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[[File:Descended_Avvy_9292.png|frame|[[Sarcasm Mode|Nice Flying]]!]]
 
'''''[http://descended.thecomicseries.com The Descended]''''' is a webcomicweb comic run by Brian D. Lewis, also known as Ranger_Brian_New (on the forums), hosted on [[Comic Fury]]. It is one of his most ambitious projects, where he decided to create a whole world with very complicated rules. As mentioned in the profile, it follows three groups of individuals: The Elementals, The Latens, and The [[Meaningful Name|Outcasts]]. Because each group has [[Four Is Death|four]] members (with the promise of a fourth group to come), it obviously has [[Loads and Loads of Characters]], each with their own distinctive personality and rich backstories.
 
CurrentlyAs of 2012, the series and website iswas under revision, as the author iswas looking to fix what he feels like was the cause of the mistake which gave him Writer's Block: not having the world well-thought-out enough. He fully intends to resume the comic once he has all the details of the world figured out and set in stone. Brian hoped to have finished his changes by July 2012, but does not wish to be held to that date. The last comment on the site was in 2016, where he hoped to come back to this strip some day.
 
Brian hopes to have finished his changes by July of 2012, but does not wish to be held to that date.
----
{{tropelist}}
=== ''The Descended'' contains examples of: ===
 
 
== #-C ==
* [[Hundred-Percent100% Heroism Rating]]: The Elementals started off fairly small, but became widely known as some of the greatest adventurers of their nation by the time they were called on to thwart a demon invasion. After [[Heroic Sacrifice|losing]] [[Our Hero Is Dead|Sanik]], his reputation skyrocketed. It wasn't until shortly after repelling an enemy invasion that they well and truly became this, though.
** And they remained that way {{spoiler|until Helops was destroyed}}. They've started from scratch.
** Nobody knows the name Argus. Almost everyone knows the name Jason Argo Maustrat, one of the greatest adventurers of all time. They're the same person.
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* [[Absurdly Sharp Blade]]: Argus possesses one.
* [[Action Girl]]: Aria is the main example. Sasha's not afraid to fill the role, either. While Tyra and Sinaer can fill this role and used to, they (intentionally) choose to try and [[Faux Action Girl|fall under another trope]].
* [[Added Alliterative AppealAlliteration]]: Some of the characters' names.
* [[Adult Child]]: Davos is occasionally this.
* [[Aerith and Bob]]: Some of the names are perfectly mundane. Others...not so much.
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* [[Art Evolution]]: Minor, considering it's a [[Sprite Comic]], but still noticeable between the beginning and the current art and worthy of [http://descended.thecomicseries.com/comics/5/ lampshading].
* [[Art Shift]]: Various different [[Concept Art]] pictures are given in a large variety of styles.
** Has now been taken a step further--Brianfurther—Brian is attempting to change styles from his [[Super-Deformed|chibi]]-[[In Name Only|inspired]] [[Sprite Art]] to [[Animesque]] art.
* [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence]]: Ascension, achieved at Level 900, is this.
* [[Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance]]: Argus looks exactly how you'd think a [[Fallen Hero]] like him would. Davos looks exactly how you'd expect a vampire would. Sasha looks a lot like how a Goblin should. Sargelooks exactly like what a Fire Warrior should. M looks a lot like the Water Mage M is. Kinas looks a lot like a [[Fallen Hero]], as he is. Sinaer looks a lot like the gentle healer with a background in more aggressive darkness tactics.
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* [[As You Know]]: Done in [http://descended.thecomicseries.com/comics/4/ comic 4] in regards to M's spells.
* [[The Atoner]]: {{spoiler|Hank}}.
* [[Author Avatar]]: Rather than using his Ranger persona--whichpersona—which has an avatar of its own--Brianown—Brian has created an avatar in ''The Descended'''s style, and intends to use it for the mail slots.
* [[Axe Crazy]]: Many cast members have their moments.
** Argus is ruthless.
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* [[Blue Eyes]]: Argus, Aria, M, Nathan, and Enlecar.
* [[Bottomless Magazines]]: The arrow variant; archers never run out of arrows.
* [[Bow and Sword Inin Accord]]: A common choice for Martial Artists. Kinas had this pre-[[Face Heel Turn]]. Tyra briefly did as well, when she was filling in for Sanik. And then Sarge had it for a while, when he was filling in for her.
* [[Breast Plate]]: Shown on some of the concept art.
** Slightly subverted, though--thatthough—that area is the most heavily armored, but it is not the only area which is armored.
* [[Broken Hero]]: While multiple cast members may qualify, the best example is by far Sanik. Despite {{spoiler|his hometown being destroyed as a child and losing most of his friends and family}}, despite later losing his adventuring partner Celaren (who {{spoiler|later betrays him}}), despite having {{spoiler|been powerless to stop the deaths of Voss, Ian, and David, along with the destruction of his entire '''''nation'''''}}, he's actually become '''''more''''' heroic, as each tragedy has turned him increasingly less pragmatic.
* [[Brown Eyes]]: The original eye color of Argus, Hank, and {{spoiler|Chaos}}, representing how they started out all normal. Evolved into Blue, Gold, and Red, respectively.
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* [[Capital City]]: Faragawa and Helops served this purpose in the backstory of The Elementals and The Latens.
* [[Card-Carrying Villain]]: Quite a few proudly wave off their 'evil' alignments. Kinas frequently does it for fun, but Argus is the master of the trope, doing it so well that he can convince others that his "evil way" is the best way to go.
** Unfortunately for Argus, it also works both ways. While he's very good at convincing others about his evil (such as Sasha--[[Chaotic Good]]--having—having no problems following him), he still maintains some bad [[Lawful Good]] reflexes, which Aria loves to point out, lessening his evil score all the time.
* [[Casting a Shadow]]: Darkness, particularly for Mages.
* [[Character Alignment]]: All nine are used. However, each character tends to find ways to bend their alignment to their advantage...
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** Basically, because Brian is one, a large number of his characters take different personality traits from the trope, despite none of them being a perfect fit.
* [[Color-Coded Elements]]: White/Gray (Wind), Green (Earth), Red (Fire), Light Blue (Ice), Yellow/Blue/Red/White, depending on alignment and power (Energy), darker Blue (Water), Golden (Light), and Black/Purple (Darkness) are the colors most frequently given for their elements, making this played absolutely straight.
** The Elementals and Latens--beingLatens—being formed from the eight elements--showelements—show this color scheme perfectly.
* [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]: Most magic has a color coding for good, neutral, and evil alignments, as well as coding for low-level, mid-level, and high-level.
** The Elementals and Latens are also color-coded for their elements.
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* [[Crazy Prepared]]: Argus, having lived through life once already, is well-prepared for pretty much anything he encounters, since he's encountered it before and knows exactly how to deal with it.
** Voss, in the Elementals' backstory, was this. He was so skilled that he {{spoiler|prepared for his own death and the death of his old friends, knew exactly how and why The Elementals would be defeated, gave them all new equipment, and wished Kinas well on creating The Latens, something which happened after his death.}}
* [[Critical Existence Failure]]: As an RPG, you'd expect this to be played straight, but characters begin to notably wear down in battles, becoming scarred and damaged.
* [[Curse Cut Short]]: [http://descended.thecomicseries.com/comics/4/ "Ah, $&--"]
* [[Curtains Match the Window]]: '''''Extremely''''' common with The Elementals and The Latens. Sanik (Gray), Sarge (Red), Tyra (Green), M (Blue), and Nathan (Light Blue) all play it completely straight. Kinas (dark gray eyes, black hair), Sinaer (purple eyes, black hair, yellow eye, yellow streaks), and Enlecar (yellow eye, blue eye, yellow streaks, blue streaks) all contain the spirit of the trope as well.
** Some [[Concept Art]] depics Davos's black hair as being extremely dark crimson, making him fit into this trope as well.
* [[Cut and Paste Environments]]: Averted--BrianAverted—Brian decided to just [[White Void Room|forgo backgrounds entirely]]. However...
* [[Cut and Paste Comic]]: He still suffers quite a bit from this.
** Only slightly [[Justified Trope|justified]] by the art being based on a game.
* [[Cute Little Fangs]]: Davos has them, much to his chagrin.
* [[Cute Monster Girl]]: All of The Outcasts except for Argus aren't human.
 
 
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** Hank shares Argus's and {{spoiler|Chaos}}'s experiences, having been in their trio, and has the advantage of having remained a god, making him the best of all.
* [[Dark and Troubled Past]]: ''The whole cast!''
* [[The Dark Arts]]: The Darkness element has the typical negative connotations given to it, but is [[Dark Is Not Evil|no more evil than any other element]]. It has its reputation because--alongbecause—along with the Water element--itelement—it's one of the main elements of deception, making its users less trustworthy.
* [[Dark Is Not Evil]]: The Darkness element is not evil. However, many evil-aligned players prefer it, as it is one of the most helpful elements for them, along with Water, Wind, and...[[Light Is Not Good|Light]].
* [[Dead to Begin With]]: {{spoiler|Voss, Ian, and David}}.
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* [[Designated Hero]]: Argus and Kinas. Sanik '''''used''''' to count, but now truly is one.
* [[Designated Protagonist Syndrome]]: While Brian still likes Sanik and The Elementals, having fleshed them out to have rich backstories, he likes the other groups and their leaders more.
* [[Design -It -Yourself Equipment]]: Voss was a master. He created all of The Elementals and The Latens current equipment.
* [[Deus Ex Machina]]: The Elementals and Latens run on them, as Enlecar points out.
** Argus by himself might as well count, since he once was a god and intervenes frequently.
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** Earth nullifies Energy.
* [[Emo Teen]]: Argus may not be that mental age (being [[Older Than They Look|well over 60]]), but his physical age was reset when he nerfed himself. Given his alignment change, this was how he was for a while.
* [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones]]: Argus {{spoiler|and therefore Chaos as well}} had an older brother, who died of old age. His son--Argusson—Argus's nephew--isnephew—is still alive.
* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: Especially those on the idealistic side of the scale. Among others:
** Argus is (theoretically) ruthless, but cares for his companions.
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* [[Even the Guys Want Him]]: A small part of Davos's backstory as part of his [[Unwanted Harem]].
* [[Evil Albino]]: As a [[Shout-Out]] to Fable, evil-aligned characters gain pale skin.
* [[Evil Counterpart]]: All of the Latens technically are this to The Elementals, but their leader, Kinas, shows this strongest.
** Team EVIL is built to be one for The Outcasts.
* [[Evil Eye]]: Argus has one [[Red Eyes, Take Warning|red]] eye hidden behind his [[Peek-a-Bangs]] hair.
* [[Evil Pays Better]]: Variant--itVariant—it's not Evil which pays better; being cynical on the "third wheel" makes the character play their alignment most effectively to its standard.
** Also subverted with '''''quality''''' of life. When it comes to quality of life, it's neither cynical nor idealistic characters who have it best; it's those in the middle.
* [[Experience Points]]: The maximum number is 999,999: more than any other stat in the game. Brian's still working out how the levels are applied exactly, but he knows that 999,999 experience gets someone to level 999.
* [[Exponential Potential]]: Brian had this problem initially with the class/element system; he calculated that he needed to create 259 individual combinations. After a simplification or two, he's managed to cut it down to 27.
* [[Expository Hairstyle Change]]: Argus and Kinas both gained [[Peek-a-Bangs]] (Argus moreso than Kinas).
* [[Expy]]: Argus is one for Aldran, from Anti-Heroes; it was the foundation of the comic. M became one for Vaarsuvius, from [[The Order of the Stick]], though M didn't start as one.
* [[Eyes of Gold]]: Kinas, pre-[[Face Heel Turn]]. Sinaer has one as well, post-defeat.
** Enlecar has one as well.
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* [[Fantasy World Map]]: Brian is [[Genre Savvy]] enough to know that making a map for the whole world is beyond his scale, but he's working on making one for at least a few countries, having created a [http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/3910/fargawania2.png partial map].
** The source material for The Elementals had a [http://descended.thecomicseries.com/files/hero_continent_overview_lqual.jpg partially-finished map], showing the starting continent, but did not include the rest of the world which Brian had planned. Many features within, however, are being adapted into canon. While the geography has been changed significantly and the backstories behind each place have been altered entirely, they all have clear origins from the map.
*** The whole nation was originally Faradia (capital: Farad), split into two nations, the eastern one Helia from Helios. This became Fargawania (Faragawa)/Helopia (Helops).
*** Nature Valley was a city spanning the whole forest, but had the "city" of "Nature Valley Entrance". It became Natur Hub, part of the Natur Forest.
*** Pyre Village was next to the Great Pyre, inside the Garlos Mountains. The Garlos Mountains and the Great Pyre merged, creating the Syr Mountains.
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* [[Fish Out of Water]]: Variant. Argus spent either too long or too short in the company of gods, ocasionally being blind to tropes he really should have seen coming.
** The Elementals and Latens are a better example: they are used to adventuring at Level 100, not Level 15, and many have switched classes, still adjusting to the changes they've made.
* [[Five-Man Band]]: Averted--allAverted—all the main groups appearing are [[Four Is Death|four]]-member bands.
* [[Four Is Death]]: There are four main groups, and each of them has four members.
* [[Four-Temperament Ensemble]]: Naturally.
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** [[Retcon|revised canon]] reversed this, making Argus {{spoiler|and Chaos}} the first of his family to go adventuring, with his older brother continuing the family tradition and {{spoiler|his nephew}} carrying it on.
*** '''''Current''''' canon is that both are true: The Strats are a long line of adventurers who have it [[In the Blood]], but that they settle down, retire, and try to have their children avoid the horrors that they face and discourage the lifestyle by telling them that nobody in the long line of Strats has been an adventurer.
** The Elementals and Latens have become this as well.
* [[Genius Bruiser]]: Most Paladins are this, as they require extensive knowledge of magic while still performing exceptionally in combat.
** Master Joats at a high enough level are all pretty much this. The two most notable are Argus (though he prefers magic) and Voss (though {{spoiler|he's dead}}).
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{{quote|''"Nine times out of ten, if the rules of an item conflict with the rules of Soano, the item wins."''}}
* [[Green Thumb]]: While Earth's specialty is [[Dishing Out Dirt]], this is within its element.
* [[Guys Smash, Girls Shoot]]: And "guys cast spells to attack, girls cast spells to keep the guys from dying". Both Tyra and Sinaer receive the least amount of damage in their respective groups, due to their role as [[The Medic]]. Neither has any problem with it.
* [[Half Truth]]: Argus gives them all the time.
* [[Hair of Gold]]: Any character who has gotten to a high enough level with a good alignment will develop this. Kinas's original hair color, however, was this completely naturally.
* [[The Hero]]: Argus used to fit the type. Sanik fit it decently pre-defeat, but only truly grew into the role post-defeat. Kinas used to fit the mold about as well as Sanik, but [[Fallen Hero|is anything but]] [[Face Heel Turn|post-defeat]].
* [[The Hero Dies]]: Sanik performed a [[Heroic Sacrifice]], leaving The Elementals like this for some time (until [[Unexplained Recovery|he got better]]).
* [[Heroes Prefer Swords]]: [[Fallen Hero|Back when he fit the type]], Kinas did.
** This is also Sarge's, Sasha's, and Enlecar's weapon of choice, though none of them are the "main" party member.
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* [[Heroic BSOD]]: While all The Elementals and The Latens suffered one post-defeat, The Latens took it particularly hard, with Kinas taking it worst of all.
* [[Heroic Fantasy]]: Follows this perfectly.
* [[Heroic Neutral]]: As a [[Chaotic Neutral]] adventurer, Kinas has shades of this--hethis—he doesn't like working with others, but having people he knows and trust work for him seems to be fine.
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|Voss, David, and Ian all}} made one in The Elementals and Latens backstory.
* [[Heroic Sociopath]]: For loose definition of 'heroic', Argus definitely counts, as do The Latens, M, and in battle, Sarge.
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* [[Hopeless Boss Fight]]: {{spoiler|Celaren}} was one for The Elementals and The Latens. {{spoiler|Chaos}} almost was one for Argus.
* [[How the Mighty Have Fallen]]: It's not the webcomic's slogan for no reason; ''every single character'' has experienced '''''really''''' bad falls, hero or antagonist.
* [[Ho Yay]] / [[Les Yay]]: Averted--allAverted—all characters are heterosexual, unless otherwise stated.
* [[Humanity Ensues]]: Aria's ultimate goal.
* [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|Humans Are Bastards]]: Kinas has come to believe this. Argus has a minor version--mostversion—most gods are ascended humans, and he thinks this of gods.
* [[Hyperspace Arsenal]]: By the lower hundreds, this is a ''necessity'' in adventuring.
* [[Hypocrite]]: A few cast members have taken actions in direct confliction with their stated beliefs. Most commonly, it is to show that these characters are [[The Dark Side Will Make You Forget|not who they]] [[Motive Decay|once were]].
 
 
== I-P ==
* [[An Ice Person]]: Ice, a universally-offensive element.
* [[Ill Girl|Ill Guy]]: Celaren was consistently sick while he was an adventurer, but carried on anyway.
* [[Incurable Cough of Death]]: Celaren, AKA, {{spoiler|The Agent Of Chaos, Enlecar's brother}}, had a rather bad case of this. When it became [[Blood From the Mouth]] during times it should not have been (during adventures, not unusual. When resting, extremely unusual), it forced him into a hospital.
* [[Infinite Canvas]]: Brian has a bad habit of utilizing this a little too much, making comics longer than they should be. It got to ridiculous extremes in the revised [http://descended.thecomicseries.com/comics/6 comic six], an "early Sunday Strip". He is working on making the comics shorter overall, liking the length of [http://descended.thecomicseries.com/comics/2 2] (four panels) and [http://descended.thecomicseries.com/comics/1 1] (eight panels) more than the longer ones.
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** Sasha has been living in the village for quite a few years.
** The Elementals and Latens have gained 15% of their levels back already, and begin the comic already at the start of an adventure, rather than at the point they begin planning one.
* [[Innocent Blue Eyes]] / [[Icy Blue Eyes]]: Nathan fits both.
** Enlecar's blue eye fits into the Icy category. As do M's.
* [[Intergenerational Friendship]]: Argus is technically well over 60. Aria died young, but has been a ghost for an unknown number of years. Davos is in his 20s. And Sasha's middle-aged for a Goblin.
* [[Ironic Echo Cut]]: The series starts with one:
{{quote|''[http://descended.thecomicseries.com/comics/first/ "Almost every quest begins in a dungeon. Really, who does Dungeon Crawls these days?" Elsewhere, At A Dungeon: "Adventure Away!"]''}}
* [[It's All About Me]]: Kinas tends to take this attitude. To some extent, Argus has it as well.
* [[It's a Small World After All]]: Big time.
* [[Jack of All Stats]]: Joats--ifJoats—if done well--arewell—are this. If done poorly, they're [[Master of None|Masters Of None]]. If they get powerful enough, they may take this trope to its [[Lightning Bruiser|next level]].
* [[Jerkass]]: A large portion of the cast.
* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]: ...However, most of them are actually this, having sympathy for others.
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* [[Lazy Artist]]: The comic's art is redesigned from a 2-D game Brian was making (meant to be a cheap knockoff of a 3-D game he was designing), so the Sprite nature is an intentional stylistic choice rather than him choosing it due to lack of artistic skill (he manages to put a lot of emotion into the sprites), but him not making backgrounds counts as this.
** He's rather vocal about the subject.
{{quote|''"And, finally, Why no scenery? HAVE YOU SEEN HOW'' [[Sound Effect Bleep|*CENSORED!*]] ''LONG IT TAKES TO DO SCENERY?!?'' [[Shout-Out|By Lor]][[Adventure Quest|ithia]], ''it takes FOREVER! Now, even if I'' [[Cut and Paste Comic|copy and pasted]] [[Cut and Paste Environments|scenery]] ''from every single panel, I still have to draw it once! And, believe me, it's harder than you think, unless you've done it before. I sure was caught by surprise. What scenery I try to add often fails, and if it DOESN'T fail, then it'll still take a long time.''<br />
''I can always edit it and upload it again with the scenery. But I've found that I can do one or two of these a day without the scenery--adding it in, and--like'' [http://college.thecomicseries.com/ College]''--these will probably take weeks to months each. I don't want that.''<br />
''If someone requests scenery, I will edit the comic the request is in to have scenery added in. Otherwise, I won't do it, unless I've got a serious case of Writers' Block. And with the material I have planned,'' [[Tempting Fate|I doubt]] [[What Could Possibly Go Wrong?|that'll happen]] ''for rather some time. (Seriously,'' [[Nothing Can Stop Us Now|I've planned weeks ahead]]''.) So, want scenery? ASK.'' }}
* [[Left -Justified Fantasy Map]]: Inverted; Fargawania/Helopia is a Right-Justified map; they have an ocean to their east/right and mountains covering their northern and western boarders, separating them from their rival nation.
* [[The Legions of Hell]]: Instead of just one demonic dimension, there are several. The primary one is the largest, because it's the only group smart enough to never launch a full-scale invasion: instead, they just perform an occasional raid. Their [[Xanatos Gambit|complex plans]] were laid out by Argus [http://descended.thecomicseries.com/comics/6/ here].
** Of note, none of them are "Hell". There is an underworld, divided up loosely into the different alignment sections. (Certain areas of the afterlife are open to multiple alignments, since a lot of families and friends have differing alignments.) While technically underground, the afterlife is not a bad place to be in. It's just not as good as The Heavens, where Gods reside after they have Ascended.
* [[Light'Em Up]]: The Light Element has some of this, particularly for Warriors.
* [[Light Is Not Good]]: While many characters using Light are positively-aligned, smarter evil-characters (knowing they'll get hurt more often than heroes) have a tendency to use it just as often.
* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]: Currently, there are three known groups of three in the comic. [[Word of God]] is that another team of Four will soon be appearing--andappearing—and this is all just for the '''''protagonists'''''. He says there's an equal number of antagonists.
* [[Luck Stat]]: One of the ten stats.
* [[MacGuffin]]: Any item from a sufficiently-powerful player used by a lower-level player becomes this. These are also what many of the adventurers seek to gain.
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* [[Magic A Is Magic A]]: Brian's currently working on making consistent rules for Soano, enough to make it a viable gaming world.
* [[Magic Knight]]: Paladins and Death (evil-aligned) Paladins are this.
* [[Magnetic Hero]]: Argus and Sanik--bothSanik—both veteran adventurers--haveadventurers—have a talent for this. Kinas has it to a lesser degree.
* [[Making a Splash]]: Some Water techniques.
* [[Mana Meter]]: Literally, whenever a spell is cast.
* [[Martial Arts HeadbandHachimaki]]: One appears on most of the cast members' descriptions, and is almost-universally portrayed in [[Concept Art]].
** Kinas and Sanik are subversions: they wear what effectively is a ring around their head, but because it's difficult to portray, it frequently is shown as a [[Martial Arts HeadbandHachimaki]] instead.
* [[Master of Illusion]]: The Darkness element is mainly this.
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Several.
** [[Word of God]] says that Argus's full name, Aria's full name, and Davos's full name were all chosen to reflect elements of their characters.
** Gold->Light.
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** Nathan->Ninja, Betrax->Berserker.
** Enlecar->arch, electricity, and Energy.
** David '''Smith''' has a dayjob as a blacksmith, forging equipment for adventurers.
** Ian '''Oman''' is fond of giving cryptic hints when sending people on quests.
** Let's just say that almost the entire cast has names which are somehow relevant to who they are.
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* [[The Mentor]]: Voss was this for Enlecar. His travel companions were Sinaer's and Kinas's. All three inspired Argus as well.
* [[Mentor Occupational Hazard]]: {{spoiler|All three of them died in a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]}}.
* [[Methuselah Syndrome]]: Adventurers--humansAdventurers—humans included--canincluded—can live well beyond their years.
* [[Midnight Blue Eyes]]: Aria.
** Argus has one as well.
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* [[Nice Guy]]: Few and far between, but still existing.
** Sasha is the most kind member of The Outcasts.
** The Elementals are almost entirely this, though never at the same time--Tyratime—Tyra's the default, Sanik frequently fills in for her when she's not, and when neither is, Sarge is the guy to go to.
* [[Nietzsche Wannabe]]: Cynical Chaotic Evil characters see the world as their playthings, as just toys which can easily be broken and replaced, ultimately having no meaning.
* [[Noodle Incident]]: Argus and Aria have an endless debate about "the cart incident", which we have yet to see. [[Word of God]] is that he fully intends to show it, but hasn't worked out a good place to do so, making it fall into this.
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* [[Older Than They Look]]: Argus is the most obvious example. Aria may count as well. Voss and David were also examples.
* [[Order Versus Chaos]]: Whereas [[Good Versus Evil]] has a "cosmic balance" and can't tip too far to one side when it comes to ascension, this is actually averted for Gods; there is no similar scale for Order and Chaos, due to a loophole/paradox involving how the act of balancing them out itself tips the scales towards order.
* [[Orphaned Series]]: Averted, despite the last update having been January 2010--Brian2010—Brian on the forums as Ranger described it as essentially this:
{{quote|''I'm determined. While I tend to procrastinate (see below), I never truly give up. I have that will to keep on going.''
''I'm an Eternal Procrastinator. This drags me down so much. A promise to get something done will eventually be fulfilled, but by the time it is, the value in it has mostly been lost. If I work on Guest Art for someone who leaves the site, for example, unless that Guest Art brings 'em back, it's a mostly-wasted effort whereas had I done it before it might not have been.'' }}
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* [[Only One Name]]: Multiple characters do not have full names, as Brian has not thought of what their full name would be.
* [[Our Vampires Are Different]]: Brian has declared it to be a very complicated system, which he plans to elaborate on at a later date.
* [[Palette Swap]]: There are three styles of clothing--robesclothing—robes, plate armor, and leather armor. Every character has one of these three, with the only difference being their colors.
** [[Justified]], however, by the fact that there are only three Base classes, each with their respective clothing choices, and even those who multiclass have a strong preference to one of their sides.
** Slightly less justified with the re-use of hair, however. While each hairstyle IS made more unique than each armor, they're still similar.
* [[Parental Substitute]]: Argus occasionally acts as one for Davos. Each team also has a female cast member who acts as the [[Team Mom]], keeping the rest of the team from getting into too much trouble.
* [[Peek-a-Bangs]]: Shown on the artwork for Argus, Sanik, Kinas, and Nathan. Argus's covers his whole eye; Kinas's covers half of his eye; Sanik and Nathan's are aversions; their hair doesn't cover the eyes at all, despite hanging down.
* [[Perpetual Smiler]]: Sanik post-defeat is generally shown to be this (more idealistic than he was), with Kinas often being this pre-defeat (more idealistic than Sanik was). Tyra, Sasha, and Sinaer frequently display this as well.
** Davos is frequently drawn with a smile as well, and while it often captures both sides of his personality, [[Word of God]] is that the smile was originally just to show his teeth to [[Viewers are Morons|make sure people knew he was a vampire]].
* [[Personality Powers]]: Sanik's slightly whimsical (Wind), Sarge is a little confrontational (Fire), M is coldly logical (Water), and Tyra is strong, yet calming (Earth).
** In general, Water users tend to be distant and calculating, as Mages specialize in manipulation, Warriors in conservation, and Rogues in sabotage; Light users tend to be heroic, as Mages specialize in healing, Warriors in duty, and Rogues in confusion and charm; Darkness users tend to be villainous, as Mages specialize in deceptive illusions, Warriors specialize in passion, and Rogues specialize in stealth; Wind users tend to be airheads, but when it matters, helpful, as Mages specialize in Buffs/Debuffs, Warriors in opportunism, and Rogues in support; Fire users tend to be aggressive, as the element focuses on attack power, Ice users tend to be snappy, as the element focuses on speed; Energy users tend to be stubborn and defiant, as the element focuses on willpower and outlasting the enemy; Earth users tend to be calm and in control, as the element focuses on keeping hold on the situation.
* [[Petal Power]]: While the Earth Element is primarily [[Dishing Out Dirt]], there is no "Nature" element, and so, this falls under Earth's domain as well.
* [[Playing with Fire]]: The Fire Element, [[Captain Obvious|naturally]].
* [[Pixel Art Comic]]: Probably technically more accurate. Brian considers it to be a [[Sprite Comic]] because it's all modified art for a game, just one never finished--butfinished—but because he was the one who made said game in the '''''first''''' place, a lot points to it better fitting as this.
* [[Player Party]]: The Outcasts, The Elementals, and The Latens.
* [[Pocket Dimension]]: As a Fantasy setting, Soano is filled with these.
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* [[Purple Eyes]]: Sinaer used to have two, though now has [[Mismatched Eyes]].
* [[Putting the Band Back Together]]: Sanik tried to after his defeat. He was mildly successful.
* [[Pyrrhic Victory]]: How The Elementals and The Latens eventually 'won' their fight with {{spoiler|Celaren}}. There's a reason everything they do is divided into "pre-defeat" and "post-defeat"; their victory was anything but.
 
 
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* [[The Rant]]: Brian's forum personality is known for Rambling. He is no exception, even in his webcomic. He tends to keep it more polite than a Rant, but when it comes to scenery...
* [[Razor Wind]]: The Wind Element has some attacks of this nature, particularly, from Warriors.
* [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]]: Voss, David, and Ian.
* [[Redemption Quest]]: The Elementals and Latens embark on quests mainly to deal with the consequences of their failure at {{spoiler|The Battle of Helops}}.
* [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]]: Evil-aligned characters who get to a high enough level gain these. Argus has one, hidden behind his hair.
** Subverted with Sarge--heSarge—he has the eyes, and is the main combatant for The Elementals (making him a large threat), but he is not the most dangerous member of the team overall, and is one of the better people in the group on any given average day.
** Davos plays it straight, as he's the most deadly combatant of The Outcasts. However, he generally is a kind person. It's when his [[Glowing Eyes of Doom|red eyes glow]] that you're '''''really''''' in trouble.
* [[The Red Mage]]: It is possible to combine any two elements together. You can also master all eight.
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* [[Rule of Cool]]: The main reason Kinas's name is what it is; Brian just thought it sounded cool.
* [[The Runaway]]: Part of many characters' backstories.
* [[Sarcasm Mode]]: The cast is made up largely of cynic [[Jerkass|jerkassesjerkass]]es, including the artist. With a cast like that, [[Self-Demonstrating Article|this trope can't come up frequently]].
* [[Scarf of Asskicking]]: Multiple characters are shown to have one in their [[Concept Art]].
* [[Schedule Slip]]: -->''"It's hard to slip if you never had one to begin with!"''
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* [[Shining City]]: Helops.
* [[Shock and Awe]]: The Energy Element is almost entirely this.
* [[Shocking Defeat Legacy]]: Technically, the {{spoiler|Battle of Helops}} ended in victory for The Elementals and The Latens--theLatens—the leader of the army of {{spoiler|Chaos}} was defeated, and almost the entire army wiped out. Given that {{spoiler|it cost the lives of Voss, David, and Ian to accomplish}}, {{spoiler|Helops still fell}}, {{spoiler|the remnants of the army destroyed almost every city in Helopia anyway}}, and {{spoiler|The Elementals and Latens were reset to level 1 without most of their equipment, half-way across the world}}, it certainly didn't '''''feel''''' like they won. They don't call it "post-defeat" because they '''''won''''', after all.
* [[Shout-Out]]: Brian has well over 40 inspirations for the world of Soano. It really shows, especially in certain works, and [[Shout Outs]] are a plenty.
** Energy Mages have three spells, called Kame, Hame, and Hadoken. Using them one after another gives a huge power increase.
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*** [[My Significance Sense Is Tingling|Spidy Sense]] increases Instinct.
*** [[The Matrix|My Name Is Neo]] increases Reflex and also boosts Evade. [[Dodge This]], its opposite, decreases Reflex and Evade.
*** [[Epic Battle Fantasy|Lucky Star]] is as expected Luck-oriented, in this case boosting it.
*** [[Spoony Bard]] is the name of a Wind Mage spell.
*** As are [[Blow You Away]] and [[Razor Wind]].
** [[Rage Quit]] is a Darkness [[Limit Break]].
** The in-comic name of the gambit where any situation will result in victory? The [[Gargoyles]] [[Xanatos Gambit|Gambit]].
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* [[Signature Move]]: Argus's preferred spell of choice is [[Chain Lightning|Storm3]], one of the most powerful Energy-element attacks possible.
** "Drain5" drains health, mana, and experience from the target, and can only be used by vampires.
* [[Signature Style]]: Two separate online friends of Brian--completelyBrian—completely independent from each other--commentedother—commented:
{{quote|''"Only you could turn a webcomic into a wall."''}}
** Another signature of his is to use exclusively [[MS Paint]]. While he now also uses Windows 7 Paint, for [[The Descended]], he prefers to use [[MS Paint]] for most tasks.
** His favorite fonts are Arial and Agency FB. Arial is typically for normal speech, with Agency FB used for everything else. He almost-universally has 'whispers' as being drawn with lines rather than speech bubbles as well.
* [[Simple Staff]]: Sinaer's current weapon of choice.
* [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes]]: Covers the whole spectrum.
* [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]: Brian's "third axis" to the [[Character Alignment|alignment chart]] is based off of this--Idealiststhis—Idealists are better people but tend to not be as successful, whereas cynics follow the expectations of the alignment far better, and therefore fall victim to the negative stereotypes of them.
* [[Sliding Scale of Undead Regeneration]]: Vampires (at least, pureblooded vampires) are Type IV.
* [[Small Secluded World]]: Many [[Alternate Dimensions]] exist of this nature.
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* [[Squishy Wizard]]: Mages follow this build.
* [[Standardized Leader]]: Argus used to be one, and Sanik is one. Kinas never really fit the mold, though, and him knowing this was one of the contributing factors to his [[Face Heel Turn]] and forming The Latens.
* [[Star-Crossed Lovers]]: Nathan Betrax's parents were a subversion: their clans were rivals, so they appeared to have been this...until the clans--alreadyclans—already wanting to end their feud--decidedfeud—decided that marriage would be a cheap and easy way to do so.
* [[Sunday Strip]]: Came [http://descended.thecomicseries.com/comics/6/ a bit early].
* [[Sword Lines]]: Featured in combat frequently.
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* [[Trope Overdosed]]: For a webcomic with only six pages, you'd expect this page to be a little bit shorter. Nope! Not with [[One of Us|Brian]] knowing a lot of tropes by heart and using many in daily real-life conversations.
* [[True Companions]]: All the main groups.
* [[Tropes Will Ruin Your Life]]: Brian has one of the longest and best-fleshed-out [[TV Tropes]] pages of all [[Comic Fury]] webcomics having [[TV Tropes]] pages. [[The Descended]] has...only six comics. The message couldn't be more clear.
* [[Two Lines, No Waiting]]: While there are three main groups, The Elementals and The Latens frequently adventure so closely together that they are almost the same, meaning that this is in full effect.
* [[Uncanceled]]: While not there ''yet'', Brian is working hard to make ''The Descended'' eventually be this.
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* [[Victorious Childhood Friend]]: Tyra and Sinaer.
* [[Villain with Good Publicity]]: When Argus introduces himself as Jason, chances are, he'll be recognized as a hero. (Justified, in that he [[Fallen Hero|used to be one]].) Kinas is less-known (due to adventuring well away from the place where he gained his fame and being less famous than his brother), but still has fairly high standings in the adventuring community, despite his alignment choice.
* [[The Voiceless]]: Brian has stated that one of the problems he has in the story is that a lot of the characters didn't have enough dialog--hedialog—he is working on fixing the problem to avert this, giving all characters equal amounts of speaking time.
* [[Volcanic Veins]]: As one of the main inspirations of Soano is Fable, characters who are sufficiently well-versed in magic at a high enough level may gain these.
* [[Wall of Text]]: The author of [[The Descended]] is ''Ranger''. You can expect nothing less.
* [[Watching Troy Burn]]: {{spoiler|Helops}}, the hometown of {{spoiler|The Elementals and The Latens}}. Worse, it wasn't the first time, as {{spoiler|many of their party members suffered a similar experience at Faragawa}}.
* [[Water Is Blue]]: [[Justified Trope|given that the webcomic has a white background]], it'd be difficult to show water in any other way.
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* [[White Void Room]]: Brian hates drawing scenery, because it takes too long and he doesn't want it to drag the comic down.
* [[The Wiki Rule]]: Brian has considered making one to keep track of it.
** Currently averted, though--Brianthough—Brian considers his [[TV Tropes]] page to be detailed enough that he doesn't need a Wiki of his own.
* [[Will They or Won't They?]]: The lead male of each group with the lead female of each group.
** Subverted with Sanik-Tyra and Kinas-Sinaer, though: [[Word of God]] says they will, they do, and have been for some time. It's just that when you live your life constantly on the move, adventuring consistently every day and having very few nights where you have private chambers, they don't get the chance very often.
* [[Windows of the Soul]]: Despite having a relatively-simplistic style of art, Brian knew he wanted to give characters the ability to express a lot of emotion, mainly shown in the eyes. This is why all characters except for Aria have the [[Black Bead Eyes]] with the zig-zag eye color--smallcolor—small, simple, but still expressive. Especially once the [[Art Upgrade]] added eyebrows.
* [[Wingding Eyes]]: Used often.
* [[Winged Humanoid]]: Any who get enough points into Good at a high enough level earn them.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Comic Fury]]
[[Category:TheWeb DescendedComics]]
[[Category:WebcomicWeb Comics of the 2000s]]
[[Category:Web Comics of the 2010s]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Defunct Web Comics]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Descended, The}}