Secret Six: Difference between revisions

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** Bane's dad is a blind, arrogant crime lord named King Snake, the alias of one Sir Edmund Dorrance. While working as a mercenary he got Bane's mother pregnant... and left the two of them to ''languish in prison to serve out his life sentence''. Said prison, as you may gather from the fact that it let that happen in the first place, is a notorious hell hole and Bane only survived by becoming the biggest and meanest evil bastard in the whole place.

* [[Action Girl]]: Plain and simple, the women of this series will ''mess you up''.

* [[And Your Little Dog, Too]]: In issue 35, an hour-long beating doesn't convince the Penguin to go along with Bane's plan; it's when Ragdoll threatens to feed his pet penguins to King Shark.

* [[And Your Little Dog, Too]]: In issue #35, an hour-long beating doesn't convince the Penguin to go along with Bane's plan; it's when Ragdoll threatens to feed his pet penguins to King Shark.

* [[Animal-Themed Superbeing]]: Cat-Man and King Shark.

* Anti-[[Villain Protagonist]]/[[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Type V Antiheroes]]: Even the most psychotic of the Six are, to some extent, sympathetic characters, and the main practical difference between them and an average [[Nineties Anti-Hero]] vigilante is the fact that they generally fight (other) villains for profit. An exception to this rule is former member [[Token Evil Teammate|Cheshire]], who [[Gail Simone]] has [[Word of God|stated]] she always writes without any redeeming characteristics since she once [[Nuke'Em|killed a country]].

* [[Apologetic Attacker]]: Ragdoll often apologizes for killing people; once he apologized for not killing someone in their native tongue.

* [[Ascended Meme]]: In issue 35, King Shark sings his own version of the [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-singing-shark "I'm a shaaaaark" song.]

* [[Ascended Meme]]: In issue #35, King Shark sings his own version of the [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-singing-shark "I'm a shaaaaark" song.]

* [[The Atoner]]:

** Issue 24 seems to imply that ''all'' the characters secretly wish to atone, even though many continue to act in a despicable manner throughout the series. An [[Elseworlds]] issue, it ends with the characters wishing that, even if only this once, they could have been the heroes.

** Issue #24 seems to imply that ''all'' the characters secretly wish to atone, even though many continue to act in a despicable manner throughout the series. An [[Elseworlds]] issue, it ends with the characters wishing that, even if only this once, they could have been the heroes.

** Bane ''was'' this in his own messed up way. When he found out that, because the world does not conform to his own particular sense of right and wrong he was apparently going to hell, he decided to give up on being the Atoner and do what he had originally wanted to: Conquer Gotham and break the Batman.

* [[Badass Boast]]: "You'll run. You'll hide. And in the dark... [[Prepare to Die|I will find you.]]"

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* [[Black and Grey Morality]]/ [[Evil Versus Evil]]: The Six may not be saints, but the people they have fought have included a Society of Villains set out to mind rape superheroes and conquer the world, a sociopathic immortal cannibal, a sadistic poison obsessed assassin, a midget misogynist rapist, and the Nightmare Fuel incarnate Junior. The Six are bad, their foes are ''worse''.

* [[Black Comedy]]: Violence and killing is often played for laughs in this book. The whole sequence with Deadshot and Catman shopping for ice cream at the beginning of the ''Unhinged'' arc, especially the part where Deadshot keeps casually ribbing Catman about his love-life while a thug levels a gun at his head, highlights the humor that is inserted into theoretically life-or-death situations.

* [[BLAM Episode]]: Issue 24 randomly diverges from the main Six continuity to deliver a one shot [[Elseworlds]] tale that casts the Six and some of their opponents as heroes and villains in a wild west setting. [[Tropes Are Not Bad|It is a very well done, well written and entertaining example of a BLAM though.]]

* [[BLAM Episode]]: Issue #24 randomly diverges from the main Six continuity to deliver a one shot [[Elseworlds]] tale that casts the Six and some of their opponents as heroes and villains in a wild west setting. [[Tropes Are Not Bad|It is a very well done, well written and entertaining example of a BLAM though.]]

* [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick]]: Most, if not all of Ragdoll's dialog.

* [[Breather Episode]]: Immediately after the extremely dark "Cats in the Cradle" storyline, we get the stand-alone issue "Predators," which chronologically takes place before the previous story and is pretty much just 22 pages of the Six kicking ass.

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** Do not touch the Hatter's hat, you will pay by the finger.

** Never try to interrupt Junior on the phone. Seriously. Do not do it. Whoever you need to call, it can wait.

* [[Downer Ending]]: Issue 24 is a non-continuity [[Elseworld]] story that has characters from the Six in a Wild West setting. They face off against a gang of thugs and crooks led by a Wild West version of Junior. Expecting them to win? [[Kill'Em All|They are not that lucky.]]

* [[Downer Ending]]: Issue #24 is a non-continuity [[Elseworld]] story that has characters from the Six in a Wild West setting. They face off against a gang of thugs and crooks led by a Wild West version of Junior. Expecting them to win? [[Kill'Em All|They are not that lucky.]]

** {{spoiler|The ending of the series is also this. Bane led the team into an unwinnable situation so he could 'rid himself of responsibilities for others' and everyone else on the team gets captured by heroes, with the text indicating that many of them have broken bones at best. [[Your Mileage May Vary|Luckily, the entire DCU rebooted after this issue]]}}.

* [[Duct Tape for Everything]]: Scandal uses duct tape to tie up and gag Pistolera after she tries to assassinate Knockout. Giganta later {{spoiler|duct-tapes Dwarfstar's mouth shut to keep his screams from alerting the other Sixers while she tortures him.}} Ragdoll later uses duct tape to tie up and gag Bumblebee from the [[Doom Patrol]], whom he wants to take home as a "souvenir".

* [[Dysfunction Junction]]: Scandal's father is Vandal Savage, the first murderer. Catman's father was a big game hunter who was a complete and utter bastard to everything and everyone around him. Ragdoll's father was an abusive cult leader. Jeanette was raised in the household of mass murderer Countess Erszebet Bathory. Bane spent his childhood in one of the hardest prisons in the world. Deadshot's parents hated each other so much, his mother hired his brother to kill his father - and Deadshot accidentally killed his brother trying to stop him. Black Alice's mother died of a drug overdose, and she brought her back as a zombie. The Six give a whole new meaning to the word "dysfunctional".

* [[Elseworlds]]: Issue 24 is a non-continuity story that has characters from the Six in a Wild West setting. They face off against a gang of thugs and crooks led by a Wild West version of Junior. Expecting them to win? [[Downer Ending|They are not that lucky.]]

* [[Elseworlds]]: Issue #24 is a non-continuity story that has characters from the Six in a Wild West setting. They face off against a gang of thugs and crooks led by a Wild West version of Junior. Expecting them to win? [[Downer Ending|They are not that lucky.]]

* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: Weird, strange, and difficult to hold on to, but standards nonetheless... except for Cheshire. It seems to be what sets the Six apart from the villains they fight, as Vandal Savage, Junior and Smyth certainly do not have standards of any kind.

** For a specific example, Scandal tells the Mad Hatter to back off when he tries to mind-control Elastigirl into eating Beast Boy.

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** In "The Reptile Brain" story arc, Ragdoll rips out King Sharks eye.

* [[Fan Disservice]]: [[Up to Eleven|Junior]].

* [[Fan Service]]: The characters get naked pretty often. Particularly in the first pages of #5 of the mini, where pretty much all of the Six are naked, from [[Ms. Fanservice|Knockout]] to [[Estrogen Brigade Bait|Catman and Deadshot]] to [[Squick|Mad Hatter]]. Also Bane, for those who are into bears. The only character who has not been at least partially naked by this point is [[Fan Disservice|Ragdoll]].

* [[Fan Service]]: The characters get naked pretty often. Particularly in the first pages of issue #5 of the mini, where pretty much all of the Six are naked, from [[Ms. Fanservice|Knockout]] to [[Estrogen Brigade Bait|Catman and Deadshot]] to [[Squick|Mad Hatter]]. Also Bane, for those who are into bears. The only character who has not been at least partially naked by this point is [[Fan Disservice|Ragdoll]].

* [[Foe Yay]]:

** Between Catman and Huntress. It starts with waltzing and meatballs to the head and just escalates from there.

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* [[Full-Frontal Assault]]: Oh, so much. Catman's flashbacks, Junior, Bane... [[Gail Simone|the author]] has admitted to enjoying seeing how many ways she can get her characters naked.

* [[Genius Bruiser]]: [[Gail Simone]] has remembered that Bane is also a criminal genius, and he is starting to regain this status rather than being simple brute strength.

* [[Goofy Print Underwear]]: #11 gives us a look at the characters' nightclothes, and among others Scandal wears polka dot ~~boyshorts~~ while Ragdoll has a pair of yellow footie pajamas, complete with buttflap.

* [[Goofy Print Underwear]]: Issue #11 gives us a look at the characters' nightclothes, and among others Scandal wears polka dot boy-shorts while Ragdoll has a pair of yellow footie pajamas, complete with buttflap.

* [[Haunted Headquarters]]

* [[Heroic BSOD]]/[[Villainous BSOD]]: {{spoiler|Bane, after learning that, even as a [[Noble Demon]], he's going to end up in hell}}.

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* [[Implacable Man]]:

** Scandal has a healing factor and determination spawned by her immortal father Vandal Savage; she does not stop until she ''wants'' to stop.

** Catman's "Cats in the Cradle" story-arc features him simply moving forward through all opposition without even being slowed down.

** Catman's ''Cats in the Cradle'' story-arc features him simply moving forward through all opposition without even being slowed down.

* [[In Name Only]]: The current Secret Six has nothing in common with the ''original'' Secret Six from the [[Silver Age]] except for the number of members and a mysterious leader called "Mockingbird". However, it has surpassed the original in pretty much every way.

* [[Ironic Echo]]: "Let it sink in or you'll never get through this."

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* [[MacGuffin]]: The Get Out of Hell Free Card.

* [[Man Bites Man]]: Almost everyone on the team has bitten someone at some point. To date; Scandal has bitten off a villain's ear, Bane has torn out a mook's throat, Ragdoll has bitten a man to death after locking up his power armor and Jeanette has bitten off three of a serial killer's fingers and Catman... well, look at the trope's page image. King Shark's special abilities are specifically noted as "Chewing and Biting".

* [[Manipulative Bastard]]: Their original leader, "Mockingbird" {{spoiler|(~~AKA~~ Lex Luthor)}}. Also the current "Mockingbird" {{spoiler|(Amanda Waller)}}.

* [[Manipulative Bastard]]: Their original leader, "Mockingbird" {{spoiler|(aka Lex Luthor)}}. Also the current "Mockingbird" {{spoiler|(Amanda Waller)}}.

* [[Marked Change]]: Jeanette gets [[Prophet Eyes]], black marks on her face, deathly white skin and black streaks in her hair when she uses her banshee powers. We would tell you to run when you see that, but by then it is already too late.

* [[Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane]]: Deceased [[New Gods|New God]] Knockout appears to possess Liana, a stripper hired to cheer Scandal up, [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy|to tell Scandal to enjoy her life]]. It is never revealed if this really was a paranormal event, or if Scandal was just having a drunken hallucination.

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* [[Our Banshees Are Louder]]: Jeanette. She was betrayed and her husband had her decapitated. The execution was botched, and she 'found the banshee' as she waited to die. As a banshee, she is immortal, super-strong, has a sense for death and possesses a scream that can ''seriously'' screw up those who hear it.

* [[Papa Wolf]]:

** Hurting Scandal is the only thing that will make Bane even ''consider'' resorting to his venom again {{spoiler|and he does at the end of the "Unhinged" arc}}.

** Hurting Scandal is the only thing that will make Bane even ''consider'' resorting to his venom again {{spoiler|and he does at the end of the ''Unhinged'' arc}}.

** Catman when his son is kidnapped. The other members of the Six recognize that, after what he did to get revenge, he might be too far gone even for them.

* [[Plucky Girl]]: Liana Kerzner.

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* [[Shout-Out]]:

** To [[Tiny Titans]] of all things, when Ragdoll has a dream involving a similar art-style and using the catchphrase "Aw yeah".

** Issue 8 was titled "Double Date", the same titled as the ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' episode [[Gail Simone]] wrote which was the closest the series ever got to ''[[Birds of Prey]]''.

** Issue #8 was titled "Double Date", the same titled as the ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' episode [[Gail Simone]] wrote which was the closest the series ever got to ''[[Birds of Prey]]''.

* [[Slap Slap Kiss]]: Cheshire attempts to enact this after she and Catman fight in the second mini and ''earnestly'' offers to make love right in the middle of the battlefield. Catman is understandably freaked out, is horrified to find that he is actually considering it, and pointedly turns her down.

* [[Speech Bubbles]]: Ragdoll has a pretty, cursive font for his bubbles, while everyone else has more normal speech.

* [[Spiritual Successor]]: To the [[Suicide Squad]]. They share a member (Deadshot) and a similar theme of bad guys acting as (sort of) good guys. The connection was solidifed with a "crossover" between Secret Six and Suicide Squad (through a one-issue resurrection of the title as part of [[Blackest Night]]), and with long-time Squad scribe John Ostrander doing a couple of guest issues on ''Secret Six''.

* [[Spiritual Successor]]: To the [[Suicide Squad]]. They share a member (Deadshot) and a similar theme of bad guys acting as (sort of) good guys. The connection was solidifed with a "crossover" between Secret Six and Suicide Squad (through a one-issue resurrection of the title as part of ''[[Blackest Night]]''), and with long-time Squad scribe John Ostrander doing a couple of guest issues on ''Secret Six''.

* [[Squick]]: In universe, Catman finds the fact that Jeanette is technically dead and sleeping with Deadshot to be highly squick-y. Deadshot, naturally, is not that bothered by it (and who can blame him?).

* [[Take That]]: The controversial ''Titans'' tie-in to ''[[Brightest Day]]'' involved the villain Dwarfstar hiring Deathstroke to kill Ryan Choi, a character Gail Simone co-created with [[Grant Morrison]], and whom she wrote almost all the adventures of. As payback, Gail wrote a scene in issue #28 {{spoiler|where Giganta hospitalized Dwarfstar by way of torture}}.

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* [[True Companions]]: Issue #34 absolutely confirms the Six as this. They're a freaky, dysfunctional family, but they are a family.

* [[Ugly Cute]]: Ragdoll, whom Black Alice finds cute in universe.

* [[The Unseen]]: Mockingbird as of the "Depths" story arc. Smyth was working for him/her, but Mockingbird himself/herself was absent, though mentioned. Turns out {{spoiler|it is Amanda Waller}}, although the Six did not know that at the time.

* [[The Unseen]]: Mockingbird as of the ''Depths'' story arc. Smyth was working for him/her, but Mockingbird himself/herself was absent, though mentioned. Turns out {{spoiler|it is Amanda Waller}}, although the Six did not know that at the time.

* [[Villainous Crossdresser]]: Ragdoll once took the opportunity to try on parts of Wonder Woman's costume. He very clearly enjoyed it.

* [[Vitriolic Best Buds]]: Catman and Deadshot.