History Sandbox / AngelsAndAliens

* DifferentlyPoweredIndividual: "Angels". Apparently the male staff came up with the term. Gas claims that it's not ''just'' because they're beautiful women, but because they're "good people who do good stuff."

* ForcedTransformation: Angels are always forcibly recruited, which starts with being transformed into a woman. (A predetermined phenotype, so you'll transform even if you're already a woman.) Laura says they wanted multiple forms, but the Mabba would only give them one (possibly to make it harder for the humans to reverse engineer the nanites), so they don't have the option of giving people powers without transforming them.

* InformedAttractiveness: It's obvious that the Angels are ''supposed'' to be hot, but the art isn't really equal to the task of making them actually ''look'' hot most of the time; the anatomy, proportion, and consistency are a bit lacking.

* NeverGetsDrunk: Angels normally can't get drunk, since their HealingFactor treats the alcohol as a poison. However, they can get drunk on "Makeover" day every five months, because they have to turn the healing off to let the new nanites take effect.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Since Angels look like young women and don't age, any Angel that's older than about 30 qualifies. Laura, who was part of the first batch of Angels, is 111 years old.

-->'''Trent/Therese:''' Call me — Therese. When I awoke this morning I was finally the person in the mirror.\\
'''Laura:''' Therese — would you go back if you had the chance? We may decipher the nanites someday.\\
'''Therese:''' Perhaps — someday. But Therese is real. Therese needs to live.

* TouchedByVorlons: The AppliedPhlebotinum that turns people into Angels is supplied by an alien race called the Mabba. The trope applies most directly to the original seven Angels, who were given the nanites directly by the Mabba, whereas nowadays it's the Angels who administer the nanites to new recruits.

* TerminallyDependentSociety: The Angels will die if they don't take the nanite doses that the Mabba bring every month, so if the Mabba were to ever stop bringing them, or the Angels were to collectively decide to rebel, they'd have at most about six months left to live.

* HeadsUpDisplay: Angels have this built right into their neurology, to display symbols in their peripheral vision telling them status information, such as when they're healing.

-->''There are four balls, colored cyan, yellow, magenta and black and they count 1, 2, 3 and 4 points for a goal, except if you are an Angel, in which case they are doubled, but the order is reversed to 8, 6, 4 and 2.''

* InformedAttractiveness: It's obvious that the Angels are ''supposed'' to be hot, but the art isn't really equal to the task of making them actually ''look'' hot most of the time, since anatomy, proportion, and consistency is a bit lacking.
* KidnappedByTheCall: Trent wasn't technically ever ''forced'' into the vehicle that took her to Mabba Inc., but she wasn't exactly asked if she wanted to go, either. (Plus, when she got in the car she assumed she was being taken back home.) Aside from that, she ''was'' forcibly turned into an Angel, and Angels have to take a new nanite dose periodically or they die, so even if she'd had any strong objections to going to Mabba Inc., she didn't really have a choice unless she fancied dying in about six months. She also didn't get to choose the length of her enlistment — 9 years and 2 months.

* CrossoverCameo: While there are never any actual crossovers, characters from other comics sometimes appear as purely background characters. (Usually from comics with similar themes, like ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' and ''Webcomic/SailorSun''.)

* InformedAttractiveness: It's obvious that the Angels are ''supposed'' to be hot, but the art style isn't really equal to the task of making them actually ''look'' hot most of the time, as the artist is a bit lacking in skill when it comes to anatomy, proportion, and consistency.

* TouchedByVorlons: The AppliedPhlebotinum that turns people into Angels is supplied by an alien race called the Mabba. The trope applies most directly to the original seven Angels, who were given the nanites directly by the Mabba, whereas nowadays new recruits are .

* AppliedPhlebotinum: The Mabba's nanites, which have several uses. They can turn people into Angels, stop the built-in BetrayalInsurance from activating and killing them, and turn them back to normal.

* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: Both of Trent's parents died in their 40s from cancer. {{Justified| Trope}} by it being one of the reasons he was selected; a lack of family ties is an attractive quality in potential recruits, since they need to disappear. (It's also implied that their cancer was most likely hereditary, and Trent expected to face the same fate within a decade or two.)
* CrossoverCameo: While there are never any actual crossovers, characters from other comics sometimes cameo as purely background characters. (Usually from comics with similar themes, like ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' and ''Webcomic/SailorSun''.)
* DeathFakedForYou: Mabba Inc. does this to their Angels and gives them new identities, since their physical attributes no longer match their old identities. Trent "died" in a car accident.

* ForcedTransformation: Angels are always forcibly recruited, which starts with being transformed into a woman. (A specific woman, so you'll transform even if you're already a woman.) Laura says they wanted multiple forms, but the Mabba would only give them one (possibly to make it harder for the humans to reverse engineer the nanites), so they don't have the option of giving people powers without transforming them.

* LogicalWeakness: Angels' bodies consume a lot of energy to feed their various abilities, so in addition to being {{Big Eater}}s, they use a lot of oxygen. An Angel can only fully exert herself for about 60 seconds (but can run about a kilometer in those 60 seconds), and can only hold her breath for about 15-20 seconds even at rest.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Since Angels don't age, any Angel that's older than about 30 qualifies. Laura looks like a young woman but is really 111 years old.
* PurposeDrivenImmortality: Angels don't age, but in order to retire they have to take a nanite dose that makes them normal again.
* SecretlyEarmarkedForGreatness: Laura reveals that Mabba Inc. first noticed Trent at some investment fund meetings he attended a year before he was recruited.
* SlippingAMickey: This is how recruiters administer the nanites that transform recruits into Angels. Or at least, that's how it was done to Trent.

* SuperIntelligence: Apparently ''not'' part of the Angel package, as Therese laments after [[spoiler:making a wrong turn during a car chase and thus getting caught by a unit of FBI agents]].

* TragicAIDSStory: Would have happened to Willa, if she hadn't been recruited as an Angel: