Girl Genius/Characters: Difference between revisions

 
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Please note that many of these categories are rather broadly defined and many characters have unclear allegiances. Characters may change categories. Listing is alphabetical by '''first''' name (so as to keep the main protagonist at the top...)
 
== ProtagonistsMain Characters ==
=== Agatha Clay / Heterodyne ===
[[File:agatha.png|frame]]
Our [[Protagonist]], a Spark, raised by [[Parental Substitute]]s Adam and Lilith Clay. The story begins with her breaking through when the locket suppressing her abilities is stolen.
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Tropes associated with Agatha:
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** [[Badass Princess]]: Zeetha's [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120420 princess lessons] seems to be meant to turn Agatha into even more of a Spark [[Lady of War]] than before.
** [[Heartbroken Badass]]: Various times, mostly after {{spoiler|Lars died}}.
** [[Took a Level Inin Badass]]: Before Zeetha's [[Training Fromfrom Hell]], Agatha played the role of [[Damsel in Distress]] ''much'' more frequently.
* [[Berserk Button]]: Bringing up {{spoiler|Lilith and Adam's [[Not Quite Dead|deaths]]}} and half of what Von Pinn says to her. Hurting her suitors is also [[You Have No Idea Who You're Dealing With|unwise]].
* [[Bluff the Impostor]]: Tries [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20031013 this on] Othar in their first meeting. Has it tried on her by Carson.
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* [[Omniglot]]: According to the novels, she speaks Romanian (Apparently her native tongue), Latin, Greek, German, English, French, Arabic and Russian.
* [[Orphan's Plot Trinket]]: And how.
* [[Parental Abandonment]]: Her original parents are gone {{spoiler|at least until Lucrezia shows up}}, her Uncle Barry who was like a father to her disappeared when she was seven, and {{spoiler|her [[Parental Substitute|parental substitutes]] get ripped to shreds. They [[Back Fromfrom the Dead|get better]] and will presumably come back into her life later}}.
* [[Parody Sue]]: [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081124 Gets played with in the Cinderella parody].
* [[Pimped-Out Dress]]: A clockwork themed ballgown, that can even be taken off by pressing a button.
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=== Ardsley Wooster ===
[[File:wooster.png|frame]]
Or, Commodore Ardsley Roland Wooster. Originally from Britain, Wooster first met Gil in Paris and agreed to enter his service as a manservant. He claimed not to know Gil's true identity at the time, and was apparently very surprised when he found out. However, Wooster turned out to be more than a [[The Jeeves|Jeeves]]; in reality, he was a secret agent for British intelligence, and therefore likely DID know who Gil was, which is very impressive seeing as Gil's childhood friends didn't. Turns out Gil knew ''Wooster's'' real identity, and was perfectly willing to go along with the pretense until events pushed him into making use of his knowledge.
 
Classy and unflappable Wooster is currentlystarts working for Gil, and thus is a Protagonistmajor character, but his ultimate loyalty is to "Albia" (or the British Crown), an(which as-of-yetis unknownpractically forcethe same with Her Undying Majesty — she was Queen "before the Channel" and shows no desire to leave it).
 
Going back to Albia ended up being his undoing.
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Tropes associated with Ardsley:
* [[Badass Normal]]: He commandeers a rifle from one of the Baron's troops (after somehow ditching Agatha's party), fires from the top of one of caravans and is ready to snipe the Baron (see [[Shoot the Dog]] below), delivers an [[Offhand Backhand]] to Bangladesh Dupree, and later enters and exits the Jaegergeneral's airship from the window. He also survived being [[Mad Scientist|Gil's]] assistant for at least a year before the comic starts.
* [[Battle Butler]]
* {{spoiler|[[Defiant to the End]]: He told off Lucrezia in god-mode.}}
* [[Dragon with an Agenda]]: A heroic example, as he is still loyal to the queen, whatever that means.
* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: {{spoiler|Boris tries to invoke this when Wooster reveals the Baron's plan to level Mechanisburg to the Jager Generals, claiming that he's allowed The Other an opportunity to escape. Wooster doesn't buy it, but admits that the Queen will take an interest in the matter if things do go south.}}
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* [[Cute Monster Girl|Cute Monster Boys]]: Maxim and Oggie. Oggie, oddly, is more of a charmer than Maxim despite not being as pretty, even being able to sweet-talk human girls.
* [[Dumb Blonde]]: Oggie.
* [[Freudian Trio]]: Dimo=Superego, Maxim=Ego, Oggie=Id.
* [[Mr. Fanservice]]: <s>Apparently</s> Obviously.
* [[Funetik Aksent]]
* [[HAD to Be Sharp]]
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* [[Loophole Abuse]]: After failing to get Old Man Death's hat by [[Defeating the Undefeatable|fighting him for it]], Maxim then tells him he wants a sandwich, so Old Man Death tells him "you name it, I make it". Maxim asks for a "Prince of Sturmhalten's Big Bet", which refers to a prince who lost a bet, and ate his own hat; to live up to his boast, Old Man Death had to make Maxim a hat sandwich.
* [[The Man They Couldn't Hang]]
* [[Mr. Fanservice]]: <s>Apparently</s> Obviously.
* [[Nice Hat]]: Like all Jägers.
* [[Noodle Incident]]: Oggie apparently did something that pissed off Klaus, which may be part of the reason he was sent on the mission in the first place.
* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Most notable in Dimo, but they're all smarter than most rank-and-file Jägers because of the [[Took a Level Inin Badass|time they spent by themselves]].
* [[Only Sane Man]]: Dimo.
* [[Perma-Stubble]]: Dimo.
* [[Power Trio]]: Dimo=Superego, Maxim=Ego, Oggie=Id.
* [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]]
* [[Psycho for Hire]]: But in a good way!
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** [[Cool Sword]]: Maxim's cavalry saber, possibly augmented with a [[Power Fist]] ([[Shrug of God|not even the Foglios know what that metallic glove thing is]]).
** [[Knife Nut]]: Dimo uses throwing knives (and sometimes [[Bare-Fisted Monk|his own claws]]).
* [[You Are in Command Now]]: Dimo has been promoted to "acting" general while the other generals are (apparently all) out of contact. He finds it irksome, "dot itchy '''tinking schtuff'''...."
 
=== Dingbots ===
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Tropes associated with Dingbots:
* [[Action Bomb]]: The secondary bots sometimes do this.
* [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot]]: It's not evil, but it's certainly agressiveaggressive and Tarvek has hypothesized that it ''has the [[Science-Related Memetic Disorder|Spark]]''.
* [[Do-Anything Robot]]
* [[Fan Nickname]]: Doesn't have an actual name in-comic, other than "Agatha's little clanks." On that note, fans are considering dubbing groups of dingbots "devotions."
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=== Gilgamesh Wulfenbach ===
[[File:Gil.png|frame]]
Son of one of the major antagonists, Gilgamesh is one of the possible pairings for Agatha (probably the canon one, [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110817 considering] [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110819 these]) and has much more obvious motivations. {{spoiler|May be wasped.}}
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Tropes associated with Gil:
* [[Acquired Poison Immunity]]: Klaus "figures that a ruler should be… ''hard to kill''". So they build resistance against everything possible.
* [[Antagonist in Mourning]]: When Agatha fakes her death.
* [[Awesome McCoolname]]: Gilgamesh, like the ancient badass Gilgamesh, two thirds god and one hundred percent [[Rated "M" for Manly|Man]].
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** '''''[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071203 And I AM In CONTROL!!!]'''''
* [[Those Magnificent Flying Machines]]: He's the only one in the setting creating heavier than air aircraft.
* [[Took a Level Inin Badass]]: While Agatha was "dead".
* [[Training Fromfrom Hell]]: Everything does, apparently, have to be a test.
* [[Wacky Marriage Proposal]]
* [[Warrior Poet]]
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=== Krosp I, Emperor of all Cats ===
[[File:krosp.png|frame]]
Created by a Spark to control cats to act as a spy network, Krosp I is a failed experiment with delusions of lordship who has given Agatha much valuable political advice. His phenotype as a cat was [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20140709 identified] as Moldovian Puff - "[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20141017 a particularly heathenish breed]".
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Tropes associated with Krosp:
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* [[Canon Immigrant]]: He originated in the [[Magic: The Gathering]] days of ''[[What's New with Phil and Dixie]]''.
* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: First seen [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20031114 as an apparently normal cat getting into Agatha's food].
* [[Combat Pragmatist]]: Many cast members are willing to fight dirty. Krosp's the only one willing to suggest ''murdering a helpless enemy in cold blood'' because hey, that guy was big trouble yesterday and will be big trouble tomorrow so it doesn't matter that he took a bullet saving your life today. (Agatha doesn't do it, of course.)
* [[Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon]]: When his animal side takes over.
{{quote|'''Krosp''' (to Gil on their first meeting): "I'm serious! Mess with me and your ''shoes'' are '''mine'''!"}}
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* [[Green Eyes]]
* [[Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal]]
* [[Hidden Depths]]: What's up with "hearing" Albia's telepathic broadcast? Brits did, Jägers didn't…
* [[Intellectual Animal]]
* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]
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* [[Stepford Smiler]]: When we first see him in the castle, he seems a bit ''[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080220 off]''. Could be blamed on [[Love Makes You Stupid]], given his massive crush on Sanaa.
* [[Tempting Fate]]: [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20101203 "Aaah! Jinx!"]
* [[Took a Level Inin Badass]]: [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120402 Astounding Sanaa in the process.]
* [[Unfazed Everyman]]
 
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Tropes associated with Punch and Judy:
* [[Action Girl]]: Judy
** Referenced by Agatha at one point:
* [[Back From the Dead]]: Thanks, Gil!
{{quote|'''Agatha:''' What? You got [Judy] to hide somewhere ''safe''? Did you have to lock her up?!?}}
* [[Back from the Dead]]: Thanks, Gil!
** And upgraded. In fact, when Gil upgrades, [[Babies Ever After|he doesn't mess around]].
* [[The Big Guy]]s
* [[Genius Bruiser]]s/[[Smarter Than You Look]]: Though some of the evidence for that comes from the Jägers who are... not the best at determining who's "schmott". Still, Punch evidently is at least competent at mechanics and outspoken (once his vocal apparatus was rebuilt, anyway). That's when we remember that for years they were assistants to two of the top-tier mad scientists, learning from the best - and possiblyperhaps their friends and colleagues too. And now [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20131101 Punch is good at working with their gadgetry].
* [[Gentle Giant]]s: Apparently, though most people who didn't know Punch assume he's just [[Dumb Muscle]].
{{quote|'''Belloptrix:''' But... didn't he have a... lighter side?
'''Maxim:''' Oh yah! He build very amuzing toys for de ''orphan cheeldren!'' }}
* [[Goggles Do Something Unusual]]: Judy has special glasses to make her eyes look the same size.
* [[Hidden in Plain Sight]]: As the Blueprints point out, even when revealed as constructs, nobody would think they are the legendary Punch and Judy: both because folklore have greatly exaggerated their monstrous traits, and because they obviously are student work, which people could not connect with high and mighty Heterodynes.
* [[Improbable Weapon User]]: Punch throws rivets at bullet-like force.
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Punch is very capable of his namesake.
* [[Parental Substitute]]s
* [[The Speechless]]: Punch {{spoiler|until Gil's repair, as it's ''Punch'' who tells him "Thank you." for his actions to save Agatha. Gil apparently did some upgrading while he was in there.}}
 
=== Tarvek Sturmvoraus ===
[[File:travek2.png|frame]]
First encountered when Agatha travels through the city of his father, Tarvek is the the Prince of Sturmhalten, and a descendant of the legendary Storm King. He's seemed to be on everyone's side, playing everyone against everyone else, though recentlyas of the Siege of Mechanicsburg he's seemsbeen revealed to be genuinelysincerely onin Teamlove with Agatha and a decent, if flawed, person in his own right. He is a powerful Spark and a keen intellect. The other possible pairing for Agatha.
----
Tropes associated with Tarvek:
* [[Acquired Poison Immunity]]: Proved resistant even to multiple toxins used by Tweedle's chief assassin.
* [[Awesomeness By Analysis]]: Only person known to successfully reverse-engineer a Van Rijn.
** Simply [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120127 glancing] at an abstract operations table tells him that an entire Wulfenbach military unit has been subverted and was about to flank and destroy much of the Wulfenbach army.
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** [[Badass Bookworm]]
* [[Bastard Understudy]]
* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: {{spoiler|Zola}} learns this [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110117 the hard way]. Also, [[You Wouldn't Shoot Me|calling his bluff when he threatens someone with a weapon]] is a [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20190107 bad idea]<ref>conspiracy spoiler!</ref>.
* [[Big Screwed-Up Family]]: Even by the standards of the ''Valois'', Tarvek has had it ''bad''. His mother died when he was very small. His father was an Other-worshipping serial killer. His sister was a homicidal clank who ended up murdering their father and kept Tarvek on her string with regular death threats. His family fortress had a horde of Geisterdamen in the basement that would have killed him without blinking if they'd thought he was less than perfectly loyal to the Other. The family intrigue once killed twelve of his bodyguards in less than three years, some of them not even lasting a single month. He can't even show up at a family party without wearing a disguise because at least half the room would try to kill him. With the exception of Violetta every one of the (very) few relatives he's ever liked and who needed his help has died horribly despite his best efforts, and saving Violetta from being killed required lying to her to make her hate him and driving her away from him for years. [[The Woobie|Somebody give this boy a hug.]]
* [[The Charmer]]: Is quite a sweet-talker when he puts his mind to it.
* [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]]: Apparently [[Dysfunction Junction|congenital]]. He ''may'' be recovering, but readers are wary.
** The most obnoxious part of it? [[I Did What I Had to Do|He genuinely means well when he does it.]] Agatha finds it insulting as all hell.
** At one point, Gil accuses Tarvek of plotting something. When Tarvek asks what makes him think this, Gil's response? That Tarvek is ''breathing''.
* [[Designer Babies]]: The Mongfish family [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090408 "made sure"] that hethere would be a throne-appropriate heir: male, Sparky, and free of problems like predisposition to alcoholism, non-Spark-related insanity, lycanthropy... Also, there's some redundancy, even after natural selection (that is, assassinations).
* [[Dysfunction Junction]]: "The only way to keep ''my'' family in line would be to bury them in a row."
* [[Mr. Fanservice]]
* [[Extreme Melee Revenge]]: His [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110117 brutal beating] of {{spoiler|Zola}} evokes this, especially considering the epic speech he delivers [[Punctuated Pounding|in tandem]] with said beatdown.
* [[Failure Knight]]: And really cheesed off about this. Hinted before, but eventually he plainly says it. Oh, and {{spoiler|Zulenna}} was(?) one of his non-vile cousins, too. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20190213]<sup>(minor spoilers)</sup>
* [[The Fashionista]] / [[The Dandy]]: You ''expect'' royals to be very well dressed. So this was not evident except [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090102 one phrase] out-of-continuity, but remember how he sat "[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20091125 doodling] ''girls'' and clockwork"?.. Later, [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120518 approved] Jäger Generals' style.
{{quote|'''[http://girlgeniuscomic.livejournal.com/160996.html Kaja Foglio]''': Yes, Sturmvoraus is apparently a house of evil [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date{{=}}20110912 fashion] [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date{{=}}20110914 designers]...}}
** [[Sharp-Dressed Man]]: Well, he is when we meet him, anyway. He [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080924 deteriorates] ''[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090810 sharply]'' [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090925 later.] But found something better [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100428 as soon as possible].
** Later on, the tomboyish Violetta is condescended to by a snooty society lady and in return unleashes a withering torrent of high-end fashion expertise that leaves her opponent a metaphorical steaming puddle on the floor. As all parties present jawdrop at her in shock, she needs only one line of explanation for how she knew all this stuff:
{{quote|'''Violetta:''' Why are you all so ''surprised?'' I spent practically my whole life with Tarvek!}}
* [[Heel Face Revolving Door]]
* [[How Dare You Die on Me!]]: Invoked towards Gil.
* [[Jerkass Facade]]: Tarvek will unhesitatingly agree with anyone who accuses him of being a ruthless, heartless, unscrupulous, devious weasel who is on Agatha's side only because of his personal affection for her and scoff at the notion that he has any nobility or decency motivating him at all. Ever since Mechanicsburg it's been quite obvious that Tarvek is kidding himself on that score and that he actually ''does'' have a heart, however much he's unable to realize it. Boy has self-worth issues.
* [[Mad Scientist]]: One of the best, apparently.
* [[Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter]]: Well, son.
* [[McNinja]]: Had at least some Smoke Knight training. Good enough to kill other commandos and hold his own against Gil (who is well-trained and likely augmented), though against a top tier augmented assassin he could only offer enough resistance that it was not a complete [[Curb Stomp Battle]].
* [[McNinja]]: Had at least some Smoke Knight training.
* [[Meaningful Name]]: "Sturmvoraus" means "storm ahead" in German.
* [[Minored in Asskicking]]: He relies on others to fight for him whenever he can. Since arriving in the castle, though, he's had to reveal that yes, he's a match for Gilgamesh in a fight (which means any fair fight with him would rip Europa apart).
* [[Missing Mom]]: The only thing we know about his mother is the identity of one of her ancestors.
* [[Morality Chain]]: Played with. Tarvek ''believes'' that he needs Agatha and Violetta to be his moral conscience. He's had to be a [[Manipulative Bastard]] for so long just to survive that he's still not self-aware enough to realize that he's already got one of his own.
* [[Nice to the Waiter]]
* [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]]: [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/ggmain/strips/ggmain20110117b.jpg There's really no other way to describe] his latestmost famous encounter with {{spoiler|Zola.}}
* [[Pet the Dog]]: Had Violetta [[Reassigned to Antarctica|sent to spy on Mechanicsburg]], which she hated him even more for... then she discovered just how many of his bodyguards had been killed since.
* [[Not So Harmless]]: He's a match for Gilgamesh hand-to-hand, much to Violetta's shock.
* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Though he obviously doesn't act like a fool, it turns out that [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110425 those beatings Violetta kept giving him were just a charade to convince everyone else that he was useless in combat.]
* [[Pet the Dog]]: Had Violetta [[Reassigned to Antarctica]], which she hated him even more for... then she discovered just how many of his bodyguards had been killed since.
* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]: Blue to Gil's Red, oh-so-very much. He's calm, cool, collected in everything he does, and prefers to [[Xanatos Speed Chess|dominate his surroundings through constant manipulation]]. This makes him [[Casanova|as charming as the very devil]]... unless the girl realizes that he's [[Affably Evil|simply being polite]] about [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|staying in control]]. It also means he's rather dependent on others once outside of a support network... At least until he gets a new one.
* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Tarvek is an icy-calm manipulator whose self-control is epic enough that he has a mastery over his own Madness Place rivaled only by Klaus. He also has a button marked "You Killed/May Have Killed Someone I Love", and when you press it ''bad things happen''. Zola pressed it once, with results detailed under [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]] above.
* [[Royal Blood]]: Apparently, he's the rightful heir to the {{spoiler|Storm King.}}
** Much later on during another sequence, Violetta is missing and presumed dead. Tarvek goes on a John Wick-esque killing rampage against the various assorted monsters loose in the enemy base at the time ''just so he can calm down enough to start thinking again''.
** He also managed to get rapid semi-auto fire out of a death ray that had normally had a several-minutes charging period in-between shots, apparently via sheer physics-bending rage.
* [[Royal Blood]]: Apparently, he's the rightful heir to the {{spoiler|Storm King's throne.}} Or rather one of the two surviving heirs whom Grandmother considered fit enough (while both Tarvek and Martellus were missing, she ordered to freeze the whole project to avoid devaluing the claim, according to Seffie).
** [[Royally Screwed-Up]]
** [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]]
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* [[Token Evil Teammate]]: [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20101129 Self-confessed].
* [[Tyke Bomb]] / [[Phlebotinum Rebel]]: He was intended since before birth to be a figurehead for the Storm King conspiracy, but he'd much rather pursue his ''own'' plans.
* [[Underestimating Badassery]]: It turns out that [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110425 those beatings Violetta kept giving him were just a charade to convince everyone else that he was useless in combat.] He's a match for Gilgamesh hand-to-hand, much to Violetta's shock.
** [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Though he obviously doesn't act like a fool, he played up his least-dangerous sides to be dismissed as fop by many in his family.
* [[Unreliable Expositor]]: One of the reasons the Sturmhalten arc is so confusing is because he keeps lying to everyone.
* [[Unstoppable Rage]]: Unstoppable enough to [[Curb Stomp Battle|curb stomp]] {{spoiler|Zola, when she is under the influence of a [[Psycho Serum]].}}
* [[Betty and Veronica|Veronica]]
* [[Vitriolic Best Buds]]: For the first several years they appeared together in the comic, Tarvek and Violetta were from all appearances mortal enemies. The actual truth is, Violetta is the one family member he genuinely loves unconditionally and vice versa.
** Was also this with Gilgamesh, until they reconciled enough that their sniping at each other is now something they both deliberately do just for the laughs. And to throw their enemies off guard.
* [[What You Are in the Dark]]: [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120601 The Vespiary Squad Rescue] chapter was written primarily to show that Tarvek would unselfishly risk his life to save others even under circumstances where nobody would ever know if he'd chosen to just drop the wounded to save both himself and the mission-critical intel. Which, given the gaping moral ambiguity he'd been portrayed with up to that point, was an [[Anvils That Needed to Be Dropped|Anvil That Needed to be Dropped]] before any readers would believe he actually had a conscience.
* [[Would Hit a Girl]]: At least ''[[Hero-Killer|that]]'' one.
* [[Xanatos Speed Chess]]: He tries to do this practically all the time, with varying degrees of success.
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=== Violetta Mondarev ===
[[File:violeta.png|frame]]
Violetta is a Smoke Knight, although she herself says she's not very good at her job. Her job iswas originally to keep Tarvek alive, whichalthough isher provingservice tohas benow farbeen more difficult than it should be considering he was confinedtransferred to a hospital bed when she took that dutyAgatha.
----
Tropes associated with Violetta:
* [[Big Screwed-Up Family]]: A cousin of Tarvek's from an offshoot branch of the Sturmvoraus family, which has been guarding the main house for generations. Surprisingly sane, considering the lineage, but then being not of the central bloodline could be what saved her.
* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]: Violetta [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080926 apparently] isn't a star as a Smoke Knight, but she [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100226 doesn't] [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20101029 seem] [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110725 half] as bad at her job as she tells everyone she is. More "[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080912 not really into] [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110909 this sort of career]".
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200513 The old lady in this comic] is Night Mistress Madwa Korel, perhaps the single deadliest Smoke Knight alive and a renegade who's spent over a decade surviving a death mark put out on her by ''the entire Order of Smoke Knights''. And ''she's'' giving Violetta a professional compliment... when Violetta's on the enemy team, no less. At this point Miss "I'm not a very good Smoke Knight" is clearly talking just from an inferiority complex.
** In an earlier arc, [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20160603 Violetta blasted the MacGuffin out of Madwa's hand] while two other Smoke Knights, who Violetta had just described as 'better than her', were entirely unable to get a shot off. ''Definitely'' an inferiority complex.
**It's 2022 and Madwa Korel and Violetta have finally met again. [https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20211222 And only one of them left that meeting alive]. Violetta is now officially the most badass Smoke Knight the readers have ever seen.
* [[Fiery Redhead]]
* [[Grappling Hook Pistol]]
* [[Impossible Thief]]: Specialist in misdirection and sleight of hand, to the point that she can switch out a hostage for a straw dummy, while said hostage is still being held by his captor, and she's in full view of said captor, ''across the room''. It just has to happen [[Offscreen Moment of Awesome|off-panel]].
** In the comic, Zeetha looks not particularly impressed and says, "Meh. Not bad..." The novelization reveals that Zeetha had to '''work''' at looking unimpressed.
* [[Legacy of Service]]: Violetta is basically made out of loyalty and devotion. She spent her entire life mastering a profession she didn't enjoy to devotedly bodyguard a man she hated, and then became immediately ready to fight and die for a strange woman she'd just met simply because her (now former) liege lord told her that her feudal obligation had been transferred. Despite the fact that Agatha would almost certainly free Violetta of any bond of obligation just for the asking, the idea of simply leaving to find her own life visibly fails to enter Violetta's mind ''at all''.
* [[Legacy of Service]]
** In the novelisation, Moloch tells her that he's leaving Mechanicsburg and getting away from 'this crazy Spark business' as soon as he can, and says that she can leave with him too. Simply ''suggesting'' that Vi leave her post causes Moloch to feel like he's stepped over an invisible line he can never step back across.
* [[McNinja]]: Smoke Knight.
* [[Minion Shipping]]: with Moloch von Zinzer
** [[She Is Not My Girlfriend|He Is Not My Boyfriend]]: But if she doesn't want him, [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20091021 others do]! [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100616 Like she cares!]
* [[Ninja Maid]]: to Tarvek Sturmvoraus, before Tarvek transfers her allegiance to Agatha.
* [[Offscreen Moment of Awesome]]: Her sleight of hand is so impressive that not even the ''reader'' can see it.
* [[Only the Knowledgable May Pass]]: She tried to pull this one on Moloch, arguing that he had to be trained or have secret knowledge when they first met.
** To be fair, the idea that an untrained civilian could pull off a 20-foot vertical leap simply by the power of 'I really don't want to die!' ''is'' kinda unbelievable. Violetta herself only made that jump because of Smoke Knight powers.
* [[Servile Snarker]]: She gets away with ''way'' more abuse of Tarvek than most Sparks would probably allow. Hell, he even ''rewards'' her by allowing her to switch allegiance to Agatha.
* [[Shipper on Deck]]: Agatha/Tarvek.
* [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]]: By ''herself''. Her Smoke Knight training mostly requires her to be the former, but both she and Tarvek (while he was in an illness-induced delusional rant) have commented on [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110912 how much she'd desperately like to be able to dress nice and be girly once in awhile].
** And, after many years both in and out of universe, [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200520 Violetta finally gets to go to the ball].
 
=== Zeetha, Daughter of Chump ===
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* [[Action Girl]]
* [[Always Someone Better]]: Gets the concept explained to her by Higgs. Interestingly, he doesn't do it by beating the crap out of her (although he probably could), but just by explaining why she's been losing.
* {{spoiler|[[Badass Abnormal]]}}: Possibly from the start, in that as a descendant of God-Queen Luheia, she could have inherited more than just green hair (up to and including latent Sparkiness). But after {{spoiler|The Castle arc}}, [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200212 she counts] either way. Though [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200224 it's not really clear] how much.
* [[Badass Princess]]
* [[Battle Couple]]: [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100910 this moment] with Higgs, of course.
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** In the novelization, she '''doesn't''' wear leather underwear -- but Skifandrian warriors train in the nude.
* [[Dual-Wielding]]: With what appear to be either [[wikipedia:Katara (sword)|Katars]] and/or [[wikipedia:Pata (weapon)|Patas]], weapons used in our world's India with H-shaped grips and often with some kind of hand guard added to the grip.
* {{spoiler|[[Emergency Transformation]]}}: After Agatha's cousin ran her through.
* [[Expressive Shirt|Expressive Headband]]
* [[Expressive Accessory]]: Headband with a brooch that mimics her expressions... even when she's ''not wearing it'' (she ''did'' wear the headband itself, as shown later). [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20150928 This lets it serve for long-range communications].
* [[Fantastic Fighting Style]]
* [[Good Bad Girl]]: Her sex life isn't exactly highlighted, but she ''has'' been referred to as "an expert" on the subject.
* [[Hot Amazon]]
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* [[In My Language, That Sounds Like...]]: Daughter of ''Chump''. And yes, she does know what it means.
* [[Luke, I Am Your Father]]: While it has yet to be revealed in the comic, {{spoiler|the Foglios have released a picture of [http://community.livejournal.com/haus_of_klaus/25974.html "Chump, the great warrior"]}}. Resemble anyone we know?
** On a related note, {{spoiler|she and Gil now have the same (or similar) eye colour -- most notable during their conversation after he wakes up at Mama Gkika's. They used to be green in earlier volumes}}. During the same conversation she apparently figured out the relation.
** Foreshadowed [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081103 here].
* [[Minion Shipping]]: With Higgs.
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* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]]: According to the third novelization, she's not just a member of Skifander's royal family, but heir to the throne. And her mother the Queen sent her out—apparently with no other Skifandrians—to scout Europa ... and try to find "Chump." Oh, and as the pirates found out, she's very '''good''' at "doing something," at least when that something is fighting.
* [[Shipper on Deck]]
* [[Training Fromfrom Hell]]: Bestowed it upon Agatha.
* [[The Worf Effect]]: A mild case, but she has been injured or fought to a standstill in order to highlight the badassery of:
** The Monster Horse Beastie
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** {{spoiler|Zola}}
* [[You Can't Go Home Again|You Can't Find Home Again]]
* [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|You Gotta Have Green Hair]]: Repeatedly [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] as being highly unusual. Implied to be inherited back from Immortal God-Queen Luheia at least.
 
 
== Antagonists ==
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* [[Tomato in the Mirror]]
* [[Unlimited Wardrobe]]
<br clear="right" />
 
=== Bangladesh DuPree ===
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* [[The Dragon]]: Even if you don't consider Klaus a villain, she still fits this pretty well.
* [[Emotional Bruiser]]: Sort of. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120118 Turns out she really developed an attachment to ol' good Klaus].
** She also loves Gilgamesh [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20150410 like a younger brother].
* [[Faux Affably Evil]]: She's made of fun. Always. Even while [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040901 skewering someone].
* [[Genki Girl]]: A big [[Cheerful Child|lighthearted kid]], even if [[Ax Crazy]] sort that [[Kids Are Cruel|would torture a rat just to hear it squeal]].
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'''Dimo:''' ''"...iz dat so?"''
'''Gilgamesh:''' ''"All seven [[The Pope|popes]] ordered it '''burned'''."'' }}
** The novelisation footnotes reveal the title of the monograph. It was ''"Don't Make Me Come Over There"''.
* [[The Chains of Commanding]]: Ruling (large portions of) the world is not as fun as it sounds.
* [[Clothing Damage]]: He has some after fighting Othar for a while.
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* [[Historical Villain Upgrade]]: He's been depicted pretty badly in most of the Heterodyne stories, ranging from a cowardly comic relief to a flat-out traitor to the Heterodynes. Fortunately for those who put on these plays, Klaus isn't a [[Slave to PR]] and doesn't care what they say. Though [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110516 he's well aware] of this.
** [[Characterization Marches On]]: His portrayal in the Heterodyne Stories has shifted markedly to the worse since he started conquering stuff.
** According to the books, another reason he puts up with his portrayal in those stories is because [[Actually Pretty Funny|he secretly finds it hilarious]].
* [[Just the First Citizen]]: He's running most of Europe. He's a ''baron''.
** For those unfamiliar with nobility rankings, that would be like having your own navy and calling yourself aan lieutenant commanderensign.
* [[Large and In Charge]]: Broad shoulders...
* [[Memetic Badass]]: Don't make him come over here. [[Curb Stomp Battle|Really, don't.]]
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** Upon seeing Gil cutting through an enemy army like a hot knife through butter, an onlooker had this to say:
{{quote|'''Councillor:''' Hmph. His father would have hit the wall and started another sweep by now.}}
* This one basically sums it up:
{{quote|(A small drop pod falls from the sky to land directly in the middle of a horde of Jagermonsters, in the heart of a fully-armed and operational Mechanicsburg)
'''Jager General Gkika:''' (laughing) Velcome, big meestery ting! Hy dun know vat you ''iz'', but now hyu iz on de ground, and hyu is de ''Jagers'' problem!
(The drop pod opens to reveal Klaus. Just Klaus.)
'''Gkika''': (screaming in panic) WHOA! Evryvun attack! Attack vit ''EVRYTING VE GOTS!''}}
* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: Wulfenbach does have [[Big Badass Wolf]] in it.
* [[Necessarily Evil]]: Yes, it really is necessary.
* [[Papa Wolf]]: He might be horrible at communicating it, but Klaus genuinely loves his son. And may God help you if he even ''thinks'' you're going to harm Gilgamesh, although God will almost certainly have more sense than to go anywhere within several light-years of the hell that Klaus will be raining down upon you.
* [[Perpetual Frowner]]: Usually the case, though he took Bang's mouth being wired shut [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070716 pretty well.]
** And he was proud to see [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071203 Gilgamesh take command of the Empire when he was out of commission].
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* [[Put on a Bus]]: This was Lucrezia's intent, anyway. But he came back before the main series even started. [[Word of God]] states that the place he was sent was {{spoiler|Skifander}}.
* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: He's the absolute dictator of most of Europe. Except he only has one rule, "Don't make me come over there." What will make him come over there? War and playing with [[Sealed Evil in a Can]].
** He also spent much of the Imperial tax revenue on building roads, schools, and hospitals.
** Post-timeskip, it took only ''two years'' after the collapse of the Empire for most of Europa to be looking back upon the era of Klaus' rule like a long-lost [[Golden Age]].
* [[Science-Related Memetic Disorder]]: Notable for being the only Spark in the series to be (mostly) immune to its effects.
* [[Shirtless Scene]]: That Naughty Flashback Scene, among others.
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[http://twitter.com/othar/status/417353242 No. I can't.] This is what being A Hero is about. I should never have taken that aptitude test back at the university. I wanted to be a chef. }}
* [[Comically Invincible Hero]]: The others are fully aware that he's probably unkillable. {{spoiler|1=Gil even takes the opportunity to [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120305 exploit it.]}}
* [[Dating Catwoman]]: Has evidently done a bit of this, based on a conversation with his sister when he thought she had a crush on Gilgamesh Wulfenbach:
{{Quote|'''Othar''': What did I '''tell''' you about getting '''romantically involved''' with '''evil'''?
'''Sanaa''': "...It's not a bad way to kill time, as long as it ultimately results in the total destruction of her lair and the ruination of her nefarious plans!"
'''Othar''': <small>Oh. Yes. Well, I '''meant'''—</small>}}
* [[Destination Defenestration]]: Happens to him repeatedly while on Castle Wulfenbach. It never sticks.
** '''FOUL!'''
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{{quote|[http://twitter.com/Othar/status/5538674658 Like all prisoners in the castle, I'm outfitted with an exploding collar. Ha! The fools, my head is the least dangerous part of my body.]}}
** [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Sometimes.
*** In the novelization, Klaus is actually a bit shocked when Othar abruptly drops the Large Ham to be serious and sensible. He wonders,
{{quote|''It...he can't ''always'' be...acting...can he?'' The thought was chilling. Klaus had always considered Othar a clown. If this was all just a ''game'' to him...}}
* [[Implacable Man]]
* [[In Spite of a Nail]]: According to his Twitter account a Spark's experiment with time travel and alternate realities has revealed that every Othar has some kind of predisposition to deciding to wipe out Sparks. He briefly wonders if there's something about the Othars that causes them to simply have suicidal craziness before dismissing the idea.
* [[It Runs on Nonsensoleum]]: Othar apparently has "special trousers" that allows him to [[NoWon't SellWork On Me]] having an irate Jaeger landing on him and breaking his back. No, we have no idea what that means either.
* [[Jerkass Has a Point]]: Squibs, a much put upon minion in the radio drama 'Minor Heroes', sums it up best:
{{quote|Let me see if I understand this. He thinks all the problems in Europe are caused by mad scientists that build all the monsters. The mad scientists who vie with each other to see who can turn the population into clowns or bats or inanimate objects the quickest.The raving lunatics who set off volcanoes and unleash flash floods upon innocent cities. Othar wants to destroy these people, and ''you think he's insane.''}}
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* [[Science-Related Memetic Disorder]]: The effects of the Spark on him are a lot more apparent in the Twitter than in the comic.
* [[Shirtless Scene]]
* [[Sunglasses Atat Night]]: Or whatever that visor thingy is.
** There's a fan theory that it's there to protect bystanders from the power of his amazingly pretty [[Blue Eyes]].
* [[Testosterone Poisoning]]
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=== The Other ===
[[File:the other.png|frame]]
The mysterious force of mysteriousness that almost conquered Europa before vanishing mysteriously. May be Agatha's mother, though there are… changes.
----
Tropes associated with The Other:
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** Though she got the name because after a while, all the usual suspects for who could be destroying Europe were dead by her hand, meaning that all the devastation was caused by some ''other'' party.
* [[Mood Whiplash]] / [[Sugar and Ice Personality]]: Whether it stems from Lucrezia's "inherent" insanity, or a result of all those mind transfers, but she is obviously unstable. When the Other first makes an appearance she's all smiles and motherly comfort for her faithful Geisterdamen, who are weeping with joy at her return - her mood changes swiftly once the Other realises things have gone to hell in her absence. Later does much the same with Theo.
** This seems to apply only ''after'' the "attack": in ''every'' flashback and reference (so far) to the time before, she was "mad and bad" within limits common for [[Mad Scientist]]s, and also more narcissistic than most, but didn't flip between gushing and murderous, and fit Klaus' assessment as "[[Master Actress|manipulative, and a consummate actress]]" much better than her current personality does ("I am the Agatha Girl!").
*** At last, something definite [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20181226 came from] Albia (who does "see minds", thus won't be confused by merely [[Generation Xerox|strong family resemblance]]), as she had both "before" and "after" ([[Time Travel|sort of]]) sightings and can compare —
*# someone who was capable of killing [[God-Emperor|her equals]] and almost got Albia herself, whom she positively identified as former Lucrezia, but thoroughly messed up in ways that puzzle even Albia;
*# the original Lucrezia Mongfish was pretty much what she was known to be: a capable and entertainingly twisted [[Mad Scientist]], but no more than this.
* [[Religion of Evil]]: Is the goddess of one.
* [[Science-Related Memetic Disorder]]
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** Who is herself a [[Mad Scientist]]. Who has a beautiful daughter. Who is a [[Mad Scientist]]. Oy.
* [[Master Actress]]: Klaus says she is, but this comes off as an [[Informed Ability]] since she likes to gloat and is so different from the person she's impersonating. Although maybe if she knew ''anything at all'' about the girl she is pretending to be, she'd do better. Still, "I am the Agatha girl!" hardly could achieve anything but elicit a mocking response.
** To be fair, Lucrezia is ''extremely'' good at pretending to be a less evil or more trustworthy Lucrezia. She is, however, horrible at impersonations.
* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]
* [[Noblewoman's Laugh]]: [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100219 One] of her somewhat-[[Large Ham|hammy]] moments.
* [[Offing the Offspring]]: Her first child with Bill, Klaus Barry, was killed in the attack on Castle Heterodyne, and it's ''strongly'' implied that this was deliberate on her part. Even Agatha, having already seen how evil she can be, had some trouble with that idea.
{{quote|"...really, one mustn't get too '''sentimental''' about '''children'''." (Said while trying to persuade Klaus to [[Grand Theft Me|murder]] his son and help her finish off Agatha. [[Papa Wolf|He was ... not amused.]])}}
* [[Psycho Ex-Girlfriend]]: To Klaus.
* [[The Vamp]]: She flirts more than fights, as Zola says.
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** He's also capable of {{spoiler|stealing his gun back from the [[Impossible Thief]] in the party.}}
* [[Large Ham]]: When he wants to, [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120224 Vole really can ham it up].
* [[My God, What Have I Done?]]: Eventually, he calmed down, and then it hit him.
* [[No True Scotsman]]: {{spoiler|Vole believes he's the only Jägermonster who remembers what the "monster" part stood for.}}
* [[The Oathbreaker]]: The only reference we've ever had to the Jägertroth is the fact that Vole renounced it.
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* [[The Worf Effect]]: Outside of ripping some poor nobody's arm off, he tends to get beat up a lot. Even Othar gets to take a shot at him.
 
=== Zola ===
=== Zola La Sirene D'oree AKA Zola "Heterodyne" AKA [[Overly Long Name|Zola Anya Talinka Venia Zeblinkya]] [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Malfeazium]] ===
[[File:zola.png|frame]]
Zola La Sirene D'oree AKA Zola "Heterodyne" AKA [[Overly Long Name|Zola Anya Talinka Venia Zeblinkya]] [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Malfeazium]] AKA the Queen of the Dawn.
 
Once everyone had heard there was a Heterodyne girl running around, she stepped in (along with a conspiracy) to provide one. Agatha was... not happy about that.
----
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* [[Ass Shove]]/[[Trouser Space]]: {{spoiler|Lucrezia}} notes (after knocking her out, restraining her, and presumably [[Squick|searching her]]) that some of her equipment was "in rather ''uncomfortable places'', I'd imagine".
* [[Beauty Is Never Tarnished]]: ''Averted''. After taking the Moveit 11, her physical appearance has gone ''steeply'' downhill.
** She's back to being as gorgeous as ever after finaly getting out of the hospital, though.
* [[Because You Were Nice to Me]]: Seems to be the cause of her [[Mad Love|attraction]] to Gil.
* [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing]]
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* [[Long-Lost Relative]]: "Hello [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100625 auntie]."
* [[Made of Iron]]: When she {{spoiler|takes the [[Psycho Serum]], she becomes so strong that ''[[Implacable Man|Axel Higgs]]'' punches her in the face and ''hurts his hand''.}}
* [[Mad Love]]: Towards Gil, very much. Also recentlylater towards Tarvek, but [[Psycho Serum|her sanity is slipping]], so there's a chance she still thinksthought it's Gil.
* [[Master Actress]]: Oh yes. Also involves the second part of the trope, where the audience thinks she might actually have [[Split Personality|Split Personalities]]. Of course, in this case, that's not so far-fetched.
* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: Her real last name is {{spoiler|Malfeazium. And her mother was Demonica.}}
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* [[Overly Long Name]]: Her full name. And how!
* [[Princesses Prefer Pink]]: [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]] as part of her role as a fake Heterodyne. Even her ''death ray'' [[Up to Eleven|is pink]]. Even the ''death beam'' is pink.
* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Has a bit of a habit provoking them in the current arc. So far, {{spoiler|Lucrezia}} would like to "thank" her for that, {{spoiler|Higgs}} tried to mess her up, and nowthen {{spoiler|Tarvek}} wants [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown|to end her]].
* [[Shout-Out]]: One of the times Gil had to rescue her it was from a [[Phantom of the Opera|crazy man in an opera house]]. Apparently it was also one of the few times it ''wasn't'' her fault she was in trouble.
* [[Slasher Smile]]: When {{spoiler|the Castle dies}}, she has a frighteningly Sparky look of triumphant glee on her face. Also [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100714 here.]
** Post-Movit Zola has these pretty often.
* [[The Starscream]]/[[Always Second Best]]: She has ambitions and is good at both cloak-and-dagger stuff and improvisation, but… pushes her way into the top tier, then finds herself not quite on top of the situation at best and terrifyingly out of her depth at worst and barely escapes in one piece. Repeatedly.
* [[The Starscream]]
** As an impostor, she came close to success, but was overrun by the real heir. Then she started a fight, and managed to nearly kill three incredibly dangerous warriors, but had to run away more dead than alive.
** Then she ascended [[From Nobody to Nightmare]] by usurping The Other, and entered Paris with a grand entance... only to be upstaged by Agatha again, and then be casually asked as to where she's been (Tarvek told Grandmother who they're dealing with [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20170102 only minutes ago], but it's never safe to assume Grandmother doesn't know something) and be just as casually disarmed.
* [[Sweater Girl]]
* [[Unsportsmanlike Gloating]]
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* [[Up to Eleven]]: The scene where she downs the [[Psycho Serum]] is literally called "Zola goes up to eleven." [[One of Us|Ah, Foglios, we love you]].
* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: ''Hoo'' boy...
* [[Villain Decay]]: {{spoiler|Subverted. She undecays completely over the span of two strips, and then some. Then goes from an incredibly dangerous intelligent opponent to an incredibly dangerous ''physical'' one when she downs the Moveit 11. Then, she decays AGAIN to an extent when she goes completely utterly psycho, and undecays yet AGAIN when she gets back to the hospital. Then becomes a major threat, but not too subtly to be marked as such. Then tries to act up before about half of the "Europa's top 10 scariest people" list, with half of the rest on the way (which she theoretically ''could'' predict) }}.
* [[Xanatos Speed Chess]]: She is "''very good'' at improvising when things go wrong."
* [[:Category:Yandere|Yandere]]: If [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110103 this page] is of any indication.
 
 
=== Martellus von Blitzengaard ===
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----
Tropes associated with Martellus:
* [[A Father to His Men]]: You'd expect him to be a [[Bad Boss]] given all his other personality flaws, but Martellus is actually a very ''good'' boss. He makes a point to know all of his immediate subordinates and keep track of their individual interests and achievements, takes good care of his troops, and is one of the very few Sparks in Europa whose constructs are devotedly loyal to him because they ''want'' to be. When Andronicus Valois killed and then re-animated several of Martellus' household knights, he was not only enraged at the desecration but took time out from a desperate battle to end their suffering personally.
{{quote|'''Martellus:''' You were Prince Huvart Desplains, Protector of West Lesalle. Go now, to your rest.}}
** It even shows in the small details. In one scene during the Corbetite arc one of Martellus' Sparkhound constructs is whining about having to ditch his favorite suit of armor to escape a magnetic trap and is asking if his new suit of armor can be red, because he likes red. Martellus sarcastically replies that he'll make it shiny red with golden tassels if the idiot will just ''move''! Except that later on during the Paris arc we see that minion again, and his new suit of armor ''is'' shiny red with golden tassels. Even when made under stress and when it's not at all important, Martellus keeps his promises to his people.
* [[Bad Boss]]: Martellus once threw a would-be [[Grand Vizier]] out of an airship to his death. Admittedly, that was more of a case of [[Too Dumb To Live]] because said advisor had 1) ordered an artillery barrage on a sacred monastery and neutral sanctuary that Martellus was trying to negotiate with 2) responded to Martellus' objections to this idiocy by bragging about his 'genius' at establishing a 'show of strength' 3) got a significant fraction of Martellus' fleet destroyed when the Corbettites returned fire 4) openly stated ''in hearing of the rest of the command staff'' that he considered his new king to be an idiot who should just do everything his chief advisor told him like a good little puppet and 5) [[Must Have Caffeine|did all this before Martellus had had his morning coffee]]. At this point it was essentially an Ankh-Moporkian suicide, really.
* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]] / [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130626 Turned out] to be more competent than previously suspected. Didn't just about everyone in that family?
{{quote|'''Violetta''': Those are ''Tweedle's?'' But he was always- I mean- He made these little ''bear things''. They... they sang.}}
* [[Didn't Think This Through]]: It's a definite pattern with this guy. He's had 95% of a great plan almost every time he's ever made a major play, and that last 5% he missed is what got him stomped. Has tapered off since he started working with the protagonists, largely because he now has peers available to point out what he's missing.
** Also played with in that several times ''Martellus'' has been the one to point out when the ''heroes'' weren't fully thinking it through.
* [[Enemy Mine]]: Despite having tried to kill most of the protagonists multiple times and abduct Agatha, Martellus legitimately ''despises'' the Other. And all parties involved have come to the realization that if they don't unify against the Other then there won't be a Europa left for them to fight over.
{{quote|'''Martellus:''' I will not insult your intelligence by playing the innocent. But I ''swear'', I would put aside this crown in an ''instant'' if I knew it would end the machinations of the Other.}}
** Has been approaching [[The Friend Nobody Likes]] territory recently, with Martellus actually joining the party. Even if they ''still'' can't stand him.
* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: Martellus doesn't hesitate at kinslaying, mass assassinations, abusing [[Sacred Hospitality]] via technicalities, poisoning, kidnapping, or altering a woman's biochemistry so that without regular bodily contact (although not ''that'' kind of contact, simply grabbing his arm will work fine) she'll go into shock and die, or very many other things. But even he has no ruck with Lucrezia Mongfish's use of mind-control wasps, stealing other peoples' bodies, or similar atrocities.
{{Quote|'''Lucrezia:''' You! You want to be the Storm King? Help me and all of Europa will be yours!
'''Martellus:''' I am ''already king'', and ''you'' are a plague upon the land!}}
* [[Evil Counterpart]]: To both Tarvek and Gilgamesh. Like Tarvek he's a primary heir to the legacy of the Storm King and a high-ranking nobleman raised in the whirl of Valois family intrigue, but where Tarvek is a manipulator and diplomat who hides behind a mask of foppery Martellus is a general and warrior who leads people to underestimate him via a facade of muscle-bound oafishness. And like Gilgamesh he's a [[Large And In Charge]] killing machine who's good at strategy but lousy at the softer touch, but Gil is a good-hearted young man who has to be provoked before he unleashes his inner warrior, while Martellus is a lethally-edged aggressor who only rarely indulges - or even admits to - his inner romantic.
* [[He Who Fights Monsters]]: He says this is his ''intention'': "And I know this: the best way to catch a '''monster''' -- is to be a '''bigger monster'''."
* [[Hidden Depths]]: After spending most of the chronicle to date apparently being just a charismatic brute trying to rampage his way to a shiny hat, Martellus [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200217 reveals in a discussion with Krosp] that he has what may very well be the least medieval understanding of political science out of the entire cast. He understands that rulership is a mental construct, not a divine right, and that it's a two-way street.
** And when his 'Touch of the King' withdrawal starts to kick in at Albia's party and his bodyguard suggests just dragging Agatha over to fix it, Martellus [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200713 categorically forbids her to] and instead politely asks Agatha for her assistance- in direct contravention to how he'd treated her and forcibly abducted her earlier. Give the man credit, he can learn from his mistakes.
* [[Mad Scientist]]: Specializes in biology, including fancy poisoning and Sparkhounds. Oh, and these singing "little bear things".
** "Fancy poisoning" included biochemical tampering that made Agatha '''need''' to be close to him. [[Power Perversion Potential]] much? This one {{spoiler|also backfired}}, however.
* [[McNinja]]: And a top-tier one.
{{quote|'''Smoke Knight''': Your Grace, with all ''respect'', von Blitzengard is ''good'' at this sort of thing. Better than ''any of us''. It's one of the reasons he was able to make ''his'' claim to the title ''stick''. }}
** To underline the above, Tarvek survived a childhood marked by most of his extended family trying to kill him by frantically playing [[Xanatos Speed Chess]] and abusing [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]. Martellus survived it by simply ''butchering every assassin they sent''. The 'Fortress of Storms' sequence in particular (where the above quote is from) is noteworthy; Martellus gets teleported into an isolated mountain redoubt full of Smoke Knights and relatives who all want him dead, and three days later all the survivors are bending the knee to him because he's still been ''winning''. The guy might be a clumsy planner sometimes and he still can't beat absolute top-tier opponents like Gilgamesh, but he's a legitimately grade-A killing machine.
* [[No Social Skills]]: Played with. Martellus is ''very'' good at oratory, pageantry, military leadership, and being charismatic in general... but he is absolutely the worst person in the entire chronicle at romance. ''Klaus'' is a master of suave compared to this guy. And [[Cannot Talk to Women]] would be an improvement from where he is, because at least then he wouldn't have his mouth open to be continually shoving both of his big fat feet into. An example of one of his ''best'' attempts to pay a compliment to Agatha is noted below. (Note particularly that his sister, the last person speaking, is justly famed for never losing her composure in public.)
{{quote|'''Agatha:''' (with barely-contained hostility) ''Fine.'' I don't trust you, but I'll believe you.
'''Martellus:''' Hah! You see, Seffie? Our children will be ''magnificent!''
'''Seffie:''' ARRRRGGGH! ''This'' is why ''YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TALK TO MY FRIENDS!''}}
* [[Not So Different]]: Not that he's aware of it, but there's [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20140411 a scene] when he's wondering whether Euphrosynia Heterodyne had any genuine affection for the Storm King, and his wistful expression is '''very''' much like the one Tarvek shows at sentimental moments.
* [[Villainous Valor]]: Say whatever else you can about him, the man is no coward. He's led his men from the front in every battle, charged small armies single-handed, gone toe-to-toe with the lich king Andronicus Valois despite being hopelessly outclassed, and tackled Lucrezia while she was in Second-Breakthrough god-mode.
 
{{quote|'''Oggie:''' Hyu is a real pain in de neck, but hyu gots de schtuff to be a king. No qvestion.}}
 
== Assorted ==
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----
Tropes associated with Castle Heterodyne:
* [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot]]: The castle is badly damaged, but since it was originally imbued with intelligence by a Heterodyne even the fixed parts aren't exactly sane.
* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]: The castle has a very ''slaughter focused'' view of the world.
* [[Big Fancy Castle]]
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* [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath]]
* [[Laughably Evil]]
* [[Literal Genie]]/[[Jackass Genie]]: Castle Heterodyne follows orders of a confirmed Heterodyne. If left any room for interpretation, it [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080822 prefers to interpret allthose orders it's given] in whatever way allows it to have the most fun, for which read: "cause the most casualties and destruction".
* [[Malevolent Architecture]]
** [[Death Course]]
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* [[I'm a Humanitarian]]: "Snapper" Boikov and "[http://twitter.com/Othar/status/6120430016 Jack A'Horned]".
* [[Mad Scientist]]: Goes without saying. There's even a mad ''Social'' scientist.
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Possibly if Snaug is pronounced like 'snog'. Kissing. A small [[:Category:Yandere|hint]]? Probably would classify as a [[Punny Name]], too.
* [[The Mole]]: Professor Ticktoffen, who is apparently the "inside man" for both the Baron and the Knights of Jove. {{spoiler|He's actually the inside man for ''himself''. And he knows how to control the Castle.}}
* [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]]: with a big side order of murderers, sadists, and psychopaths.
* [[Sanity Slippage]]: Occurs to Snaug, apparently. Her boss, Mittlemind, wipes her memory yearly for her birthday. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20101215 This] may be a hint of losing it or just her [[:Category:Yandere|Yandere]] getting stronger.
* [[Science-Related Memetic Disorder]]: Mezzasalma, Diaz and Mittlemind.
* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: Merlot was [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20021202 a jerk early on] and didn't get less so. Compare him then to [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090511 now.] He has totally lose it by [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090527 here.]
* [[:Category:Yandere|Yandere]]: [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100908 Snaug]. Just... [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20101215 Snaug.]
 
=== Sanaa Wilhelm/{{spoiler|Sanaa Tryggvassen}} ===
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* [[Fan Girl]]: For her brother (no, not like that) - at least, when she isn't furious with him.
* [[Long-Lost Relative]]: To {{spoiler|Othar.}}
* [[Rose-Haired Girl]]: Sanaa Whilhelm
* [[Shipper on Deck]]: [[Foe Yay|Othar/Gil]]
* [[What Are You in For?]]: Asks this to Agatha when they first meet.
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A mixed bag of Sparks, nobles, and young people with connections to both, kept on Castle Wulfenbach to be schooled... and to [[Hostage Situation|discourage stupid behavior in their families]].
 
Many of them remain as of yet un-named but two, SleiphnirSleipnir O'Hara and Theopholous DuMedd, have recently re-entered the story. Theo is notable as Theohe is Agatha's closest known living relative, the son of Lucrezia's sister.
----
Tropes associated with the Castle Wulfenbach Students:
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* [[Hostage Situation]]
* [[Meaningful Name]]: DuMedd was originally [[Red Shirt|"doomed"]], until the Foglios got [[Mauve Shirt|attached]], and Sleipnir was Agatha's roommate - someone to "sleep near".
* [[Put on a Bus]]: Those trapped in Mechanicsburg, and before that, Zulenna.
* [[The Storyteller]]: Theo.
* [[Runaway Fiance]]: Sleipnir - when Agatha met her on Castle Wulfenbach, [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20030609 she had an arranged marriage waiting for her back home], but by the time she met up with Agatha again in Castle Heterodyne, [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100906 she'd run off with Theo].<ref>A line in the novelization suggests that she'd already slept with Theo at least once before first meeting Agatha: she mentions looking for her shoes under his bed.</ref>
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[[File:generals1.png|frame]]
The leaders of the Jägermonsters. There were originally [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120514 eight of them], however one was killed in battle, leaving only seven:
* "Dose three old ogres". They seem to act as military advisers for Klaus. There are three of them, General Zog (the big one, top left), General Khrizhan (the huge one who seems to be in overall command, bottom left) and General Goomblast (the ''freaking massive'' one, top right).
** General Zog: the big one in the purple fez, though shorter than e.g. Dolokhov, and downright tiny next to Goomblast. Left-handed or ambidextrous.
* "Mamma" Gkika is [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/info/cast/cast08.php another general], and one of only two female Jägers seen so far (bottom right). She runs the bar/hospital where incapacitated Jägers wait for a Heterodyne to come along to heal them up.
** General Khrizhan: the one without a hat and gold-capped fangs who is the best at "cheatink - but in der ''goot'' vay!" and who also "knows pipple!".
* General Gargantua, who appeared after Agatha was proclaimed the new Heterodyne.
** General Goomblast: the ''freaking massive'' one.
** The fourth novelisation mentions that Jagers tended to take up hobbies to help "stay in touch with their slowly-receding humanity". Zog specialized in the study of military strategy and how to adapt new technologies to the battlefield, Khrizhan specialized in human psychology and psychological warfare, and Goomblast was the Jagers' chief military historian.
* "Mamma" Gkika is [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/info/cast/cast08.php another general], and one of only two female Jägers seen so far. She runs the bar/hospital where incapacitated Jägers wait for a Heterodyne to come along to heal them up.
* General Gargantua ([http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20180402 Koppelslav]?): appeared after Agatha was proclaimed the new Heterodyne.
* General Zadipok, who is currently missing for unknown reasons.
* A "tricky general" who is said to be [[Secret Keeper|"keeper of many secret things."]] Also, the spymaster of Heterodynes. He apparently wishes to remain hidden until the Other is removed from Agatha's mind. After some increasingly transparent hints, it was revealed (Tarvek solved the puzzle and got it confirmed). Soon after which the problem was indeed solved, and he could introduce himself properly.
----
Tropes associated with The Jäger generals:
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* [[Cavalier Competitor]] / [[Spirited Competitor]]: They don't hold grudges over any finished campaigns. And apparently keep kill-counts, arguing with each other over which foes did "count" and which weren't enough of sport. Goomblast also liked the idea of [[Combat by Champion]], though his opponents declined.
* [[Combat Pragmatist]]: The Generals make a game of who can [[Body Count Competition|score the most kills]] in a battle. General Khrizhan points out the others' cheating, not because he thinks it's unfair, but because he doesn't want to get called out for doing ''everything'' the others are doing.
{{Quote|'''General Zog''': <small>hmf</small>. Iz ''still cheating''. But in der ''goot'' vay!}}
* [[Dark Action Girl]]: Mamma seems to be half way between this and [[Lady of War]].
* [[Femme Fatalons]]: Seen on Mamma [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080423 here]. And she keeps them perfectly lacquered even [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20111230 when] in "[[Nonuniform Uniform|uniform]]".
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* [[Implausible Fencing Powers]]: General Goomblast is capable of disarming his enemies such that their (poisoned) swords impale them. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120523 While fighting six on one].
* [[Improbable Weapon User]]: Gargantua can apparently throw his [[Spikes of Villainy]] with deadly accuracy that should be impossible with their curved shape.
* [[Lightning Bruiser]]: At least, {{spoiler|General Goomblast}}. A Wulfenbach assault team seeing a huge Jäger General with a light fencing sword missed the clue why they should be terrified. Oh, and he also seems to be ambidextrous.
* [[More Teeth Than the Osmond Family]]: While standard for most Jägers, Goomblast takes [[Up to Eleven|a bit further]].
* [[Nice Hat]]: General Zog and General Gargantua (like most Jägers) both have one. Fandom is divided as to whether Goomblast's skullcap (seemingly riveted to his skull) counts. Khrizhan lacks one, a very rare thing in a Jäger. However, in [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080512 this strip], we're told [[Noodle Incident|sometime in the past]] he had to abandon a very impressive uniform in Mamma Gkikka's, which got recycled for Gil. Gil's hat may also be built out of (or on) Khrizhan's.
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=== Jenka ===
[[File:jenka 8127.png|frame]]
The female Jäger (one of only two we have met so far, the other being Mama Gkikka) who seems to be Da Boyz immediate superior officer but who spends quite a bit of time away from them. She was away when Da Boyz were caught by Othar and then left again to get orders about Agatha. She has turned up and left again a time or three since. Her mysteriousness, femaleness, and general awesomeawesomeness has lead to a lot of speculation about her nature and origins.
----
Tropes associated with Jenka:
* [[Action Girl]] / [[Dark Action Girl]]: Hard to call exactly but it has to be one of these two.
* [[Amazing Technicolor Population]]: Grey or grey-green skin, not that impressive but it does give us ''yet another'' choice of Jäger skin tone.
* [[Ambadassador]]: She is [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20151209 the Head of Mechanicsburg diplomatic corps]. Not entirely unflappable, but for a Jäger who didn't reach General status yet, she keeps her temper in check pretty well.
* [[Arrow Catch]]: On her first appearance, when a panicked guard shoots at her. She doesn't even flinch.
{{quote|'''Jenka:''' I forgive. Once.}}
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* [[Breast Plate]]: Not initially, but contrast her [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20050606 first appearance] with her [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071217 later one.]
* [[Cool Mask]]
* [[Cute Little Fangs]]: Shockingly for a Jäger, '''averted''' -- when she's finally seen without a scarf covering her lower face, her teeth look completely like those of a normal human. She's not precisely embarrassed by that, but makes clear that it's been a bit of an issue with some of the male Jägers. Presumably the less-intelligent among them think that without fangs, she's not truly a Jäger ... or maybe they regard her as disfigured.
** Confronting Andronicus Valois, the original Storm King, Jenka mentions that '''he''' yanked her fangs out 200 years ago. She's naturally unhappy with him.
* [[Cute Monster Girl]]
* [[Drop-In Character]]: Shows up every once and while, with very little warning of her appearance.
* [[Everything's Worse with Bears]]: Füst. And he is awesome.
* [[Funetik Aksent]]: As of mid-December 2015, it's shown that she's capable of ''dropping the accent'' in order to pass as a more-or-less normal human, "'''Lady''' Jenka -- mysterious and eccentric beauty!" (The "eccentric" part refers to having Füst with her, instead of keeping a yappy little dog as most noblewomen do.)
* [[Nice Hat]]: No Jäger should be without one.
* [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]]: No actual word on her age, but the last generation of Heterodynes don't seem the type to make Jägers and she seems to have seniority over Da Boyz.
** The Storm King -- '''''THE''''' Storm King, 200 years undead -- shows up ... and addresses her by name....
* [[Super Soldier]]
* [[White-Haired Pretty Girl]]
* [[Women Are Wiser]]: She comes across as being calmer and careful than Da Boyz. Though [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20170324 she's up for a good brawl]... Well, when Jägers returned to their proper hierarchy as much as possible, she turned out to be [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20151209 the head of Mechanicsburg diplomatic corps], so likely to be one of the most "presentable" Jägers in the entire pack.
* [[Women Are Wiser]]: She comes across as being calmer and careful than Da Boyz.
 
=== Master Payne's Circus of Adventure ===
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** [[Memetic Badass]]: Among the Jaegers, at least. [in-universe]
** [[Retired Badass]]
* [[Black Comedy Rape]]: Describes his retirement as following being "sort-of" abducted and [[Everything's Better with Princesses|"ravished by a wild princess"]] (being a Foglio production, the artwork for ''her'' is pure [[Fetish Fuel]]). His story doubles as [["It's Not Rape If You Enjoyed It"]], [[Victim Falls For Rapist]], and [[Double Standard Rape (Female on Male)]]. Though he seems to be [[Unreliable Narrator|having a little too much fun]] telling the story, so possibly he was just trying to [[Squick]] his grand-daughter.
{{quote|Heh, even today your grandmother is a ''remarkable'' woman.}}
* [[Chef of Iron]]: Again, he makes gourmet sandwiches and out-fights Jägers. Often at the same time.
* [[Defeating the Undefeatable]]: He plays this...to the '''JÄGERS''', with his [[Nice Hat]] as the reward. To quote:
{{quote|I'm just a '''human'''. Rode with the '''Jägers'''. [[Punctuated! For! Emphasis!|Never. Lost. A. Fight.]]}}
* [[Foregone Conclusion]]: It was obvious that Maxim was going to get Old Man Death's hat as soon as you saw it - while the purple hat with red trimming looked out of place on an old man in an orange shirt and an apron, it already matched Maxim's outfit perfectly. It actually looked pretty similar to his old hat, only more ornate.
* [[Former Teen Rebel]]: As was mentioned, "rode with the Jägers", i.e. was an auxiliary to the most [[Badass]] and evil army in Europe. Now runs a sandwich shop.
* [[Papa Wolf|Grandpapa Wolf]]: The fight with Maxim over his hat was going fine, and was fairly friendly, until Maxim tried to hit on the waitress, his granddaughter.
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* [[Moral Dilemma]]: Maxim forces him to choose between his reputation as a sandwich-maker and his hat. He chooses his reputation.
** Subverted, he's apparently fine with it, he really didn't care about the hat, and he told his granddaughter "your grandmother always hated that hat".
*** Plus the Jager used his brains in the end instead of his fighting skills. Old Man Death didn't know the "Prince of Sturmhalten's Big Bet" - Maxim had to explain that example of [[Hash House Lingo]] to him, and ''that'' was how Maxie won the battle.
* [[Nice Hat]]: Played with, he freely admits his hat is nothing special, but the fact that it is '''his''' makes it irresistible to the Jägers.
* [[Not So Different]]: When he gets angry enough, he starts talking in the same [[Funetik Aksent]] as the Jägers.
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=== Airman 3/c Axel "The Unstoppable" Higgs ===
[[File:higgs.png|frame]]
Rescued the Baron from a crashed airship after a major confrontation. The Unstoppable hohonorific is well-earned; he's introduced by a flashback to a scene where he sustains two broken arms, a broken leg, an infected bite and a bullet in his other leg—and still completes his mission.
norific is well-earned; he's introduced by a flashback tto a scene where he sustains two broken arms, a broken leg, an infected bite and a bullet in his other leg—and still completes his mission.
----
 
Tropes associated with Higgs:
* [[Almighty Janitor]]
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* [[Determinator]]: [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070330 "Let me tell you about Airman Higgs..."]
* [[Extreme Melee Revenge]]: Once {{spoiler|Zola}} pissed him off, he wasn't pulling his punches.
* [[Hidden Depths]]: {{spoiler|Otilia/the Castle}} recognizes him, which means that there is a lot more to him than we believed. We just don't know what yet.
** May or may not be a Jager General (with references to a seventh General choosing to remain hidden until the Other is exorcised from Agatha.
** He called Tarvek "sir." [[Magnificent Bastard|We know what Tarvek is like.]] There may be a connection we don't know about yet...
** It seems he's seen {{spoiler|older Heterodynes drink from the Dyne and specifically compares Agatha's reaction to "Old Igneous"}}.
** As of [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20101018 this comic], it appears that Higgs might just {{spoiler|be a Jager. His response to Zola mocking Zeetha is "Yes... but I vas starting to ''like'' her." He has never displayed a hint of an accent before. Looking back at all of his appearances, his ears are noticeably pointy, much like the Jagers}}.
*** Note he has that [[Nice Hat]] all the time as well.
*** This speculation just got new legs now that the Jagergenerals have mentioned a "tricky general" who is keeping hidden.
** At the very least, the Jagers know him. He was brought to Mama Gkika's for treatment, and [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080613 here] Dimo deflects Gil's question about that while giving Higgs a conspiratorial smile.
** Tarvek notes that he got permission to leave his post from {{spoiler|''Agatha''}}.
** Mamma Gkika [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120430 knows Higgs personally], mentioning that he is always up to his "tricks."
* [[Hotblooded Sideburns]]
* [[Implacable Man]]
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** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110103 He's back!] Which means she probably tried to run. Silly girl.
* [[Kubrick Stare]] . Has no one told Zola that you should [[Beware the Nice Ones]] ?
* [[Lightning Bruiser]]
* [[Made of Iron]]: Gets bashed into a wall by a powerful clank and dusts himself off like it was nothing [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100217 here]
** Also [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100913 here] where he lands from a long fall with simple bent knees as opposed to Zeetha who has to roll and their quarry who has to use a zip line/grappling pistol.
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** {{spoiler|"I vas starting to ''like'' her..."}}
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110309 "That's a date!"]
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20150928 "I. Love. You." "And I, you."] Not too much ambiguity about '''that'''.
* [[More Than Meets the Eye]]: Him in general, but his "map" talk especially. He knows a ''lot'' more than we do.
* [[More Than Meets the Eye]]: Him in general, but his "map" talk especially. He knows a ''lot'' more than we do. {{spoiler|Otilia/the Castle}} recognizes him, which means that there is a lot more to him than we believed. We just don't know what yet.
** He called Tarvek "sir." [[Magnificent Bastard|We know what Tarvek is like.]] There may be a connection we don't know about yet...
** It seems he's seen {{spoiler|older Heterodynes drink from the Dyne and specifically compares Agatha's reaction to "Old Igneous"}}.
** Tarvek notes that he got permission to leave his post from {{spoiler|''Agatha''}}.
** At the very least, the Jagers know him. He was brought to Mama Gkika's for treatment, and [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080613 here] Dimo deflects Gil's question about that while giving Higgs a conspiratorial smile. Mamma Gkika [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120430 knows Higgs personally], mentioning that he is always up to his "tricks."
** As of [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20101018 this comic], it appears that Higgs might just be a Jager. His response to Zola mocking Zeetha is "Yes... but I vas starting to ''like'' her." He has never displayed a hint of an accent before. Looking back at all of his appearances, his ears are noticeably pointy, much like the Jagers'. Granted, we have seen non-Jäger inhabitants of Mechanicsburg with accent and ears.
*** Note he has that [[Nice Hat]] all the time as well.
*** Later suspected of being a Jäger General, specifically the seventh "tricky" General (i.e. most likely Heterodynes' chief of intelligence) who shall remain hidden until the Other is "exorcised" from Agatha. Later he was the one explaining how someone becomes a Jäger General.
{{Quote|'''Vole''' (full of remorse): '''Hy haff done all kinds ov horrible tings!'''
'''Higgs''': Kid? {{spoiler|We '''all''' did — and then we grew up.}} }}
*** The page 95 of volume 18 marked "Tarvek works it out". Tarvek has addressed him as "General," after noting that Higgs has probably had "lots and lots of practice" infiltrating armies. After which it's confirmed, just not explicitly. Soon after Agatha's "possession" is fixed, Higgs [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200212 confesses] to Zeetha specifically that he {{spoiler|is a Jäger without visible side effects}}.
*** The page 96 of volume 20 - finally reports to the Heterodyne.
* [[Nice Hat]]: Apparently he's a crewmen [[Shout-Out|of the ship]] [[Rozen Maiden]].
* [[Not So Stoic]]: When {{spoiler|Zeetha is stabbed.}}
* [[Only a Flesh Wound]]: [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110126 Apparently,] anyway.
* {{spoiler|[[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]]}}: {{spoiler|Not "only" a Jäger, but from one of the first batches — transformed by Vlad "The Blasphemous" Heterodyne himself}}. No wonder he got this much scar tissue despite being absurdly tough.
* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Higgs is fast when he's angry. {{spoiler|So fast that he's a near invisible blur of motion to someone already on a potentially fatal dose of stimulants}}. Oh dear.
* [[Scars Are Forever]]: Has such an [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?&date=20110309 epic map of scars on his chest] that it can be mistaken for ''hair'' at first glance.
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* [[The Stoic]]
* [[Unfazed Everyman]]
* [[Unreliable Narrator]]: The story that initially earned him the fans' love and respect was related by him to the group of soldiers that found him. It hasn't quite... meshed with what we've seen of him. Considering how [[Made of Iron]] we've seen he is, what Higgs went through to get the injuries Dr. Sun mentioned has to have been far, ''far'' worse than he reported.
** Just to be clear: It turns out he's ''more'' badass, not less. Considering how [[Made of Iron]] we've seen he is, what Higgs went through to get the injuries Dr. Sun mentioned has to have been far, ''far'' worse than he reported.
* [[Would Hit a Girl]]: He has no problems with getting into a truly vicious fistfight with {{spoiler|Zola}}, and he's not pulling his punches. Of course, neither is she...and she has a sword!
** And he [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110103 has no issues with breaking their knees, either.]
* [[Zen Survivor]]: Despite everything he's gone through, his expression of perpetual apathy has slippedvery exactlyseldom <s>four</s> five timesslipped since his first appearance. Five of those slips were: Gettinggetting bitten by DuPree, explaining his tale while being ''heavily'' drunk, being threatened by Zeetha, finding out his new boss is Gil, and {{spoiler|holding a critically wounded Zeetha in his arms while threatening Zola with... in what may be a Jäger accent}}.
 
=== The von MekkahnsMekkhans ===
[[File:vonmekkahn.png|frame]]
Carson von MekkahnMekkhan was the seneschal of Castle Heterodyne until he retired and passed the job on to his son, who died just days later when the Other attacked. When Baron Wulfenbach politely took over Mechanicsburg a few years later, Carson made it seem that the von Mekkahn family had gone extinct in the Other's attack, going into hiding under the alias of "Carson Heliotrope" and running Mechanicsburg in secret. Carson has since retired again and his grandson, Vanamonde, now runs the town from a coffee shop. After Agatha sparks out in Vanamonde's coffee shop, Carson helps her enter Castle Heterodyne.
----
Tropes associated with the von MekkahnsMekkhans:
* [[Bald of Evil]]: Carson, sort of. He probably wasn't both bald and evil simultaneously, but he's bald now and apparently served the evil Heterodynes ''before'' Agatha's heroic father and uncle—he rode with the Jägers in his youth and could describe Agatha's grandfather's usual reaction to invading war clanks.
* [[Big Brother Is Watching]]: So, the von Mekkhans are second only to the masters themselves… and those tend to be distracted from mundane matters most of the time. Vanamonde grew up dedicated to his "spider in a web" role. His career day essay in fifth grade apparently proclaimed "Muhahaha! Nothing shall happen in this town without my agents knowing about it!", or something similar enough that he recognised where the above statement comes from.
{{quote|'''Ivo Sharktooth''': Hyu vos vun ''creepy kid''.}}
* [[Bluff the Impostor]]: Carson [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070516 tries this] on Agatha at first, asking if Punch ever mentioned him. He is quite surprised that she knows Punch couldn't talk, though this still isn't enough to convince him.
* [[Fascinating Eyebrow]]: Young Vanamonde has shown a strong skill in this.
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* [[Skeptic No Longer]]: Agatha's performance in the coffee shop (and her coffee) make Vanamonde a believer. By the time Agatha forces Castle Heterodyne to back down from punishing Herr Diamant for expressing his skepticism, Carson is convinced she's real too.
* [[Spell My Name with an "S"]]: There's some disagreement on whether it's spelled Mekkahn, Mekkan, or Mekkhan.
* [[Legacy of Service]]: They are top level minions.
 
=== {{spoiler|Otilia}} Von Pinn ===
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* [[Hot Amazon]]: '''ALL''' the Jägers (and [[Perverse Sexual Lust|no few readers]]) want her.
* [[Magical Nanny|SCIENCE! Nanny]]: Of the "stern but fair"-variety.
* [[Mama Bear]]: ''[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040903 And how].'' It makes sense now that we know she's {{spoiler|the Muse of protection, downloaded into a construct body.}} '''DO NOT''' endanger the children under her protection.
** Even if you're one of them.
** {{spoiler|[[Parents in Distress|And it turns out the kids return her loyalty]].}}
* [[Not Quite Dead]]: Seriously, someone like Von Pinn is a threat as long as they can move a ''finger''.
* [[Parental Substitute]]: Yes, kids on ''Castle Wulfenbach'' had a [[The Baroness|vicious]] [[Mama Bear|guardian]] construct ''in loco parentis'' and were rather [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100512 attached] to her.
* {{spoiler|[[Really 700 Years Old]]}}: Von Pinn was originally {{spoiler|the muse Otilia, built two centuries or so ago for the Storm King.}}
* [[Super Soldier]]
* {{spoiler|[[Wetware Body]]}}: ItRevealed nowto appears that she isbe {{spoiler|the [[Ridiculously-Human Robots|Muse]] Otilia, transferred into a construct body as part of Lucrezia's experimentation}}. Why she did this, {{spoiler|where the body's original mind, if any, ended up}}, and what this will mean is still up in the air.
* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: "TRULY YOU ARE YOUR MOTHER'S CHILD!"
 
 
=== Sergeant Scorp ===
Sergeant Scorp of the Baron's Vespiary Squad.
----
* [[Cool Old Guy]], right down to the superb facial hair.
* [[Mauve Shirt]].
* [[Old Soldier]]: He knows his stuff. And people. And [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090121 mostly-unrelated military hardware].
 
 
=== Doctor Sun Jen-djieh ===
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One of Klaus's old friends. A Spark who runs the Great Hospital in Mechanicsburg. Prone to threatening to beat some sense into his friends and students who are being foolish—and then backing it up if need be.
 
----
Tropes associated with Doctor Sun:
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* [[Shout-Out]]: His name is an old transliteration of [[wikipedia:Di Renjie|Di Renjie]], the inspiration for ''[[Judge Dee]]''.
 
=== Xerxsephnia von Blitzengaard ===
 
=== Ruxala ===
The fine your lady who happens to be sister of Martellus and thus another cousin of Tarvek. If this was not enough of a fair warning, too bad. The Princess is the Order's emissary to Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, and as such is personally responsible for the two main forces in Europa successfully finding the common ground and keeping the truce. She also runs a "totally not romantical, just political expediency" campaign to marry him herself. Some of her actions and reactions, though, suggest there's more than expediency there — and has been for quite a few years.
Did not have time for return yet, but she's clearly set up for this. At very least as the most obvious candidate for an important position, because someone will have to run the weasel menagerie after she and her charges will be "unfrozen" and healed properly.
----
* [[The Beast Master (trope)|The Beast Master]]: The Vespiary's weasel handler.
* [[Berserker Tears]]: Of course she ''is'' distraught - they've hurt her weasels.
* [[The Hunter]]: Mostly took care of the weasels, but she ''is'' a dedicated and trained Vesper.
* [[Mauve Shirt]]: Introduced one panel before death of her commander, then avenged him, then was stabbed with a poisoned dirk, then got qualified first aid...
 
 
=== Xerxsephnia "Seffie" von Blitzengaard ===
{{quote|Oh, Seffie is a darling. It's one of the things that makes her so dangerous. Don't let your guard down.|'''Tarvek'''}}
The fine young lady who happens to be sister of Martellus and thus another cousin of Tarvek. If this wasn't enough of a fair warning, too bad. She is the Order's emissary to Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, and as such personally responsible for the two main forces in Europa successfully finding common ground and keeping the truce. She also runs a "totally not romantical, just political expediency" campaign to marry him herself. There's far more than mere expediency there, though, although it takes the readers years to find out.
----
Tropes associated with XerxephinaXersephnia:
* [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other]]: Played with as her character intro. In one panel the recently-freed-from-time-stasis Martellus, just after having reclaimed the Fortress of Storms by brute force, is angrily demanding that a prisoner tell him who was leading the conspiracy against him to be confronted by Seffie doing a massively [[Dramatic Entrance]] complete with [[Evil Laugh]], implying that she's the mastermind. In the ''next'' panel...
* [[The Chessmaster]]/[[Manipulative Bastard]]: She did jump in a dangerous mess when she got a good reason, but never was shown fighting so far - and probably never needed to do it with her own hands. She rose to a very high status in a backstabbing family where she had to compete with [[Magnetic Hero|borderline superhuman charisma of Sparks]] without (apparently) being one herself. This girl is not only very good at acting, she's brilliant in diplomatic skills. It should be no surprise that she gets along splendidly with those ''outside'' the clan — so far including Agatha, Gil and Colette Voltaire (daughter of the Master of Paris). Even when we ''know'' she is double-dealing (at very least), and half of the conditions she points out may "just happened to" be pulled together by her own deft hand, whatever she says is still hard to counter. In fact, usually what she says comes across as the most sensible thing in the given circumstances.
{{quote|'''Seffie:''' (glomping Martellus) Eeee! I'm so glad you're alive! You're my favorite brother!
'''Martellus:''' (loving smile) Aw Seffie... I've missed that creepy laugh of yours.}}
* [[The Chessmaster]]/[[Guile Hero]]/[[Manipulative Bastard]]: She does personally walk into dangerous situations when the prize is big enough (such as good relations with the incumbent Heterodyne, greater chance to get Gil, or saving Martellus who almost outsmarted himself to death), but never was shown fighting so far. And probably never needed to do it with her own hands.
** She rose to a very high status in a backstabbing family where she had to compete with [[Magnetic Hero|borderline superhuman charisma of Sparks]] without (apparently) being one herself. Also, they tend toward [[Large Ham|excessive enthusiasm]], while she always [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130826 plans ahead]. This girl is not only very good at acting, she's brilliant in diplomatic skills. It should be no surprise that she gets along splendidly with those ''outside'' the clan — including Agatha, Gil and Colette Voltaire (daughter of the Master of Paris); [https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20161216 here] are some of her other "her dear friends!" among the aristocracy (so far unnamed, and considering the hair coloration probably not related). Even when we ''know'' she is double-dealing (at very least), and half of the conditions she points out may "just happened to" be pulled together by her own deft hand, whatever she says is still hard to counter. In fact, usually what she says comes across as the most sensible thing in the given circumstances.
{{quote|'''Violetta''': Jeez, Seffie, I ''hate'' it when you're right...}}
* [[The Charmer]]: Such a nice young lady. Almost everyone likes Seffie. Including Tweedle and Gil, and now apparently Agatha. The scary enigmatic Grandmother apparently too... or at least Seffie implies this and no one objects.
* [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]]: The girl ''thrives'' in that family and the Order, what would you expect? She "supports" just about everyone, but only for her own reasons, so it happens...
{{quote|'''Krosp''': So you're related to that big chump back there?
'''Xerxsephnia''': (wincing) My brother. Yes.
'''Krosp''': You've pretty much sent him to Wulfenbach, you know. [[Big Screwed-Up Family|Your family members]] are ''my kind of people''... I'm told that's ''not a compliment''.}}
** It's important to note that it wasn't necessarily irrevocable. At the time Seffie 'left' Martellus behind, Martellus already had a flying war-clank inbound to extract him. And from what we have seen later, she probably could try [[Please Spare Him, My Liege|personal intercession]] ("coincidentally" also "showing Gil her softer side") as Plan B. Seffie's job was to get Agatha to safety and her horse could only hold two people.
** Later she organized and participated in a covert operation to save Martellus at significant risk to her own life, when she had basically a free pass to defect to Team Agatha already waiting. She does seem to genuinely love the big jerk.
* [[Dysfunction Junction]]: She's in ''that'' family. This should already say something.
* [[Emphasize Everything]]: Seffie tends to talk rather ''expressively''. But occasionally [[Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping|just drops it]], which suggests it's a deliberate act too.
* [[Evil Laugh]]: She's ''trained'' herself to do it ''just right''! Know your audience, indeed.
{{quote|'''Martellus''': Aw... Seffie - I've missed that ''creepy laugh'' of yours.
'''Xerxsephnia''': Hee hee! Isn't it ''good?!'' ...but I'm still working on the ''harmonics''.}}
* [[Good Cop, Bad Cop]]: She knows that her brother is not very good at being likeable, and can work with that. Then there was a time Seffie traveled with Sparafucile — one of her Smoke Knights, who boasted being so good at intimidation that she rarely ever needs to kill anyone.
{{quote|'''Martellus:''' But why are we splitting up?
'''Seffie:''' Because, my dear, you've been boorish, tyrannical, and an all-around beast, and now [Agatha] ''doesn't like you''. If I show up with you she won't like ''me'' either, and things will be ''so'' much easier if she likes me.}}
* [[Hoist By Her Own Petard]]: Despite being madly in love with Gilgamesh Seffie has managed to keep him utterly unaware of the fact via her considerable talents as an actress, and has managed to seamlessly disguise her dogged pursuit of him over the years as merely being pragmatic power politics. (Which to be fair it actually would be). She does this due to having been raised in a [[Deadly Decadent Court]] where exposing one's true feelings and vulnerabilities was, to put it mildly, strongly discouraged and because she's already aware Gilgamesh's heart belongs to Agatha so she apparently believes she can only hope to hook him via his intellect. The irony is of course that Seffie simply ''admitting she actually likes Gilgamesh for himself'' and not just because he's the Wulfenbach heir would almost certainly work far better than anything else she's tried, because that's how Agatha hooked Gilgamesh in the first place.
* [[In-Series Nickname]]: Virtually ''everyone'' calls her "Seffie", even on formal occasions. Only total strangers ever use her real name 'Xersephnia', and sometimes not even then.
* [[Lovable Alpha Bitch]]: Despite being an incredibly wealthy princess and one of the chief political manipulators of an extended family positively ''infamous'' for backstabbing and manipulation, essentially everyone in the narrative still likes Seffie. Her infamously cold-hearted and manipulative grandmother holds Seffie as her "prize pupil". Her ruthless brute of a brother positively dotes on her. Even her ''opponents'', such as Gilgamesh, still like her (if not as much as she'd wish in Gil's case). Even Agatha, who is her chief romantic rival and who detests her brother to the point of barely being able to avoid punching him whenever she sees him, still genuinely likes Seffie. As the header quote above demonstrates, Seffie's most devious relative readily acknowledges that she has positively ''weaponized'' her likeability.
** Seffie's ability to be liked has even crossed the fourth wall. Several discussion threads in various forums have contained multiple comments along the lines of 'I like Seffie and want her to win - even when I ''shouldn't!!'''.
* [[Master Actress]]: She makes Zola look like a clumsy amateur trying too hard.
* [[Obfuscating Insanity]]: Not much, but occasionally she acts crazier than she is. Between ''training to'' perform maniacal laughter just right and [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20151030 thisusing fits to cover her other shenanigans].
* [[Politically-Active Princess]]: Literally a princess, as her older brother was a prince (and is now arguably a king). And of all the members of her family we've seen so far, Seffie is second only to her ultra-Machiavellian grandmother at politics and diplomacy. The family doesn't hesitate to use her as their envoy on their most delicate negotiations, such as their attempted alliance with Baron Gilgamesh Wulfenbach. Of course, that's also where she ''wants'' to be: near Gilgamesh.
* [[Proper Lady]]
* [[Sanity Has Advantages]]: Remember how the pecking order on Castle Wulfenbach was to large degree defined by "degree of sparkiness", and how Klaus personally doesn't think much of "mundane" nobles and their games? This factor does not seem to hinder Seffie at all, and she is constantly dealing with nobility -, [[Mad Scientist]]s and not. From what we have seen, she plays the voice of sanity and is heeded as such, running negotiations with the crazier big fish quite well.
* [[Unlucky Childhood Friend|Unlucky School Days Friend]]: Suggested with regard to Gil. Whose letters she used to intercept "since she was a child".
{{Quote|'''Xerxsephnia''' (after admitting Gil hasn't come to the party): <small>You think I'm ''silly''. I ''know'' you ''always have''.</small>
'''Colette''' (smiling sympathetically): I ''do'' -- but if we can't be silly about affairs of the heart — then we're no better than ''clanks''.}}
* [[Xanatos Speed Chess]]: After the ball, we see her pulling three of those one after another. She used an opening to get Tarvek together with Agatha in England (this did succeed only by accident, as he was intercepted by three different parties). Right after they arrived, she had to put together and personally run an operation to save Martellus from his own trick. Once she rested after that, played another game when Albia pushed her (possibly to keep Seffie and others busy), introducing "the new fashion from Paris" to save face and starting a mini-conspiracy to reinforce this move.
* [[Yandere]]: For Gilgamesh. But played with in that Seffie's a very ''polite'' yandere. Her reaction to Gil's being madly in love with Agatha is simply to try and set Agatha up with her cousin Tarvek (who is ''also'' madly in love with Agatha) so as to gently remove the obstacle without hurting anyone and even making her family a little happier. Seffie's even self-aware enough to know that Gil ''isn't'' going to just turn around and fall in love with her even if her romantic rival is cleared out of the way and so is instead setting things up so that if Gil ever gives up on marrying for love he will then [[Arranged Marriage|find it expedient to marry Seffie for political reasons]], at which point she will do her best to give him the happiest married life she can and hope his affection for her eventually grows over time. She's even by all appearances genuinely trying to be friends with ''Agatha'', or at the very least sincere not-enemies. Really, if it wasn't for the fact that Seffie has been obsessively pursuing Gil for years despite receiving no encouragement from him whatsoever, has been willing to sabotage her own family to try and get a shot at him, and also has a habit of stealing Gil's mail and smashing the occasional teacup in jealous frustration, she wouldn't even be this trope.
 
=== TheSimon GrandmotherVoltaire ===
Usually called just "Master of Paris". Thanks to his implants and perhaps other mad science, he is at least 200 years old and doesn't look decrepit in the least. He personally knew the Storm King and van Rijn, referring to the latter as having taught him.
The matriarch of the Storm Lords clan - Valois, Blitzengaards, Sturmvorauses and no doubt many others. We know she is a Princess, but the name was not given for a long, long time after she is first mentioned, because everyone knows her - for the outsiders she speaks for Storm Lords as a whole, and for the family, of course, she's "grandma".
----
Tropes associated with
* [[Electronic Eyes]]: His right eye appears to be replaced with a big artificial one.
* [[Heroic Neutral]]: He maintains Paris as the [[Truce Zone]] of Europa. With an iron hand.
* [[Mad Scientist]]
* [[Neural Interface]]: When he's connected, the city systems become extension of himself. It's just too taxing to do without a need.
* [[Old Master]]: One of the oldest [[Mad Scientist]]s - and humans in general - alive.
* [[Power Is Sexy]]: Old Voltaire certainly has a reputation on top of imposing looks and confidence. He's at least two centuries old, yet has a lot of offspring of different looks and ages - down to Colette, who seems to be in late twenties.
* [[Shout Out]]: To the Marquis de London, possibly.
 
=== Colette Voltaire ===
Master of Paris considers her a prospective "worthy heir". Tagged in The Works only as "Hero" and "Spy", but not "Spark", so probably ''not'' a [[Mad Scientist]] (when we meet her, because "breaking through" is a thing). After being plugged into city controls for a while she seems to break through, so may just be a "late bloomer", so to speak.
----
Tropes associated with Colette:
* [[Friendly Rivalry]]: Even Grandmother considers her being a genuine friend to Seffie... "as much as anyone from a rival House ''can'' be" [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20151005], and as Colette demonstrated before and later, she isn't oblivious of politics.
* [[I Am the Noun]]: {{spoiler|"{{smallcaps|I am Paris}}..."}}
* {{spoiler|[[Mad Scientist]]: She did finally break through.}}
* [[Neural Interface]]: A port implanted in her neck allows connection to the city systems, though she isn't supposed to "drive" the city without oversight of "Papa".
* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Pulls off [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20170616 a rare one-person version] against Drusus Beausoleil, immediately after he'd killed her father. Then again, the upside to your enemy having multiple bodies is that you get to kill him multiple times!
* [[Spirited Young Lady]]: She used to go on adventures with Gil, Wooster and others [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20151016], and occasionally still does. Also, she prefers to drive a [steam] car herself.
* [[Tall, Dark and Bishoujo]]: A stylish no-nonsense lady who has enough of admirers that some of them even started a ''[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20160115 club]'', though she dismisses them as [[Power Is Sexy|liking not as much herself as her status]] and thus social climbing.
* [[Worthy Opponent]]: Being implicitly placed among "the best strategists" by The Grandmother, no less. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20151005] {{spoiler|Before breaking through.}}
 
=== Dowager Princess Terebithia, aka 'Grandmother' ===
{{quote|Ah! Princess! You are as ''beautiful as ever!''
…Also, as [[Properly Paranoid|suspicious]], homicidal and unapologetic as ever.
|'''Mister Obsidian'''}}
The Grandmother. The matriarch of the Storm Lords clan - Valois, Blitzengaards, Sturmvorauses and no doubt many others. The Dowager Princess of Sturmhalten, lately living in [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20160914 her Paris residence]. Her name was not given for a long, long time after she is first mentioned, because everyone knows her — for the outsiders she speaks for Storm Lords as a whole, and for the family, of course, she's "grandma".
----
Tropes associated with Grandmother:
* [[Arch Enemy]]/[[It's Personal]]/[[Green-Eyed Monster]]: She had a great and ''un''-friendly rivalry with Lucrezia Mongfish back when she was young. After Lucrezia gone bad, Terebithia purged the Order of Jove of her followers and influence (though not quite as thoroughly as she thinks, seeing how Prince Aaronev VI tried to bring Lucrezia back), proclaimed Lucrezia's loyalists the common enemy and made it stick (Smoke Knights of the Order must invoke truce between themselves to gang up on these). While having resources of all these powerful families denied to The Other and raising opportunity costs of more is obviously a good thing for Europa, this ''also'' means "the Grandmother" is quite happy when her family usurps pre-existing assets of The Other, and even goes along with using Slaver Wasps (though we didn't see her explicitly approve such a plan).
* [[The Chessmaster]]: She is on top of the situation more than most people, and occasionally reminds this by politely blindsiding her younger relatives with a revelation or warning.
* [[The Chessmaster]]: She is on top of the situation more than most people, and occasionally reminds this by politely blindsiding her younger relatives with a revelation or warning, or helps with "damage control".
* [[Cool Old Lady]]: She leads [[Big Screwed-Up Family|the contentious clan]] of [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|habitual backstabbers]] and assorted "duplicitous snakes" that spawned Tarvek, Tweedle and the rest. And is considered the ''undisputed'' authority there - reference to her decrees is treated as final judgement.
** She throws '''very''' classy parties,. asAs revealed in a conversation between two Smoke Knights.
{{Quote|'''Varpa''': ''This'' party is about to be crashed by a giant undead Storm King! ''The Master will be there.''
'''Malek''': Oh my gosh — the ''Master'', the ''Lady Heterodyne'', and the actual ''Storm King'' at her party?
'''Varpa''': I ''know''! Grandma's going to be ''thrilled''! }}
*** Before that, when her old party sleigh stolen by Agatha [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130902 blasted a big hole in the wall of a minor fortification],
* [[No Name Given]]: She's mentioned just as "Grandmother". Given that most of the clan seems to be trained as Smoke Knights, it's likely to also be an allusion to [[The Hashshashin|"the Grandfather" of Assassins]].
{{quote|'''Ishtvan''': Could it ''always'' do that?
'''Martellus''': How should ''I'' know? Knowing my Grandmother's parties, ''probably''. }}
* [[McNinja]]/[[Old Master]]: She's good enough to steal a pistol from {{spoiler|Zola}} (who was standing a little behind her) ''and'' either break or field-strip it, in a smooth move.
** Grandmother also got that close to {{spoiler|Zola}} in the first place by pulling a ninja swap, as she'd standing arm-in-arm with Tarvek until suddenly noticing that Tarvek had vanished and Grandmother had her by the arm instead. Given that {{spoiler|Zola}} is herself a high-end Smoke Knight and that sort of off-panel substitution maneuver is Violetta's signature move, its strongly implied that Grandmother is a ''very'' high-end Smoke Knight.
* [[No Name Given]]: Until old Voltaire met her, she was mentioned only as "Grandmother" or by title. Given that most of the clan seems to be trained as Smoke Knights, it's likely to also be an allusion to [[The Hashshashin|"the Grandfather" of Assassins]].
* [[Properly Paranoid]]: The quote at the start of this character section is Mr. Obsidian's response to Grandmother ''stabbing him in the face hard enough to break her dagger'' when he is reporting in, solely to check that he actually ''is'' Grandmother's [[Nigh Invulnerability|Nigh Invulnerable]] subordinate as opposed to someone else.
{{quote|'''Grandmother:''' Oh, spare me the outrage. Disguises are easy, and anyone can learn a code phrase.}}
 
=== Trelawney Thorpe ===
Tagged in The Works as "Hero, Legend, Spark" (not Spy, see below).
----
* [[Badass Abnormal]]: She is an actual Spark, but seems to work in the field all the time.
* [[Captain Patriotic]]: There are many operatives and/or [[Mad Scientist]]s on Queen's service, but Ms. Thorpe stands out as "Spark of the Realm" in the eyes of public, and enjoys great deal of trust from Albia.
* [[Changing Clothes Is a Free Action]]: She can [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20180112 remove] that purple over-dress very fast.
* [[Expy]]: Serious-minded [[Action Girl]] who is the most trusted protege of an ancient whimsical God-queen and is foreshadowed to one day possibly ascend to such immortal heights of power herself? If Albia is a [[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|Princess Celestia]] expy, then there's a reason Miss Thorpe is picking up the nickname "Trelawney Sparkle".
* [[Mad Scientist]]
* [[Not Me This Time]]: "[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20180115 And it's not her fault]". Even though no one said it is.
* [[Overt Operative]]: Wooster's colleague, but she mostly works on search and retrieval. Including abducted royal princesses.
* [[Shrouded in Myth]]: Blame the "terrible [[Penny Dreadful (medium)|penny sparklies]]" ''Trelawney Thorpe, Spark of the Realm''.
* [[Throw Down the Bomblet]]: She just happens to carry [[Sticky Bomb|shaped charges]]. This saves ever so much time!
* [[Willing Channeler]]: She can call on Albia directly when necessary.
 
=== Dimitri Vapnoople / Dr. Dim ===
----
* [[The Beast Master (trope)|The Beast Master]]: Used to be "[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20181116 the greatest monster wielder of the century]".
* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: He's just an unsettling evidence of Klaus's unsavoury experiments. Then we find out what sort of things he was making before plush bears (or even Krosp). And that Martellus used to be his apprentice. That he managed to ''really upset'' Albia, too (and survive). And that he was dealing with [[Cosmic Horror|otherworldly]] monsters…
* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]: We are introduced to the pitiful post-lobotomy version of the guy. Vapnoople used to be quite tough and aggressive, even for a Spark.
** Eventually Dr. Vapnoople is cured by the intervention of an extradimensional entity. He then goes on to fight and resoundingly defeat a Spark that had just achieved Second Breakthrough (demigod-ascension) with only a death ray he kit-bashed out of available scrap and sheer fighting skill, summon a host of Things Man Was Not Meant To Know from Beyond The Outer Gates, absolutely terrify the entire cast and everybody else in the zip code, and then gleefully dive into a dimensional portal leading horribly Elsewhere so as to try and learn all the eldritch secrets of the higher dimensions... ''all in the first ten minutes after being cured''. No ''wonder'' Klaus needed three years and his entire Empire to beat this guy.
* [[Evil Mentor]]: Wants to be one to Agatha. After all, he and Agatha's grandfather were fraternity buddies! Even when Agatha ''fights'' him he just praises her on her combat ability and says it's good that she can take care of herself.
* [[Evilutionary Biologist]]: He does not exactly have ill will toward the people he doesn't see as rivals, but made monsters because humanity as the uncontested apex predator tend to go decadent. Of course, his idea of optimal evolutionary pressure is so crazy even his creations can see it.
 
=== Queen Albia ===
Her Undying Majesty. The Sunken Queen (for the [[Fish People|Deepdwellers]]). Queen Albia of England.
Marital status unknown. May have some prince consort, or at least had recently, seeing how there are multiple Royal Princesses (in habit of being kidnapped).
She has some cephalopod subjects, and evidently had peaceful relations with [[Our Mermaids Are Different|Deepdwellers]] and [[Kraken and Leviathan|Great Cetaceans]]… until outside malicious interference. At the start of the comic, strained relations after a war.
----
* [[Brain Uploading]]: Just for memory archive, because human brain's storage capacity is not up to ''that'' age, no matter what.
* [[Expy]]: Whimsical, brightly-colored God-queen who loves practical jokes and is simultaneously worshipped yet seen as mostly harmless by her subjects, who is actually a terrifyingly ancient and wise being who maintains this facade because she doesn't want to frighten the mortals around her? Are we talking about Albia of England or [[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|Princess Celestia]]?
** Ever since the [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200501 candy hair incident], some fans have been calling her "Trollbia". As in 'Trollestia'.
* [[God-Emperor]]: One of the last Ancient God-Queens<ref>A few of the old ladies survived, but are hiding. Lucrezia (as The Other) may have reached the same power level, and even killed several God-Queens, but she didn't perfect this (and is somewhat bitter about Albia not having her problems), and in other ways still is a fake in the boots of a giantess; even if this wasn't always so, her only subjects are hijacked Geisters - nobody else openly recognizes her as "Goddess" when not in Geisters' presence, and few even know</ref>, though she seems to have some hopes for Agatha.
** Albia and those trying to "ascend" like her consider this ''sufficiently godlike'' state the next stage beyond Spark, even calling the process of attaining it the "''second'' breakthrough".
* [[Hidden Depths]]: We've already known that Albia was powerful, whimsical, charismatic, and even serious when it came time to really throw down, but during the grand ball sequence Albia suddenly started being ''devious'' as well... to the point that she had three of the most devious members of the most devious family in Europa (the Valois, of course) all hopelessly split up, distracted, and chasing shiny diversions instead of spotting the intrigue in progress in ''five minutes''.
* [[Living Lie Detector]]: Her ability to "see" minds isn't enough to omit asking questions, but it's good enough that deceiving her is not really an option. She doesn't bother to hide this.
* [[Mad Scientist]]: Used to be one, but moved to the next stage. Still can play the role nicely when she wants to.
* [[Odd Couple]]: Had a "beautiful, doomed affair" with… Klaus Wulfenbach of all people. Does not give her any [[Unbalanced by Rival's Kid|hang-ups about]] Gilgamesh, as far as can be seen.
* [[Royal We]]: The first ruler in the comic actually using it. Even [https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200605 in a quiet aside with her daughter]. Of course, given what we know of attempts at "second breakthrough" by Lucrezia Mongfish and {{spoiler|Lord Snackford}} (and her own behaviour immediately after the audience), this may be "hive mind We", meaning the Queen herself and her otherworldly symbiont. Or something weirder.
* [[Shapeshifter]]: She rapidly changes her hair and attire as a way of non-verbal communication; e.g. black dress and veil upon hearing of another God-Queen's demise, then shifting into that queen's shape (presumably) as a tribute to her achievements and memory.
** [[Sizeshifter]]: Among the other things she does seemingly at will.
* [[Sufficiently Advanced Technology|Sufficiently Godlike Abilities]]: Even Agatha in "first attempt" and Lucrezia immediately upon reclaiming her "godhood" had abilities from mental enhancement to unusual relationship with spacetime continuum to telekinesis. Albia does this for millennia, and is remotely connected to artifacts that give her more perks, so…
{{quote|'''Klaus''' (personality overlay): It is ''not'' magic — and, for Heaven's sake, don't ''call'' it that in front of Albia. Everything she does is subject to the laws of nature. Hers is a science ''so advanced'' it merely ''seems'' like —}}
* [[Telepathy]]: Occasionally uses it to communicate and cancel mind control. And manipulate memories to some degrees: for one, when Albia personally recites names of the fallen as a part of memorial service, listeners ''will'' remember those… effective immediately and indefinitely.
* [[Teleportation]]: Or some equivalent. She certainly has advanced understanding of space (as seen in the Queen's Henge), and does something to vanish and appear where she wants to. So far, used it only to give some guests (Gil and Tarvek, and later Martellus and Seffie) brief panic attacks.
* [[Time Abyss]]: "Her Undying Majesty" is not just a honorific. She got too many memories to carry them all. As to the changes, she was around back when Britain was connected to the continent...
** Albia is noticeably nostalgic for her circle of "sister Queens" (''that'' fun time ended about five millennia ago). She occasionally sends explorers, but "tries not to get her hopes up", and it was above-average news that at least Skifander is still around, if not Luheia herself.
** ...and [[Lonely at the Top]]: That could be ''only'' nostalgia, but Albia was also disappointed that Luheia wasn't replaced by another Immortal God-Queen, and quite excited to discover Agatha already have tasted and survived "god mode".
* [[Took a Level in Badass]]: When she was already Sufficiently Godlike, at that. She was barely saved by Sianna's [[Heroic Sacrifice]] when the enemy came for the Queens. Now ''[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20180718 unlike other surviving God-Queens]'' Albia sends her representatives and explorers everywhere and doesn't hide who and what she is. Which delivers an implicit yet obvious challenge: "I'm right here — go on, come at me ''now''". And when she met {{spoiler|Lucrezia ([[Grand Theft Me|sort of]])}} the next time, Albia specifically made a point that she was preparing for their eventual rematch:
{{quote|(deflects lightning) We have ''learned'', demon. You will not kill ''Us'' that easily!}}
* [[You Kill It, You Bought It]]: Albia started with spying upon and deposing the neighbour "Witch Queen" Lozz who was raiding her people. Then she walked to the mirror... The rest seem to have decided Albia is easy to deal with (she sort of is, and back then was really chatty), so they just brought her up to speed and eventually helped to achieve "second break-through", making her what she is now.
 
=== Princess Neena ===
One of the British Royal Princesses. Dark skin, wavy black hair, blue eyes, rather short — much like [https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200605 one of] Albia's current favourite shapes. [https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200504 First appearance]: right before the great ball. Have studied in Paris, seems to specialize in ancient history. Accidentally helped to move the [[Myth Arc]] along by fussing around when Zeetha was sparring with Bang.
----
* [[Love Dodecahedron]]: In the second layer. Neena [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200506 hotly defends the notion that "Prince Tarvek is nice"], then it turns out they [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200817 are on very good terms] back from Paris and then she tempts him with one of his obsessions to spend more time together.
* [[Not Me This Time]]: Has a reputation for making mess in museums, overblown but [https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200817 not ''entirely'' unjustified].
* [[Tomboy Princess]]: At least, Enthusiastic Adventuring Princess. She is [https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20201113 excitable] and [https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200504 easily bored by Court functions] (or just restless in general). We have seen her in a fancy dress on a sort-of-official event, but otherwise she prefers [https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20201111 pants-blouse-corset-jacket ensemble]. Either way, her colors are light or greenish blue and gold.
 
 
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