History ComicBook / Gear

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:Only about ''three'' of the named characters survive to the end; Mr. Black, the Elder, and the President [[note]]There's also the two detectives at Jimmy's murder scene, [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment but they never show up again.]][[/note]].]]

%%* KnifeNut: Gordon is a heroic example of this.

* HeroicSacrifice: The two in the final chapter are total tearjerkers, [[spoiler: Gear uses Gordon's knife to stab himself in the heart, killing himself but destroying Pago's Super-Guardian and opening up the Pits of Hell. Pago nearly escapes, but Gordon pushes him down into the pits with him, screaming "You killed my pal... I'LL {{SEE YOU IN HELL}}!"]]

* BigBad: [[spoiler:Emperor Pago of the North Plate Cats.]]

* BittersweetEnding

* CatsAreMean: More like Cats Are Badass for most of the cast, but played straight with Emperor Pago.
* ConstructedWorld
* CoolOldGuy: The Newton Elder.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Gear and Waffle.
* {{Cult}}: The F.M. Cult, a group of ninja-like cats who hunt the Forbidden Mechanism.

* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler: Big Tomato's Death. "He's gonna squash him like a...!"]]

* DemotedToExtra: [[spoiler:Mr. Black in the later chapters.]]
* DiedHappilyEverAfter: Horribly, horribly averted.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: Big Tomato. [[spoiler:Pago is the ''real'' BigBad]].

* DistantFinale
* TheDragon: Bob to Big Tomato
* TheDreaded: Big Tomato.
* EnemyMine: Dogtown and North Plate Cats join forces in the first issue.
* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: Good God, where to start?
* FluffyCloudHeaven
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Waffle. He talks to guppies!

* HumongousMecha: The Guardians.
* IdiotHero: Both Gear and Waffle again. Not surprising, since Doug [=TenNapel=] loves this trope.

* JerkAss: Emperor Pago.

* KnifeNut: Gordon is a heroic example of this.

* OneSceneTwoMonologues: See BilingualDialogue above.
* OneWingedAngel: Pago and his Guardian in the final chapter, [[spoiler: thanks to Gear.]]
* PapaWolf: Dr. Pilk

* PosthumousNarration: [[spoiler:Simon]]
* PresidentEvil: Pago, despite being an emperor falls more under this trope, [[spoiler:since he's a VillainWithGoodPublicity.]]
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The four [[spoiler: (or rather three after chapter 1)]] main hero cats.
* TheDitz / TooDumbToLive: Gear, at first. "He's not a hero, he's dumb!" "No, he's retarded!" "Worse... he's ''dumb-tarded''."

* SmugSnake: Big Tomato
* SoleSurvivor: Out of the four main cats, [[spoiler:only Mr. Black makes it to the end of the story.]]
* TheStraightMan: Dr. Pilk.
* TalkingAnimal

* TheUnintelligible: Chee and the insects just talk in "Chk chk"s, so their dialogue is conveniently subtitled.

* FiveManBand
** TheHero: Gordon
** TheLancer: Mr. Black
** TheSmartGuy / TheMedic / TheSixthRanger: The Elder
** TheBigGuy: Simon and (later) [[spoiler:Waffle (after he transforms)]]
** TheChick: Waffle
** TeamPet: Gear

** Waffle daydreaming about having a small house in the countryside and having guppies to take care of seems similar to Lennie and George's dream of having a farm together with rabbits in "Literature/OfMiceAndMen". [[spoiler:Except here, it's a BittersweetEnding; Waffle's dream is achieved, but only through a [[LoneSurvivor lonely Mr. Black.]]]]

%%[[caption-width-right:250:some caption text]]

Was very, very, [[RuleOfThree VERY]] loosely adapted into a much LighterAndSofter short-lived Nicktoon called ''WesternAnimation/{{Catscratch}}'' in 2005. The only remnant of the original comic was the three main cats, Gordon, Waffle and Mr. Black (whose name was changed to Mr. Blik) as the focus, although it was [[ExecutiveMeddling originally planned just to be a more Nickelodeon-audience-friendly adaptation of the comic]]. Though some people remember Catscratch, the source material is practically unknown outside [=TenNapel=] fans, and thus ''Gear'' SugarWiki/NeedsMoreLove to the extreme.

* AnimalJingoism

* HeroicSacrifice: The two in the final chapter are total [[CrowningMomentOfSadness Crowning Moments of Sadness]], [[spoiler: Gear uses Gordon's knife to stab himself in the heart, killing himself but destroying Pago's Super-Guardian and opening up the Pits of Hell. Pago nearly escapes, but Gordon pushes him down into the pits with him, screaming "You killed my pal... I'LL {{SEE YOU IN HELL}}!"]]

''Gear'', sometimes written as ''GEAR'', is the first graphic novel by DougTenNapel, originally published by Creator/ImageComics and Fireman Press Ltd. in black and white, running six issues from 1998 to 1999. It was reprinted as a trade paperback in 1999, and then again in full color in 2007.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Ridiculously compared to Main/{{Catscratch}}. There's plenty of people who have trouble believing this was its source material.

Was very, very, [[RuleOfThree VERY]] loosely adapted into a much LighterAndSofter short-lived Nicktoon called ''Main/{{Catscratch}}'' in 2005. The only remnant of the original comic was the three main cats, Gordon, Waffle and Mr. Black (whose name was changed to Mr. Blik) as the focus, although it was [[ExecutiveMeddling originally planned just to be a more Nickelodeon-audience-friendly adaptation of the comic]]. Though some people remember Catscratch, the source material is practically unknown outside [=TenNapel=] fans, and thus ''Gear'' SugarWiki/NeedsMoreLove to the extreme.

''Gear'', sometimes written as ''GEAR'', is the first graphic novel by DougTenNapel, originally published by ImageComics and Fireman Press Ltd. in black and white, running six issues from 1998 to 1999. It was reprinted as a trade paperback in 1999, and then again in full color in 2007.

* CatsAreMean: More like Cats Are BadAss for most of the cast, but played straight with Emperor Pago.

* DemotedToExtra: [[spoiler:Mr. Black in the later chapters]]

The plot revolves around an [[TalkingAnimal animal]] [[AnimalJingoism war]] between the South Plate Insects, the North Plate Cats, the Dogtown Dogs and the Newton Cats. The four states do battle with [[HumongousMecha ancient giant battle robots]] known as Guardians. Having only one Guardian so old it barely functions, Newton sends four less-than-competent [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits misfit cat brothers]] known as Gordon, Simon, Waffle and Mr. Black to hijack a new one from their enemies.

* ArtStyleDissonance: The art can looks cartoon-ish and a bit three-dimensional (as Napel based the art off of actual clay models he made of the characters), but the bleak and worn-out colors plus certain things that come up like people spilling blood, people [[BlackComedy comically getting hurt but their injuries are completely serious and not just a quick gag (in Chapter 2, a Newton Cat is walking their dog (don't ask) and is comically crushed by a piece of the deteriorating Guardian, to prove the point in the current conversation on how the Guardian's presence is the only thing protecting these civilians yet lack of adequate maintenance might as well kill anyone that goes near it), and that's just for ''starters''.

* BookEnds: The story of the main cats begins with Waffle saying that when he has enough money to retire he wants a nice house in the woods with a pond of guppies near it. [[spoiler:The story ends with Mr. Black in the DistantFinale having retired to a nice house in the woods (or at least isolated from civilization) near a pond of guppies, in memoriam of Waffle, Gordon, and Simon, the guppies reminding him of the former's gentle spirit.]]

* BittersweetEnding

----

Was very, very, [[RuleOfThree VERY]] loosely adapted into a much LighterAndSofter short-lived Nicktoon called ''Main/{{Catscratch}}'' in 2005. The only remnant of the original comic was the three main cats, Gordon, Waffle and Mr. Black (whose name was changed to Mr. Blik for political correctness) as the focus, although it was [[ExecutiveMeddling originally planned just to be a more Nickelodeon-audience-friendly adaptation of the comic]]. Though some people remember Catscratch, the source material is practically unknown outside [=TenNapel=] fans, and thus ''Gear'' SugarWiki/NeedsMoreLove to the extreme.

Was very, very, [[RuleOfThree VERY]] loosely adapted into a much LighterAndSofter short-lived Nicktoon called ''Main/{{Catscratch}}'' in 2005. The only remnant of the original comic was the three main cats, Gordon, Waffle and Mr. Black (whose name was changed to Mr. Blik for political correctness) as the focus, although it was [[ExecutiveMeddling originally planned just to be a more Nickelodeon-audience-friendly adaptation of the comic]]. Though some people remember Catscratch, the source material is practically unknown outside [=TenNapel=] fans, and thus ''Gear'' NeedsMoreLove to the extreme.

* TheMessiah: Gear, who is literally quoted by Doug as a "mechanical Christ figure".

* HeroicSociopath: Gordon. He even gets "bloodlust" if you rub blood across his face.