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{{work}}
{{Outdated}}<!-- Most of the 20th-anniversary surprises (the changes at HeretiCorp, Kusari without the mask on, etc.) are not referenced at all yet -->
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In its time, it has shifted from being a simple gag comic with rather short arcs to a complex tragicomic tale of friends living in a mad world and trying to find fulfilling lives in them. It has helped create or popularize a ton of web comic tropes, and it repeatedly [[Lampshade Hanging|hangs lampshades]] over every single trope it uses, and [[Subverted Trope|subverts]] a few dozen more.
Since it has been publishing mostly daily for two decades (though less often as time went on), there is quite a bit of material to digest, but its continued popularity has never been questioned, even by those who don't make it a daily read. However, with 20 years of strips with very little interruption, it can be a prime source of [[Archive Panic]] for newcomers, so much so that even long-time fans can be a bit intimidated by the idea of an [[Archive Trawl]].
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** Riff's dad is also implied to be one.
* [[Affectionate Parody]]: Most of the parodies the strip does. The long-running ''[[Harry Potter|Torg Potter]]'' parodies are a bit more vicious about pointing out plot holes.
* [[Air Vent Passageway]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20160604013839/http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=001217 On the back of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, of all things.]
* [[All Just a Dream]]: Played with, of course, in [https://web.archive.org/web/20151031011357/http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=060924 this strip].
* [[All There in the Manual]]: A moderate case. Many storylines almost require an [[Archive Trawl]] to understand what's going on, the story "bROKEN", required over a dozen archive links just getting started.
** One of the strips even managed to top that - [https://web.archive.org/web/20131127170105/http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=090612 this one (major spoiler)] asks you to check the forums assuming the other Sluggy readers will post them ''for you''.
* [[Alternate Character Interpretation]]:
** [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/100203 This] comic manages to do this by presenting ''[[Up]]''... from the balloons' perspective.
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** And don't call him in the role of a telemarkter, either.
* [[Better as Friends]]: Zoë said this to Torg once.
* [[Between My Legs]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20130906172246/http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=070815 In a rather bizarre fashion].
* [[Big Bad]]: K'Z'K and Hereti Corp for the overall story. Sir John Jacobs in the "Oceans Unmoving" arc.
* [[Bilingual Bonus]]: most probably unintentional, but the sorcerer's nuts in the 'Torg Potter' arc are acorns. In Dutch, 'the acorn' (de 'eikel') is a piece of the penis.
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* [[Body Count Competition]]: Between Torg, Gwynn, and Riff while killing zombies. There is also an unofficial one by fans who keep kill counts for the characters.
* [[Brain Bleach]]: [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/100630 Lau needs some.]
* [[Brick Joke]]: Played with in that it isn't a joke. 2016: [http://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=69#2016-07-25 "Believe me when I do, you're '''going to know'''."] Three years later, [http://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=72#2019-09-30 we all know.]
** And in the very next strip, {{spoiler|[[Status Quo Is God|she says no]].}}
* [[Broke Episode]]: Several [[Story Arc|Broke Arcs]], actually. (Not "bROKEN", though.)
* [[But for Me It Was Tuesday]]: When Squeakybobo comes back from the Dimension of Pain to kill Torg, he runs into Bun-bun. When Squeakybobo tells Bun-bun that he's next on the revenge list for killing him, Bun-bun can't remember who he is.
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*** See [[Brick Joke]]. Though Chekhov's Flintlock would be a better name for that trope...
* [[Chew Toy]]: Squeekybobo the elf gets abused beyond belief... he somehow managed to come out worse for it when he was resurrected (partly because he was set up to become king of Hell right when it happened).
** More recently, there's [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Zombie Head On A Stick]]. She's still sentient, but the characters treat her [
** And leave behind to [https://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=60#2009-08-24 "babysit"] Kiki, the way a literal chew toy keeps a puppy busy.
* [[Claustrophobia]]: Zoë isn't claustrophobic, but is able to give herself a panic attack by picking a terrible time to think about how lucky she is ''not'' to be claustrophobic.
* [["Close Enough" Timeline]]: Torg at first thinks that the Dimension of Lame constitutes one (the only visible differences being that Riff has different glasses, Zoe has purple hair and has the hots for Torg, and that Bun-bun is nice while Kiki is nasty) but he soon changes his mind after he finds out they don't have beer.
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* [[Distribution of Ninjutsu]]
* [[The Ditz]]: Nearly everyone except Zoë.
* [[Doctor Jekyll and Mister Jack Daniels]]: Bun-bun becomes quite a friendly rabbit once he gets enough booze in him.▼
* [[Doom Magnet]]: Most random minor characters whom the gang gets acquainted with die in their current adventures (see the "K I T T E N" storylines, for instance). They really aren't the best people to know. Basically, any character the gang meets either joins the main cast (or at least the recurring cast), or dies; they can't just fade back to obscurity.
* [[Downer Ending]]: {{spoiler|The bROKEN}} arc.
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* [[Face Full of Alien Wingwong]]: How Aylee was born. Well, except for the "face" part.
* [[Fake Kill Scare]]
* [[Fate Worse Than Death]]:
**
** One could regard Zombie head on a stick's fate as this. She has already [[I Cannot Self-Terminate|begged for death]] and made [[Driven to Suicide|multiple attempts at suicide]]. [[Played for Laughs]] [[Asshole Victim|naturally]]. She {{spoiler|finally got to die when Gwynn put her in an anti-magic field}}.
* [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink]]: All sorts of legends from various sources are referenced, and parodied heavily.
* [[Fan Service]]: Done and lampshaded [http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/980712 here].
* [[Fiery Redhead]]: Oasis is {{spoiler|literally}} one.
* [[Flanderization]]: Sam Sein. Once the stubborn, clueless guy who couldn't take a "no" from Zoë.
* [[Follow the Leader]]: ''Sluggy Freelance'' is cited as one of the most influential webcomics on the web. It helps that it started in 1997 and is still going
* [[Foreshadowing]]: With hints and clues showing up in disguised form ''several years'' before the payoff. Possibly the biggest, most subtle example is the revelation that {{spoiler|Oasis is a pyrokinetic}}, which makes earlier encounters crystal clear hints to this end.
** Also, if you stop and think, {{spoiler|Zoë being burned alive by Oasis}} had been hinted at since the second K'Z'K arc.
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* [[Good Angel, Bad Angel]]: Played relatively straight by Zoë, heavily subverted by everyone else. Especially Riff, both of whose consciences are so apathetic and reticent they forget which side they're meant to take at times.
** Torg's bad angel is ''[[Ax Crazy]]'', with no subtlety for tempting. Conversely, Zoë's good angel is sufficiently adept at putting her foot in her mouth that the bad angel rarely has to say anything, really.
* [[Gorn]]: So many, many sprays of blood in the "K
* [[Government Drug Enforcement]]: The alternate universe {{spoiler|that Riff is currently trapped}} in takes this to a ridiculous level, to the point where none of {{spoiler|Riff's}} chemistry class can't tell that they're having a staring contest with a balloon. Not just a balloon with a drawn on face, but a balloon wearing drawn on {{spoiler|''sunglasses.''}}
* [[Green-Skinned Space Babe]]: Aylee's humanoid incarnations. And [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/19971007 parodied fairly early on], too, from back when Torg and Riff would holler at the ladies more readily.
* [[Hammerspace]]: Half-lampshaded [https://web.archive.org/web/20150911011145/http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=090605 here].
* [[Happiness Is Mandatory]]: In the arc "758449"
* [[Hellevator]]: An entire house ([[Insistent Terminology|WITH GHOSTS IN THE GAS TANK!]]).
* [[Heel Face Turn]]: Several characters, Sam and Aylee being the most prominent (though it's not exactly clear whether Sam was down with the whole "evil vampire" bit at all in the first place or if he was just pretending). Oasis temporarily becomes a sort-of good guy, at first due a sheer mental and personality breakdown, while the second seems to be an honest try to be a hero, unfortunately marred by her homicidal tendencies. Dr. Steve is implied to have quit Hereti-Corp because of this, and it's revealed Kesandru had pulled one in an alternate universe.
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** {{spoiler|4U!Riff and 4U!Frog, upon finding out that Riff intends to risk his life to try and save a dying 4U!Mimi, laugh and insult him for his [[Chronic Hero Syndrome]], only for 4U!Frog to admit that there is something seriously wrong with them.}}
* [[He-Man Woman Hater]]: Dr Nofun, Lau, and the rest of his organisation, taken to comically ridiculous levels.
* [[Heroes Want Redheads]]: Subverted. Oasis is the only major redhead in the strip, and though Torg's initial reaction to her was in those lines, now it is generally and for very good reasons "'''RUN. LIKE. HELL.'''" [[Inverted Trope
* [[Hoist by His Own Petard]]: {{spoiler|[http://sluggy.com/#2018-10-12 Dr. Schlock shot himself] because his A.I. was too good.}}
* [[Homage]]: In "Aylee vs. Bun-bun", Bun-bun, having been eaten by Aylee, bursts out of her chest in a clear parody homage to ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]''.
* [[Hope Spot]]: {{spoiler|Riff is still alive! ...Seconds before he's gunned down by a group of armed soldiers}}.
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* [[Idiot Hero]]: Mostly Torg and Riff, though everyone falls into this every once in a while.
* [[I Don't Like the Sound of That Place]]: The Dimension of Pain.
* [[I Have Nothing to Say to That]]: Zoe, in [https://web.archive.org/web/20161003092819/http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=030731 this strip.]
* [[I Just Shot Marvin in the Face]]: Almost happens in [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20060312 this] strip.
* [[I Know Mortal Kombat]]: During the "Storm Breaker" saga, a time-travelling Torg has to take on the role of Dark Ages warlord [[Identical Stranger|Lord Torgibus]] and attempts this, but falls afoul of [[Command and Conquer Economy]].
{{quote|'''Torg:''' Alright, we'll need some of the townsfolk to [[Warcraft II|chop down trees, mine for gold]], and [[Total Annihilation|set up solar collectors]] in case we need to build more troops. Do we have any dragons yet?}}
** Later, Torg appears in one of Gwynn's visions while she's possessed by K'z'k and thinks he's dreaming about being in a [[Fighting Game]]--''and proceeds to kick K'z'k's ass''.
▲* [[
* [[Informed Attribute]]: Parodied with Torg and Riff's "tradition" of exchanging a beer every year for Christmas/Hanukkah. They have never yet managed to pull it off without something going wrong
* [[Innocent Innuendo]]: Torg explains the political issues of the 2000 US presidential election to Kiki using balls painted with the Stars and Stripes to represent taxes. Riff can only take so many instances of Torg and Kiki talking about their balls before he snaps.
* [[Intentional Engrish for Funny]]: "Fashion Rancher 2" is a parody of [[Blind Idiot Translation]]
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* [[Our Vampires Are Different]]: Different clans have different strengths and weaknesses, in part because they were originally parodies. For example, vampires from the Lysinda circle shrivel up and stop moving when they're staked through the heart, but immediately come back to life if you pull the stake out.
* [[Our Zombies Are Different]]: Zombies are immortal beings who rely on regeneration. The catch is that their regenerative state is highly selective and completely dependent on what they consume. For example, eating eyes will keep their eyesight from deteriorating while eating brains will allow them to retain their intelligence and cognitive abilities. In addition, being bitten by a zombie will not turn a person into one.
* [[Overly Long Gag]]: Dr. Viennason [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20050210 explains] the dimension of timeless space by illustrating what happens when you run out of time supplies. By standing perfectly still for thirteen panels. Although he breaks it to surreptitiously glance at the camera if you look carefully in the tenth panel. The same trope is used for a whole sixteen panels in this [https://web.archive.org/web/20141227014506/http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=010715 Gofotron] battle.
* [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]: [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=971031 Here].
* [[Pass the Popcorn]]: Aquired by Torg from the [[Wondrous Ladies' Room]] to watch [[Cat Fight|Sasha and a nearly naked Monecruel duke it out]].
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* [[Punny Name]]: ''Everyone'' apart from the main cast. Particular mention goes to the inhabitants of the Punyverse and of Torg Potters' wizarding world.
** The book of E-ville [Elizabethville, Pa.]
* [[Real Men Wear Pink]]: Bun-bun once wore [https://web.archive.org/web/20141022034759/http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=050925 a lavender dress]. And it was awesome.
* [[Reassigned to Antarctica]]: When Riff tried a "normal" 9-to-5 job he was transferred to Nome, Alaska because he'd threatened to sue them if fired (beats getting transformed into a gnome).
* [[Reckless Gun Usage]]: Alt-Bun-bun [https://web.archive.org/web/20161003092637/http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=040607 invokes this trope], enough that Torg yells, "''Quit pointing that empty gun at me, it's not really for making points in conversation!''" [[Justified Trope|Justified]] since Alt-Bun-bun comes from a dimension without guns (or much in the way of violence at all).
* [[Red Herring]]: Often, due to the serpentine plots.
** Early on, the viewer was meant to think that Bun-bun had been killed when Santa blew up his booby-trapped workshop, and his vengeful spirit had come to the Dimension of Pain. It turned out that the spirit was in fact the elf Mr Squeekybobo, who ''had'' died in the same attack, and Bun-bun was in a cage somewhere with [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]].
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** Torg had a coupon.
* [[Sadistic Choice]]: {{spoiler|Torg to Crushestro}} [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/101122 here].
* [[Saw a Woman In Half]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20161003085624/http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=070813 Doesn't quite go as planned for Riff...]
* [[Schmuck Bait]]: Riff's inventions are usually covered with them, despite having a ferret that loves to mess with such things.
* [[The Scream]]: [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/050602 Here].
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*** Who then turns out to be Steve Uozin, vaguely resembling [[Steve Irwin]]. {{spoiler|Oh, and his last word was "Crickey!"... when he got [[Life Imitates Art|stabbed with a long spike through the chest]] [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/050219].}}
* [[Sissy Villain]]: Zorgon Gola from the Punyverse arc. Many other villains of the [[Not So Harmless]] variety can sometimes slip into this as well.
* [[Slow-Loading Internet Image]]: An April Fool's day comic made good use of this trope [https://web.archive.org/web/20150621075832/http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=060401 here].
* [[Snarky Non-Human Sidekick]]: Bun-Bun when he's in one of his relatively good moods.
* [[Snowball Fight]]
* [[Snowy Screen of Death]]: In this [https://web.archive.org/web/20160603130121/http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=090401 strip].
* [[Soul Cutting Blade]]: The sword Chaz actually seems to have an easier time killing spiritual beings than physical ones.
* [[Southern-Fried Genius]]: Clem
* [[Status Quo Is God]]: Subverted repeatedly, especially for a comic of its length. The main cast has moved from living in an apartment complex, to living in an old house, to losing the house and living in yet another apartment, to living in yet another house. When they're not trapped in the past/future or another dimension. Not to mention the fact that the only dating combinations not explored by the human central cast at this point are the ones which involve Ho Yay or Les Yay.
* [[Stealth Pun]]: The four alien Greys are named after the members of the A-Team, but the obvious pun "The Grey-Team" is never specifically spoken.
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* [[Space Is an Ocean|Timeless Space Is An Ocean]]: Which is, of course, [[Space Sailing|traversed in pirate ships]] [[Applied Phlebotinum|with time bubbles]]
* [[Time Travel]]
* [[Timey-Wimey Ball]]: While generally glossed over for the sake of a good story, [[Time Travel]] has worked differently in different circumstances - "The Storm Breaker" saga resulted in Zoë and Torg actually changing history (which then gave Zoë problems on a history test), but we also learn that Valerie was turned into a vampire as the result of Torg's actions in the past, even though she was a vampire before he traveled back in time. Also, Dr. Schlock from the future watched his younger self die, but he's still around because he's from an alternate future that was averted in the current timeline thanks to some of the technology he sent back in time to stop K'Z'K, as he mentioned in Kiki's Virus, [https://web.archive.org/web/20160603192927/http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=000201 here]
** And Timeless Space, being [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]], can be accessed from any point in time, simultaneously. One who manages to escape may not necessarily return to the time stream where they originally came from. {{spoiler|It's heavily implied that Bun-bun originally came from a time long before the rest of the cast was born.}}
** Lampshaded in [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/091112 this comic].
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