New Vindicators: Difference between revisions

 

The central narrative of ''New Vindicators'' began as a story chronicling the sessions of a tabletop roleplaying group, though it has grown into a large narrative spanning several long plot arcs. At present, the series is on hiatus from stories from actual roleplaying sessions in order to flesh out and deepen the setting world and some of its characters. It is soon to resume being based on the sessions.

 

 

 

 

* [[Action Girl]]: Crusader, Rumble & Tripper

* [[Affably Evil]]: Abaddon, most of the time.

* [[Alternate Character Interpretation]]: The Vindicators are in fact essentially Uncle Toms who by colluding with the government merely continue the cycle of racism in the world. Adonis is the story's true hero, fighting against this, albeit in [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|ill-conceived ways]].

* [[Alternate Universe]]: Hikari reiterates what the pilot episode of Sliders tells us and Suicide King actually goes off to explore (and maybe look for Professor Arturo?) the multiverse.

** Actually, he goes looking for Belle of [[Less Than Three Comics|LessThanThree Comics']] Brat Pack, who he met during the [[Massive Multiplayer Crossover]] of ''Hostis Humani Generis''

* [[Americans Hate Tingle]]: The Rhino seems to be popular with anyone born in Europe.

** As if the depiction of ''personal'' faith weren't enough, all religious organizations are either horribly evil or corrupt.

** Female characters are treated very badly. It makes one think that Michuru81 has not had good experiences [[You Need to Get Laid|in his personal life]].

* [[Author Appeal]]: The author has said Atlanta White (AKA Rumble) appeals to him.

** According to [[Word of God]] and pretty much anyone who reads the story, he's the only one who [[Creator's Pet|she does appeal to]].

* [[Badass]]: Deimos (how has he not died from any of the insanely violent fights he's been in?), Michuru [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|when he fights Apocatastasis]], the Damned {{spoiler|when he banishes Deimos to the Astral Plane JUST BEFORE he topples from wounds the Nephilim inflicted on him}}, Bulwark on a regular basis, Coldfire

* [[Beethoven Was an Alien Spy]]: Or rather Isaac Newton is an immortal who makes robots. [[Running Gag|And offers breadsticks to people]].

** Lilith bails the heroes out after Deimos fails to be useful

** Backlash and Kiln return yet again to save the heroes from some Nephilim.

* [[Big Damn Villains]]: {{spoiler|Apocatastasis}} punks out {{spoiler|his father, Abaddon}} when the two finally meet for the first time in six thousand years.

* [[Blood Knight]]: Deimos

* [[Brought Down to Normal]]: {{spoiler|Deimos willingly injects himself with Knitter, losing his abilities for a time before the drug wears off. David Meinstein loses his Iron Man armor but he gets the Speed Force soon after.}}

* [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]]: Several examples:

*** Well it ''was'' Coach Crag who made that call. Arguably after being pushed to do it by Lex Sway while he and pretty much everyone in the story was dribbling their own personal [[Idiot Ball]].

**** Bulwark is also arguably the one thing that can temporarily halt the rampant [[Railroading]] happening lately, so this troper respects his presence on those levels.

** Michuru81 admittedly singles out certain people to have particularly terrible things happen to, his first victim being Magnus Loder. Frostbite was next.

* [[Bury Your Gays]]: Taegan almost immediately after coming out of the closet. {{spoiler|In an upcoming arc, Breeze, a ''heterosexual'' character who is often [[Mistaken for Gay]] dies }}.

** Michuru Bradshaw certainly did not have tons of [[Padding|character development]] and screen time only to get punked out by Apocatastatis.

** Professor Incendiary and Doctor Splash did not just get up one day and say "Hey, how about we go have a fun time with Rift and slaughter all of our students? Why? [[Card-Carrying Villain|Because we're evil now of course!]]"

*** Similarly, said slaughter was in no way, shape, or form ordered by {{spoiler|Adonis}}.

* [[Card-Carrying Villain]]: Apocatastasis until Lodestone hands him the [[Idiot Ball]].

* [[Character Development]]: Frostbite, or rather Coldfire now, has fluctuated in character a great deal since his introduction to the story. His longstanding everyman, do-gooder persona is slipping away in favor of an angry, angsty attitude. Whether this works or not is up to individual interpretation.

* [[Character Tics]]: Plenty.

** It helps if you are established as being the most pathetic and weak character possible beforehand. Then you're guaranteed to be the lynchpin to saving the world.

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: Sam White, anyone?

* [[Church Militant]]: The Church of Genetic Purity.

* [[Code Name]]: It wouldn't be a superhero universe without them.

* [[Comic Books Are Real]]: Pop culture references in general abound, but there is a discussion on the state of the X-Men at one point in the story.

** Adonis drops a copy of X-Factor #87 (which was about X-Factor talking to a psychiatrist who turns out to Doc Samson) down during his session with the psychiatrist in New Vindicators #4 (which was about the New Vindicators talking to a psychiatrist who turns out to be Abaddon).

* [[Conspiracy Redemption]]: It's debatable where Drew's recruitment is concerned.

* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]: Noah Meinstein when he's not being a [[Mad Scientist]]. Which isn't often. Why is Patriot Robotics still around anyway?

* [[Crazy Prepared]] Michuru81 himself deserves acknowledgement of this, having planned out the framework of his games to last for literally years to come.

* [[Creator's Pet]]: Rumble. Loved by the author, check. Hated by fans and players alike, check.

* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]: Even before {{spoiler|his death/big promotion}}, Drew is shown to be more creative with everyone's powers than they are.

* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: Take your pick.

* [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check]]: Why is Noah Meinstein so obsessed with taking down Neo-Sapiens when he could actually run his company instead? [[Fridge Logic|Oh, that's right, he's nuts... why hasn't anyone picked up on THAT yet?]]

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Adonis Skraag can be this when he's not being [[Wangst|something else]].

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: {{spoiler|Samael}}, the only one of the fallen that isn't trying to usurp the throne of Hell is {{spoiler|killed by The Shadow in one sword blow}}.

* [[Discard and Draw]]: Amalgam {{spoiler|becomes Anomaly}}, Deimos {{spoiler|injects himself with Knitter of his own free will and inexplicably gets his powers back}}, {{spoiler|the 001 is destroyed just in time for David Meinstein to manifest his Neo-Sapien powers}} and Copycat {{spoiler|dies and comes back after taking a level in badass.}}

** Oddly enough, later books such as Sic Semper Tyrannus would be the exact opposite for [[Padding|obvious reasons]].

* [[Dream Land]]: Twice to date, Blanche Gareth has come in and [[Mind Raped]] the heroes by manipulating their dreams... all the while listening to Coheed & Cambria.

* [[Driven to Villainy]]: The White War never would have happened had it not been for [[What the Hell, Hero?|Lodestone]].

* [[Doesn't Like Guns]]: The Author has stated this about himself several times.

* [[Easy Amnesia]]: {{spoiler|Abaddon ever since Apocatastasis drained his INT, WIS and CHA to 1}}.

* [[Embarrassing Middle Name]]: During their high school graduation it was revealed that Adonis Skraag's middle ame is "Michelle."

* [[Enemy Within]]: Michuru, Deimos, Chienne, Gabriel, Gabrielle, Phobos... Hell, if your eyes glow, you're a card-carrying member of this Trope.

* [[Evil Is Petty]]: Forrest Bedford, Bo Vidae and Paragon are the most striking examples. The most literal example of this is {{spoiler|Adonis}}

* [[Expy]]: <s> A large number of</s> pretty much every [[NPC]].

** Apocatastasis: [[X-Men|Apocalypse]], anyone?

** Brass: May or may not be Marvel Comics' Gambit, given his love interest is an expy of Rogue.

** Coach Crag: His dialogue, appearance and pretty much everything about him is pure [[Scrubs|Dr. Cox]].

** Detective: The original Detective's name is [[Epic Fail|Wayne Bruce]]. It doesn't take a genius to see [[Batman|this one]], does it?

** Drake: American Dragon Jake Long

** Hikari, arguably: He comes from the future to warn the heroes of an impending threat that will cause said future. Trains them to fight the threat. [[Dragonball Z|Sound familiar]]?

*** This troper always took Hikari to be [[X-Men|Bishop]]: he comes back in time from a terrible future, ranting about a traitor. While Hikari's {{spoiler|"Hi, everyone! I'm Michuru and Halogen's kid!"}} parallels Trunks' being the son of Vegeta and Bulma, the X-Men reference seems more appropriate given the other references to Marvel's merry mutants.

** Iris: Hinata from Naruto.

** Mirage: Rock Lee from Naruto.

** Mutt: Kiba from Naruto.

** Patriot: [[DC Comics]]' character Cyborg (''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'') is Victor Stone. The cybernetic Patriot is Vincent Steel. Anyone else see the obvious connection?

** Quintessence: Another ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'' character is Starfire who flies and shoots glowing energy blasts. Her real name is Koriand'r while Quintessence's real name is Corey Ander.

** Rumble: Marvel Comics' Rogue in terms of her accent, powers, religion and Louisiana love interest.

** Sclera: Neji from Naruto

** Silverback: Marvel Comics' Beast

** Split: Naruto from Naruto - both duplicate and The Author has said "Kom cie!" is Cambodian for "believe it!"

* [[Eyepatch of Power]]: Deimos gets one of these {{spoiler|after a stray beam takes out his eye}}.

* [[Face Heel Turn]]: Several characters:

** Gabriel Farouk joins Apocatastasis and causes the death of the Vindicator <s> Green Arrow</s> Nock. The world has yet to care.

** Gabrielle Farouk, Bluetooth, Renewal and Fluke all turn out to be members of the Affiliation without a particularly good reason.

* [[Fallen Angel]]: Lucifer, Abaddon, Leviathan, Semeyazza, Asmodeus, Asteroth and Samael.

** Also, Apocalypse-Tasties started out as a nickname the PCs came up with, Bulwark ends up using it in the actual story.

* [[Fan-Preferred Couple]]: There is not a man, woman, or child alive who does not want to see Anomaly and Tripper together.

* [[Fate Worse Than Death]]: Quintessence doesn't technically "kill" Paragon so much as he unravels him on a cellular level.

** Probably should have killed him, as he has returned as [[Fan Nickname|Were-Paragon.]]

* [[Faux Action Girl]]: Alicia Gladstone (Captain Canada IV) and Donna-Anne Manther (Jetstream).

* [[Fetus Terrible]]: The backstory for Deimos and Phobos.

* [[Fridge Logic]]: So much so, it hurts.

** Frostbite's powers are eventually explained as being {{spoiler|temporal manipulation. He creates ice by slowing molecules down and fire by speeding them up. How does this give him the ability to teleport, given his description of this power is his deconstructing himself on a cellular level, traveling through the moisture in the air, and then recombining elsewhere?}}

*** Because having [[Scrubs|Dr. Cox]] in charge of the [[X-Men|Xavier Institute]] would be, like, hilarious. Besides, Walkabout was too busing walking out of the story for good at that point.

* [[Functional Magic]]: The magic in New Vindi's adheres totally to D&D regulations with some Naruto thrown in for fun... but given the universe it is set in makes little sense for actually being there.

* [[For the Evulz]]: This is the leading motivation for essentially every villain in the entire story.

* [[Gender Bender]]: The Author has stated that Nephilim are created when the Fallen mate with human women but Semyazza is known most as the woman in the green dress. Ageless dragqueens from hell?

* [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]]: All Nephilim get them when they use their powers.

* [[God]]: Elemenoh P. Quares

** Who is, incidentally, a [[Shout-Out]] to a Kender PC from D&D games long gone by.

* [[Grand Theft Me]]: Chimera, to the point where you're not sure who is who anymore.

* [[Heel Face Turn]]: Several examples:

** Chienne, after her true parentage is revealed.

** Lodestone, having performed a [[Face Heel Turn]] comes full circle.

** Phobos, through retcon, was never really a bad guy. He joined the Vindicators to help them fight the Basileus.

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|Tripper "dies" saving everyone from the brothers while Michuru gets his head lobbed off as he's running in to fight Apocatastasis.}}

* [[Holding Back the Phlebotinum]]: Given the sheer number of heroes who took down Apocatastasis, how is anything a threat to Earth? Ever?

** Well given the effectiveness of the other academies (namely, none), it's a miracle the continents of Asia and Europe still exist.

* [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming]]: All of the "Issue" titles are names of songs.

** I guess to be fair, Coach Crag does pick up his [[Idiot Ball]] when he decides to declare war on the criminal world. Plus, who wouldn't want to make Magnus suffer?

* Moksha in its entirety. A mysterious armored man appears out of nowhere, gathers a bunch of [[SP Bs]] together in Antarctica (violating a certain treaty by doing so) and founds his own nation. This is without talking to any other world governments or even TRYING anything related to international diplomacy. Is it really any surprise that {{spoiler|The US makes the fairly safe assumption that he's building an army and nukes the place to cinders?}}

* [[I Just Want to Be Normal]]: Ben Altair, especially after he {{spoiler|becomes Coldfire}}.

* [[I Pulled a Weird Al]]: "Pulling a Weird Al is so very Lundgren!"

* [[Intimate Healing]]: In Et Spe it's implied that Rumble had to save Deimos by pressing their naked bodies together.

* [[Just a Stupid Accent]]: Rumble's "southern" accent is all over the place. Especially odd for someone who was born in Los Angeles...

** Rockwell G. Lincoln: George Lincoln Rockwell was the founder of the American Nazi Party.

** Gale Weathers: She controls the weather. Get it?

** Alicia Gladstone's father's name is Joseph. Joey Gladstone was the name of Dave Coulier's character on Full House.

** Jetstream has a pair of younger brothers who are twins and named after he Wright Brothers.

* [[Mind Rape]]: What happens to people committed to the Spider, Abaddon mental health center. Though honestly, this is freakin' called the Spider!

* [[Moral Event Horizon]]: <s> The Affiliation</s> Rift crosses it during the massacre at the school. Sclera crosses when he maims Tripper. Paragon [[Crossing the Line Twice|crosses it several times]].

* [[Narm]]: Anything Rumble says about her religious beliefs. {{spoiler|Adonis's}} talk of the need to cull weak Neo-Sapiens.

** Adonis' speech that occurred recently in the campaign. Michuru81 posted it on the ATT recently. For some reason he choose not to include Bulwark's constant heckling throughout it. I wonder why.

* [[Our Demons Are Different]]: The cosmology behind the Nephilim and Neo-Sapiens.

* [[Padding]]: Sic Semper Tyrannis, Para Bellum and Hostis Humani Generis. Dulcis Amor <s> is shaping up to be</s> <s> will be</s> is the same.

** Also, most any and all flashback chapters. Especially if the flashback has to do with a character who the reader either does not care about or who has little to no significance to what's going on in the story at the time. So yeah, pretty much every flashback then.

* [[Personality Powers]]: Michuru Bradshaw literally has these.

* [[The Plan]]: All the Fallen have tried these to varying degrees of success or utter failure. Abaddon appears to be having the most success so far.

* [[Pretentious Latin Motto]]: Every book is titled with one of these.

* [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]]: First it was the foreigners who participated in the Trials, then it was the Nephilim Apocatastasis resurrected in Et Spe. The new trend seems to be the Zodiac as the the Vindicators have thus far fought Libra, Gemini, Scorpio and Capricorn.

* [[Reality Warper]]: God, aka Elemenoh

* [[Reckless Sidekick]]: Blur

* [[Red Herring]]: "Don't trust Mi-"

* [[Reed Richards Is Useless]]: Slightly justified in that the resident genius of the world, <s> Hank McCoy</s> Dr. Howell has been unable to secure any funding for his experiments because he is a Neo-Sapien despite [[Fridge Logic|managing to have the ability to cure cancer]].

** Does he have a cure or is it just that he thought he could find it?

* [[Reincarnation]]: David Dathe

* [[Retcon]]: Several, but Michuru Bradshaw's anti-climactic death at the hands of Apocatastasis stands out in particular.

* [[Romantic Plot Tumor]]: Brass & Rumble.

* [[Running Gag]]: "I am Bulwark! His Supreme Galactic..."

*** Why/How they ran into any ganguaros is bizarre, seeing as that cultural phenomenon pretty much died out.

* [[Schoolgirl Lesbians]]: Fathom, anyone?

* [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money]]: The Meinstein family along with the other four major owners of Patriot Robotics.

* [[Shout-Out]]: Several characters are references to past PCs from games the author has played in, mostly seen with the Europeans.

* [[Single-Stroke Battle]]: {{spoiler|The Shadow cleaves through Samael with one slash of Deimos' katana}}, {{spoiler|Abaddon is taken out when his son grabs him,}} {{spoiler|Astaroth pretty much ended both Drew and Barachiel with one blow each.}}

** Seems to be that when you're in command of raw, god-like power in the world of the New Vindicators, one blow is all it will take to erase your existence.

* [[Spin-Off]]: The mystical adventures of the Illuminati take place in the same universe as a New Vindicators, though the two have never had a cross-over, except for <s> [[Wolverine Publicity|Rumble]]</s> [[The Scrappy|Rumble]] taking part in a few of their adventures.

** On the other hand is the recently started Oubliette County, it has no connections whatsoever (that we know of) with Universe 137. Players in the game currently wonder why they are bothering.

* [[Story-Breaker Power]]: Rift until the conclusion of the Apocatastasis arc, Sclera, Rumble, Quintessence, Taegan, and Apocatastasis.

* [[Suddenly Sexuality]]: Characters in the story come out at odd moments. Taegen just before his death, Prof. Incendiary in Chimera's backstory.

* [[Super Dickery]]: Paragon, justified as this is the entire point of his character.

** Remind me why a dissertation on the makeup of a nickel is important in the middle of a battle? Was [[X-Men|Claremont]] the guest writer of those chapters?

* [[Teen Drama]]: Radix Malorum Est Cupiditas is made of this.

* [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot]]: The most interesting aspects of whatever plot is going on seems to go by the wayside in some cases.

** Arguably, the one strong, responsible female adult character in the entire story was Natalie Styles. She was loved and respected by all her students, acted in relatively intelligent and reasonable ways and had the beginnings of a normal relationship with Michuru Bradshaw. {{spoiler|Naturally, [[Women in Refrigerators|she had to die as soon as possible]].}}

* [[The Thirty-Six Stratagems]]: {{spoiler|Adonis Skraag}} best used #10 but has also executed #1-3, 5-7, 9, 11, 14-15, 18-22, 25, 27-29, 31, 34 & 36.

* [[Token Evil Teammate]]: Deimos

** Presently Phobos and am amnesic Abaddon

* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: Half the damn cast.

* [[Too Good for This Sinful Earth]]: Oddly applied to Drew Jenkins.

** Arthropod was just another [[Expy]] until he fought Taegan at which point you realize you're looking at someone you don't want to mess with.

* [[Tournament Arc]]: The <s> Chunin Exams</s> Trials.

* [[True Art Is Angsty]]: The only happy moments characters experience seem to only happen when Michuru81 can't think of some tragedy to throw at them that day.

** This goes double if your name is Ben Altair or Magnus Loder. Though the latter pretty much [[What the Hell, Hero?|deserves it]].

* [[Try Not to Die]]: The entire cast in Et Spe.

* [[Unfortunate Implications]]: This series carries several, especially in the area of how women are handled.

** Arguably the most egregious example of this so far was Donna-Anne and Steve Potter's side-story in Hostis Humani Generis.

* [[Verbal Tic]]: Quite a few of them.

* [[Villain Decay]]: Several in the series, Justice being the most outstanding at the moment. He has not succeeded in eliminating any of his targets for some time now.

* [[Villain Sue]]: Contrary to common belief, Michuru Bradshaw is not the author insert. {{spoiler|That would be Adonis.}}

* [["Well Done, Son" Guy]]: Frostbite justs wants a hug!

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: {{spoiler|Adonis}} can be either this or just a [[Card-Carrying Villain]] depending on what side of the bed he got up on that morning.

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: When Adonis Skraag makes it painfully clear that he's not over Chienne Bedford, Magnus Loder not only begins dating her but makes fun of Adonis for it, beats him down with his powers in the Wreck Room, and proceeds to lust after Maria Espada while doing so. Once he lands her he starts lusting after Alicia, who he knocks up and leaves as soon as Maria is acquitted of murder. Meanwhile he belittles Jacque Webber for having the job he wants, fights her, loses, and proceeds to run his mouth. All the while Magnus has information on the Affiliation but doesn't want to tell Lex because he wants to show him up.

** According to Magnus' player, Mr. Loder being such a massively terrible person was all part of his idea for the character. I'd say it worked.

* [[Word of God]]: Michuru81 has a tendency to reveal entire plot arcs to those seeking (or even not seeking) spoilers.

* [[Wouldn't Hit a Girl]]: Actually leads to one character's death as he refuses to defend himself against one of the female Nephilim.

* [[Yandere]]: Rift, oh good gosh, Rift.

** Ryan Mueller is a good male example of this trope.

 

{{reflist}}