History Literature / TheCrocodileGod

* HolyIsNotSafe: The whale-goddess is a cheerful and friendly DisabledDeity, who might not be dangerous herself--but if she calls for help on the ocean, she's got a lot of SeaMonster family members [[PrimalFear who are very, VERY dangerous.]]

* LordOfTheOcean: DownplayedTrope with Haik; he's not the ''master'' of the ocean (seeing as [[ExactWords he's not the personification of the sea),]] but he's [[FamilyOfChoice an honorary brother to the whales]] and it's implied that ''all the other sea-creatures'' view him as a "relative:" Mirasol has a vision where a massive horde of sea-creatures comes up from the deep ocean [[spoiler: and [[BigDamnHeroes flanks the gods' balangay ship]] to find Haik]], the kraken himself calls Haik "Kuya" (big brother) and brings back his heart, and a pod of orcas in the spirit-world help Haik's son Banog find the ICE officers' ship where he's being detained.

** In Chapter 16, the whale-goddess summons ''a massive horde'' of sharks, seabirds, and Humboldt squid, commonly known as ''el diablo rojo.'' They're initially happy to see Haik after so long apart, but [[GaiasVengeance quickly become furious]] when they find out he's getting deported again. During a fight with the ICE officers, Haik gets thrown overboard [[MakeAnExampleOfThem as an example to everyone else,]] and they understandably assume he's a goner. They aren't far off at all--the wounded Haik [[RealityEnsues sparks a feeding frenzy with his blood]] and [[OhCrap starts getting dragged farther into the deep]] when a nearby mob of squid [[HorrorHunger start eating their own wounded.]] Haik [[DeathSeeker just lets himself sink]] and mostly hopes that he passes out BEFORE he gets eaten. [[spoiler: Good thing the gods' ''balangay'' showed up so Lumawig could fish Haik back to the surface.]]

** PlayedWith when Haik tells Mirasol in their last life about his journey to the Philippines; when he says "Paikea is a different person from Haik," he means it literally, but Mirasol mistakenly thinks that [[MundaneSolution he hated his home so much]] that he [[MeaningfulRename renamed himself.]]

* DivineIntervention: The ICE officers throw Haik off the corvette into the open ocean, where [[PrimalFear a huge amount of sharks and squid have arrived.]] Even if Haik [[DeathSeeker wasn't too depressed to fight back up to surface,]] he's still losing air and getting dragged under by the sheer numbers of squid. [[spoiler: [[DeusExMachina And then his cousin casts his fishhook]].]]

** In Chapter 16, the whale-goddess summons ''a massive horde'' of sharks, seabirds, and Humboldt squid, commonly known as ''el diablo rojo.'' They're initially happy to see Haik after so long apart, but [[GaiasVengeance quickly become furious]] when they find out he's getting deported again. During a fight with the ICE officers, Haik gets thrown overboard [[MakeAnExampleOfThem as an example to everyone else,]] and the passengers understandably assume he's a goner. They aren't far off at all--the wounded Haik [[RealityEnsues ends up sparking a feeding frenzy]] and [[OhCrap starts getting dragged into the deep]] when a nearby mob of squid [[HorrorHunger start eating their wounded.]] [[spoiler: Good thing the gods' ''balangay'' showed up so Lumawig could fish Haik back to the surface.]]

** Haik has [[GoingNative gone native among the Tagalogs,]] but a ballad excerpt notes that his followers started calling him [[ButNotTooForeign Langa-an's nephew]] at some point.

* EatingTheEnemy: Being the crocodile-god and a dragon-shifter, Haik has a tendency to turn into one of those and eat people who make him angry, such as those who [[BerserkButton shoot his wife and unborn child, or molest his sister.]] Also, it's noted that as Haik is a "brother" to the whales, that includes [[GoodIsNotNice the orcas,]] who the ancient Tagalogs feared as vengeful [[SuperPersistentPredator "sea-wolves."]]

** PlayedWith when Haik tells post-colonial Mirasol about his journey to the Philippines; when he says "Paikea is a different person from Haik," he means it literally, but Mirasol mistakenly thinks that [[MundaneSolution he hated his home so much]] that he [[MeaningfulRename renamed himself.]]

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: DownplayedTrope. After their first daughter died, Haik and Mirasol's next two children grow up serious, angry, and overprotective of Mirasol before twenty years old, which causes their parents ''more'' distress.

* EverythingsSquishierWithCephalopods: Chapter 12 is a journey into the spirit-world, where Mirasol meets a sea-turtle, a [[OurDragonsAreDifferent full-grown dragon,]] some cuttlefish, and [[KrakenAndLeviathan a bioluminescent kraken.]] The cuttlefish and the kraken call each other brothers, plus the kraken returns Haik's heart in addition to getting Mirasol back to shore after she's stranded in the spirit-ocean.

* SeaMonster: Haik often takes the form of a huge saltwater crocodile, but in one of Mirasol's past-life dreams, he transformed into [[DinosaursAreDragons "a crocodile's ancestor"]] which was ''the size of a ship.'' Moreover, one of his epithets is "(he) who breaks the ships in his teeth." Their demigod daughter also returns as an Asian-type dragon, which are all naturally {{Sea Monster}}s in appearance.

* TurtleIsland: The literal spirit of Turtle Island, referred to as the (Great) Turtle, shows up in Chapter 13 as Mirasol and Haik's souls are figuring out a plan to avoid getting deported. The Turtle is {{Kaiju}}-sized with a painted shell, and she speaks both English and Spanish.

* LossOfIdentity: Haik is constantly in despair about how he has no more songs/myths, rituals, or followers, saying that there's "nothing left of him" to help or fight back against their circumstances. It's especially bad since he's a DeityOfHumanOrigin, and the sky-voice tells Mirasol that once a human becomes a god, [[ItOnlyWorksOnce he can't just go back to being human.]]

** Mirasol accidentally gets caught in a vision that's slightly after [[CreationMyth the beginning of the world,]] where Haik's abusive volcano-god grandfather [[UsedToBeASweetKid was once a friendly young man.]] Lola the dragon notes that [[RealityEnsues he couldn't cope with all the changes in society as he aged,]] and since they both grew up in a harsher time when TheOldGods and humans [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking frequently fought and killed each other,]] the volcano-god might have attacked his grandsons because [[DentedIron he thought they were going to kill him for getting old.]] She muses that if she'd heard how he was doing in time [[TrueCompanions to help him process his feelings,]] [[ItsAllMyFault she could have stopped the family fight.]] Mirasol, who hated him in a previous chapter, now finds herself wondering if the volcano-god was actually lonely/fearful about his age catching up to him, but [[TragicVillain unable to talk about it without anger because of how he was raised.]]

* SmallRoleBigImpact: Mirasol's boss was upper-class but not noble, and is only called [[CaptainObvious her master]] or [[RaceNameBasis "the Spaniard."]] His major action is [[ImperiledInPregnancy shooting the heavily-pregnant Mirasol]] to [[RevengeByProxy make Haik shut up about being an islander deity,]] which clinches the DeathOfTheOldGods.

* BadassBoast: DoubleSubverted during Haik's flashback, where he challenges his volcano-god grandfather to a wrestling match, and warns him that he killed a crocodile and the eel-god. Unfortunately, his grandfather just laughs at him that two gods are a "good start" for a young man, lists off [[TheOldGods all the different kinds of nature-gods the Philippines had in his youth,]] and boasts in turn that [[RetiredBadass Haik should ask how many HE killed.]] He then [[CurbStompBattle suplexes Haik and breaks his arm.]]

* JerkassGods: The volcano-god. [[TheOldGods He's at least as old as Bathala,]] and his first words on being awakened by his grandsons' blood-offering are [[ScrewPolitenessImASenior to complain that they haven't offered him any gifts or food.]] He also gave humans the secret of fire-making, but took it back because [[WhenIWasYourAge he thinks Bathala is too soft on mortals, who have now become disrespectful of the gods,]] so he's perfectly fine letting people get hunted by animals and forced to eat raw food until they "respect" him again.
** Implicitly {{Cerebus Retcon}}ned in a later chapter: Lola the dragon notes that since he grew up in a time when TheOldGods and humans [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking frequently fought and killed each other,]] excessive sadness was viewed as weakness, and the volcano-god may have thought that Haik and Lumawig were going to kill him for being too old. Mirasol goes from hating him for being [[ScrewPolitenessImASenior a bitter and abusive old man]] to wondering if he was actually feeling lonely or vulnerable, [[TragicVillain but could only communicate it through anger.]]

* RetiredBadass: Haik's grandfather, [[TheOldGods the volcano-god.]] When Haik and Lumawig ask for the secret of fire-making back, his response is [[ScrewPolitenessImASenior endless bitching]] about how they haven't given him a proper greeting, and they're asking for "his property" without offering anything in return, ''and'' that he took away fire-making because he thinks Bathala Maykapal is too soft on mortals, so [[WhenIWasYourAge they don't respect the gods anymore.]] Haik eventually gets fed up and challenges him to a wrestling match, at which the volcano-god [[WrestlerInAllOfUs lifts Haik off the ground]] and [[SuplexFinisher breaks his arm with a suplex.]]

** Lola the dragon sheds light on why Haik's volcano-god grandfather was so abusive to him and Lumawig: Being TheOldGods who grew up with humans and spirits [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking routinely fighting and killing each other,]] you couldn't show vulnerability for too long [[RealityEnsues or else someone would attack you for being weak,]] and the volcano-god may have thought his own grandsons were going to kill him [[DentedIron for getting too old...]] which implies that [[KinslayingIsASpecialKindOfEvil kinslaying was NOT a special crime]] when they were young.

** Implicitly {{Cerebus Retcon}}ned in a later chapter: Lola notes that since he's a RetiredBadass, but grew up in a time when TheOldGods and humans [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking frequently fought and killed each other,]] the volcano-god may have thought that Haik and Lumawig were going to kill him for being too old. Mirasol goes from hating him for being [[ScrewPolitenessImASenior a bitter and abusive old man]] to wondering if he was actually feeling lonely or isolated, [[TragicVillain but could only communicate it through anger.]]

** Mirasol accidentally gets caught in a vision that's slightly after [[CreationMyth the beginning of the world,]] where Haik's abusive volcano-god grandfather [[UsedToBeASweetKid was once a friendly young man.]] Lola the dragon notes that [[RealityEnsues he couldn't cope with all the changes in society as he aged,]] and since they both grew up in a harsher time when TheOldGods and humans [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking frequently fought and killed each other,]] the volcano-god might have attacked his grandsons because [[DentedIron he thought they were going to kill him for getting old.]] She muses that if she'd heard how he was doing in time [[TrueCompanions to help him process his feelings,]] [[ItsAllMyFault she could have stopped the family fight.]] Mirasol, who hated him in a previous chapter, now finds herself wondering if the volcano-god was actually lonely/fearful about his age catching up to him, but [[TragicVillain unable to talk about it because of how he was raised.]]

** Implicitly {{Cerebus Retcon}}ned in a later chapter: Lola notes that ''because'' he's a RetiredBadass, but grew up in a time when AuthorityEqualsAsskicking, the volcano-god may have thought that [[AdultFear his own grandsons were going to kill him for being too old.]]

* JerkassGods: The volcano-god. [[TheOldGods He's at least as old as Bathala,]] and his first words on being awakened by his grandsons' blood-offering are [[ScrewPolitenessImASenior to complain that they haven't offered him any gifts or food.]] He also gave humans the secret of fire-making, but took it back because [[WhenIWasYourAge he thinks Bathala is too soft on mortals, who have now become disrespectful of the gods,]] so he's perfectly fine letting people get hunted by animals in the dark and forced to eat raw food until they "respect" him again.

* PowerTattoo: ImpliedTrope with Haik's crocodile tattoos, since he often turns into [[NeverSmileAtACrocodile a saltwater crocodile]] or [[OurDragonsAreDifferent a dragon.]] Also, ''all Filipino tattoos'' are magical to some degree, since they're spiritual links to one's community--since Haik was forced to take most of his off to avoid (even more) [[TattooAsCharacterType profiling as a criminal,]] [[RealityEnsues the other gods haven't found him for centuries.]]