Minimonsters
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Monsters are real. |
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Minimonsters is a comic book series created by the Spanish author David Ramirez. It was published monthly in the Spanish magazine ¡Dibus! between years 2000-2015. At the moment, there are four monographic albums, collecting all their adventures: “El Veneno de Porcelana” (2003), “El Perfeccionator” (2006), “¡Historias para no Dormir!” (2007), and “El Gran Partido de Calabacesto” (2012). A fifth one is currently in progress.
The plot takes in a small town called Villa Susto, where they live monsters who want to be far from humans. Victor Von Piro (A high-class vampire and main protagonist) moves to Villa Susto, much to his changrin. There he meets his new friends, the Frank’s Gang: Frank Einstein Jr. (The genius Frankenstein leader), Lupo (A narcoleptic werewolf), Momses (A sports-obsessed mummy), Gus (A cute, but fearful ghost) and Piruja (A very amorous witch). Together, they will live a lot of misadventures involving them and the rest of the people in Villa Susto.
To search more works from David Ramirez, see his other comic series, Dinokid.
Now has a Character Page
Tropes used in Minimonsters include:
- A Day in the Limelight: "El Perfeccionator" is focused on Frank.
- "Historias para no Dormir" (Sleepless Stories) is composed of several stories focusing on different characters.
- A House Divided: The principal reason why Morty's Gang are a failure is because the members don't get along with each other, only being together to try to humiliate Frank's Gang, which they don't succeed due to disputes. This is clearly intended to serve as a Foil to the Frank's Gang's True Companions unit.
- Adorkable: Gus has everything about this trope: He's cute, sweet, innocent, cries very easily, has geek tendencies, a stutterer, and is one of the youngest characters in the comic. It makes the fact that he's the main chew toy sadder.
- Adults Are Useless: Holy shit, yes. The only one who tries to act reasonably is Mr. Abra, and is an Inept Mage who is quickly overruled by his students.
- Affably Evil: Rattus Sapiens is polite even with his enemies.
- Mienai is a fairly nice guy when Morty isn't around.
- All-Ghouls School: Villa Susto’s local school. It’s a monster town, so…
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Piruja and Guillotine. Piruja has a deep crush on Victor, who doesn't give a crap about her and considers her an Abhorrent Admirer. Meanwhile, Guillotine is currently dating the sociopathic zombie Morty Vivente (Granted, she's not exactly innocent, but still...). By contrast, Henrietta completely averts this, following the Single Woman Seeks Good Man trope by falling for the endearingly nice Frank.
- All Just a Dream: The story in which Victor experiences multiple transformations turns out to be this.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Billy and Quasim, though they have very good reasons to be in this trope.
- All There in the Manual: There's several information about the characters and setting that isn't present in the comics.
- Alpha Bitch: Although is a male character and isn't popular, Morty definitely fits this trope. His girlfriend Guillotine is more of a Lovable Alpha Bitch.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: If there's something Victor and Frank have in common, is that their families are embarrassing as hell. In the third album's longest story, the Von Piros and the Einsteins meet and, needless to say, it doesn't end well.
- Piruja doesn't have it as grave as the above two, but she's exasperated at her mother's constant Serial Romeo Anything That Moves behavior.
- An Ice Person: Yokai.
- Anchored Ship: Frank and Henrietta. They're the Official Couple by Word of God, but several setbacks like Henrietta's personality issues and both characters' insecurities prevent them from fully hooking up.
- Anti-Villain: Guillotine is a Type I: She's very rude and mean to others, but shows her softest side with Piruja, being like an older sister to her. She will do anything to make her happy, such as hooking her with Victor, no matter how mean and sadistic are her ways. Mienai and Skin are a Type IV, with Mienai being also a Type II.
- Badass Crew: Frank’s gang can be this when it’s convenient. Or, at least, they try.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: In one story, Frank wanted a pet like his friends Victor and Piruja. He got it, of course... a Living Poo. Ugh... Yay?
- Beta Couple: Morty and Guillotine, weirdly enough. They may be huge jackasses, but are definitely more stable than Victor/Piruja and Frank/Henrietta.
- Betty and Veronica: Piruja's main love interests, Frank (Betty) and Victor (Veronica). She used to have a crush on Frank before moving on with Victor. In a subversion, none of the two are remotely interested in her, with Victor demeaning her as an Abhorrent Admirer.
- Beware the Nice Ones: The Frank’s gang are good most of the time, but mess with them and they will kick your ass, or at least try to do so.
- Big Bad/Arc Villain: With the exception of the 3rd album, we have these:
- First album: Rattus Sapiens and Quasim.
- Second album: Miss Hit.
- Fourth album: Morty Vivente. Usurped by Arrmando el Arraña.
- Currently, we have Flan Hellsing.
- Big Brother Instinct: Frank has this with his gang, especially Gus.
- Lupo towards his younger siblings.
- Bitch Alert: When Miss Hit appears for the first time, it's clear she's bad news. Very. bad. news.
- Black Comedy
- Break the Cutie: Frank gets put through hell in "El Perfeccionator". He recovers, though.
- Break the Haughty: Orchestrated by Frank in the first album when concerning Victor joining the gang, putting him through tests to take his ego down and integrate himself in the town. It didn't work, but Victor joins the Frank's Gang anyway.
- One could argue the whole series is trying to do this for Victor.
- Brick Joke: In the third album's longest story, Frank makes a joke at his sister Francesca's expense by telling her Victor's dog Chopped is someone suited for her. Four pages later, we see her playing with said dog, and looking happy about it.
- Brilliant but Lazy: Lupo is slow due to his constant sleepiness, but he is very far from being stupid, as it shows that he’s very witty.
- The Bully: Quasim is the fearsome bully of Villa Susto, being a dumb brute with Super Strength who picks on little kids (particularly poor Gus). The only one who has been able to knock him out is Henrietta's evil Split Personality Miss Hit.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Frank and Henrietta definitely have feelings for each other, but they can't tell their feelings because of shyness. Also, Henrietta's alter-ego Miss Hit does not help at all. Unsurprisingly, all people think they're a couple, and Frank constantly denies it.
- Word of God says they’re a couple. Moreover, the author said that he created Henrietta, so Frank could get a girlfriend.
- The cover of the second album confirms this.
- Characterization Marches On: A lot of the characters in the comic had shown progress and depths starting with the second album.
- Cheaters Never Prosper: The fourth album has a straight example. While the Muerte Chunga Team does manage to score by cheating, not only they get caught and punished for it, but one of the cheating objects is used by the Fresita Team to score the winning goal.
- Chekhov's Gun: This is used a lot in the album's plot arcs.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Again, also used in the story-driven albums.
- Close-Knit Community: Being a Quirky Town, to put it mildly, Villa Susto fits this despite its dysfunction.
- Comedic Sociopathy
- Cool Big Sis: Guillotine is this to Piruja, being one of her redeeming qualities.
- Cool Loser: While the members of the Frank's gang have some stereotypical "loser" traits, Momses is only considered a "loser" only by associating himself with them. His only "loser" trait is that he's very clumsy, and even then, he's still a cool guy compared to the others.
- Crap Saccharine World: Villa Susto. Cute and rosy (somewhat) on the outside, but happens a lot of weird things in that town.
- Darker and Edgier: Downplayed in "El Perfeccionator". While the story remains comical, things like split personalities and Frank's Character Development makes the story slightly darker compared to the other ones. Not to mention the character of Miss Hit.
- Deadpan Snarker: Everyone in the comic has acted like this at least once.
- Did You Actually Believe?: In the fourth album. When Victor asks for the deal Morty and him made (joining his gang in exchange for tickets to Miedópolis), he smugly states he never intended to keep the bargain, and he only used him to get Frank's brains. Yup, what a douche.
- Down to the Last Play: How the fourth album's pumpkinball match ends.
- Dressing as the Enemy: Played with hilariously in the first album, when Victor dresses himself as a beetle in order to trick Rattus Sapiens.
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Victor: Stop complaining and kneel... AT THE BEETLE GOD! |
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- Dysfunction Junction
- Extreme Omnivore: Lupo and Skin, especially the former.
- The Faceless: The adults. Averted with Victor’s grandmother.
- Face Palm: Many characters do that, but Frank does this more than anyone. Being the Only Sane Man has its consequences...
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Frank: *After Momses accidentally breaks his invention* Thanks for finding it, Momses... *facepalm* |
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- And in the same story:
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Gus: Frank, you're a g-genius! |
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- And then there's Mr. Abra.
- Fictional Sport: Calabacesto (Pumpkinball). It’s the main theme of the fourth album.
- Flanderization: Frank being a (sort of) Gadgeteer Genius was merely alluded in the first album. From the second album onwards, this has become Frank's main character trait. And that is a good thing, actually. Same with Lupo's constant sleepiness, among others.
- Foil: Many examples.
- While Victor has potential ones in Frank and Lupo, the one who fits it best is Billy. Victor is a well-groomed Jerkass Perpetual Frowner, while Billy is a perpetually dirty and cheerful Nice Guy. This is driven home in the fourth album: Victor has been in the two gangs, but is a complete prick to both of them, causing the others to wave between barely tolerating him and outright hating his guts. Billy doesn't (and doesn't want to) belong to neither of the two gangs, yet he's friendly to both, which makes him more well-liked (the Frank's Gang even consider him The Reliable One due to this). The only thing they have in common is their All of the Other Reindeer status, and even that is played in different ways.
- Frank's Gang and Morty's Gang. The former may seem like a dysfunctional Ragtag Bunch of Misfits (and they are), but they're also a close-knit group of friends who have a strong sense of teamwork when things are tough. The latter may seem like a cool Gang of Bullies in the surface, but deep down are a complete mess, with its members only united over their dislike of the Frank's Gang, and utterly failing at working together. This is best shown in the fourth album with their respective Pumpkinball teams.
- Their respective leaders, Frank and Morty, also contrast with each other, and it shows their influence makes their teams what they are. Their contrasting natures are better shown through Victor in the fourth album: Frank acts like a tough Big Brother Mentor towards him and they constantly exchange insults, yet Frank ultimately cares for him, even wanting him back to his gang after his betrayal. Morty acts friendly towards Victor at first, even having a conversation over their mutual dislike for Frank, but it's clear Morty doesn't give a rat's ass about him, and is only manipulating him to get Frank's brains.
- Piruja and Guillotine. They're the only girls in their respective gangs, and their personalities are wildly different, with Piruja being an Adorkable Nice Girl and Guillotine a Jerkass Alpha Bitch. In an ironic twist, the two are the best of friends in spite of their differences.
- Justified Trope with Henrietta and Miss Hit, as they're two sides of the same coin.
- Foreshadowing: In the second album, there are subtle and not-so-subtle hints that Henrietta and Miss Hit are the same person. In particular, there's Miss Hit telling Frank she and Henrietta are "inseparable", and more importantly, their handwriting is exactly the same. The last one is what makes Frank discover The Reveal.
- The cover of the fourth album foreshadows the fact Frank scores the winning goal for his team.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Victor is this to the Frank's gang (Except Piruja), only admitted because of pity. Frank even tells him this to his face.
- Piruja was portrayed as this in the first album, with the others only hanging out with her due to her clinginess. By the second album onwards, though, she's shown to be a cherished friend to them.
- Fridge Brilliance on the above: It could be possible the gang became much more accepting of her because, unlike Victor, she's a Nice Girl despite her clinginess, making her a way more tolerable member in comparison. The fact she's now only clingy to Victor is another factor.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Frank is considered this, but he’s more of a Bungling Inventor because his inventions totally lack common sense.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: Dear God.
- Hair of Gold: Frank is blonde, and he’s a very nice person. Most of the time.
- And then there's Billy.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Victor's main trait besides his narcissism.
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Victor: *holding a stick* I think it's time to someone to lose his milk teeth... |
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- Hate Sink: Quasim. Since the true antagonists (and recurring jerks) have some kind of quality that prevents them from becoming truly hated, he very much serves to take the reader's wrath.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Despite seeming otherwise, it turns out Frank's opinion of himself is total crap.
- How much? We have this exchange in the second album:
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Frank: A girl? Why is she crying? |
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- Heterosexual Life Partners: Frank and Gus are described by Word of God as "inseparable", and it shows. Lupo and Momses also have a very close relationship.
- Piruja and Guillotine are a weird case. They belong to rival gangs, which would make them enemies. This doesn't stop them for being best friends, with Piruja asking Guillotine for love advice, and Guillotine gleefully helping her.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Victor is implied to have one deep, deep, DEEP down his spoiled jerkassery, if his Pet the Dog moment in "The Perfeccionator" is to be believed.
- Guillotine has one too, only showing her loving side with her best friend Piruja, and sometimes Henrietta.
- Hollywood Homely: Ruthlessly parodied with Piruja. She's seen as ugly and undesirable by everyone... because she has a wart in her face. She could be very well the minimonster version of Meg Griffin (only less of a Butt Monkey).
- Frank's physical appearance is so awful it breaks mirrors, creating a serious inferiority complex on him. Except, apart from several scars, he doesn't look so much different from other minimonsters. Like with Piruja, this seems to be deliberate.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: Taken Up to Eleven. In this comic, humans are the "monsters", and the monsters "humans".
- Humans Are Bastards: The monsters definitely view them that way.
- Hypocritical Humor: A staple of the comic. A concrete example would be in " El Perfeccionator", when Gus doesn't join the Gang in their confrontation against Miss Hit:
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Victor: What a coward! |
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- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Frank, Miss Hit and Flan Hellsing all show this trope to varying degrees. This is also suggested with Victor, although he usually only qualifies in the "superiority" part.
- Intelligible Unintelligible: Momses talks in mummy, and only his closest friends and family can understand him. Lupo and Frank usually translate what he says to the other people.
- Ironic Name: Piruja’s black cat, “Buena Suerte”, which means “good luck” in Spanish. Riiiight.
- Played with Billy Rotten. "Rotten" means "dirty"/"putrid", which he is. However, its other meaning is "morally corrupt"/"despicable", which he isn't at all.
- Jerkass: This comic is filled by jerks, with some ones showing better traits under that exterior and others... well... don't. Morty and Quasim are definitely the worst.
- Karma Houdini: Quasim, due to his intimidating nature, doesn't get much comeuppance for his awful actions, especially in the first album. The second album, however, gives him some well-deserved punishment.
- In the second album, Guillotine mentions her boyfriend Morty skips school constantly, getting away with it due to being the son of the school's principal.
- Zigzagged with Morty in the fourth album. On one hand, he got away with hiring Arrmando el Arraña and making an entire family sick, even joining the dinner at the end of the fourth album. On the other hand, he lost the match (thus the opportunity of getting Frank's brains), and got a vicious Humiliation Conga as a result of his own actions.
- Also zig-zagged with Victor in the same album. He gets away with his betrayal and comes back to Frank's Gang, but has been utterly humiliated throughout the match and played for a fool by Morty. This makes him not getting his tickets to come back to Miedópolis, thus rendering his betrayal meaningless. In fact, this could be an aversion, since Victor is stuck in Villa Susto, which he hates more than anything else.
- Kick the Dog: Victor does this frequently, and always pays for it.
- More seriously, Miss Hit rejecting Frank cruelly via letter, pretending to be her good self Henrietta, sending him into an Heroic BSOD.
- Quasim's bullying of Gus and Lupo's siblings definitely qualifies.
- As does Yokai stealing Lupo's younger sister Lupe's doll. This is more noticeable when it's shown Lupo and his family are very poor. No wonder Lupo got mad at him.
- Morty does this constantly in the fourth album.
- Kick the Son of a Bitch: Lupo constantly trolls, mocks and snarks at Victor. Since Victor is a spoiled jerk, this comes across as hilarious and well-deserved (especially if Victor insulted him first).
- In the second album, Miss Hit punching Quasim and knocking him out twice. Sure, she's eviler, but he was an unlikable bastard who had it a long time coming (especially considering he was a Karma Houdini in the first album)
- Quasim himself has a moment in the first album when he punches Rattus Sapiens down the sewers, bringing him back to a normal rat.
- In the fourth, Robert Louis punishing Morty's Gang for cheating in an over-the-top manner.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: In the second album, Frank has an emotional breakdown over Henrietta's perceived rejection of him. Cue Morty's Gang laughing and mocking him for this.
- The Klutz: Momses. He doesn't have Buena Suerte’s "luck", but he’s extremely clumsy due to his physical strength.
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Victor: *after Momses destroys Frank’s invention* AAAAH! WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS GUY?! |
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- Laser-Guided Karma: In the fourth album, Morty’s dirty tricks to win the match take a toll on him and his band. They got beaten by Henrietta’s father; their rivals won the match, Morty lost his tickets to Miedópolis and he ends up with a thermometer in his ass. All of this is well-deserved, at least for Morty.
- Victor is an epic target of this trope.
- In later chapters, this ends up happening to Lupo, of all people. He has spent most of the series trolling Victor in a classic Kick the Son of a Bitch scenario. Once he encounters Yokai, he gets a taste of this with Yokai screwing him over with his Sticky Fingers.
- Love At First Sight: This is how Piruja fell for Victor. This is also true with Frank's crush on Henrietta.
- Love Hurts: The main reason why Frank wants to create the Perfeccionator, alongside his self-esteem issues.
- Meaningful Name: All characters have names that are based of famous monsters or mystical creatures. It's very common the use of the portmanteau.
- My God What Have I Done?: Frank has this reaction when he discovers his latest invention is used to kill the girl he loves. And it's really depressing.
- Nice Guy: There's a lot of this, usually to contrast with the Jerkass characters.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Mr. Abra falls onto this trope a lot, although he's not the only one who can do this.
- Not So Different: The comic's spotlight trio, Victor, Frank and Piruja, are wildly different from one another, yet they have some things in common. Both have to deal with Amazingly Embarrassing Parents (who are well-intentioned, but still), and they have very dysfunctional pets as their companions.
- Odd Friendship: Victor and Frank, constantly picking each other. Also Lupo and Momses, but they get along much better than the other two. Basically, all the members in Frank's Gang, really.
- Piruja and Guillotine. Very little in common, yet they're best friends.
- Oh Crap: Has a lot of moments, recurring or not:
- Victor usually does this, particularly with Frank's inventions and Piruja’s stalking demeanor.
- Also, in the end of the first album, the Frank's gang after accidentally drinking the poison. They end up with a big case of diarrhea.
- Morty's face expresses this perfectly in the fourth album when Frank shoots and scores the winning goal.
- Frank does a nice one, seen here.
- Pet the Dog: Guillotine trying to help Piruja in conquering Victor (with underhanded methods, but still), shows her Hidden Heart of Gold behind her bitchiness.
- Victor gets a huge one at the end of the second album, by joining Frank, Lupo and Piruja in confronting Miss Hit and save everyone. Considering he has spent the entire album being a prickly coward, and how lowly he thinks about the people in Villa Susto, this surprisingly selfless act may be the greatest example of this trope in the comic.
- Morty is pretty much The Sociopath, but he treats his girlfriend Guillotine well, and is genuinely worried when one of his pet worms disappears.
- Potty Emergency: The first album ends with one of this for Frank's Gang.
- In the third album's longer story, Frank suffers one. As to how it ends... well, see below.
- In the All Just a Dream story, Henrietta makes Lupo experience one of this to expel Victor, since he accidentally ate him when he was transformed into a sandwich (don't ask). He falls asleep in the middle of it.
- Potty Failure: Frank has one in one of the third album's stories. Given what he was looking at, you'll probably piss yourself too.
- One of these gives "birth" to Frank's pet Caca Einstein. Yeah...
- Lupo invokes this to get out of Yokai's ice prison.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: As a group, The Frank's gang (Blue) towards Morty's gang (Red).
- Rotating Protagonist: Although Victor is the lead character, the story focuses on other characters as well.
- Sadist Show
- Screams Like a Little Girl: When Victor and Gus have to face a giant monster, Gus is terrified and Victor tells him to stop screaming like a little girl, since he can stop him (due to his new abilities). However, he fails to do this and the monster defends himself with a giant rock. Cue Oh Crap situation.
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Gus: V-Victor, can we scream l-like little girls now? |
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- She Is Not My Girlfriend: Between Frank and Henrietta. Neither the characters nor the readers believe it.
- Slapstick Knows No Gender
- Sleepyhead: Lupo IS this trope so far, exceeding the absurdity limit. Also a Running Gag of the comic.
- One hilarious example of this:
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Lupo: Frank, help me! When I try to remember, I see everything black! |
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- Slobs Versus Snobs: Frank's gang (The good ones) and Morty's gang (The evil ones).
- In the fourth album, we have the "Muerte Chunga" team (Evil) vs "Los Fresitas" (Good).
- Stalker with a Crush: Piruja is this to Victor, and nearly every guy she meets; much to their dismay. Her mother is even worse.
- The Starscream: In "The Perfeccionator", after Frank is unable to lead the gang due to an issue-ridden depression, Victor takes the opportunity to make himself the leader of the gang, putting Frank's depression against him and bribing Morty's gang to make himself more competent. Gus is outraged at this, while Lupo actively sabotages his attempts by arranging a match between him and local bully Quasim, knowing full well Victor is really a coward and a weakling, and thus will get beaten up and humiliated no matter what. While Victor didn't get beaten up, the plan still worked, helped by the fact Frank had recently recovered from his depression, and is clearly back in charge.
- Stepford Smiler: Frank is revealed to be a Type A, putting a happy mask to cope with his task as a leader and hide the fact that he has huge self-esteem issues due to his physical appearance. He gets better, though.
- Stepford Snarker: Lupo, being incredibly snarky and dealing with a very poor family at the same time.
- Frank gets snarkier when he has to deal with his family.
- Straw Loser: Victor thought there wasn't a gang worse than Frank's, until he meets Morty's Gang, who makes Frank's Gang look awesome by comparison. He lampshades this himself:
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Victor: This gang... is more pathetic than Frank's... |
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- Surrounded by Idiots: Victor thinks this constantly. Not that he's much better, though.
- Swirlie: Quasim's main choice of torture to his victims.
- The Team: The Frank's gang.
- The Leader: Frank. Also The Smart Guy.
- The Lancer: Lupo.
- The Big Guy: Momses.
- The Heart: Gus.
- The Chick: Piruja.
- Sixth Ranger: Victor. Also The Lancer. Briefly a Sixth Ranger Traitor in the fourth book.
- Three Amigos: The main characters Victor, Frank and Piruja.
- Toilet Humour: The comic has a lot of this, mixed with Spanish humor and Black Comedy. Well, considering the author's sense of humor is based on Akira Toriyama's...
- Token Evil Teammate: Victor to the Frank's Gang, being the local Jerkass in a gang of Nice Guys. Also Morty to Mr. Abra's class, being The Sociopath in a class when they're jerks at worst.
- Token Good Teammate: Mienai to Morty's Gang. He's not a saint, but he's undeniably the nicest and most friendly member in a gang full of jerkasses (Although Guillotine is revealed to be a Jerk with a Heart of Gold later on).
- True Beauty Is on the Inside: Parodied in "El Perfeccionator". Frank tries to defend himself over his sister and best friend's (who is Lupo's older sister) mean comments about his physical appearance with this. It doesn't work out.
- True Companions: The Frank's Gang are portrayed as a close-knit group both in the comics proper and official artwork.
- Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Victor embodies this trope at its fullest. He's a spoiled, pretentious jackass who is pretty much karma's bitch.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Victor and Frank. As they're polar opposites, both spend their time insulting and bickering each other constantly. However, neither of them can be separated due to boredom, as Word of God confirms.
- Volleying Insults: Victor and Frank, of course. Best shown in the first album:
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Victor: Didn't you want to help me? Then show it now! |
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- Walking Disaster Area: Buena Suerte’s causes great accidents when he’s around. The only thing that could stop his disastrous luck is being inside Lupo’s stomach.
- Welcome Back, Traitor: Victor in the fourth album.
- Wham! Episode: "El Perfeccionator" is considered to be this.
- Wham! Line: In the second album, we have this, which sets a notable Mood Whiplash and things become Serious Business (This doesn't quit the comedic elements totally, though).
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Frank: She came to see me... That means she cares! I wonder when I could see her again... |
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- With Friends Like These...: Victor has this relationship with Frank's Gang. And everyone else, really.
- Even worse is the entire Morty's Gang. Why they're able to stay together is a complete mystery.