History Webcomic / CirqueRoyale

** Many kingdoms do this as part of {{Arranged Marriage}}s. Sometimes the couples find mutual love, such as the Cactus Queen and Flower Queen, and sometimes they're forced to tolerate each other, like ([[https://cirqueduroyale.tumblr.com/post/183776883299/non-stop-side-b-part-11-wait-what-a-3rd-update Toothpaste Queen and Orange King]].

** As more about the late King George comes out, it's clear he wasn't kind to his children other than Quinn --and while Quinn missed the bulk of his neglect as the heir to the throne even she wasn't fully loved for who she is, seeing as he submitted her to abusive ABA therapy to downplay her autistic traits. Penelope was neglected and never got the attention she hoped he would give her; she still praises him in death where her siblings don't, but she deep down privately laments that she was never good enough for him to show affection to. And Will and Fred [[spoiler:were almost killed at birth for being born as a "monster" -- ConjoinedTwins -- and only Louise's suggestion to put them in TheFreakShow saved them being separated where it would have likely killed Will because George didn't care if he died since he was a third "princess". But George ''still'' forced them to stay [[MadwomanInTheAttic confined to the attic]] when not on display, rather than anyone seeing them "walking around for free".]]

* AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: Penelope's poodles -- specifically, the cotton candy poodles -- have fur in the color of cotton candy: pink and blue, like her hair.

* WhatsUpKingDude: The royal family doesn't live separate from the citizens of Clowny Island, wander around the kingdoms they visit freely, and live in the same kind of mobile-place on wheels as the other citizens albeit slightly taller. Charlie plays ''[[AlliterationAndAdventurers Basements and Banshees]]'' with other friends and, outside of Zeppy being nasty when Charlie arrives, is not treated any different; Java Chip in particular refuses to genuflect to them, teasingly calling him and Claudette "Madam Dorkette and Sir Dorkus." Quinn holds a public town meeting on Lantern Day -- which means she and Kingston can't be available initially -- that anyone in the kingdom can attend and speak their mind to them at, even if they have nothing useful to say.

* HiddenDepths: Dowager Queen Louise "the Beautiful" Mills initially came off as a shallow, [[HippieParents anti-vaxx hippy]] who believed in crystal healing over traditional medicine, whose only major defining trait outside of being the circus's fortune teller was that she was beautiful (which is why she was [[ArrangedMarriage set up to marry George]] in the first place). She also continues to call Red, Charlie, and Claudie her [[FantasticSlurs "lavender grandbabies"]], which neither they nor Quinn like. However she's shown to be much more than that. Her late husband, King George, never appeared to be interested in her the way she adored him and she knew it. She's nowhere near as nasty to mimes as George was; she's always cared for their servant Manet and treats him like close family, as well as his son Pascal who was raised alongside her children. She's learned how to respectfully refer to her trans son Will and the gender spectrum (she was taught by Daisy in what she calls "terrifyingly educational"). She did many things behind George's back to let her children thrive and mime culture continue in secret after he banned it in retaliation for Quinn running off with Kingston, and now has no problem that her daughter Quinn allows it openly; she's even pleased that the FreakShow is now part of the circus proper, smirking when she says that "George wouldn't like this at all" and showing she had some degree of contempt for her late husband. Most of all [[spoiler:when her ConjoinedTwins were born she loved them from the first day -- and when George wanted to force their separation (which would have likely killed one of the two twins) Louise, in fear for her children's lives, talked him out of it by putting them in the FreakShow and saving them. And, when they were [[MadwomanInTheAttic confined to the attic]] by King George who didn't want them walking around being seen in public for free, she spent so much time with them that she rarely appeared in public afterwards.]] Most of the mistakes she makes are not out of maliciousness, but a lack of knowledge, making her an InnocentBigot.
* HippieName: Daisy. At age three, she was encouraged by her HippieParents to select her own name (as she was born intersex) and chose to name herself after the flowers in her mother's flower crown. Her brothers did the same and are named Monster Truck and Caterpillar.

* WantedASonInstead: Zigzagged. After Quinn and Penelope -- both girls -- King George was hoping the third pregnancy between him and Louise would result in a son; he wanted a boy to pass on the family name and be able to do the things "fathers and sons were ''supposed'' to do" with. The doctors predicted a third princess and the first prince from the twin pregnancy, and they were born. [[spoiler:As male-and-female ConjoinedTwins, which were named Wilfred and that George rejected.]]

* AltarDiplomacy: This was the reason that Crown Princess Quinn was engaged to marry Leo; he was considered worthy to be her fiance as the Cashworthys are the wealthiest family in the kingdom, in a case of NobilityMarriesMoney. Quinn learns during the side story "Non-Stop: Side B" that she was basically sold off by her parents to cover contracts they signed; the influx of money from the Cashworthys was needed because the kingdom was all but broke, and marrying Leo would bring money to the kingdom and stabilize their finances after taking out many loans from Cashworthy Finances. The contract even says any breach (such as if she had divorced Leo later) would call in the unpaid loans immediately. She doesn't take it well. [[spoiler:Especially when she learns that because the marriage arraignment was broken, she's the one the hook for the breach and has to start to pay back the loans without a grace period or else Aries will take the circus as collateral.]]

** Multiple kingdoms are stated to have these, in order to form alliances. Flower Queen and Cactus Queen are part of an arraigned marriage, and happen to have fallen in love. ([[https://cirqueduroyale.tumblr.com/post/183776883299/non-stop-side-b-part-11-wait-what-a-3rd-update Toothpaste Queen and Orange King]] are more a case of UnwantedSpouse.)

* CastFullOfGay: Multiple characters are some form of queer. The only four known to be cishet are Quinn (though she does lean towards poly), dowager queen Louise, Penelope, and Pascal.

* HiredHelpAsFamily: Manet Pantanimal was initially assigned in IndenturedServitude to King George and Queen Louise to help care for infant Quinn, whom they struggled with; he'd been given a lifetime sentence. However, he ended up becoming a ParentalSubstitute to Quinn and is now the OldRetainer to the family and LoyalToThePosition, including Queen Louise and the family; after George's death, the two of them went on a mourning vacation together, and it's been hinted at that they together kept secrets from George. He has a son, Pascal, who also helps serve the family, but is treated like family and grew up with the Mills kids to the point they see him like a sibling.

* OldRetainer: Manet has been serving the royal family since he was assigned in IndenturedServitude to King George and Queen Louise to help care for infant Quinn, whom they struggled with. He ended up becoming a ParentalSubstitute to Quinn, has a son Pascal who also helps serve the family (but is treated like family, as is Manet), and is still loyal to Queen Louise; after George's death, the two of them went on a mourning vacation together. Matisse questions why he's so loyal, which he deflects, saying that he does what he needs to get by.

* RealMenEatMeat: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] for every male in the clown species. Clowns cannot physically digest meat; they can ''eat'' it (as in chew and swallow) but it will all come back up undigested. The Klownikov children can eat meat because they are 1/4th mime, as can Kingston being half. All mimes need meat as they're obligate carnivores; Kingston tells Leo this outright when Leo asks if he's willing to go vegan.

* AlliterationAndAdventurers: Charlie and his friends play ''Basements and Banshees'', which is just like D&D except includes fantastic people and generic human characters. (Milo in particular is interested in humans and his character is a human named John Jackson who's an IT specialist.)

* CallForward: The Unicorn Princess, Valeria [=MajestyMoon=], is seen in a tween magazine ''Princess Beat'' just below Claudette where she's mentioned as a Princess to Watch in "No New Friends." She doesn't debut properly until "Loud Mouth," and doesn't have a full part in the story until "Date Night."

Cirque Royale updates on Wednesdays and Thursdays on [[https://tapas.io/series/Cirque-Royale Tapas]], [[https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/cirque-royale/list?title_no=449403 Webtoon]], [[http://cirqueduroyale.tumblr.com/ tumblr]], [[https://globalcomix.com/c/cirque-royale Global Comix]], and its domain. The tumblr also has backstory, expansions and insights on the world and characters, [[BSideComics side comics]], FillerStrips, information, and casual doodles that aren't always posted elsewhere.

* LazyAlias: When Will is telling his nieces and nephews about how he lost his leg, [[spoiler:namely that he and his twin brother Will were born as [[HalfIdenticalTwins Half-Identical]] ConjoinedTwins and only had three legs between them]], he changes the names of his family in-story other than his parents, the then-king and queen who are only referred to by title; he does this in very small ways, making them also {{SueDonym}}s. Quinn is "Quincy", Penelope is "Pinecone", and Manet and Pascal are "Monet" and "Pierre". The author [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this in [[TheRant the notes below]] and includes "Princeton and Capricorn," aka Kingston and Leo.

* ResignInProtest: All the other performers of the circus quit after Quinn took over as queen, calling her traitorous (for leaving fifteen years ago) and insulting her children and Kingston as half-breed mimes in their resignation letter. The current circus performers outside of the royal family all used to be part of the FreakShow -- except Ron, but he was regulated there after Leo took his place as the "oldest strongman".

** Among Kingston's many tattoos, the ones near his right wrist of five elephants represent his family, and his back one is of the Mimopolis skyline, which is where he grew up, as well as one in memory of his pet rabbit. (The octopus is just because he thought it was cool). He also was in the FreakShow as a tattooed harlequin.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Fred, who uses a prosthetic leg, runs into Quinn's lion Samson -- who is a troublemaker who really only listens to her -- and decides to play a trick on a SickeninglySweethearts couple by pretending Samson is eating him. When he then asks Samson for his prosthetic leg back, [[https://www.cirqueroyalecomic.com/comic/the-kings-monster-pt-30/ Samson immediately runs off]] leaving him without it, and Fred [[LampshadeHanging sarcastically laments]] that he's just full of great ideas today.

* IdenticalTwinIDTag: Will and Fred have three major differences: their hairstyles (Will has a front bang swoop like their mother Louise, while Fred does not), that Fred wears glasses, and that Fred has a fully amputated right leg and uses a prosthetic [[spoiler:because when the two were born as ConjoinedTwins, they only had three legs, and in being separated Fred only got one of them]]. As children they looked a lot alike before Will got glasses since they were HalfIdenticalTwins.

* PatchworkKids: The three Klownikov children have lavender skin, bluish eyes, and fangs (except Red) from their mime genes and red noses and red hair from their clown genes. (It's been shown in flash fowards that Claudette and Charlie's hair will likely get darker as they get older.) Kingston is also like this; he has the black hair, purple skin, sharp teeth, and blue eyes of his mime mother, but the red nose and curly hair (and bushy eyebrows, a Klownikov family trait) from his clown father.

** Both Quinn and Claudette tug on their hair as an autistic stim when stressed.

[[https://www.cirqueroyalecomic.com/ Cirque Royale]] is a fantasy SliceOfLifeWebcomic by atomicbritt.

Cirque Royale updates on Thursdays on [[https://tapas.io/series/Cirque-Royale Tapas]], [[https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/cirque-royale/list?title_no=449403 Webtoon]], [[http://cirqueduroyale.tumblr.com/ tumblr]], [[https://globalcomix.com/c/cirque-royale Global Comix]], and its domain. The tumblr also has backstory, expansions and insights on the world and characters, [[BSideComics side comics]], FillerStrips, information, and casual doodles that aren't always posted elsewhere.

* AbsurdlyYouthfulParents: Quinn was 20 and Kingston was 19 when their oldest children, the twins Claudette and Charles, were born.

* CallingParentsByTheirName: Enforced by Aries. His children Diana and Leo aren't allowed to call him Dad or Father and must call him "Mr. Cashworthy."
* CallForward: The Unicorn Princess, Valeria [=MajestyMoon=], is seen in a tween magazine ''Princess Beat'' just below Claudette where she's mentioned as a Princess to Watch in "No New Friends." She doesn't debut properly until "Loud Mouth," and doesn't have a full part until "Date Night."