History ComicBook / Birthright

* RealityEnsues:
** In Issue #35, Mikey delivers himself to the authorities in order to [[spoiler:help save a comatose Brennan and hand over Kallista to be locked up]]. In the very next issue, he has been severely restrained and interrogated by government agents. He might have saved the day, but he is still a wanted fugitive and as far as the authorities are concerned, ''a terrorist that killed several cops'' (it was actually Kylen who killed them to [[FrameUp pin the blame on Mikey]]).
** [[spoiler:Rook manages to escape Lore's captivity in Issue #42 and tries to reunite with Mike and Rya. When he crosses the military base where they are located, the guards believe him to be one of Lore's soldiers since they can't tell the difference (especially as an invasion is taking place) and they gun him down]].

* ActionSurvivor: With the exception of Mikey and Samael, the Rhodes family as a whole becomes this over the course of the story. Brennan, Aaron and Wendy lack any martial training, experience or superpowers granted due to being Lore's host, but they are able to use some quick thinking and chance to overcome the odds. [[spoiler:Eventually Brennan is revealed to be a mage, making only his parents the actual examples of this trope]].

** Imagine one day you are playing with your children in one moment and in the next one, they just vanish without a trace. Even worse, some rumors start circling around that you may have killed them, tearing up your family apart. Its basically what happened with Aaron Rhodes and his family when his son Mikey went missing.

* HopelessWar: A common theme in this comic that drives the protagonist actions is how utterly hopeless the war against [[BigBad Lore]] has driven them to despair.
** The Five pulled out from Terrenos and moved to Earth in the first place because no matter how many of Lore's monsters they destroyed, they were nowhere near getting him hurt (let alone managing to destroy him) with each battle, more and more innocents were killed in the crossfire. And Mikey's devastating defeat at Lore's hands was one of the reasons why he decided to strike up a deal with him to return home.
** To drive things home, even the invincible evil overlord ''utterly failed'' to win the war ([[WonTheWarLostThePeace because he can't win the peace yet]]) and desperately wants a way out. The only reason he's continuing this war is because "good" is obsessed with fighting "evil", summoning {{Destructive Saviour}}s, {{AntiHero}}es, {{Sociopathic Hero}}es, {{Villain Protagonist}}s, and constant SenselessSacrifice of populations and infrastructure, and his armies are the only thing keeping order in a world that would gleefully tear itself apart the moment its 'ultimate evil' vanished. [[spoiler:And the icing on the cake? The conspirators who brainwashed Lore into conquering Terrenos for them have been enslaved and broken by the United States government for years, meaning Lore's win condition (give rulership of the Terrenos to the conspiracy) is impossible, and his conquest has been rendered completely pointless yet unsatisfyingly endless.]]

* HopeSpot: [[spoiler:The heroes try to talk Mastema out of wanting to destroy both worlds by instead reinforcing the barriers between them to prevent Lore from invading, requiring only five mages like before to pull the trick - Samael, Mastema, Brennan, Mikey and Kallista (who pulled a HeelFaceTurn). Just as it seems Mastema agrees... She attacks them instead preferring to persist in her plan. Her betrayal forces Samael to [[ShootTheDog to kill her]] causing an explosion that [[TakingYouWithMe takes him with her]] and unleashes Terrenos' invasion on Earth...]]

* LaResistance: A very loose one located in Terrenos against Lore's rule persists even after the Five's departure. They are very battered and nowhere near close to ousting Lore than the mages were.
* LightIsNotGood: The Diviner. Judging from their names and nature as "purifying" spirits, they are assumed to be benign... Except they are highly destructive and prone to causing more collateral damage than they are worth by possessing and twisting the environment around them until Lore's minions are annihilated. They are considered the most desperate kind of last resort.
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler: Issue 15 reveals that Sameal, one of the mages that Mikey is hunting, is actually Aaron's father, therefore Mikey and Brennan's grandfather]].

** The Five will use any measure to preserve this world and stop Mikey from destroying the protective spell that threatened Terrenos, such as unleashing a Diviner on Earth and targeting Mikey's family (who are innocent and don't know about his true nature as Lore's agent). One of them, Kylen (who is masquerading as a government agent) goes as far as [[spoiler: vaporizing a SWAT group to pin the blame on Mikey, and turn him into a national threat]].

* MortonsFork: In Issue #40, the heroes are left with this dilemma when [[spoiler:Mastema proves to be beyond reason. Either they allow her plan to run it's course and have two entire worlds die so a new one controlled by her can be created, or kill her which will destroy the barrier and let Lore into Earth. Samael picks the latter because at least this way, the survivors can at least fight off Lore]].

** While circumstances of motives differ significantly, [[spoiler:Mastema is revealed to be this to her father Lore, since they both want to establish an utopia via genocidal means - Lore wants to conquer all possible worlds so he can establish his idea of stability and order, while Mastema plots to have both Earth and Terrenos destroyed in hopes of containing Lore and re-create an new world in her image. And just like him, her mind will not be swayed]].

* PregnantBadass: [[spoiler: Rya, who is heavily-pregnant with Mikey's child, she still manages to kick ass]]. It still is played realistically in that trying to fight is very physically straining for her and her child.

** In Issue 35#, Mikey delivers himself to the authorities in order to [[spoiler:help save a comatose Brennan and hand over Kallista to be locked up]]. In the very next issue, he has been severely restrained and interrogated by government agents. He might have saved the day, but he is still a wanted fugitive and as far as the authorities are concerned, ''a terrorist that killed several cops'' (it was actually Kylen who killed them to [[FrameUp pin the blame on Mikey]]).
** [[spoiler:Rook manages to escape Lore's captivity in Issue #42 and tries to reunite with Mike and Rya. When he crosses the military base where they are located, the guards believe him to be one of Lore's soldiers since they can't tell the difference specially as an invasion is taking place, and they gun him down]].
* RedRightHand: Anyone infected with a nevermind manifests grotesque scarring on their body. As the infection progresses, so does the physical corruption.

* ScrewDestiny:
** PlayedForDrama, when TheChosenOne Mikey destined to bring down the BigBad Lore decides to [[DealWithTheDevil make a deal with him and become his agent instead to return home]].

* TookALevelInBadass: Mikey was just a small child when he was taken to Terrenos, when he comes back home, he is a massive, muscle-bound warrior armed to the teeth who takes down police officers and FBI agents like they are absolute pushovers. Some TrainingFromHell and [[DemonicPossession and becoming a host to a malevolent entity]] will do that to you.

* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: Magic can be strengthened through pain, more specific psychological pain. As a child, Mikey underwent magic training by trying to remember pain and [[spoiler:Brennan is able to learn his full potential by being prodded by Kallista with resentment over Mikey]].

* WarIsHell: The war on Terrenos is an effective stalemate between Lore and it's resistance with neither side being able to make substantial gains (though fortune favors the rebels less). The heroes become super zealous to the point they don't hesitate to execute innocents while Lore [[spoiler:is exhausted by the war effort himself]].

** Issue #20 was designed by the creators to be the biggest whammer as noted in the credits since they were taking a temporary break and aimed to drop as many bombshells as they could: [[spoiler:Sameal is forced to kill Enoch to protect Aaron, now two out of the five mages protecting Earth from Lore are dead and the barriers between worlds is further awakening; Mikey is seemingly captured by Kylen though its revealed he allowed himself to be taken prisoner so he could have the chance to kill two more mages in one stroke; Mastema reveals that the prophecy is false and Mikey is ''not'' TheChosenOne, but rather ''Lore'' himself who has ''already'' saved Terrenos, but turned into an ruthless tyrant, and she knows all of this because she is his daughter]].
** Issue #24 ends with [[spoiler:the Rhodes family being reunited for the first time since the beginning of the comic including Grandpa and Rya, Mikey murdering Kylen leaving now only two out of the five alive, and the barriers have weakened enough for beings from Terrenos to cross over into Earth -- the first one to confront the heroes being [[TheDragon Kallista the Pale Rider]], and to make matters even worse, Rya is going into labor right there in the middle of an imminent invasion]]. The next chapter continues the trend with [[spoiler:Rya giving birth to her child in the middle of the battlefield, Mastema going missing in action and Kallista kidnapping Brennan to an unknown location. To make matters worse, Mikey's family has pretty much disowned him for his actions and forbid him from getting near his newborn daughter]].

** Issue #41 reveals the heroes' secret weapon against Lore; [[spoiler:The trio of witches responsible for turning him into what he is, that are revealed to have been captured by the US government to research magic]].

* WorfHadTheFlu: Mikey is surrounded by a ''large'' SWAT force and puts up an impressive fight against them, but because he was already weakened by his fight with Samael, he ends up being overwhelmed.
* YearInsideHourOutside: Many years take place in Terrenos, enough for Mikey to age from a teenager to adulthood, while only a year passes on Earth.

** [[spoiler:Kallista]] to Mikey. [[spoiler:She]] lost her family at a young age, fought alongside Rook for decades and eventually joined Lore when she decided that fighting Lore was only making things worse.

* DragonAscendant: Subverted. After [[[spoiler:Lore is killed and his army retreats back to Terrenos, Kallista]] looks set to be the major threat left on Earth. [[spoiler:She juat hides out for a year and then kills herself as soon as Mikey finds her.]]

* DragonAscendant: After [[[spoiler:Lore is killed and his army retreats back to Terrenos, Kallista]] is the major threat left on Earth.

* FanDisservice: We see Kallista in a WalkingSwimsuitScene in Issue #31 and she has an impressive [[AmazonianBeauty amazon physique]] which is ruined by her sharp teeth and facial scars. Not to mention, she is talking seductively to Brennan who is a teenage boy...

** Issue #24 ends with [[spoiler:the Rhodes family being reunited for the first time since the beginning of the comic including Grandpa and Rya, Mikey murdering Kylen leaving now only two out of the five alive, and the barriers have weakened enough for beings from Terrenos to cross over into Earth -- the first one to confront the heroes being [[TheDragon Kallista the Pale Rider]], and to make matters even worse, Rya is going into labor right there in the middle of a imminent invasion]]. The next chapter continues the trend with [[spoiler:Rya giving birth to her child in the middle of the battlefield, Mastema going missing in action and Kallista kidnapping Brennan to an unknown location. To make matters worse, Mikey's family has pretty much disowned him for his actions and forbid him from getting near his newborn daughter]].

** Issue #24 ends with [[spoiler:the Rhodes family being reunited for the first time since the beginning of the comic including Grandpa and Rya, Mikey murdering Kylen leaving now only two out of the five alive, and the barriers have weakened enough for beings from Terrenos to cross over into Earth -- the first one to confront the heroes being [[TheDragon Kallista the Pale Rider]], and to make matters even worse, Rya is entering on labor right there in the middle of a imminent invasion]]. The next chapter continues the trend with [[spoiler:Rya giving birth to her child in the middle of the battlefield, Mastema going missing in action and Kallista kidnapping Brennan to an unknown location. To make matters worse, Mikey's family has pretty much disowned him for his actions and forbid him from getting near his newborn daughter]].

** Diviners and Neverminds are spirits used in battle between Lore and his enemies that use demonic possession on it's victims. Unusually, Diviners are the most dangerous ones despite being supposed to be the most "benevolent" ones due to being anti-Lore, since they are more powerful than any Nevermind, can possess multiple people at a time, corrupt the surrounding environment and will destroy ''literally anything on their path until anything touched by an Lore agent is killed''.

* MortonsFork: In Issue #40, the heroes are left with this dillema when [[spoiler:Mastema proves to beyond reason. Either they allow her plan to run it's course and have two entire worlds die so an new one controlled by her can be created, or kill her which will destroy the barrier and let Lore into Earth. Samael picks the latter because at least this way, the survivors can at least fight off Lore]].

** To drive things home, even the invincible evil overlord ''utterly failed'' to win the war ([[WonTheWarLostThePeace because he can't win the peace yet]]) and desperately wants a way out. The only reason he's continuing this war is because 'good' is obsessed with fighting 'evil', summoning {{DestructiveSaviour}}s, {{AntiHero}}es, {{Sociopathic|Hero}}es, {{VillainProtagonist}}s, and constant SenselessSacrifice of populations and infrastructure, and his armies are the only thing keeping order in a world that would gleefully tear itself apart the moment its 'ultimate evil' vanished. [[spoiler:And the icing on the cake? The conspirators who brainwashed Lore into conquering Terrenos for them have been enslaved and broken by the United States government for years, meaning Lore's win condition (give rulership of the Terrenos to the conspiracy) is impossible, and his conquest has been rendered completely pointless yet unsatisfyingly endless.]]

* EmpoweredBadassNormal: [[spoiler:Boomer]], a BadassNormal commando become infected with [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent lycanthropy]].
* EnemyWithin: Mikey has a Nevermind inhabiting his body. Its a evil spirit that serves as an extension of Lore's will, which causes pain when the host does something Lore doesn't want them to do, and when forcibly extracted from him, its revealed to be have a very twisted physical similarity to the host.

* TheDreaded: Rook warns Mikey that in time he will be trained to fight and kill nearly everything, but should he ever encounter an Diviner, ''[[RunOrDie he must run]]''.

''Birthright'' is a comic series by Creator/ImageComics written by Joshua Williamson with art provided by Andrei Bressan and colors by Adriano Lucas, not only focusing on Mikey's attempts at re-connecting with his family but also serving as a desconstruction for the typical story we KidHero TrappedInAnotherWorld and destined to defeat the BigBad and the subject of prophecies in general.

** To drive things home, even the invincible evil overlord ''utterly failed'' to win the war ([[WonTheWarLostThePeace because he can't win the peace yet]]) and desperately wants a way out. The only reason he's continuing this war is because 'good' is obsessed with fighting 'evil', summoning {{DestructiveSaviour}}s, {{AntiHero}}es, {{Sociopathic|Hero}}es, {{VillainProtagonist}}s, and constant SenselessSacrifice of populations and infrastructure, and his armies are the only thing keeping order in a world that would gleefully tear itself apart the moment its 'ultimate evil' vanished. [[spoiler:And the icing on the cake? The conspirators who brainwashed him into conquering Terrenos for them have been enslaved and broken by the United States government for years, meaning Lore's win condition (give rulership of the world to the conspiracy) is unwinnable and his conquest has been rendered completely pointless.]]
** Once that [[spoiler:the barrier is destroyed and Lore invades Earth, the war between humans and Terrenos turns into this trope in ''under a week'']].

** To drive things home, even the invincible evil overlord ''utterly failed'' to win the war ([[WonTheWarLostThePeace because he can't win the peace yet]]) and desperately wants a way out. The only reason he's continuing this war is because 'good' is obsessed with fighting 'evil', summoning {{DestructiveSaviour}}s, {{AntiHero}}es, {{Sociopathic|Hero}}es, {{VillainProtagonist}}s, and constant SenselessSacrifice of populations and infrastructure, and his armies are the only thing keeping order in a world that would gleefully tear itself apart the moment its 'ultimate evil' vanished. [[spoiler:And the icing on the cake? The conspirators who brainwashed him into conquering Terranos for them have been enslaved and broken by the United States government for years, meaning Lore's win condition (give rulership of the world to the conspiracy) is unwinnable and his conquest has been rendered completely pointless.]]

** To drive things home, even the invincible evil overlord ''utterly failed'' to win the war ([[WonTheWarLostThePeace because he can't win the peace yet]]) and desperately wants a way out. The only reason he's continuing this war is because 'good' is obsessed with fighting 'evil', bringing about the inevitable DestructiveSaviour, AntiHero, {{Sociopathic|Hero}} VillainProtagonist, and constant SenselessSacrifice, and his armies are the only thing keeping order in a world that would gleefully tear itself apart the moment its 'ultimate evil' vanished. [[spoiler:And the icing on the cake? Lore is a FallenHero who ''did'' defeat the evil overlord of his time, only to watch the fantasy world he was in get progressively worse from its own issues until his kingdom became TheEmpire by simply being the most powerful and he became the evil overlord by default.]]

** Issue #24 ends with [[spoiler:the Rhodes family being reunited for the first time since the beginning of the comic including Grandpa and Rya, Mikey murdering Kylen leaving now only three out of the five dead, and the barriers have weakened enough for beings from Terrenos to cross over into Earth - the first one to confront the heroes being [[TheDragon Kallista the Pale Rider]], and to make matters even worse, Rya is entering on labor right there in the middle of a imminent invasion]]. The next chapter continues the trend with [[spoiler:Rya giving birth to her child in the middle of the battlefied, Mastema going missing in action and Kallista kidnapping Brennan to an unknown location. To make matters worse, Mikey's family has pretty much disowned him for his actions and forbid him from getting near his newborn daughter]].

** The first issue ended with Mikey being possessed with a Nevermind spirit, revealing that he is not an actual hero who defeated Lore, but he is actually working for him.
** [[WhamEpisode Issue #20]] shows us what is God-King Lore's true form. [[spoiler:A tall, strong, heroic-looking man with a sword who looks just like Mikey.]]
** Issue #41 reveals the heroes' secret weapon against Lore is unveiled. [[spoiler:The trio of witches responsible for turning him into what he is, that are revealed to have been captured by the US government to research magic]].

* RomanticFalseLead: Shortly after arriving in Terrenos, Mikey gets introduced to a princess the prophecy says he will marry. Nevertheless, it is clear that Rya was his actual lover, and the princess isn't seen in any flashbacks after his first year in Terrenos. He apparently did marry her, but it turns out she doesn't love him and neither does her.

** Kylen incinerates [[spoiler: several police officers that failed to capture Mikey]]. Just like above, he tries to justify it to cover up their knowledge up their knowledge of magic, but his spiteful tone and gloating how their deaths will aid him by [[spoiler: turning Mikey into a national-level terrorist]] makes it hard to believe it.

** After successfully pacifying a bear that he and his brother disturbed upon entering into his space and baiting into thinking they are friendly, Mikey kills it by stabbing it in the head. Brennan is disgusted that his brother would do such thing after just proving they were no threat to the bear, but [[IDidWhatIHadToDo Mikey says that he did that just to protect him]]. Though he has a justification, it serves as a reminder to Brennan that Mikey isn't heroic as he seem.

* ItGetsEasier: Mikey is absolutely horrified when he is forced to kill for the first time, but he can't afford not to, as cannot possibly last on [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Terrenos]] and fate demands that he must bring down the God-King, so he must become a warrior whether he likes it or not. His adult self is most certainly not hesitant in killing.

* InvincibleVillain: Desconstructed with Lore. Not only is he an extremely powerful mage, but he commands seemingly endless resources and armies that never seem to run out. Many heroes spent years fighting non-stop against him, but they never seem to make any progress - on the contrary, their fighting led to many innocents getting caught in the crossfire and making things worse. In the end, the ones that opposed him have either fled Terrenos or willingly sided with Lore to stop the carnage. And as it turns out, [[spoiler:being an invincible villain also takes a toll on Lore himself, who also wants to stop the fighting so he can establish peace in this realm]].

* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: The very first issue ends with the revelation that [[FallenHero Mikey]] is actually serving God-King Lore himself and is working to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

** Issue #40 . [[spoiler:The last surviving members of the Five die and [[HellOnEarth Lore's invasion of Earth begins]]]].

-->''Priest''': ''The infection in your grandson's mind is deep. The only way to free his mind from the evil that has allowed to take hold [[spoiler:is with a sacrifice]].''

* YearInsideHourOutside: Many years take place in Terrenos, enough for Mikey to age from a teenager to adulthood, while only a year passes on Earth.