History ComicBook / Runaways

* ''VideoGame/MarvelMidnightSuns'': Nico is one of the Midnight Suns, helps resurrect the Hunter, is one of the first characters you recruit to your team, plays a major role in the game's plot, and is the first character to hang out socially with The Hunter.

* GreenLanternRing: Nico's spells with the Staff of One can theoretically do whatever she wants, except the ones she's done before.[[note]]The finer details of this tend to be DependingOnTheWriter. In the original series, she used "Burst!" to pop paint cans, and in ''Secret Invasion: Young Avengers / Runaways'', she uses "Pop!" to pop force fields. On the other hand, in ''Young Avengers / Runaways: Civil War'', she asks the Vision to give her some help with new words for her spells, implying that only the actual incantation can't be repeated.[[/note]] There's also no guarantee a certain combination of words would do what she intended, especially in earlier comics when she had very little mastery over the Staff. Saying "Rock and Roll" with the intent of just making the ground shake a bit caused a cave-in that nearly killed the whole team.

* ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'': An AlternateUniverse Runaways miniseries written by [[Webcomic/{{Nimona}} Noelle]] [[ComicBook/{{Lumberjanes}} Stevenson]], featuring Molly Hayes and a completely different group of characters like [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Valeria Richards]], [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules Amadeus Cho]], ComicBook/CloakAndDagger and ComicBook/BuckyBarnes. The mini-series followed their adventures across Battleworld after discovering their school in TheCity is really an AcademyOfEvil, prompting them to [[RecycledPremise run away]]. For tropes about this series, go [[ComicBook/Runaways2015 here]].

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: Old Lace, a genetically engineered deinonychus who tends to function as a guard/attack dog for the team.

* HumanAliens: Majesdanians in their powered-down form look just like H. Sapes. Powered up, they look like humans in a particularly overlit nightclub.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Chase is more a more traditional jerk, Xavin on the other hand is a jerk due to alien cultural misunderstandings regarding various things (IE: the treatment of robots). Both are good people despite their flaws.

* TheKidWithTheRemoteControl: Gert has telepathic control over Old Lace, a dinosaur.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* SymbolSwearing: Most notably used by Chase at the penultimate issue of the original series, and by Karolina in the climatic battle in the second crossover with Young Avengers

* TreacheryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: The Runaways have a very clear policy on traitors: if you betray the team, Nico Minoru will tear your damn heart out. Given that its founder betrayed the team and nearly got them all killed, this policy is probably understandable.

** Volume 1, issue 6: [[spoiler:There's a mole within the team. ]]

** Volume 2, issue 18 [[spoiler:Gert is KilledOffForReal]]

** Victor Mancha owns a copy of [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Rick Jones]]'s book ''Sidekick.'' On top of that the copy is even beaten up as though it was published a while ago (the 90's to be precise).

* ShipTease: Nico and Karolina's on-again off-again UnresolvedSexualTension. Of course, Karolina is canonically gay and has expressed her feelings for Nico. Toned down when Xavin enters the picture but comes back [[UpToEleven full force]] after they're [[spoiler:PutOnABus while disguised as Karolina to answer for the crimes of Karolina's parents.]] It is even hinted that Nico might have feelings for Karolina and is jealous of Xavin. She seems slightly disappointed to learn that they are still together upon their return to Earth. Nico later tries to undermine their relationship by asking if Xavin's female form is their TrueSelf. She also confesses in a game of "Truth or Dare" that out of all the people she had kissed, Karolina was the best kisser.

* NiceHat: Molly's collection of adorable hats. At one point, she puts one on the team dinosaur.

* BaldBlackLeaderGuy: KnightTemplar example - Geoffrey Wilder fits the dscription to a T and is the defacto 'leader' of the Pride.

*** ''ComicBook/AvengersAcademy'': Where Nico reveals [[spoiler: she saved Old Lace by shunting him into a parallel universe which has the same magic signature as Reptil's amulet.]] Karolina also begins dating [[ComicBook/PowerPack Julie Power]].

** The scene in Volume 1 where the entire team is trapped and surrounded by fallen rubble with one character holding everything up should seem familiar to fans of ComicBook/SecretWars.

* MoralDissonance:
** Nico's "The show must go on" spell that she cast on the Yorkes, which forces them to continue on with their lives (being time travelers, they were at that point from before the series started), knowing full well their daughter is going to die, and be completely aware of what's happening, but completely unable to change anything. This was a HUGE dick move, but the subject is dropped the very next panel and events move on without a word about it.
** Nico's attitude in general was forgotten for awhile after. [[spoiler:She was tortured and then showed up performing much more powerful spells and it was implied that the spell she cast on the Yorkes was a sign that she was developing a Dark Side. This was pretty much glossed over until the whole "Don't take the Staff of One from me" thing.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marvel_runaways_comic.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Try Not to Die [[note]]from left to right: Gertrude Yorkes, Nico Minoru, Alex wilder, Chase Stein, Karolina Dean, and Molly Hayes[[/note]]]]

* AdultFear:
** The kids fight vampires, aliens, and evil robots, but the only reason they have to deal with these things in the first place is that their own parents turn out to be evil. For most of them, this comes as a shock, [[AbusiveParents although in hindsight it was rather obvious to some.]] Then they all start living in underground hideaways and putting themselves in danger to keep LA safe from the power vacuum created by their parents, resulting in even more physical and emotional trauma and, [[spoiler: in Gertrude aka Gert's case, death.]]
** In an early chapter, Frank Dean attacks other members of the Pride and completely freaks out when Karolina disappears.
** When the kids accidentally travel to the past and run into the Yorks ([[TimeyWimeyBall before they died]]), the Yorks are quite panicked and ask straight away if their daughter is with them. [[spoiler:When they learn that Gertrude is ''dead'', they immediately plan to return to her and make sure she's safe. Then they bring over a futuristic bomb to get revenge on the kids for letting Gert die in ''any'' timeline.]]
** Kathryn Immonen's run opened with Klara being caught in an explosion, and the rest of the team struggling to pull her out of the rubble and revive her, and her short story "It's Not Lupus" involves Nico frantically trying to find a cure after Molly and Chase both suddenly fall ill.
** In the ''Age of Ultron'' alternate universe Victor Mancha is the caretaker of a bunch of orphans, and the [[spoiler:last of the original Runaways alive]]. This version of Mancha has two simple fears, less glamorous but scarier than his past ones: he fears to be unable to protect his protegees, and he fears the day he'll start forgetting about the past and the happy moments he shared with his now absent friends.

* CliffhangerCopout: Issue 24. The kids have finally dragged Chase back, they've beaten their foes once and for all, and they're tired and weary as they arrive home... to find Comicbook/IronMan and a bunch of mooks waiting. In Issue 25, they begin by... meeting with the Kingpin.

*** ''Comicbook/AvengersAcademy'': Where Nico reveals [[spoiler: she saved Old Lace by shunting him into a parallel universe which has the same magic signature as Reptil's amulet.]] Karolina also begins dating [[ComicBook/PowerPack Julie Power]].

* FantasyKitchenSink: The Gibborim exploited this for all it was worth when picking the Pride. Time-travelers, magicians, glowing aliens, mutants, scientists and [[BadassNormal Badass Normals]], all in one group.

-->'''Iron Man''': A [[WolverinePublicity Wolverine]] appearance? [[SarcasmMode How novel.]]

* MetallicarSyndrome: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] but [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] early, where Chase drives the Runaways around and one of them complains about how uncool his plain white van is; he responds that he got it on purpose because a plain white van is the most inconspicuous vehicle possible.

* {{Mons}}: Old Lace is an emphatically bonded velociraptor genetically engineered from the 87nd century for Gert. She's at her beck and call.

* PreviouslyOverlookedParamour: Karolina very obviously has a crush on Nico from the very first issue of the series, but Nico remains oblivious until about a quarter of the way through the second series. Alas, by the time she realizes her own feelings for Karolina, Karolina is engaged. They finally become a couple in ''ComicBook/RainbowRowellsRunaways'', over a decade later.

--->'''Gert''': Sexual tension. Gross.

See ''Comicbook/YoungAvengers'' for another young but more "traditional" Marvel superhero team (which the Runaways actually crossed over with more than a few times).

** [[ComicBook/RainbowRowellsRunaways Vol. 5]] (2017-2021)

* ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'': An AlternateUniverse Runaways miniseries written by [[Webcomic/{{Nimona}} Noelle]] [[ComicBook/{{Lumberjanes}} Stevenson]], featuring Molly Hayes and a completely different group of characters like [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Valeria Richards]], [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules Amadeus Cho]], ComicBook/CloakAndDagger and ComicBook/BuckyBarnes. The mini-series followed their adventures across Battleworld after discovering their school in TheCity is really an AcademyOfEvil, prompting them to [[RecycledPremise run away]]. For tropes about this series, go [[ComicBook/{{Runaways2015}} here]].

* AlienInvasion: The team gets wrapped up in a Comicbook/SecretInvasion tie-in, along with Hulkling, Wiccan and Speed of the Comicbook/YoungAvengers.

* BelatedLoveEpiphany: Downplayed. Nico begins to realize that she might have feelings for Karolina after the latter has gone off to space to fulfill an arranged marriage, although nothing comes of it...''[[ComicBook/RainbowRowellsRunaways yet.]]''

* BreakoutCharacter: Nico, who would appear with Chase in ''Comicbook/AvengersArena'', and join Comicbook/AForce.

* ClosetGay: Karolina harbored an obvious crush on Nico Minoru, but remained in the closet until Volume 2. Nico herself would not admit that she returned Karolina's affections until [[ComicBook/RainbowRowellsRunaways the fifth series]], over a decade later in real life (and two years later in-universe.)

* CompetenceZone: Anyone over a certain age is useless, even super heroes. {{Franchise/SpiderMan}} managed to get a cool big brother spot, though, and Comicbook/CloakAndDagger have some competence (because their {{backstory}} is that they were also runaways). This is subverted with Molly. Everyone treats her as naive and weak, needing protection, but she is really powerful and knows a lot more than she lets on.

** In two out of the three {{Crisis Crossover}}s (''Comicbook/CivilWar'' and ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'') they were involved in they were forced to team up with the ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers''. The remaining one (''Mystic Arcanna'') was a solo adventure of Nico's.

*** ''Comicbook/AvengersArena'': Where Nico and Chase are participants, with Molly searching for them. [[spoiler: Nico dies, but [[CameBackStrong Comes Back Strong.]]]]

*** ''Comicbook/BattleOfTheAtom'': Where a future Molly Hayes [[spoiler:[[FaceHeelTurn is a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants]]. She turns out to be brainwashed, however.]]

* SecretlyGayActivity: * During the "Dead Wrong" arc, Molly and Klara have a picnic together, and [[https://www.deviantart.com/ceeceeluvins/art/Runaways-series-3-ish-3-pg-13-103951678/ Klara at one point can be seen watching dreamily as Molly plays on the grass]]. Note also that at the time, the entire team was under a spell that rendered them mentally incapable of tolerating each other's presence for more than a few minutes unless another emotion interfered with the spell (like Karolina and Xavin's love for each other or Victor's unresolved feelings for Nico...)

** Much like the original Marvel teen hero, a majority of the series revolves around them encountering B-villains and having teamups. Many of Marvel's most popular heroes have made cameos in the series, most of whom have some idea about what is best for the teens. When Wolverine himself made an appearance it was only a brief one, but was lampshaded by Comicbook/IronMan (Who was also cameoing) who commented that it was the third time this week the two had run into each other. Soon afterwards, Wolverine[[TheWorfEffect was beaten up and thrown through a church door by Molly]] after a series of comic misunderstandings and a request to be allowed to touch his hair (Hey, Molly might be smarter than she looks, but she is still a kid, and he is ''Wolverine.'' You would want to touch his hair, too).

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Gert has purple hair. She dyes it.

* HowDidYouKnowIDidnt: Twice - played seriously with [[spoiler:Karolina's blood killing Topher]] in volume one, because [[spoiler:she had no idea it would happen and honestly wanted to die]].

In 2017, the series would be relaunched under the penmanship of young adult author Creator/RainbowRowell. See ''ComicBook/RainbowRowellsRunaways'' for details on the new series.

* SexForSolace: Nico has a self-admitted tendency to throw herself at the nearest male in the aftermath of any stressful or traumatic scenario, although she does not progress to [[TheirFirstTime actual sex]] until well into the second volume of the series. She knows it is not healthy and is not fair to herself ''or'' whomever she throws herself at, but she cannot seem to break the pattern.