View source for Sapphire (web serial)

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''Sapphire'' is a series of [[Web Serial Novel|Web Serial Novels]] written by SpyHunter89 on his [[Deviant ART]] page. [http://spyhunter89.deviantart.com/gallery/#Sapphire-Chapters The chapters may be viewed here.] The first episode was released in 2007, with the second carrying over into 2008. The third episode began in 2009, and is currently ongoing.

''Sapphire'' is essentially [[Spy Fiction]]; the stories are set during the [[Cold War]]; more specifically, [[The Seventies|the late 1970s]] and [[The Eighties|80s]]. But instead of regular Russians, the antagonists (and some of the minor protagonists) have [[Psychic Powers]].
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* [[Action Girl]]: Michiru.
* [[Affably Evil]]: Boris would prefer to show someone a magic trick [[Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him|before killing him or her]].
* [[All There in the Manual]]: Many, many characters have been introduced through the author's [[Deviant ART]] page that have not had even a remote chance to show up in the story yet.
* [[Anime Hair]]
** Many of the Psychic characters had odd-colored hair. For example, [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|Ivanka's was blue and Boris's was green.]] [[Retcon|This was changed later on]] [[Adaptation Dye Job|to more natural hair colors.]]
*** Newcomer Aika Akagi, however, has green hair.
** Also, Morgana's [[Hime Cut]].
** Ivanka was given [[Hair of Gold]] in a re-design.
* [[Animesque]]: The character artwork is done this way by SpyHunter, an American.
* [[Arabian Nights Days]]: The Altair base evokes this trope. However, although it is based in Iran (as was the real [[Arabian Nights (Literature)|Arabian Nights]], bonus!), the base is under control of the Soviet Union and a [[Renegade Russian]] third party...
* [[Author Appeal]]: How else do you explain the contortion scenes in Episode III?
** Or the Psychics. Or the spies. Or almost everything about it. [[Doing It for The Art|But isn't that the point?]]
* [[Bishounen]]: Boris Rubanenko, Daisuke Midori, and Nikolai Kitano, to name a few.
** Alec Langley could fit into this, but it's a bit of a stretch because [[Evil Is Sexy]].
*** That's subverted with Claude Duchamp, who is good ''and'' beautiful.
* [[Bi the Way]]: Nikolai kills two birds with one stone when he tells Alec that both he ''and'' Boris were bisexual for one another.
* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: Andrew, who saves {{spoiler|Alec}} from {{spoiler|Boris's firing squad}} in Episode III.
* [[Body Snatcher]]: Ivanka takes posession of Khina's body to save Alec. {{spoiler|It works, but she is discovered because Khina was two months pregnant.}}
* [[Brainwashed and Crazy]]: Boris takes over Khina's mind from afar to have her assassinate Elodie. {{spoiler|She fails.}}
* [[Brother-Sister Team]]: Subverted - Ivanka is working against her brother Boris.
* [[Calling Your Attacks]]: Psychics do this sometimes, often in their native language. For example, the call for Boris's Blood Rose attack is "''Krov' roza''", [[Bilingual Bonus|which in fact is Russian for]] [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|its own name]].
** And, of course, Michiru and Daisuke [[Gratuitous Japanese|call out their Ninjutsu attacks in Japanese,]] ''[[Naruto]]''-style.
* [[Camp Gay]]: Nikolai and Claude, although they're only bisexual.
* [[Camp Straight]]: Claude was this until the author [[Bi the Way|outed him as bi]].
* [[Cartwright Curse]]: Somewhat. {{spoiler|Ivanka gets killed, but only five years after she marries Alec, which in turn was four years since they first met.}}
* [[Catch Phrase]]: Boris has "Comrade Alec", and Artemis Gilliam has "Seriously!".
* [[The Charmer]]: Alec refueses to fall for more than one woman at a time - even if the woman in question {{spoiler|has been kidnapped for three years}}.
* [[Chinese Girl]]: Lucia and Lumina Liang.
* [[Circus Brat]]: Elodie, Nikolai, and Claude, who contrasts with [[Military Brat|Jake]].
* [[Cloak and Dagger]]: The Delta Defense Alliance and Omega Order are both fictional organizations not officially aligned with any real-world government.
* [[Cold War]]: Specifically, the later period.
* [[Depraved Bisexual]]: Marriage means nothing to {{spoiler|Boris}}.
* [[Dirty Communists]]: Mostly averted. All the Russians/North Koreans/miscellaneous Communists in the story are either good and/or being played by the bad guys (a [[Renegade Russian]] third power).
* [[Disney Death]]: {{spoiler|[[Double Subversion]]. Boris gets pinned down by a truck and riddled with a full clip of AK bullets. Yet being a Psychic, he survived the whole thing.}}
* [[Distressed Damsel]]: Ivanka.
* [[The Eighties]]: Episodes II and III take place mainly in 1982 and 1989, respectively.
* [[Everyone Looks Sexier If French]]: Elodie.
* [[Everything Sounds Sexier in French]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]].
{{quote| '''Alec:''' Why is it that whenever you talk in French, it sounds cuter?<br />
'''Elodie:''' Well, I know they say French is the language of love...<br />
'''Alec:''' ...Then I guess they were right. }}
* [[False-Flag Operation]]: Boris's evil plans in Episodes I (USA vs. USSR) and II (Japan vs. North Korea).
* [[Fan Service]]: Many, many examples, including the following subcategories:
** [[Bare Your Midriff]]: The Altair harem outfits.
** [[Belly Dancer]]: Khina.
** [[Sarashi]]: Michiru wears a bandage bra which she cuts open with a [[Ninja]] knife at one point. [[Lampshade Hanging|Alec even jokes about how she is able to buy her lingere from the first-aid department.]]
** [[Zettai Ryouiki]]: Somewhat; Morgana's ZR is sandwiched between thighhigh boots and biker shorts that expand below her skirt. If you were a [[Psychic Powers|Psychic girl]] who spends a great deal of time [[Power Floats|floating]], you'd be worried about [[Panty Shot|panty shots]] too.
* [[Faux Action Girl]]: Ivanka.
* [[Furo Scene]]: Between {{spoiler|Alec and Ivanka}} on their honeymoon. They try to get close to each other during their bath together, but {{spoiler|Ivanka}} is reminded of a time when she was raped, and suffers a [[Heroic BSOD]] before running out crying.
* [[Gender Blender Name]]: Not only does Claude sound rather feminine in English, it is a gender-neutral name in his native French.
** [[Bishounen|That's the point.]]
* [[Girl of the Week]]: Ivanka, Michiru, and Elodie.
** Averted in Episode II. {{spoiler|Michiru}} would fit this trope, but {{spoiler|Alec refuses to fall for her, still waiting to be with Ivanka again.}}
*** {{spoiler|Although, Alec and Michiru eventually try to make love, but are rudely interrupted by Daisuke.}}
* [[Goggles Do Something Unusual]]: Michiru and Daisuke use Psychic-scanning [[Aura Vision]] binoculars.
* Good [[Smoking Bad Smoking]]: [[Subverted]]: Elodie uses a cigarette holder, not because she's [[The Baroness|an evil Baroness]], but because she's rich and glamorous. That still doesn't stop Alec from trying to make her quit.
* [[Gratuitous Foreign Language]]: Not only are Russian, [[Gratuitous Japanese|Japanese]] and [[Gratuitous French|French]] [[Poirot Speak|stock phrases used]], but the Psychics [[Calling Your Attacks|call their attacks]] in their native language.
* [[Handsome Lech]]: Gabriel Garnett and Claude Duchamp. Or perhaps Claude falls more into [[Chivalrous Pervert]] territory.
* [[Harem Nanny]]: Khina fulfills this role (in a literal harem, no less) by helping Ivanka with her problems.
* [[Heroic BSOD]]: {{spoiler|Alec, after Boris kills Ivanka. He even tries to shoot himself, but backs down before pulling the trigger.}}
** {{spoiler|And again, when he sees Boris alive. The delay keep him from killing Boris [[Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him|when he decides to just shoot him]]... not that it would do any good against a Psychic.}}
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|Ivanka}} offers to be executed in {{spoiler|Alec's}} stead. {{spoiler|A [[Senseless Sacrifice]] is narrowly avoided.}}
* [[Highly-Visible Ninja]]: [[Averted]] in Episode II; the author even makes a point to mention that a grayish ninja suit blends into darkness better than a black one. Aika Akagi, however, plays this trope straight with a shiny red [[Spy Catsuit]] and [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|green hair]].
* [[Hollywood Atlas]]: A number of subtropes are averted, including:
** [[Big Applesauce]]: The Delta Defense Alliance HQ is based in [[Useful Notes/Philadelphia|Philadelphia]] ([[Retcon|formerly]] [[Washington DC]]). Alec and Andrew also live there, but were born in [[Joisey|Cape May]]. Only Gabriel was born in New York.
** [[Gay Paree]]: Elodie lives in Marseille, on the southern Mediterranean coast of France, and has only been to Paris for a circus festival.
** [[Glorious Mother Russia]]: Boris and Nikolai call each other "comrade" ("Comrade Alec" is becoming something of a [[Catch Phrase]] for the former) and have ties to the Red Army / KGB, but that's about it.
** [[Olive Garden]]: Fiona Marino (who is not scheduled to appear in the story until Episode V) lives in an uncommonly used part of Italy: the Isle of Capri. And unlike what this trope would have you believe, [[Heroes Want Redheads|she is a redhead]] (but then again, [[Thunderball (Film)|so was another famous Fiona...]]).
** [[Oktoberfest]]: West Germany, as depicted in Episode I, looks and feels remarkably similar to any old Western-world place. As is the disco scene (this is [[The Seventies]], after all). Of course, Ivanka and Boris defected here from the Soviet Union.
** [[Qurac]]: The [[Arabian Nights (Literature)|Arabian Nights]] flavor of this trope is represented a little bit. Khina's backstory had her robbing from the bazaars of her hometown in Iran (before and during the 1978-79 revolution, although this is rarely if at all brought up) for sustenance.
*** Also, the Altair base, although it is technically under the control of the Soviet Union / Omega Order.
*** Bonus points since the actual [[Arabian Nights (Literature)|Arabian Nights]] took place in Persia (present-day Iran).
** [[Tokyo Is the Center of The Universe]]: Episode II takes place in cities including Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto - but not Tokyo. Also [[Subverted]]: Alec and {{spoiler|Ivanka}} do try to travel to Tokyo on their honeymoon, but only make it about halfway before deciding to fight the [[Big Bad]] once and for all.
*** Also, Nikolai was born and raised in rural Hokkaido before defecting to Russia.
* [[Hot Scientist]]: Wendy Blume.
* [[Hot Shounen Mom]]: Elodie. Ivanka also counts, {{spoiler|in the short span of time in which she was seen in Episode III.}}
* [[Identical Grandson|Identical Son]]: Alec and Jake were so similar at first, but this was changed when Jake was given a little beard.
* [[Intercontinuity Crossover]]: SpyHunter's crossover fanfics with [[Totally Spies]]. Contains copious amounts of [[Take That]].
* [[It Is Pronounced Tro PAY]]: A recent bonus chapter featured Alec having difficulty pronouncing Khina's name.
** For those unfamiliar with Persian / Arabic, "Kh" is a glottal sound, like the "Ch" in German or Hebrew, or the "J" in Spanish. It is not (commonly) found in English... [[Lampshade Hanging|Or French... Or Japanese.]]
* [[Katanas Are Just Better]]: Especially when it's the detonator for a bunch of exploding throwing stars.
* [[Karaoke Box]]
* [[Magic A Is Magic A]]: The details of Psychic magic have yet to be explained.
* [[Marshmallow Hell]]: Happens to Alec by Khina in the Episode I Bonus chapter.
* [[Meganekko]]: Wendy Blume.
* [[Military Brat]]: Jake, a little bit. Contrasts with [[Circus Brat|Claude]].
* [[Ninja]]: See Episode II. In particular, Michiru Murasaki and Daisuke Midori.
* [[No Bisexuals]]: Averted. Boris and Nikolai were both gay for each other, despite finding girlfriends later on down the line (Boris & Khina, and Nikolai & Elodie). In fact, the only fully gay character in Sapphire is Claude's coach/boyfriend, Valko Petkov.
* [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]]: Artemis Gilliam is an [[Expy]] of [[American Idol|Simon Cowell]]. He even judges a karaoke contest at one point.
* [[No One Could Survive That]]: {{spoiler|Boris being pinned down by a truck and riddled with a full clip of AK bullets. Yet being a Psychic, he survived the whole thing.}}
* [[Not Distracted By the Sexy]]: Alec refuses to fall for Michiru. {{spoiler|Although, they eventually try to make love, but are rudely interrupted by Daisuke.}}
** Or Khina during their first encounter(s).
* [[Paid Harem]]: The Altair base. And on a small scale, Gabriel Garnett.
* [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]: How in the world could Elodie not tell that was Nikolai behind that ''eye-mask''!?
** Well, it was over seven years since they last met.
** [[Hair Metal|But she mistook him for a member of Poison]], [[Rule of Funny|so that must be okay]].
* [[Power Crystal]]: On nearly everything Morgana wears. Even on her [[Stripperiffic|more-Stripperiffic-than-usual bikini]].
* [[Psychic Powers]]: Many of the villains - and some of the allies - are Psychics, and demonstrate all manner of powers.
** Even [[Ninja|ninjas]] are Psychics, in a sense. Alec makes the connection that "''ninjutsu'' is probably some variation on the whole psychic philosophy".
* [[Rape As Backstory]]: What happens to {{spoiler|Ivanka while she was kidnapped during Episode II.}}
* [[Recycled in Space]]: It's [[James Bond]]... with [[Psychic Powers|Psychics]].
** The plot for Episode II also draws many comparisons to [[You Only Live Twice (Film)|You Only Live Twice]].
* [[Redhead in Green]]: [[Inverted]] by Aika Akagi, who has [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|green hair]] and a red [[Spy Catsuit]].
* [[Renegade Russian]]: Boris Rubanenko. Officially, he pledges alleigance to the Soviet Union. {{spoiler|However, in Episode I he plans to nuke the West AND East indiscriminately, so that both sides will be weak enough for a Psychic takeover.}}
**  {{spoiler|Not to mention trying to start ''another'' war between North Korea and Japan in Episode II,}} plus whatever he has up his sleeve for Episode III...
* [[Ring of Fire]]: Daisuke creates a green ring of fire during his duel with Michiru. {{spoiler|She defeats him by ''[[Screw the Rules I Have Plot|teleporting out of the ring]]'', [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|then leaps back into it and skewers him]].}}
* [[Schedule Slip]]: One of the longest gaps was between Chapters 11 and 12 of Episode II. [[Tropers/Spy Hunter 29|SpyHunter]] [[Self Deprecating Humor|even joked about this]]:
{{quote|  [[Tethercat Principle|THERE'S A BOMB THAT'S SET TO GO OFF TWENTY-SIX YEARS AGO THAT DESPERATELY NEEDS OUR ATTENTION!]]}}
** Chapters 8-9 of Episode III are set to break that record...
* [[Senseless Sacrifice]]: Almost happened. Even after {{spoiler|Boris}} killed {{spoiler|Ivanka}} after promising Alec would be spared, {{spoiler|he proceeds to kill Alec as well. He is saved, however, when his friend Andrew pulls a little [[Deus Ex Machina]].}}
** {{spoiler|Turns out it ''was'' senseless after all. You can imagine Alec's surprise when he saw Boris alive two years later.}}
* [[Shameless Self Promotion]]: [[Tropers/Spy Hunter 29|the author himself started this page]].
* [[Spell My Name With an "S"]]: Elodie Duchamp's first name was originally written without the accent mark. However, after the author did some research and learned that there is a French name with the accent mark but not without, it has been [[Retcon|retconned]] as such. The only reason it's not written like that on [[This Very Wiki]] is because the accented 'E' gets corrupted to 'Ã‰'.
* [[Spy Fiction]]: Martini, more so in Episode III than the first two. [[Psychic Powers|With eye of newt.]]
* [[Suck My Rose]]: Boris's 'Blood Rose' attack. Which involves killing the victim ''by teleporting it into his/her heart''.
* [[Tall, Dark and Bishoujo]]: Khina Sabiri (although her hair is in a ponytail, and is medium-length besides) and Morgana Rubanenko.
* [[Tall, Dark and Handsome]]: Boris.
* [[Tear Jerker]]: {{spoiler|When Boris kills Ivanka.}}
* [[The Baroness]]: Khina and (more so) Morgana both fall into the Sexpot flavor of this trope.
* [[The Seventies]]: Episode I takes place mainly in 1978.
* [[The Unpronounceable]]: Alec has trouble pronouncing Khina's name in the Episode I bonus chapter, since the glottal 'kh' sound does not occur in (American) English.
* [[Unholy Matrimony]]: Boris married Khina during the events of Episode II. 
* [[Unwanted Harem]]: It's not ''his'' harem, but Alec refuses to fall for the advances of Khina and the other girls.
* [[Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him]]: Averted by Alec. After their first few encounters, his way of greeting Boris involves shooting him in the head. {{spoiler|It never works. It even gets lampshaded: "You should have learned by now, that will never work on me... Comrade Alec." "Always worth a try."}}
** The same cannot be said of Boris, [[Affably Evil|who would prefer to show someone a magic trick before killing him or her]].
* [[Yamato Nadeshiko]]: Elodie Duchamp.
* [[Yaoi Guys]]: [[Uke|Nikolai]] and [[Seme|Boris]]. Nikolai was even a [[Wholesome Crossdresser]] as a kid.
* [[You Fail the IQ Test]]: In Chapter 0 of the first episode, Nina Rubanenko is described as having an IQ of 5000.
** So, Nina's an [[Pokémon|Alakazam]]?

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Web Serial Novel]]
[[Category:Troper Works]]
[[Category:Sapphire]]
[[Category:Literature]]