Davis via Rick on how to handle women who are fundamentally unhappy.
* [[The Stoic]] -- Po and Michelle
* [[Straw Critic]] -- Oscar's description of "reads" fans probably counts. See ''Take That Critics'' below.
* [[Straw Feminist]] -- And how! (Specifically, the Cirinists are straw second-wave feminists, while the Kevillists are straw third-wave feminists.)
* [[Stripperific]] -- All but one of Jaka's dancing costumes.
* [[Sword Fight]] -- A ''lot''...{{spoiler|at least until guns show up}}.
* [[Take a Third Option]] -- Astoria in ''Reads'', after Cerebus gives her an ultimatum.
{{quote|'''Cerebus:''' You can shut up and leave...or you can shut up and die!}}
* [[Take That]]
** Sometimes Dave Sim's mockery of superhero comics ceases to be [[Affectionate Parody]] and enters the realm of outright disdain.
** Sim tends to resort to name-calling with anyone he disagrees with (such as calling Scott McCloud a weenie and calling Heidi MacDonald a moron). Whether-or-not this is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek is...not very easy to determine.
** Miz Thatcher. This one must have been really embarrassing for Sim once his policitcal views changed.
* [[Take That, Critics!]] -- In ''Melmoth'', Oscar Wilde's high opinion of ''Daughter of Palnu'' and his unflattering description of "reads" fans is basically Sim both being defensive and taking a swipe at comics readers who disliked the direction he'd been taking the comic in since ''Church & State''.
* [[Talk Show]] - ''Women'' features one (the daytime version), with Red Sophia and her mother as the guests.
* [[Talking to Himself]] - In [
* [[Tarot Motifs]] -- The cover art for the issues in the ''Reads'' arc as well as the cover for the phonebook.
* [[Telepathy]] -- Women in ''Cerebus'' have a degree of mind-reading ability, and in the case of the Cirinists, take it almost to a [[Hive Mind]] level. {{spoiler|The real Cirin}} reveals to Cerebus that women who are especially talented can actually influence the thoughts of others, or even outright brainwash them. {{spoiler|She speaks from experience, since this is how Serna stole her identity and usurped her.}}
* [[Theme Naming]]: A few instances.
** The "Mind Games" issues all deal with mental weirdness of one form or another.
** The "Chasing YHWH" arc in ''Latter Days'', a pun on ''[[Chasing Amy]]'' and dealing with {{spoiler|Cerebus'...unusual...exegesis on the Torah}}.
** The names of the Three Wise Fellows are Yiddish variants of [[The Three Stooges]]' names, in keeping with their use in the story as Old Testament-style prophets.
* [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]]: In-universe, part of ''Latter Days'' is used to express Sim's disappointment when ''[[The Three Stooges]]'' brought on Joe Besser and later Curly Joe Derita.
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** Ham and Mary's two gunmen from ''Form and Void''
* [[Time Skip]]:
** An unspecified amount of time took place between the end of ''Church and State II'' and the beginning of ''Jaka's Story'', but it was enough time for {{spoiler|Cerebus' proclamations as Pope to be proven false and the Cirinists to take over and seize his gold}}.
** The first few issues of ''Latter Days'' featured several skips.
** Several decades are skipped between the end of ''Latter Days'' and the start of ''The Last Day''.
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* [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight]] -- A talking aardvark? Hardly worth commenting on, really. {{spoiler|It's later revealed that aardvarks have been around in Estarcion for a long time.}}
* [[Unwitting Pawn]] -- Cerebus, as well as many minor characters.
* [[Vapor Wear]] -- In the "affair with Joanne" section of ''Minds'', a full page is spent on Cerebus seeing Joanne putting this into action in various ways.
* [[Villain with Good Publicity]] -- Cirin
* [[Walking the Earth]]
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* [[What Could Have Been]]
** ''High Society'' was originally conceptualized as a [[Comic Book Adaptation]] of ''War and Peace''.
** There have also been several in-universe examples.
*** Cerebus is presented with alternate futures throughout the Mother and Daughters arc, most notably in ''Minds''.
*** In ''Guys'', Cerebus briefly dreams of an alternate future where he apparently became romantically involved with {{spoiler|Astoria}}.
* [[Would Hit a Girl]]:
** Played very straight in multiple ways in the comic.
** Sim himself averts it; despite his apparent misogyny, he condemned violence against women in at least one of his editorials.
* [[Wouldn't Hurt a Child]] -- Very much averted once [[Cerebus Syndrome]] kicks in.
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'''<big>The following tropes themselves are spoilers for the series; read at your own risk:</big>'''
== Spoilers ==
* {{spoiler|[[Back for the Finale]] -- Most of the more notable characters show up in the afterlife in issue 300...then it's possibly subverted since Cerebus might be in Hell and his old acquaintances might be demons who lured his soul into a trap.}}
* {{spoiler|[[Bittersweet Ending]] -- ''High Society''}}
* {{spoiler|[[Downer Ending]] -- Even if Cerebus went to Heaven, the world he left behind is still a mess and will only get worse and worse.}}
** {{spoiler|Even before this point, many of the indivdual arcs (''Church & State'', ''Jaka's Story'', etc.) ended on a depressing note.}}
* {{spoiler|[[Ear Ache]] -- During his fight with Cirin at the end of ''Reads'', Cerebus gets most of his right ear cut off.}}
* {{spoiler|[[Earn Your Happy Ending]] -- The ''Mothers & Daughters'' arc and the first half of ''Latter Days''. Unfortunately for our (anti)hero, Sim decides to subvert it both times.}}
* {{spoiler|[[Happy Ending]] -- ''Rick's Story''. As in the ''Earn Your Happy Ending'' cases, Sim subverts this in later phonebooks.}}
* {{spoiler|[[Hermaphrodite]] -- Cerebus is revealed in ''Reads'' to be one, with both male and female genitalia ''and'' reproductive systems. This becomes a plot point in multiple fashions in later story arcs. Bear unknowingly lampshades this in ''Guys'' when he's chewing out Cerebus for a hissy fit Cerebus threw: "It's like you're part chick or somethin'!"}}
* {{spoiler|[[The Hero Dies]] -- Anti-hero in this case, but still...}}
* {{spoiler|[[Really Dead Montage]]}}
* {{spoiler|[[You Can't Go Home Again]] -- When Cerebus tries, he finds himself exiled due to his perceived abandonment of his family (he missed his father's death during the time that he was wandering with Jaka).}}
{{reflist}}
{{IGN Top 100 Heroes}}
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