History Webcomic / DubiousCompany

Dubious Company is an adventure comedy comic written by Ben Hsu (AKA Tagalong) and drawn by Elaine Tipping (AKA Tria).

** TheSmartGuy - ''[[DangerouslyGenreSavvy Sal]]'' and ''[[TheStoic Gary]]''

* BadassBookworm: Tria. The artist is a multilingual educator and practices [[{{Kendo}} Atarashii]] [[BladeOnAStick Naginata]].

!! This Webcomic contains examples (by story arc) of:

It follows Captain Walter Herindale and his best buddy Tiren as they build an [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits assorted quirky crew]] in order to do... something, mostly heavy drinking. All the while they [[AffectionateParody spoof]] and [[PlayingWithATrope play with]] every {{trope|Overdosed}}, [[TropesAreNotCliches cliche]], and {{genre|Shift}} they come across. Oh, and dealing with Emperor Kreedor's Elite Guards.

-->''"Elator's Archetype though, pegs him as being able to stumble his way through any situation none the worse for wear."''

!! This Web Comic contains examples (by story arc) of:

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Dubious_Company_TV_tropes_3929.jpeg
[[caption-width:250:Pirates, ninjas, and other cliches, wholesale.]]

* FiveManBand: There are two bands; the Sky Pirates and the Imperials. More evident since On the Middle of Nowhere.

* MagicVersusScience: sort of. The Imperial Elites rely heavily on magic, with [[WalkingTechBane limited]] technological understanding. The pirates are heavy on the technology, and have [[BadassNormal no access]] to magic. Both sides are presented with advantages and limitations.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: Emperor Kreedor takes this UpToEleven. So far he hasn't left his throne ''once'' in the entire comic. Not even gaining godlike powers has enticed him to actually carry out his evil plans himself.
* ScheduleSlip: In the beginning. Now is faithfully updated twice a week.

DubiousCompany is an adventure comedy comic written by Ben Hsu (AKA Tagalong) and drawn by Elaine Tipping (AKA Tria).

It follows Captain Walter Herindale and his best buddy Tiren as they build an [[RagtagBandofMisfits assorted quirky crew]] in order to do... something, mostly heavy drinking. All the while they [[AffectionateParody spoof]] and [[PlayingWithATrope play with]] every [[TropeOverdosed trope]], [[TropesAreNotCliches cliche]], and [[GenreShift genre]] they come across. Oh, and dealing with Emperor Kreedor's Elite Guards.

* {{Abuse Is Okay When It Is Female On Male}}

* BadassBookworm: Tria. The artist is a multilingual educator and practices [[{{Kendo}} Atarashii]] [[BladeOnAStick Naginata]].

* WhatDidIDoLastNight?: The series starts OFF with Tiren wondering that. Walter found her as a stowaway while she was sleeping. It happens a few more times in the story. (Hey, they're pirates. They get drunk)

* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Sal blackmails Leeroy into confessing to tampering with the engine room.

* [[ThisIsNoTimeForKnitting This Is No Time For Drinking]]: After getting the tech needed to find Tiren, Walter goes on a drinking binge, much to Leeroy's chagrin. Several strips later, Walter reveals that the engine [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum runs on drunkenness]]. So Walter needed to be sufficiently plastered to work with it.

* [[SpannerInTheWorks Raccoon In The Works]]: Not only does Izor's plan go horribly wrong by the timely intervention of the raccoon, [[spoiler: but by himself when he alters an overly complex ritual. Izor [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong knows nothing]] about magic theory. Unaltered the ritual would have killed Sal and nothing more. By [[HoistByHisOwnPetard altering it]], the pirates' intervention, and the raccoon becoming an accidental substitute for Sal, the ritual flung everyone into another dimension and caused... well... we still don't know.]]

* CatFight: Between [[IncrediblyLamePun Tiren]] and Sakura. [[spoiler: Subverted in that it happens [[WhatCouldHaveBeen off screen]].]]

* [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative Bitch]] [[BitchInSheepsClothing In Sheep's Clothing]]: Mary and Sue meet Sakura and instantly hate her. So they yank at Tiren's newly developed heartstrings with [[MurderTheHypotenuse bad dating advice]]. That way Tiren will take Sakura out without them getting their hands dirty. Sakura herself did nothing to deserve her mistreatment, short of being GenreBlind.

* DeathGlare: between Mary and the [[http://dubiouscompany.com/comics/2011/08/04 Queen]].

* [[TennisBoss Tennis With The Bosses]]: Between the King and Queen with the [[BeleagueredAssistant poor guards]] as the ball.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Walter is the pirate he always dreamed of becoming, and the SpaceMarines take him as a serious threat. [[spoiler: In the epilogue, he and Tiren become an OutlawCouple, if the title "FanService" is anything to go by.]]

[[folder: The Search for the McGuffins!!]]
* AGodAmI: turns out, the ritual was VERY successful for Kreedor.

* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Izor and company finally defect]]
* McGuffin: to beat Kreedor, some items are needed. Phred actually refers to them as McGuffins.

* CombatPragmatist: Tiren has never been shy about her love of fighting, but she [[spoiler: kills the villain by taking one of the Prince's swords and kills the villain in mid spellcast]]
* CunningLinguist: Elly provides translations for the [[PurpleProse Princes]].

* [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith A Form You Are Comfortable In]]: Phred visits Sal and Leeroy as a pair of [[CrowningMomentofFunny sweatpants]].

* Catgirls: Phred appears, as a sexy tiren.

* ShoutOut: Tria uses the [[FinalFantasyVII Buster Sword]] in an early comic.

* Catgirl: Phred appears, as a sexy tiren.

[[folder: The Evil Tower of Evil]]
* CombatPragmatist: Tiren has never been shy about her love of fighting, but she [[spoiler: kills the villain by taking one of the Prince's swords and kills the villain in mid spellcast]]
* CunningLinguist: Elly provides translations for the [[PurpleProse Princes]].
* EvilLaugh: "Right on Cue"
* MarriageToAGod: Sal guesses this may be the reason why she and Tiren were captured.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Lord Nefarious
* StalkerWithACrush: The princes towards Tiren and Sal
[[/folder]]

** The Leader - ''[[ModernMajorGeneral Walter]]'' and ''[[TeamDad Izor]]''

* AdaptationalVillainy: Walter is the pirate he always dreamed of becoming, and the SpaceMarines take him as a serious threat. [[spoiler: in the epilogue, he and Tiren become an OutlawCouple, if the title "FanService" is anything to go by.]]

* StalkerWithACrush: The princes towards Tria and Sal

* VictimFallsForRapist[=/=]DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Invoked and played straight by [[spoiler: Raque on Elly, but it is swiftly averted and deconstructed.]] The readers are left feeling deliberately uncomfortable.

* MirroredConfrontationShot: Compare [[http://dubiouscompany.com/comics/2009/12/22 here]] to [[http://dubiouscompany.com/comics/2009/12/24 here]]. Only Leeroy and Sue end up fighting their [[EvilCounterpart 5-Man-Band Counterpart]] while Sal and Izor work the XanatosSpeedChess.

-->''Elator's Archetype though, pegs him as being able to stumble his way through any situation none the worse for wear.''
-->-'''Sal''' (who could be referring to anyone in the cast)

[[/folder]]

* [[GeneHuntInterrogationTechnique Gene Hunt]] / JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Walter threatens the Sues with [[LaserGuidedKarma allowing Tiren]] to use them as stress balls. It works [[WallOfBlather too well]].

* VictimFallsForRapist[=/=]DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: [[spoiler: played straight and averted when Raque tries to invoke this on Elly.]] The readers are left feeling deliberately uncomfortable.

* BadNewsInAGoodWay: Sue acting as [[StarTrek Uhura]] for Izor has bad news: Mary has captured [[ActionGirl Tiren]] instead of [[LivingMacGuffin Sal]]. As she starts to apologize, Izor becomes overjoyed that the pirates defenses are now severed.

* RapeIsLove / RapeIsOKWhenItIsFemaleOnMale: [[spoiler: played straight and averted when Raque tries to invoke this on Elly.]] The readers are left feeling deliberately uncomfortable.