History ComicBook / SpirouAndFantasio

** Morvan and Munuera adore this trope. ''L'Homme qui ne voulait pas mourir'' includes references to Rob-Vel, ''Le Petit Spirou'', ''Spirou et les Héritiers'', ''La Corne de rhinocéros'', ''Le dictateur et le champignon'', ''L'ombre du Z'' and ''Spirou à Moscou'', including a redrawn panel straight from 1951.

* DefaceOfTheMoon: Zorglub's pet project was to demonstrate his genius by writing a brand name in giant letters on the Moon. It worked, but not quite the way he expected.

* EscapedAnimalRampage: In the story "The Visitor from the Mesozoic" a dinosaur escapes from the Count of Rommelgem's laboratory and causes havoc in the city.

* FamilyFriendlyFirearms: In ''La Corne du Rhinocéros'', the censorship commission made Franquin remove most of the bad guys' guns, which meant they were now [[GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger pointing their finger at everything]].

* FungusHumongous: In ''Le prisonnier du Bouddha'' (''Buddha's prisoner'') and ''Alerte aux zorkons'', under the influence of the GAG device and an accelerated evolution's law, giant plants grow in the count 's garden, and in the jungle surrounding Champignac, respectively. Which include huge mushrooms.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: In one-shot ''His name was Ptirou'', the story is far more gray than the usual for the series.

** The Marsupilami usually behaves like an extremely clever animal: he frequently misunderstands the humans, has no thought bubbles and particularly enjoys eating, sleeping and playing. However, in the PoorlyDisguisedPilot ''Le Nid de Marsupilamis'' (Marsupilamis' nest), focusing on a family of Marsupilamis living in the jungle, their courtship behaviour is particularly human-like, especially where the female Marsupilami is concerned. In his spin-off, the Marsupilamis seem just as clever as humans, occasionally having discussions between them that are translated in footnotes.

* ShowWithinAShow: some adventures show the heroes' documentary films. ''Le nid des Marsupilamis'' is mainly such a documentary with the title heroes as a GreekChorus.

** Fantasio in several of Tome and Janry's stories. If a leg needs to be broken, you can bet it'll be his. Also in many Franquin stories. The premise of several of them are based on "Bad shit happens to Fantasio" or feature a huge element of this in the story. A recurring plot is to have Fantasio be the victim of events outside his control. See ''La Mauvaise Tête''[[note]]He's framed for theft. Its Dutch title translates to "beware, Fantasio".[[/note]], ''Les Héritiers''[[note]]He is set to inherit a fortune, needs to take part in challenges to get it vs his evil cousin. And the inheritance isn't what he thinks it is.[[/note]], ''Z comme Zorglub''[[note]]He breaks his foot, gets kidnapped and then gets brainwashed[[/note]]... That makes him turn [[GenreSavvy Genre Savvy]] when submitted to madness by the mosquito of ''La Vallée des Bannis''.

*** They [[TheBusCameBack both reappeared]] after the publisher bought the rights to Franquin's characters. The Marsupilami reappears in ''La Colère du Marsupilami'' (2015) and Gaston (along with the rest of the cast from that series) reappear in ''La Mort de Spirou'' (2022).

* CoolCar: The Turbotraction (which somehow disappeared just after Franquin left). Pénélope in the AnimatedAdaptation. The first model was crashed by Ibd-Mah-Zoud in ''Vacances sans histoires'' to be replaced by the second model; in ''Panade à Champignac'', Franquin replaced it altogether with a small Honda coupé. Fournier, who took over, kept the same small car. After that, Spirou and Fantasio would always drive small, cheap cars -- Franquin said it first in ''Vacances sans histoires'' and Tome and Janry hammered in that Spirou and Fantasio are far from being rich in ''Spirou à New York''. That makes the Turbotraction border {{Improbably Cool Car}}, except from the fact that it's actually the first road-worthy pre-series prototype given to them by the auto maker as thanks (first model, the Turbo-Rhino). The disappearance of the second model was never explained in-universe... until 2013, in the album ''Dans les griffes de la Vipère''. Here it's revealed, in an almost offhand way, that the Turbotraction broke down and since it was an experimental prototype Spirou couldn't afford to have it fixed.

* EvilIsPetty: Having lost once again against Spirou and Fantasio, Zantafio uses the Zorglwave [[EasyAmnesia to make the two forget about the Marsupilami]]. Not only that, Zantafio has the pair sell the Marsupilami to a rich collector of exotic animals.

* FightingYourFriend: Spirou is forced to do this after Fantasio becomes infected by a HatePlague in ''Vallée des Bannis''.

* GasSiphoning: In ''L'ombre du Z'', Zorglub flies his group of Zorglcopters from Champignac to Palombia over the Atlantic Ocean. As the copters do not have enough fuel for a non-stop flight, he mind-controls the crew of a United States Navy carrier and steals theirs.

* IAmNotWeasel: Due to how [[UnusualPetsForUnusualPeople an unusual pet he is]], Spip is frequently mistaken for something else. Villains often call him a rat, out of spite. Others persons innocently mistook him for a stone marten, a weasel, a field mouse, or even a small dog. In ''Attack of the Zoo'', Spip protest that he is not a flying squirrel, or a hamster, when thrown away or put into a wheel.

** Zorglub's descendant from ''Le Réveil du Z'' looks exactly the same as his ancestor, except he's a dwarf.
** [[spoiler:Fantasio and Spirou also have identical family members in ''Le Réveil du Z'', and much to their ancestors' shock, they are Zorglub's descendant's EliteMooks.]]

* ItAlwaysRainsAtFunerals: In ''Spirou à New York'', the funeral for one of Don Cortizone's men is held in the pouring rain... from a skull-shaped rain cloud... that hangs only over them, while the rest of the city is enjoying sunshine. The Don remarks that it's almost as if a curse has been hanging over them lately. (He's entirely correct.)

* MadScientist

** In ''Qui arretera Cyanure?'' (''Who'll stop Cyanure?''), Fantasio is woke up by a phone call for help by Catenaire, and jump in his car in pajamas to save him. Cyanure capture Fantasio immediately after, making him finish the whole journey in his pajamas.
** In ''Le réveil du Z'' ("The awakening of Z"), Aurélien de Champignac teleport Spirou and Fantasio in 2062, while it was past bedtime and Fantasio was already in his pajamas.

** ''Le Nid des Marsupilamis'', though the spin-off series would not be created until two decades later.

** In ''Valley of the Exiles'', red eyes are a sign that someone has been infected with the book's version of the HatePlague.

* RobotGirl: Cyanure in ''Qui arrêtera Cyanure?'' is a particularly malicious and powerful one.

* TripToTheMoonPlot: ''The Dark Side of the Z'' centers on Zorglub taking Spirou, Fantasio and Champignac [[KidnappedWhileSpeeling during their sleep]] to his intricate moon settlement, which includes a VIP resort.

** Invoked by the sniper who is tasked with shooting down the Spirou-shaped balloon in Alerte aux Zorkons. He breaks down and cries because he loves the comic and cannot bring himself to shoot at the balloon.

** ''La Vallée des Bannis'' features a LostWorld with EverythingTryingToKillYou (including liberal amounts of SchmuckBait). If you manage to survive the initial confusion, the madness mosquitoes will turn most of you into raving maniacs all killing each other.

* DeathOfAThousandCuts: It took him two days of constant hitting on its head with a tree trunk, which was a mere stick to the beast, but Marsupilami managed to knock a dinosaur out.

* IAmNotWeasel: Due to how [[UnusualPetsForUnusualPeople an unusual pet he is]], Spip is frequently mistaken for something else. Villains often call him a rat, out of spite. Others persons innocently mistook him for a stone marten, a weasel, a field mouse, or even a small dog. In ''Alerte aux Zorkons'', Spip protest that he is not a flying squirrel, or a hamster, when thrown away or put into a wheel.

* AlternateContinuity: Lampshaded in ''Alerte aux Zorkons'', in which Fantasio mentions a character from a past adventure whom Spirou has no recollection of, and adds "Well, that was in a different space-time continuum." Fans interpret this as a sign that Fantasio went back, after all the time-travel shenanigans in ''Aux Sources du Z'', and [[CanonDiscontinuity erased]] the Morvan and Munuera adventures from continuity. A [[BreakingTheFourthWall Fourth Wall-breaking]] one-pager with Spirou [[AuthorGuestSpot and the new artist]] Yoann having wacky adventures through time until Fantasio and the new writer Vehlmann put a stop to it and pledge to put everything back in order lends some credence to this theory, but the fan dislike of the Morvan and Munuera era also [[FanonDiscontinuity seems to be a factor]].

** The fauna in the "Valley of the Exiles", and more overtly in ''Attack of the Zordolts'' animals AND plants are fusing together and evolving at an extremely rapid pace.

** The dinosaur from ''The Visitor from the Mesozoic'' earns a key role in''Attack of the Zordolts'', over 50 years later.

* ApocalypticLog: in ''La Vallée des Bannis'', Spirou finds a [[AllThereInTheManual very helpful]] notebook from a previous explorer. [[spoiler:Subverted: the guy has actually survived all these years and helps our heroes escape from afar.]]

* DrivesLikeCrazy

* EscapedAnimalRampage: In the story "Le Voyageur du Mésozoïque" a dinosaur escapes from the Count of Rommelgem's laboratory and causes havoc in the city.

* HairTriggerTemper: Fantasio, so much so that at the end of ''La Vallée des Bannis'', the hospital staff did not realize he was no longer [[HatePlague violently insane]].

* HatePlague: Fantasio becomes infected by one of these in ''La Vallée des Bannis'' and spends the volume trying to murder Spirou.

* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: The Marsupilami regularly displays new abilities that end up being helpful to the heroes (being amphibious, capable of finding Spirou and Fantasio across a country, burrowing, being immune to the Zorglwave, ...), but just as regularly the source of gags. Lampshaded by Spirou or Fantasio, who regularly note that he is full of surprises.

* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: ''The Visitor from the Mesozoic'' features a dinosaur with blue, red, yellow and white spots.

** The dinosaur from ''Le voyageur du Mésozoïque'' earns a key role in ''Alerte aux Zorkons'', over 50 years later.

** In ''Alerte aux Zorkons'' it's implied that Fantasio went back in time and prevented the events of Morvan and Munuera's ''Aux Sources du Z'' from happening.

* LatexPerfection: Played with in the story [[spoiler:''La mauvaise tête'']] to frame Fantasio. While the mask is good enough to fool people watching him on TV or from afar, it always keeps the same smiling expression, and the guy under the mask was specifically chosen to for his similar frame. He also never meets a close acquaintance of Fantasio's while masked. The story being from 1954, it also comes off as a bit of an UnbuiltTrope. In fact, the mask is not even described as latex, rubber or silicone but "plastic", considering those other materials were uncommon for masks.

* MadnessMantra: After Fantasio goes insane in ''La Vallée des Bannis'' he develops a tendency to say or yell, "FANTASIO MAGAZIIIIIIIIIINE!" due to the fact that the HatePlague had made him fixate on the fact that despite them being lifelong partners, their book was still called ''Spirou Magazine''. This part was left out of the animated adaptation of this album.

%%** Everything in the Valley of the Banished.

** Well, you know, until ''Alerte aux Zorkons'' in 2010...

** In ''Alerte aux Zorkons'', a sniper refuses to fire on a Spirou-shaped advertising balloon the heroes are using to cross a military roadblock, because he used to read the comic as a child.

** In ''La Vallée des Bannis'', red eyes are a sign that someone has been infected with the book's version of the HatePlague.

%%* ReformedCriminal: [[spoiler:La Murène]] in ''Virus''

** The climax for ''La Vallée des Bannis'' is told in a page without a single line of dialogue.

* SympatheticVillainDespicableVillain: Among recurring villains, Zorglub is the sympathetic one as he often express regrets and tries to repair what he did wrong. Sometimes, he does mistakes accidentally or being tricked into doing it. Killing someone never crossed his mind, and the second animated adaptation turn him into a WellIntentionedExtremist to keep him redeemable. [[spoiler: Despite since ''The dark face of the Z'', [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor he's once again on the bad side.]]]] Meanwhile, Zantafio only had second thoughts once, in the end of ''Les héritiers'', and never since. Not having, like Zorglub, the excuse of doing it ForScience, his main motivation is {{Greed}}. Along with [[AGodAmI megalomania]], pushing him into becoming a dictator (twice). He actually tried to kill members of his family (his cousin and [[spoiler: his uncle]]) quite often, and he's sometimes behind Zorglub 's bad deeds. Plus he's responsible for Marsupilami's disappearance, and is not used for comedic purposes like Zorglub.

* ThatPoorPlant

* TripToTheMoonPlot: ''The Dark Side of the Z'' centers on Zorglub taking Spirou, Fantasio and Champignac to his intricate moon settlement, which includes a VIP resort.

* SmoochOfVictory: After Audrey hides Spirou from the pursuing Nazi, she asks a kiss from Spirou for her reward.

** The one-shot ''Spirou and the Blue Gorgon'' is this. Drawn by famed Belgian comic writer Dany, you can except lots of sexy girls. The first pages has a movie star in a bikini shooting a commercial. Later pages has Spirou and Fantasio at the beach and with lots of girls in skimpy swimsuits in the background. And we get shots of Seccotine in a [[ThongOfShielding g-string]]. Not to mention the Count's new medicine, intended to boost male virility, by using mushrooms with a quite suggesting shape.

* Creator/AndreFranquin took over ''Spirou et Fantasio'' around 1948 (though Jijé did a few stories after the formal switchover). [[MyRealDaddy He is credited for creating the most well-known parts of the Spirou universe]], including Champignac, the Franchise/{{Marsupilami}}, Zorglub, Zantafio, Seccotine and ComicBook/GastonLagaffe. At the end of Franquin's run, the series received the input of Michel "Greg" Regnier for plots, grounding Spirou's adventures in a more realistic geopolitical context. By the beginning of the '70s, Franquin grew bored of the character and left the series (though he kept the rights of a few of his creations, including the Marsupilami and Gaston Lagaffe).

* In the 1980s, publisher Dupuis found Fournier too slow and started looking into other creative teams, with three of them working at the same time. Nicolas Broca & Raoul Cauvin's contribution (three albums) were quickly abandoned, as well as Yves Chaland's retro take, in favor of Philippe "Tome" Vandevelde & Jean-Richard "Janry" Geurts. They reached a commercial and critical success by updating Franquin's tradition, often with a slightly DarkerAndEdgier mood. They also launched the [[SpinoffBabies spin-off series]] ''ComicBook/LePetitSpirou'' (about Spirou's youth), which took a lot of their time: after a failed relaunch with a "more realistic" art style (''Machine qui Rêve''), they left the main series.

There have been two {{Animated Adaptation}}s -- ''Spirou'' (1993–1995) and ''Spirou & Fantasio''[[note]]Also known as ''Les nouvelles aventures de Spirou et Fantasio'' ("The new adventures of Spirou and Fantasio") and ''Two of a Kind: Spirou & Fantasio''[[/note]] (2006–2009). The French versions of both animated series are available on an official Website/YouTube channel [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKEx0H5l-r0ZGANC-PBX5Wg here]].

* AlternateContinuity: Lampshaded in ''Alerte aux Zorkons'', in which Fantasio mentions a character from a past adventure whom Spirou has no recollection of, and adds "Well, that was in a different space-time continuum." Fans interpret this as a sign that Fantasio went back, after all the time-travel shenanigans in ''Aux Sources du Z'', and [[CanonDiscontinuity erased]] the Morvan & Munuera adventures from continuity. A [[BreakingTheFourthWall Fourth Wall-breaking]] one-pager with Spirou [[AuthorGuestSpot and the new artist]] Yoann having wacky adventures through time until Fantasio and the new writer Vehlmann put a stop to it and pledge to put everything back in order lends some credence to this theory, but the fan dislike of the Morvan & Munuera era also [[FanonDiscontinuity seems to be a factor]].

* AnimalTalk: Extremely inconsistently handled with Spip; in some early stories Spirou and Fantasio were able to understand him, but later on it was established that while Spip understood humans perfectly well, humans did not understand him. Whether other animals understood him seemed to vary depending on the story, but it is notable that while he was good friends with the Marsupilami, the two were never depicted as having anything resembling a conversation. The rule of thumb seems to be that only the reader understands Spip's comments, but there have been several exceptions.
* AnimatedAdaptation: Two of them (one in 1993-1995 based off the Tome & Janry era, the other in 2006-2009).

** Franquin inherited the series from Jijé in 1946 in the middle of a story, with three pages already finished, so he tried his best to imitate his style: huge clothing, exaggerated poses, everything very reminiscent of early 20th century French art. He slowly evolved into highly stylised, tall and thin figures, somewhat inexpressive, which can be seen clearly in his earliest full-length books in 1951, such as ''Il y a un sorcier à Champignac'' or ''Le dictateur et le champignon''. Fast-forward to the end of his run, by 1960, and every character is now smaller, rounder and far more expressive, giving the series a comical edge that would have been impossible during the Jije-esque years. Just compare [[https://i.imgur.com/WIxRevN.jpeg these three images]] from each moment in his career.

** The Morvan and Munuera's run was faithful to Franquin's design, with an {{Animesque}} look.
** There was an art evolution inside the Yoann and Vehlmann's run. They started with the one shot ''Les géants pétrifiés'' , and then, Yoann's style was influenced by the style that Jamie Hewlett's gave to Music/{{Gorillaz}}. Precisely, [[https://ibb.co/HGYDDgd characters had white of the eyes and large noses.]] When Yoann and Vehlmann took the main series up, Yoann 's style lined up with Franquin's, with BlackBeadEyes [[https://ibb.co/r7MPNDh and pointy noses]]. Then they went on with the spin off ''Supergroom'', and Yoann went back to a more personal style with [[https://ibb.co/gJn1LV9 white of the eyes and large noses]].

** Also lampshaded in the short story ''Back to the Redac'', where Spirou is forced to go back to wearing his bellhop uniform (he had more or less discarded it by the end of Tome & Janry's run, and Morvan & Munuera only had him wear it in flashbacks). Why? Because his contract with Dupuis, the publisher of the comic, obliges him to wear it since he's the face of the company and it is so iconic. The next album, ''Alerte aux Zorkons'' features him in full uniform again.

* CallBack: Plenty of those during the Tome & Janry run, mostly to the Franquin era.

** Because of a strange [[ExecutiveMeddling editorial edict]], Nic & Cauvin could not use Franquin's supporting cast, making their short run very easy to ignore.
** In ''Alerte aux Zorkons'' it's implied that Fantasio went back in time and prevented the events of Morvan & Munuera's ''Aux Sources du Z'' from happening.

** In the end of ''Le groom de Sniper Alley'' (''Sniper alley's bellboy''), Spirou and Fantasio, back from the treasure 's hunt Vito Cortizone forced them to do, explain that they found a parchment. [[GilliganCut Cue to Spirou, Fantasio]] and [[AndYourLittleDogToo Spip]] chained to concrete blocks and ready to be tossed by mafiosi into the Hudson river, as Vito is not happy with a WorthlessTreasureTwist. However, Spirou and Fantasio have time to explain that the parchment lead to about thirty treasures's hideouts, and Vito finally let them go.

** Fantasio in several of the Tome & Janry stories. If a leg needs to be broken, you can bet it'll be his. Also in many Franquin stories. The premise of several of them are based on "Bad shit happens to Fantasio" or feature a huge element of this in the story. A recurring plot is to have Fantasio be the victim of events outside his control. See ''La Mauvaise Tête''[[note]]He's framed for theft. Its Dutch title translates to "beware, Fantasio".[[/note]], ''Les Héritiers''[[note]]He is set to inherit a fortune, needs to take part in challenges to get it vs his evil cousin. And the inheritance isn't what he thinks it is.[[/note]], ''Z comme Zorglub''[[note]]He breaks his foot, gets kidnapped and then gets brainwashed[[/note]]... That makes him turn [[GenreSavvy Genre Savvy]] when submitted to madness by the mosquito of ''La Vallée des Bannis''.

* CoolCar: The Turbotraction (which somehow disappeared just after Franquin left). Pénélope in the AnimatedAdaptation. The first model was crashed by Ibd-Mah-Zoud in ''Vacances sans histoires'' to be replaced by the second model; in ''Panade à Champignac'', Franquin replaced it altogether with a small Honda coupé. Fournier, who took over, kept the same small car. After that, Spirou and Fantasio would always drive small, cheap cars -- Franquin said it first in ''Vacances sans histoires'' and Tome & Janry hammered in that Spirou and Fantasio are far from being rich in ''Spirou à New York''. That makes the Turbotraction border {{Improbably Cool Car}}, except from the fact that it's actually the first road-worthy pre-series prototype given to them by the auto maker as thanks (first model, the Turbo-Rhino). The disappearance of the second model was never explained in-universe... until 2013, in the album ''Dans les griffes de la Vipère''. Here it's revealed, in an almost offhand way, that the Turbotraction broke down and since it was an experimental prototype Spirou couldn't afford to have it fixed.

** Mr. Noirhomme in ''Ms. Jay, volume 2''. The man is ready to make dealings with the Nazis and the Soviets as long as he can make a huge buck. When things don't go his ways, he uses immoral and illegal tactics.

* CreatorCameo: In ''His name was Ptirou'', Robert "Rob-Vel" Velte, the original creator of Spirou is present and his meeting with Ptirou greatly influence him in the creation of Spirou. Paul Dupuis, head of ''Spirou magazine'' is also present and narrate the story to his nephews.

** Completely averted with Zandra, the daughter of Zorglub. She's isn't evil, but she still care for her father.

** A general trend for the series as a whole, and inside nearly each creative run. ''Machine qui rêve'', Tome & Janry's last album, tried reinventing the series as an ultra-serious (and decompressed) techno-thriller. It didn't work.

** Spip is the most consistent example of this, but notably in Tome & Janry's early run of the series (he stopped speaking altogether in their later albums).

** Fantasio's sexuality has varied. He's been everything from straight (Yoann & Vehlmann) to [[CampStraight effeminate but interested in women]] (Morvan & Munuera) to gay and blatantly pining for Spirou (Yann & Tarrin) to straight-leaning-on-bisexual (Tome & Janry).

** The mysterious [[BigBad corporate leader]] during Nicolas Broca & Raoul Cauvin run with the series. The only thing we see of him is his arm and he's always sitting in a chair which the reader can only see from behind.

* FoodAsBribe: During WWII, Fantasio hasn't paid his rent for six months and the landlord threaten him to throw him out. Fantasio then give her a large piece of meat and she allows him stay for another month.

* HoneyTrap: The whole scheme of [[spoiler:''Ms. Jay, volume 2''. Mr. Noirhomme wants Juliette's share of her father's company. When she refuses, he sends his grandson, Raymond, to seduce her, marry her and take her stocks.]]

* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Tome & Janry present the duo this way.

** In ''Ms. Jay, volume 1'', Juliette De Sainteloi's medicine goes missing and time is running out before she dies. Ptirou and an airplane pilot go fetch another one in New York despite the storm. When they return, they can't make a sea landing, so Ptirou has to jump, which isn't a problem since he's trained circus acrobat. Unfortunately, he misses the safety net because of the storm and caught a flagpole instead. To speed things up, Mr. De Sainteloi orders him to throw the medicine on the net, despite Ptirou's protests. The medicine misses the net because of a big shake from the sea. The medicine rolls on the deck and is about to go overboard. [[spoiler:Trying to catch the medicine, Ptirou swings on a rope which unfortunately breaks. Ptirou crashes below deck and is gravely injured and the medicine is lost at sea. Had Mr. De Sainteloi waited for the sailors to safely bring Ptirou down, all this would have been avoided.]]

** In ''Ms. Jay, volume 2'', Nazi and Soviet agents somehow decide to have their secret meeting in a restaurant. This allows Juliette to eavesdrop on their conversations and secretly take pictures of them. [[spoiler:Mr. Noirhomme also do the same with his accomplices in a pub. Léa is able to hear them talking about scams, deceits and murder.]]

* NosyNeighbour: During Nicolas Broca & Raoul Cauvin's run with the series, Spirou and Fantasio had an annoying neighbour who kept spying on them from her windows. She would then annoy her husband about her findings while he only cared about watching TV.

** In ''La Colère du Marsupilami'', Fantasio complains that Joann and Vehlmann -then the series's authors- keep delivering their pages for the magazine's next issue late.

* RoguesGallery: Not so much the comic -- which had a greater variety of plots and more one-off villains -- but the 1993 animated series was fond of recurring antagonists, particularly Vito Cortizone and Cyanure.

* SequelHook: Yoann and Vehlman have turned this into a habit, often presented as TheStinger.

* TemporalParadox: Dear God. The last Morvan & Munuera album made, ''Aux Sources du Z'', the ''entire series'' was erased with one of these.

* UnexplainedRecovery: During the Yoann and Vehlmann run, there was this running gag revolving around Poppy Bronco, a [[ActionHero badass mercenary]] who tended to pop up under [[JackOfAllTrades different occupations]] (bodyguard, soldier, NonPoweredCostumedHero). He dies in a more or less gruesome manner (aspired into space or eaten by crocodiles) and [[NoOneShouldSurviveThat inexplicably show up alive]] in one of the next albums. [[spoiler: Still, in the spin off ''Supergroom'' by the same authors, Poppy, under the identity of the hero "Avalanche express", get killed by a ninja contract killer. And he does not recover from that, at least not yet. ]]

** In ''Le groom de Sniper Alley'' (''Sniper alley's bellboy''),Vito Cortizone forces Spirou and Fantasio to go on a treasure 's hunt. When they are back, they explain that they found a parchment. But [[SubvertedTrope it's subverted]] as Vito apparently do not think that knowledge is a treasure, and try to toss Spirou, Fantasio and [[AndYourLittleDogToo Spip]] [[CementShoes into the Hudson river]] as a response. However, Spirou and Fantasio have time to explain that the parchment lead to about thirty treasures's hideouts, and Vito finally let them go. [[spoiler: [[DoubleSubversion Double subverted]] as in the next scene, Spirou and Fantasio admit to Don Contralto, Vito's great uncle, that they actually found thousand of parchments, back-up copys of the content of the vanished [[GreatBigLibraryOfEverything library of Alexandria]]. Had Vito learned it, he would had sold the parchments to the highest bidder. Spirou and Fantasio then chose to pretend that they simply found a sole treasure map, which could satisfy Vito's {{Greed}}.]]
* WouldHitAGirl: In ''Paris-Sous-Seine'' Spirou punches Miss Flanners in the face for being the cause of Spip's death. [[SubvertedTrope However]], after discovering that Spip is actually safe and sound, he is mortified by his actions even though Flanners had still done enough to deserve the punishment - and advises him to not ask forgiveness for doling punishment to those that deserve it.
** Later in Aux Sources du Z it's possibly subverted again as[[spoiler: Aged!Spirou reveals he originally hit Miss Flanners because when he saw her, he immediately had "strange feelings" that he'd never felt before and it scared him, causing him to lash out... At Miss Flanners.]]

* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: In the ''Blue Gorgon'', Seccotine is the blonde, Kay MacCloud the red-headed and Coralie Blaukopf the black-haired one.

* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: In the ''Blue Gorgon'', Seccotine is the blonde, Kay the red-headed and Coralie Blaukopf the black-haired one.

** The one-shot ''Spirou and the Blue Gorgon'' is this. Drawn by famed Belgian comic writer Dany, you can except lots of sexy girls. The first pages has a movie star in a bikini shooting a commercial. Later pages has Spirou and Fantasio at the beach and with lots of girls in skimpy swimsuits in the background. Not to mention the Count’s new medicine, intended to boost male virility, by using mushrooms with a quite suggesting shape.

* RageBreakingPoint: Zorglub in ''The Dark Side of the Z''. He's given up on evil and built a Moon station using private investment to conduct his advanced research on space colonisation, yet the staff at the base call him nicknames and ask him for ID every time, and the fee-paying visitors essentially treat him as a weirdo, despite him being the person who made everything they're enjoying possible. Nonetheless, he takes it on stride because he's doing science and he's doing it the right way, hoping that his old friend Pacôme will finally recognise his rehabilitation and join him as a partner. [[spoiler: But when the count says that eating up all that disrespect and working without recognition is beyond his dignity, and refuses to collaborate with him, Zorglub goes ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight and whips back up his supervillain gear to make sure his plans come to fruition at any cost]].

* RobotGirl: Cyanure in ''Qui arrêtera Cyanure?''

* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: ''Le Voyageur du Mésozoique'' features a dinosaur with pink and yellow spots.

* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Downplayed (somewhat) in ''The Dark Side of the Z'' when Were-Spirou is ThrownOutTheAirlock but survives on the moon's surface unprotected due to his lunar mutation (Champignac also brings up that some animals like tardigrade can survive in the vacuum of space) and for having swallowed a micro-respirator from a security member's suit.

** In ''Attack of the Zordolts'' Zorglub accidentally causes the whole ordeal by breaking the test tubes of the fast-growing proliferating moulds that were used to dismantle his bases in ''Z is for Zorglub'' and ''Shadow of the Z''. The dinosaur from ''The Visitor from the Mesozoic'' also returns to play an important role in the battle against the Zordolts, and in the ending the animals that aren't destroyed by the de-growing formula are sent to live on its island.

* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Downplayed (somewhat) in ''The Dark Side of the Z'' when Were-Spirou is ThrownOutOfTheAirlock but survives on the moon's surface unprotected due to his lunar mutation (Champignac also brings up that some animals like tardigrade can survive in the vacuum of space) and for having swallowed a micro-respirator from a security member's suit.

* LivingDinosaurs: ''The Visitor from the Mesozoic'' centers on Champignac retrieving an ancient dinosaur egg from MysteriousAntarctica and hatching.

** In ''Le Voyageur du Mésozoïque'', Champignac finds a dinosaur egg in the ices of Antarctica.

** The one-shot ''Spirou and the Blue Gorgon'' is this. Drawn by famed Belgian comic writer Dany, you can except lots of sexy girls. The first pages has a movie star in a bikini shooting a commercial. Later pages has Spirou and Fantasio at the beach and with lots of girls in skimpy swimsuits in the background.

** In ''Virus'', a sinister corporation has a germ warfare research facility located in Antarctica.

* RageBreakingPoint: Zorglub in ''La face cachée du Z''. He's given up on evil and built a Moon station using private investment to conduct his advanced research on space colonisation, yet the staff at the base call him nicknames and ask him for ID every time, and the fee-paying visitors essentially treat him as a weirdo, despite him being the person who made everything they're enjoying possible. Nonetheless, he takes it on stride because he's doing science and he's doing it the right way, hoping that his old friend Pacôme will finally recognise his rehabilitation and join him as a partner. [[spoiler: But when the count says that eating up all that disrespect and working without recognition is beyond his dignity, and refuses to collaborate with him, Zorglub goes ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight and whips back up his supervillain gear to make sure his plans come to fruition at any cost]].