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Theo's story at the beginning about the Dragon from Mars is a pure flight of imagination, but the Other's lab actually IS in the Heterodynes' basement and, if the novel's prologue adaption is accurate, the Other's base of operations is extra-terrestrial as well! Also, in this story Klaus got wasped. And soon enough...
Here the crowd calls Zeetha the Baron's daughter, which according to Word of God is actually true — if the sketch of her father which looks exactly like Klaus is to be believed.
The list of Heterodyne names in the crypt includes Caligula, the Red Heterodyne, the Black Heterodyne, Mordred, Oxalof, and Bob. Also, the world is full of people with weird names like Gilgamesh, Moloch, and Theopholous living right alongside people with ordinary names like Bill, Barry, and Agatha; no one comments on it or seems to consider it odd.
After-Action Patchup: After the fight with Dr. Merlot, Zola leaps to provide this for Gil.
AI Is a Crapshoot: Castle Heterodyne. Well, actually, the guy who built it was an evil maniac, so it's probably working as designed. Even Agatha's own little 'bots have stopped listening to her. It seems Sparks can't build anything without it going haywire.
Allohistorical Allusion: As you'd expect from a universe in which electronics moved quickly enough for Rembrandt to be a roboticist, Galvani's eponym comes not from discovering the effect of electrical impulses on muscles, but something involving molten zinc and Life Energy... which is often used metaphorically to mean electrical stimulation of muscles. Actually a Genius Bonus, as in real life metallurgy, Galvanizing refers to the process by which zinc (or another metal) is plated onto iron or steel to prevent rusting.
A circus of Sparks pretending to be normal actors pretending to be Sparks.
A Jäger hiding among people who pretend to be Jägers.
Gilgamesh Wulfenbach pretending to be a street actor pretending to be Gilgamesh Wulfenbach.
A Mongfish (Lucrezia's niece) pretending to be the lost Heterodyne-Mongfish heir to secure the Heterodyne inheritance from the real Heterodyne-Mongfish.
Between Bill Heterodyne and the storyteller's self-insert character in the Fan Fiction side-story. The interruption comes from the listeners objecting.
Between Agatha and Tarvek twice. Self interrupted by Tarvek herewhen he realises that it's because Lucrezia-in-Agatha is messing with him, and by both participants here.
Alternate History: Perhaps better called Parallel History, because the Sparks have been around for long enough that even geography has been changed by their influence, and yet the world and its history are not completely dissimilar to ours:
There were still Mongol Hordes on cue, German is still spoken as a European lingua-franca, R(embrandt) Van Rijn was still a famous genius and Casanova a famous skirt-chaser, the [Weather] King was still a towering historical figure...
There is still a powerful church(es) with not one, but seven popes, according to this page. [1] Judging by a brief mention here it seems safe to say that the Roman Catholics have decisively split apart.
Mamma Gkika's skin color changes naturally, though she has some control over it and has stuck with a humanlike pink for a while in order to blend in all schneaky-like.
In the novelizations, Pix is furious while Abner is away, showing Gil and Bang "Agatha's" grave. Although she explains she's more angry that he "cut in on her act."
Arbitrary Skepticism: In a world filled with lightning guns, mind controlling bug robots, and other insane science, Tarvek utterly refuses to believe Gil's flying machine can stay aloft without a gas bag.
Othar: We're in Castle Heterodyne with exploding collars around our necks, caught between a fake Heterodyne and a real one (as well as assorted criminals, maniacs, and various monsters), and I suspect that even if we found any beer in here, it would be evil, or at least flat.
Also involving Othar: "De dirigible iz in flames, everyboddyz dead an' I've lost myhat." To be fair, hats are a big deal to the Jägers whereas arson and murder are hobbies.
Professor Tiktoffen: Franz here liked turning people into beetles. Zonia believed that orphan blood had medicinal properties. Krag put his feet on my bed.
A villain learns why you must never punch a lady, or wake her up too early in the morning.
Now why would anyone want to kill Klaus von Wulfenbach? Let's see...:
Gil:Why? Because Wulfenbach troops turned her village into owls. Or maybe we deposed her favorite mad prince, or hung her lover for piracy, or banished the Heterodyne Boys, or poisoned the well, or raised the price of herring.
The earlier strips have bizarre anatomy issues and ugly gradient coloring. (Also after the first volume there was a great deal of uneven inking.) These problems eventually disappear.
Volume 1 was originally published in black-and-white. Volume 2 saw the introduction of color, in searing neon gradient fills. The coloring eventually settled down and volume 1 was eventually recolored in a somber desaturated palette. The result cleverly mirrored Agatha's psyche, as her perceptions are dulled in volume 1, overloaded in volume 2, and by volume 4 settle into a happy medium.
Phil Foglio is well-known (unabashedly so) for drawing his female characters with rather large "assets". But it's his wife (and co-author) who loves to get Agatha into the "lacy underthings." She's a big fan of Victorian-era undergarments.
There's also the matter of all the handsome shirtless men running around.
Phil admits the only reason the Jägers became recurring characters is because he really likes drawing them.
Author Avatar: The creators, Phil and Kaja, are both apparently natives of the story's world who, it would seem, will eventually meet, marry, publish a... controversial account of Agatha's deeds, and flee into our world with it to continue it safe from Agatha as a supposedly fictional comic.
Klaus; he clawed his way to being ruler of Europe atop God knows how many others and it shows.
His son; when thrust into authority, Gil's asskicking genes more than rise to the challenge.
The Jäger-Generals.
More generally — in a semi-feudal world ruled over by extremely intelligent nutjobs, it's the one at the top of the castle you want to watch out for. They're in that spot for a reason.
Badass Labcoat: Agatha while setting up the really crazy device to fix up Tarvek.
Badass Longcoat: Baron Klaus Wulfenbach has them as regular wear. Gilgamesh Wulfenbach has worn them too. And Agatha, of course. Krosp got his from the circus.
Badass Normal: Many of the non-Spark supporting characters.
Axel Higgs, fullstop. Quiet, unassuming, half-asleep, and nigh-invincible. It is suggested by Mama Gkika that he's actually a Jager in disguise.
Bag of Kidnapping: Sanaa and Othar do this to Tarvek, mistaking him for Gilgamesh Wulfenbach.
Bar Brawl: Apparently there's one every evening in Mamma Gkika's. Except on Thursdays; that's poetry slam night.
Bash Brothers: Da Boyz and the Jägergenerals. Klaus and the generals were having fun at some points of the wasp attack. The Heterodyne Boys were a more literal example.
Battle Butler: Ardsley Wooster and Boris Dolokhov, though, technically speaking, neither is an actual butler. Wooster is a spy posing as a valet or gentleman's gentleman; Dolokhov is more of an aide-de-camp, librarian, accountant, and general manager.
Battle Couple: To an extent, Agatha and Gil during the wasp outbreak on Castle Wulfenbach. Now that she, Gil, and Tarvek are battling with and through Castle Heterodyne, they're a Battle Threesome.
Lampshaded here, where Jenka points out that they should have heard the army of giant clanks (helpfully called War Stompers too) marching up to their tower.
Agatha. She really is a very nice, pleasant, easy-going girl. Until she goes to The Madness Place or you hurt or threaten one of her friends. Then the Death Ray comes out.
Gilgamesh is usually rather pleasant and doesn't scream and beat people to get his way. Piss him off. Go on. Gilgamesh managed to scare the crap out of a Jäger (one completely off the deep end even for Jäger standards) and the resident version of James Bond.
Tarvek is the blue to Gil's red. He's rather charming and civil by default. When he gets mad, Zola up and surrenders. He doesn't let it end there. Oh, no.
And lets not forget The Indestructible Airman Higgs...
When a humanoid killing machine is lying on the floor Not Quite Dead and you're caught up in your evil plans to enslave several main characters, frankly what do you expect?
Agatha's Death Rays. Played with, when she made a "very small" death ray. That she used to blow a hole out of the castle, taking out a chunk of a nearby mountain. And a hole from fairly high in the castle, to the basement. What a magnificent death ray!
Many names of people, races, places, etc., make more sense if one knows a little German; for instance, "Jägermonster" can be interpreted as "hunting monster".
"Si vales valeo" is Latin for "If you are well, I am well", a phrase used in ancient Roman times to start writing a letter like "Dear Mister Smith". In the world of Girl Genius, it has a more literal meaning.
Black and Gray Morality: Agatha and Klaus are both sympathetically gray and fighting for perfectly reasonable reasons. There are several villains that are clearly black, and both of them want those destroyed.
Bleached Underpants: A variant, in that prior to Girl Genius, Phil Foglio was the author and artist of the XXXenophile series of pornographic comics, and unlike many artists with a similar background makes no attempt to hide it. However, before XXXenophile, he was already well known for What's New with Phil and Dixie for Dragon Magazine, and Buck Godot Zap Gun for Hire, and did book covers and illustrations (most memorably, for Robert Asprin's Myth Adventures series), as well as the classic Con Reports and a trio of excellent, funny updates of old '60s humor comics for DC Comics at about the same time as XXXenophile. A lot of Girl Genius is made up of brilliant little ideas that Foglio didn't use in his pornographic work. The Jägers' speech pattern and dental work? From XXXenophile: "A Beautiful Tail" and "My Favorite Oitling". Zeetha's jewelry, with the little faces that mimic whatever her current facial expression is? From XXXenophile: "Blue Opal".
Blessed Are the Cheesemakers: Cheese appears often, and sometimes seems to be employed as a symbol of romance. And a barfight projectile. Sometimes both at the same time. See Zeetha and Higgs. Lars was a cheesemaker's apprentice before he joined the Circus.
The Spark itself. If you have it, you can warp the laws of physics with the contents of the average Store Cupboard. Bad part? You go insane to varying degrees whenever you do it. The natural result of that is that most Sparks, and Agatha in particular, have to deal with being shunned, used, or attacked by most everyone they meet. And that's if they don't get killed by one of their own creations.
Agatha before her breakthrough, when she wore the locket to suppress her Spark. It undoubtedly saved her life, but it also made her completely incompetent and destroyed her self-esteem.
Bling of War: Most troops are trying to look cool — some, too hard. Jägers tend to dress in less unified fancy clothes, with their own peculiar taste. Of "Da Boyz", Maxim wears the most fashionable set — he's an ex-cavalry officer, after all.
Zeetha:(a green-haired Amazon) Hey, Skifander's patron Goddess is Ashtara, she who controls, among other things, fertility. Our holy-days are fun! (Cha cha cha!)
A long time after Agatha is convinced that her battle merry-go-round is too dangerous to construct, a soldier who failed to capture her is diagnosed with a concussion for explaining that her injuries were sustained while destroying a merry-go-round.
"It could be a really evil town..."
In the Cinderella special, the "evil step-mother" comments that Agatha could win the kingdom with a dead rat and a houseplant. At the end, she bribes the king, a cat, with a dead rat and potted catnip.
Gil throws Othar out of an airship, and when Agatha gets mad, he assures her that once she gets to know Othar, she'll do the same. An hour later, she does, and mentions, "I owe Gil an apology." About ten chapters later, she gives it to him.
Agatha: I got so mad at you, and then, within the hour, I threw him out an airship too!
Broken Angel: The muses, the delicate creations of the greatest spark of the time. Most of them are destroyed or damaged while sparks tried to reverse engineer them. Known examples are Tinka, studied by Tarvek, and Otilia, found beneath Castle Heterodyne. She manages to cause some trouble in her "broken" state though.
Also Castle Heterodyne, damaged in the Other's attack.
Calling Your Attacks: Done by Zola under the influence of a massive overdose of battle stimulants, resulting in a cry of "Chophead Tinybits!"
Came Back Wrong: Subverted. Apparently being brought Back From the Dead causes memory loss (as we have been repeatedly told) and frequently drives the recipient Ax Crazy. However, when it happens to Tarvek, all it takes to bring him out of a homicidal rage is the following:
Othar Tryggvassen: What, tyrant? Does your empire give you no pleasure?
Klaus Wulfenbach: No. It gives me no pleasure. Politics always annoyed me. Now I do it every day. I haven't seen my wife in years. My old friends are gone. I haven't traveled or explored. At least with the Heterodynes we had the adventures. The occasional fight. Now it's send in the armies, then the bureaucrats with mops. It's become an old formula.
Chaste Hero: Barry Heterodyne, quite possibly. Barry always ends up with "the High Priestess" in the stories and plays, "The High Priestess" being the catch-all term for whatever lost priestess, Distressed Damsel, or mad scientist's beautiful but misguided assistant (other than Lucrezia) happened to figure in any given Heterodyne play (basically, an in-world trope). There is no indication Barry had a love life in Real Life, though. Also Agatha, thus far.
Chekhov's Boomerang: Gil's invisibility device mentioned offhand by DuMedd quite a bit earlier. And seen in action even earlier, although at the time Gil didn't realize what it was and used it as a simple power source.
Then there's the poison pellet Gilgamesh gave Von Zinzer to use as a suicide pill if he chose. While Von Zinzer has shown up again (alive), the poison hasn't shown up again... yet.
Agatha's locket. It is introduced at the very beginning, then disappears from the story within the first few chapters. Then its importance is revealed — and then it comes back a second time, important in a brand new way.
Chekhov's Skill: Agatha's training under Zeetha. Mind you, it's not like it was ever a secret it would be useful.
Chronoscope: The strange "windows" that appear at several points in the comic, with doubles of some of the comic's characters standing on the other side and observing events through them, may well be a case of a chronoscope seen operating from "the other side" — i.e. from the perspective of the observed, rather than the observing. Presumably, the device itself will show up and be used at some point in the comic, but that time hasn't been reached yet.
Continuity Nod: Hundreds, and ranging from extremely obvious to incredibly subtle.
While having tea with the Jägergenerals, mention is made of "gingerbread trilobites from Mechanicsburg", and of the fact that Castle Heterodyne is mad, dying, and useless. Guess what Zeetha's eating as she stumbles across Gil putting his plan in motion in order to enter the mad useless castle, six years later.
Old Man Death has a mini-flashback of people who rode with the Jägers — like the Seneschal. Still not sure if he's in there, though.
Convection, Schmonvection: Averted beautifully here. Anevka pumping out enough electricity in her arm to flash-fry her father releases enough waste heat to send her entire outfit and wig bursting into flames.
Crapsack World: The world is dominated by people and things who'd fit right in with Warhammer 40000 Orks, and the only thing keeping them mostly in check is anti-villain dictator Klaus, who is quite willing to level cities in order to achieve such. His territory is described as containing a lot of empty space despite being central Europe, is littered with forgotten but highly-lethal Spark inventions, and walled-in cities are the closest one comes to safe. The Other systematically leveled much of Europe not long before that, and currently has free reign of Sturmhalten, a large army, and has mind-controlled Klaus. Outside Europe, things aren't much better, with northern nations having a tax on fire. The greatest folk heroes are missing, and the second greatest folk hero is a serial killer.
Rudolf Selnikov: The depressing thing? Twisted and ruthless as you people are, throwing in with you is a step up.
Alternatively, A World Half Full. Europa has mostly recovered from a devastating genocidal war that employed mad science bioweapons just decades ago, and is ruled by an extremely intelligent benevolent dictator who keeps the peace and lets most people get on with their lives. There are systems in place to contain the mad monstrosities that arise, and the people Othar has killed (usually) had it coming.
Crazy Enough to Work: You get the impression this happens a lot. Perhaps the most hilarious one would be curing Tarvek of a terrifying disease by killing him and then bringing him back to life. Even more hilarious given the way Agatha said the trope name. "This has a small, but fascinating, chance of actually working! Let's do it!"
Crazy Prepared: Zola Malfeazium, as acknowledged even by The Other, who took care... only to discover she's been outmaneuvered once more.
Crime of Self Defense: A short-lived running gag about Gil defending his killing Dr. Beetle with "He threw a bomb at me".
Da Boyz. Oggie is the least bright of the three, but don't let that fool you.
Zola looks like a vapid fool, but then she drops the "vapid fool" mask and soundly beats Zeetha and Violetta, and matches Higgs — three of the seven most capable physical fighters in the main cast. (The other four are Da Boyz — Oggie, Dimo and Maxim; and VonPinn, who's a construct.) Though her physical abilities were boosted by a Deadly Upgrade, she did have to steal the upgrade — from a Smoke Knight — requiring a different kind of badassery.)
Cry Cute: DuPree of all people gets a moment here.
Cultured Badass: Klaus and Gil at times, but definitely Tarvek. The Jägergenerals can be this when they're not beating the hell out of someone. Wooster's Badass Normal status puts him here as well. Dolokhov can make tea or beat people up with equal effectiveness.
The first time we see the Lapinemoths, them against Agatha, Zeetha, and Othar (GENTLEMAN ADVENTURER) was this.
Two in rapid succession. Zola drinks Moveit#11 and one-shots Zeetha, but despite her incredible fighting ability, Higgs is beating her down so badly the panels can't keep up with his attacks.
Krosp: This thing just wants to catch someone, right?
Cyanide Pill: One is offered to Moloch von Zinzer, but he obviously has yet to use it.
Cyber Cyclops: Most little Clanks. Subverted, though, as it doesn't stop them from being more cute than sinister. Well, usually; except here. Red Eyes, Take Warning, much?
Castle Heterodyne. To the point where once it finds out that Othar Tryggvassen is a hero, it immediately dumps him down a bottomless pit. Of course, the castle knows all about heroes...
Castle Heterodyne: Oh tosh, if he was a real hero--
Othar Tryggvassen:(comes through the door dusting himself off) This is an annoying place, isn't it?
Lately, Gilgamesh Wulfenbach seems to have taken a line from the castle. To ensure that Tarvek makes it out of Castle Wulfenbach safely, he handcuffs Tarvek to Othar, shoves them both in a broken flying machine, and drops it out a window.
Gilgamesh:He's always falling out of airships and stuff-- so if you're with him-- I know you'll get away! (drops them) Oh, and LET ME KNOW HOW HE DOES IT!
The normally unflappable Airman Higgs demonstrates an impressive one.
Actually, the Baron is merely amused by DuPree's mistake, but yikes!
Death Is Cheap: The horrifying tendency towards murder that Sparks possess is made slightly less horrifying when you find out they can (under some circumstances) bring the dead back to life. Examples:
Punch and Judy;
Agatha and Tarvek curing themselves of a disease by killing and reviving themselves.
The current arc is an inversion of this, since a new hypotenuse came into play and the majority of the current arc has been spent preventing his death.
And one of the "what if" stories even lampshaded this topic in amusing fashion. Why two love interests? (Giant grins from two female cast members and female co-author.) "Deal with it."
Death Ray: Just about every Spark has made one or something like one — though no-one but Agatha redesigns the landscape with them during sleep. Agatha considers Gil's NOT having built a death ray gross negligence of the highest order, going so far as to say "what's wrong with him?" He takes this criticism to heart, and most of his later inventions are somewhere between "Mobile Heavy Artillery" and "Force of Nature".
Defictionalization: Some of the better in-comic T-shirt designs find their way into the Foglios' store. ("Fools! I will destroy you all! (ask me how)")
Deliberately Monochrome: Volume 1, "The Beetleburg Clank", makes wonderful use of this. Before Agatha's locket is removed, the comic is almost entirely in grayscale; the only color is some blue around the sound effects of Sparks' machines (and Agatha's Green Eyes). Right after the locket is removed, the colors are present but dim, as her Spark starts to assert itself although she still gets headaches — but in her most Spark-ish moments, the colors are bright and clear. By Volume 2, when the headaches have stopped, the entire comic is in full color. One flashback in Volume 2 shows the color fading the moment Agatha puts her locket back on. Originally, the first volume was black and white (it was a print comic) and that was the end of it. The retconned color is just full of symbolism.
Deus Exit Machina: Castle Heterodyne is able to instantly crush anyone in a "live" room, with extraordinary precision. Naturally, all the action takes place in rooms where the Castle isn't yet repaired, so it can't help out.
Didn't See That Coming: Happens all the time. Just when the characters think their plans are set, just when the audience thinks it knows what is going to happen next, some Chekhov's Gun will be taken off the mantle and fired, some character who we haven't seen for several months or years will suddenly reappear to immensely consequential effect, or some machine will malfunction at exactly the wrong (or right) time, radically reorienting the direction of the plot in a very short amount of time.
Dirty Business: Barry, in the flashback where he gave Agatha her locket, is crying over the effect it will have on her.
Gil and Agatha's rapid-fire exchange of ideas on how to cure Tarvek gradually get more breathless and excited as they go on, culminating in this strip. Mad science as foreplay, full-on experimentation for the sex. Oh, and did I mention Gil was shirtless the whole time?
It's also common for Maxim and Dimo to slap Oggie around whenever he's saying something stupid, but since they're Jägermonsters it tends to be very solid punches. Jenka joins too, if she's around.
And another one here, although frankly Moloch didn't deserve it; it's just that Sparks hate having their melodramatics cut short by perfectly mundane solutions.
The Sturmvoraus family. Dear God, the Sturmvoraus family. Their name, when translated out of German, means "Storm ahead" (in the sense of a weather forecast) so that's no surprise.
Tarvek: You don't last very long in our family unless you've got a good nose for intrigue.
Tarvek: The only way to keep my family in line would be to bury them in a row.
And then there's the Mongfish family, which is at least as dysfunctional as the Sturmvorauses (with the same occasional distribution of good guys).
Enfant Terrible: Not quite yet, but when Gil rides out with the "devil dogs" to defend Castle Heterodyne until it's all the way fixed and goes into full-on ape-shit Spark mode, this conversation happens:
Council Member: But--I thought the new Heterodyne was a girl!
Vanamonde: She is. That's just the boyfriend.
Council Member:That's--
Vanamonde: Uh-huh.
Council Member: We're...we're going to have to break out those little iron cages for their children, aren't we?
Entitled Bastard: The sneering Strinbeck orders the Pink Airship to stay in Mechanicsburg Airspace. A subsequent order to dump useless objects overboard suddenly becomes most satisfying.
The Doom Bell has been foreshadowed as this. Foreshadowing Confirmed!
Everyone Can See It: Mostly played straight, in that anyone who meets either Gil or Agatha and merely hears them talk about the other knows they're madly in love, but they know it too — they just refuse to admit it (though Zeetha finally got a confession out of Gil).
It happens in the not-quite-canon story The Heterodyne Boys and the Dragon from Mars but nonetheless, ocean in a bottle anyone? "Truth in Packaging" indeed...
Exploding Closet: In Volume 1 Agatha creates one. Gil opens it. The plot is off its leash and has soon crossed its event horizon.
Explosive Overclocking: Movit #11, for most people. Zola seems to have survived, but only because she is now under the care of Dr. Sun.
Exponential Plot Delay: Agatha's efforts to repair Castle Heterodyne and officially be recognized as the Heterodyne heir lasted three years and ten months, starting from the time she entered the castle and ending when she ordered the Doom Bell be rung. The actual ringing of the bell lasted another three weeks. Tarvek was critically ill and about to die for just short of 15 months. The general concept is lampshaded in this strip. And again here, "It only seem like deyz been in de kestle a long time!"
Expressive Accessory: Zeetha's headband, with the little face on it that always has the same facial expression as she does.
↑For those not in the know, there were several points in the church's history where either they went through a pope about every couple months to around 5 years, and another where there were 3 popes at once. Either or both could be the case for Girl Genius.
↑Justified, seeing as 'Jäger' is German for 'Hunter'
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