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** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20051130 Lady Vrin], in her nightgown (or whatever it is).
* [[Absurdly Spacious Sewer]]: '''''[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060501 Sturmhalten.]'''''
** Explained in the novelisation as a function of Sturmhalten having once been a much larger city and having been built over an extensive network of caverns.
* [[Accentuate the Negative]]
** The problem with kids these days.
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** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081103 Here] the crowd calls {{spoiler|Zeetha}} the Baron's daughter, which according to [[Word of God]] is actually true -- if the sketch of her father which looks exactly like Klaus is to be believed.
* [[Aerith and Bob]]
** The list of Heterodyne names in the crypt includes [[The Caligula|Caligula]], the [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060712 Red Heterodyne], the '''[[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Black]]''' Heterodyne, Mordred, Oxalof, and [[Everything's Better with Bob|Bob]]. Also, the world is full of people with weird names like Gilgamesh, Moloch, and Theopholous living right alongside people with ordinary names like Bill, Barry, and Agatha; no one comments on it or seems to consider it odd.
** In a side-story: [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090619 Flopsy, Mopsy, and Nietzsche].
* [[After-Action Patchup]]: After the fight with Dr. Merlot, Zola leaps to provide this for Gil.
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** Jägers are highly destructive, if not malicious, but "no-longer-a-Jäger" Vole manages to be axe crazy [[Up to Eleven|even]] by [[Blood Knight|their standards]].
** This is also pretty much a requirement for every Spark, especially when in their "madness place". The Heterodynes (with the exception of [[Big Good|the Heterodyne Boys]] and Agatha) deserve special mention [[Up to Eleven|for being batshit insane even by Spark standards]]. Naturally, other mad scientists tend to [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20180604 find them inspiring].
{{quote|They've always had such a... unique vision! ''Horrifying'', of course, but ''still unique!''}}
==B==
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* [[Behind the Black]]
** Gil didn't notice Agatha [[Big Damn Kiss|launching herself at him]] while he was yelling at Tarvek?
*** He'd probably started yelling before turning and only spun around to dramatically punctuate his final words, at which point Agatha would already be on top of him.
** Lampshaded [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071109 here], where Jenka points out that they should have heard the army of giant clanks (helpfully called War Stompers too) marching up to their tower.
* [[Betty and Veronica]]: Gil & Tarvek, to Agatha.
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** The Spark itself. If you have it, you can warp the laws of physics with the contents of the average [[Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard|Store Cupboard]]. Bad part? ''[[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|You go insane to varying degrees whenever you do it]]''. The natural result of that is that most Sparks, and Agatha in particular, have to deal with being shunned, used, or attacked by most everyone they meet. And that's if they don't get killed by one of their own creations.
** Agatha before her breakthrough, when she wore the locket to suppress her Spark. It undoubtedly saved her life, but it also made her completely incompetent and destroyed her self-esteem.
** Tarvek framed his cousin Violetta for incompetence so that she'd get relieved from being his bodyguard and [[Reassigned to Antarctica|sent to Mechanicsburg]] - immediately before a wave of assassination attempts began that killed twelve of his bodyguards in under three years. This very likely saved her life, but since he hadn't ''told'' her what he was doing it also gave her an inferiority complex that took her several years to start shedding.
* [[Bling of War]]: Most troops are trying to look cool -- some, too hard. Jägers tend to dress in less unified fancy clothes, with their own peculiar taste. Of "Da Boyz", Maxim wears the most fashionable set -- he's an ex-cavalry officer, after all.
* [[Blondes Are Evil]]: Played straight with Lucrezia and Zola; [[Playing with a Trope|played with]] by Von Pinn. Averted with Agatha (who's a strawberry blonde, therefore crossing into [[Heroes Want Redheads]]).
* [[Blood Brothers|Blood Sisters]]: Agatha and Zeetha are bound for life by the ancient Skifanderian tradition of ''kolee-dok-zumil'', which is essentially a sensei-student relationship taken [[Up To Eleven]].
{{quote|'''Zeetha:''' Know, Agatha Clay, that the warrior tradition of the Royal House of Skifander is old, proud, and jealously guarded. In this life I am allowed to train ''one'' other person besides my own daughters. I have chosen ''you''. The bond between us will be stronger than that of friends, of family, of lovers.}}
* [[Blue Blood]]: Noble families are sometimes mentioned as opponents for the Baron. Most notable characters are Zulenna and Tarvek.
* [[Body Count Competition]]: By the [[Jager Generals]], of course.
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** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20050420 Steam-powered feet?] [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20111019 Steam-powered feet!]
** So, about [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20031001 Gil's intercepted mail]... [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20151030 Surprise!]
** 2011: [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110912 Violetta dreams about dressing up for a party]. 2020: [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200520 Violetta finally gets to dress up for a party].
* [[Broken Angel]]: The muses, the delicate creations of the greatest spark of the time. Most of them are destroyed or damaged while sparks tried to reverse engineer them. Known examples are [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20051107 Tinka], studied by Tarvek, and [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100120 Otilia], found beneath Castle Heterodyne. She manages to cause some trouble in her "broken" state though.
** Also Castle Heterodyne, damaged in the Other's attack.
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** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090812 "Did you know he really] [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110504 likes waffles?"]
** "[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070228 All of the dead soldiers] [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20170331 rose up and swore fealty] --" Of course, that rumour could have been mixed with some old stories of the {{spoiler|Storm King after he became like this}}.
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20021220 Remember the gag with the closet in Book One?] Almost ''ten years later'', Boris will use that incident [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120411 to figure out that the Baron is the one who's actually Slaver Wasped, not Gil]. The novelisation makes this scene even more explicit - Boris, who has an eidetic memory, is recalling that Agatha actually ''had'' given Gil a direct order once in his presence (not to open the closet), and Gil had ''disobeyed''.
* [[Calling Your Attacks]]: Done by {{spoiler|Zola}} under the influence of a massive overdose of battle stimulants, resulting in a cry of "Chophead Tinybits!"
* [[Came Back Wrong]]: Subverted. Apparently being brought [[Back from the Dead]] causes memory loss (as we have been repeatedly told) and frequently drives the recipient [[Ax Crazy]]. However, when it happens to {{spoiler|Tarvek}}, all it takes to bring him out of a homicidal rage is the following:
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'''{{spoiler|Tarvek}}:''' Good Heavens. }}
* [[Can't Live Without You]]: When Gil supports both {{spoiler|Agatha and Tarvek}} when they get infected by Hogfarb's Immolation.
* [[Cannot Talk to Women]]: ''Hilariously'' averted at Albia's royal ball. Tarvek "gentlemanly" agrees to give Gil the first dance with Agatha... because Tarvek's relying on Gil's well-known lack of aptitude at the sweet talk to put him a leg up. On the next page, Tarvek is incredulously watching as Gil and Agatha share the most intensely romantic moment they've had in years - because they're both getting so into the dance that they're just ''not saying anything''.
* [[Cartwright Curse]]: Being a suitor to Agatha is hazardous to your health.
* [[Catch Phrase]]
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** Old Man Death has a mini-flashback of people who rode with the Jägers -- like the Seneschal. Still not sure if he's in there, though.
* [[Convection, Schmonvection]]: Averted beautifully [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20051118 here]. Anevka pumping out enough electricity in her arm to {{spoiler|flash-fry her father}} releases enough waste heat to send her entire outfit and wig bursting into flames.
** For that matter, Anevka is mostly a Muse replica. Prende later also used built-in shocker on high power and torched her own wig and clothes (well, what was left of them after almost two centuries).
* [[Cool Airship]]
** ''Castle Wulfenbach'', of course.
** Zola's ship would qualify, but as [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080804 this] handy comic showing them both demonstrates, the Baron's ship is tough competition.
* [[Cool and Unusual Punishment]]: Mamma Gkika wants you to remember that [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110518 it's bad to hit women or to wake her up too early in the morning.]
* [[Crapsack World]]: The world is dominated by people and things who'd fit right in with ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' Orks, and the only thing keeping them mostly in check is anti-villain dictator Klaus, who is quite willing to level cities in order to achieve such. His territory is described as containing a lot of empty space despite being central Europe, is littered with forgotten but highly-lethal Spark inventions, and walled-in cities are the closest one comes to safe. The Other systematically leveled much of Europe not long before that, {{spoiler|and currently has free reign of Sturmhalten, a large army, and has mind-controlled Klaus}}. Outside Europe, things aren't much better, with northern nations having a tax on fire. The greatest folk heroes are missing, and the second greatest folk hero is a serial killer.
{{quote|'''[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date{{=}}20110204 Rudolf Selnikov]:''' The depressing thing? ''Twisted and ruthless'' as you people are, throwing in with ''you'' is a step ''up''.}}
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** In the novelization, Agatha thinks she knows why Gil is denying having a [[Death Ray]].
{{quote|'''Agatha:''' I'm sure that next time you'll build a much bigger one, but trust me, right now any Death Ray, will do, no matter how--
'''Gil:''' [[
** [[Napoleonic Wars|Baron Wulfenbach is not on good terms with England.]]
* [[A Dog Ate My Homework]]: "[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090717 Sorry, professor, my latest experiment] ''ate my lecture notes''..."
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'''Tarvek:''' The only way to keep ''my'' family in line would be to ''bury them in a row''.
'''Martellus:''' Now don't get me wrong, I can kill family members all day and '''know''' I'm making the world a better place....}}
** Another of Tarvek's cousins, Violetta, gave this
{{quote|'''Violetta:''' I'm sorry she's dead. She was always nice to me... well, she never tried to kill me... that is, I'm ''pretty'' sure those were all accidents... and if they weren't then she wasn't trying very ''hard''... which was awfully sweet of her, right?}}
** Earlier on, when Violetta was first told that her Aunt Margolotta was being pursued by assassins:
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* [[Epic Hail]]
** Agatha's signal from Strumhalten.
**
* [[Everyone Can See It]]: Mostly played straight, in that anyone who meets either Gil or Agatha and merely hears them ''talk'' about the other knows they're madly in love, but they know it too -- they just refuse to admit it (though Zeetha finally got a confession out of Gil).
** Agatha '''did''' tell Franz the dragon that she was "somewhat" in love with Gil. She also, earlier, skated around the exact words but made it pretty clear how she felt, when she wondered how many other girls worried "about whether or not it's smart to really trust their... ah, you know, the guys they..."
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** Hearing a report from Dr. Sun while [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070611 fighting against a pair of assassins sent after his father].
** Making some difficult [[Mad Science]] preparation... while [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120312 in the middle of a fight with DuPree]. She's even unwittingly helping him.
* [[Explain, Explain, Oh Crap]]: Provided the page image. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20180207 Wooster's expression as he realizes] that the only person crazy enough to hijack one of Her Undying Majesty's warships single-handed is his former boss is ''epic''.
* [[Exploding Closet]]: In [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20021220 Volume 1] Agatha creates one. Gil opens it. The plot is off its leash and has soon crossed its event horizon.
* [[Explosive Overclocking]]: Movit #11, for most people. {{spoiler|Zola}} seems to have survived, but only because she is now under the care of Dr. Sun.
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