History ComicBook / DeathVigil

* ReliableTraitor: Maria is this to the Pale Court. She sees them entirely as a means to an end and has absolutely no personal loyalty to them beyond what's required for her to get her hands on Bernie's scythe and the veilrippers. The Court is even fully aware that [[spoiler: Maria's ultimate goal includes claiming Bernie's scythe and using it to destroy them]].

* {{Badass}}: All of the death knights.

* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Wulf was once a member of the Vigil, until he fell in love with Maria Benes and became a surrogate father to her daughter. When the she was fatally injured in a car accident, Wulf called on Bernie to bring her back as a member of the Vigil since the girl was gifted. When Bernie told him that there was nothing she could do, it drove him to joining the Necromancers as part of Maria's plot to steal Bernie's scythe to resurrect her.]]

** Mia as well. She normally appears as a cute teenaged girl. However she's actually a True Primordial, making her one of ''the'' most powerful entities in the series. Regular EldritchAbomination drive normal people insane. Anyone seeing a True Primordial in her true form like her is outright ''killed'' (and unlike Bernie, we have seen her Primordial form: it is not pretty).

** Maria's entire plan was intended to bind the Primordial called the Thorn to Alicia's body, which is this trope all on its own. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, Alicia's soul was ''already gone'' when Maria bound her, meaning that Alicia's body was just a shell and the Thorn took control of her body ''entirely''. "Came Back Wrong" doesn't even ''begin'' to cover it.]]
* ChekhovsGun: Bernie distracts a necromancer in issue four by introducing her presence, letting the other members of the Vigil seal his powers away. [[spoiler:She distracts The Thorn in issue eight similarly, giving the other members of the Vigil the opportunity to destroy it.]]

* {{Determinator}}: Sam is very headstrong--crossing into LeeroyJenkins territory at times. He manages to overcome the paralyzing effect of Banshee screams multiple times when other Vigil members were all knocked out ''by sheer force of will''.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Gallows is a necromancer. All of his colleagues are necromancers. His boss is an EldritchAbomination. They've all done some pretty awful stuff in their day. And even ''he'' thinks that turning the orach loose in a metropolitan area just to draw the Vigil's attention was cruel.

* AlasPoorVillain: Despite her arrogance, and all the things she's done and lives she's put at risk (if not outright destroyed), it's still hard not to feel sorry for Maria. She's ultimately a broken woman driven off the deep end of the Slippery Slope by her daughter's death, only to be swept up into events she didn't ''truly'' understand, and was so misguided she genuinely believed what she was doing was right. [[spoiler: It makes the means by which "Alicia" betrayed her and revealed that Bernie had been telling the truth all along that much more heartbreaking.]]

Our story begins with a man named Sam Lewis, who died trying to rescue two women from a mugger. But when the grim reaper showed up, instead of passing on, he was recruited into the Death Vigil - a group of fighters under the Reaper's command who protect the world from the forces of evil.

* ASinisterClue: Clara uses Starlock with her left hand. It's implied she's not entirely right after Jon attempted to bind a Primordial to her.

* RestrainingBolt: Allistor's Sigils act as one for Mia, helping her keep the Beast under control, particularly after she was first bonded. Maria's later due the same for Alicia. [[spoiler: At least until Alicia ''tears Maria's arm off'' to break her hold over her.]] Notably, despite this Allistor's control over Maria isn't absolute. [[spoiler: When he betrays the Vigil after Wulf plays on his sympathies, Mia rebels against him and remains true to the them instead.]]

* CutShort: On account of the cancellation of volume 2, the ultimate plans of the Pale Court are never shown, nor is the means for [[spoiler:Maria's survival]].

* UpgradeArtifact: The Scythe is the source of Bernie's powers, and Maria, the antagonist of the first arc, plots to take the Scythe and use it power to bring her daughter back.

In December 2014, Sejic announced that the 8-issue initial miniseries will be followed by a four-part miniseries focusing on how James became a member of the Vigil and first met and befriended Mia, after which the main series would resume as a full ongoing. However poor sales in spite of its critical acclaim, compounded by Sejic's health and technology issues eventually led to [[https://twitter.com/stjepansejic/status/671612239619760128 the cancellation of plans to continue the series]] in December 2015.

In December 2014, Sejic announced that the 8-issue initial miniseries will be followed by a four-part miniseries focusing on how James became a member of the Vigil and first met and befriended Mia, after which the main series would resume as a full ongoing. However poor sales in spite of its critical acclaim, compounded by Sejic's health and technology issues eventually led to [[https://twitter.com/stjepansejic/status/671612239619760128 its cancellation]] in December 2015.

* CutShort: On account of the series' cancellation at issue 8, the ultimate plans of the Pale Court are never shown, nor is the means for [[spoiler:Maria's survival]].

In December, 2014, Sejic announced that the 8-issue initial miniseries will be followed by a four-part miniseries focusing on how James became a member of the Vigil and first met and befriended Mia, after which the main series would resume as a full ongoing. However poor sales in spite of its critical acclaim, compounded by Sejic's health and technology issues leading to delays of the last few issues of the first volume, have put these plans in doubt.

* BeenThereShapedHistory: Bernie notes that the last copy of a text she wanted gone was kept in the Library of Alexandria...

** Wulf has a lot of elements connected to Literature/{{Beowulf}}. [[spoiler:It's all but stated he ''is'' him.]]

* GenreSavvy: Gallows. Upon learning that Maria intends to betray the Court once she has what she wants, he immediately warns against continuing the agreement. He's overruled by the Abyss, who is willing to go along with the whole charade so long as it gets ''them'' what ''they'' want, but Gallows remains unconvinced that the whole thing isn't just going to blow up in their faces, and continues to speak out against the whole plan even though he's powerless to change anything.

In December, 2015, Sejic announced that the 8-issue initial miniseries will be followed by a four-part miniseries focusing on how James became a member of the Vigil and first met and befriended Mia, after which the main series would resume as a full ongoing. However poor sales in spite of its critical acclaim, compounded by Sejic's health and technology issues leading to delays of the last few issues of the first volume, have put these plans in doubt.

* ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming: Hugin is named after Huginn of Myth/NorseMythology, who is one of Odin's ravens.

* HorrifyingTheHorror: In a world invaded by EldritchAbomination, there are a couple of things that can make those accursed beings run in the other direction as fast as they can if they are clever enough to know what they are dealing with: True Primordials (such as Mia) and [[TheReaper Bernardette]].

* FreakyIsCool: In a supplemental comic, Mia expresses FreakinessShame to James after not being able to fully revert her hair to normal. James thinks it looks cool.

* BeachEpisode: Sejic has a drawing of the cast on the beach on his [=deviantART=] page. He lampshades the scene, "because they totally look like summer types".