History Webcomic / LeavingTheCradle

The Russian version, which is the author's first language, can be found [[https://acomics.ru/~leaving-the-cradle here]]

* SlidingScale/MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: Type 4, maybe veering into type 3. The most blatant deviations from realism are antigravity, FTL flight, and fictional gas-like substance that is required for most of the unrealistic tech to function. Both the substance and the physic laws that allow FTL are suggested to be artificial in nature.

* INeedAFreakingDrink: After Mark helps bring the unconscious alien to their house, the very next thing he does right after that is to take out a bottle of alcohol from the cabinet and [[https://leavingthecradle.com/comic/35 start drinking.]]

* {{Masquerade}}: From the alien's side of things, it's standard protocol to avoid making contact with another species if they aren't space-faring, so as to not interfere with their culture and cause mass panic. Humanity is no exception, but it remains to be seen if it will stay that way after Gharr gets stranded on Earth.

* WhamLine: Halfway through the first volume, after Ahshu, Hekaht, and Quantum get a lead regarding the location of the shuttle, Quantum informs the pair that there's been unusual anomalies and inconsistencies regarding humanity's network that doesn't match up with their signature, as well as signs of someone covering their tracks. [[spoiler: Since whoever is doing it can't be on the fleet as it's too widespread, that leaves only one conclusion]]:

* YearX: The story took place on June 12, 20XX. The scope is somewhat narrowed down in [[https://leavingthecradle.com/comic/70 page 70]] with the mention of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelyabinsk_meteor Chelyabinsk meteor]], meaning the webcomic takes place somewhere after 2013.

* AllThereInTheManual: The webcomic has an [[https://wiki.leavingthecradle.com extensive wiki]] that hosts a '''lot''' of the information about the setting, that most likely will never have a chance to appear in the comic. While a good chunk of it has been translated, some of it is [[NoExportForYou still in Russian]].

* BeAsUnhelpfulAsPossible: Nea. [[spoiler: She decides to remain silent and not do anything to give the humans any intelligence about her until she gathers more intel about the others]]. This proves to be a problem as [[spoiler: the Major is concerned that the aliens will attack humanity if the conflict isn't resolved.]]

* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler: Gharr wants to explore the new unknown world that was just discovered. To do this, he doctors the data about humanity's technological development so that Zane can approve the expedition. While it does work, it also has the side effect of risking contact with a not-so primitive species and putting both of their careers in serious jeopardy as a result. Then their shuttle was shot down. It's [[https://leavingthecradle.com/comic/72 implied]] that Gharr didn't think humanity was ''that'' advanced, however.]]

* EarlyBirdCameo: [[spoiler: That raharr to the left of one with his helmet off back on page [[https://leavingthecradle.com/comic/13 13]]? That's Nea. The face is obscured, but she's the only female in the team.]]

* NoodleIncident: When Dan is shown for the first time, he's in the middle telling Val and Mark a story about how he left somewhere undetected and did...[[https://leavingthecradle.com/comic/18 something]]. We aren't given any details (other than it involved the government in some way and he would've gotten arrested if he was spotted) before he gets interrupted by the alien shuttle crashing near them.

* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler: Gharr, wanting to explore the unknown, doctors the data in his report about the human's technological level to increase the chances of Zane authorizing the landing expedition. [[GoneHorriblyRight It worked.]] Needless to say, when Zane realizes the deception, [[https://leavingthecradle.com/comic/50 he isn't happy.]]]]

** When Nea realizes [[spoiler: Gharr is still alive and unaccounted for, she decides to throw the directives in the trash and tries to escape using the Major as a hostage. She doesn't get very far, what with reinforcements arriving almost immediately after she's outside and her being unarmed, but props for trying.]]

''Leaving The Cradle'' is an science-fiction {{webcomic}}, attempting at bridging the gap between space opera and classical hard science fiction.

''Leaving The Cradle'' is an science-fiction {{webcomic}}, attempting at bridging the gap between space opera and [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness classical hard science fiction]].

* MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: Type 4, maybe veering into type 3. The most blatant deviations from realism are antigravity, FTL flight, and fictional gas-like substance that is required for most of the unrealistic tech to function. Both the substance and the physic laws that allow FTL are suggested to be artificial in nature.

* WebcomicTime: The webcomic has been running for four years. Due to the author's initially [[ScheduleSlip irregular upload schedule]] and [[DoingitForTheArt not making any profit from it]], this is bound to happen:

* HartmanHips: Ahshu has quite a waist. Nea does as well. Additional materials suggest that this type of figure is the norm for Raharr females.
* HitSoHardTheCalendarFeltIt: the [[AllThereInTheManual wiki]] describes the raharrs as having this when they discovered the stabilizers. The realization of their artificial nature threw the world into chaos and it led to mass hysteria, riots, and suicides. Their calendar got reset afterwards and they now refer to their history with P.R. and A.R. (Prior Realization and After Realization, respectively.) By the time the webcomic started, it's been 756 years since then.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/banner_square.jpg]]

* YearX: The story took place on June 12, 20XX. Averted come [[https://leavingthecradle.com/comic/70 page 70]] with the mention of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelyabinsk_meteor Chelyabinsk meteor]], meaning the webcomic takes place somewhere during or after 2013.

** The aliens aren't portrayed as [[AliensAreBastards absolute bastards]] or [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens godlike]]. They can make mistakes just like anyone else, and the whole reason the webcomic even happens is because [[spoiler: Gharr falsified his report on humanity so he can explore Earth]]. Likewise, humanity aren't portrayed as [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters monstrous]], [[HumansAreMorons morons]], or [[HumansAreSpecial special in some way]]. Sure, their [[PunyEarthlings technology and population doesn't come close to that of the Alliance]], but most of them ''not'' stupid or unreasonably aggressive. The alien shuttle was shot down because the Major thought it was a ''human'' aircraft making a re-entry. All in all, the conflict comes from a series of misunderstandings rather than malicious intentions on either side.

Gharr, a promising alien xenobiologist and xenopsychologist from the Alliance, makes some rash decisions out of a desire to explore the unknown, which strands him on Earth with no way to communicate with the Exploration Fleet for the rescue mission. What complicates things is that Earth is classified a pre-space age civilization and, according to Alliance laws, any direct contact with the locals is prohibited. Can Gharr trust these strange beings? Maybe their civilization is more mature than they assumed, despite being pre-space age? So began the events that later would be known as the "First Contact Incident".

The English version of the webcomic can be found [[http://leavingthecradle.com here]]. The Russian version, which is the author's first language, can be found [[https://acomics.ru/~leaving-the-cradle here]]

* BeAsUnhelpfulAsPossible: Nea. [[spoiler: She decides to remain silent and not do anything to give the humans any intelligence about her until she gathers more intel about the others]]. This proves to be a problem as [[spoiler: the Major is concerned that the aliens will attack humanity if the conflict isn't resolved.

* ClosedCircle: Gharr has no way to contact the fleet and he's essentially stuck inside of a house with three humans on Earth. His arm being broken doesn't help. Justified, [[spoiler: although he falsified his report on humanity,]] he doesn't want to risk violating the directives any more than he already is, so his options are limited. [[spoiler: Also applies to Nea for similar reasons.]]

* ClosedCircle: Gharr has no way to contact the fleet and he's essentially stuck inside of a house with three humans on Earth. His arm being broken doesn't help. Justified, [[spoiler: although he falsified his report on humanity,]] he doesn't want to risk violating the directives any more than he already is, so his options are limited.

* AllThereInTheManual: The webcomic has an [[https://wiki.leavingthecradle.com extensive wiki]] that hosts a '''lot''' of the information about the setting, that most likely will never have chance to appear in the comic. While a good chunk of it has been translated, some of it is [[NoExportForYou still in Russian]].

* BeePeople: Zig Zagged. Insectoids have many similarities with ant society, but the differences are also major, with workers having full individuality and being the Queen, while prestigious, doesn't lend you any actual ruling power.

* FirstContact: It and it's consequences is the main scope of the story.

* INeedAFreakingDrink: After Mark helps bring the unconscious alien to their house, the very next thing he does right after that is take out a bottle of alcohol from the cabinet and [[https://leavingthecradle.com/comic/35 start drinking.]]
* LanguageBarrier: Nobody can understand each other initially. Since humans have a massive number of languages compared to the Alliance species, Quantum decides to focus their attention on creating translation addons just for the three most popular ones. Gharr also can't understand anybody when he's rescued by Dan, Val, and Mark and part of Chapter 3 is about them working to resolve this so they can finally communicate.

* MindRape: Most people in the Alliance have brain implants, but those don't have wireless connections. This is to prevent this exact trope from happening, and this regulation was installed after a rather nasty case in the past, when a spam virus discovered a way to hack the implants, and therefore the host's brain, to spread itself further, with the side effect of an ''immediate death'' of the host due to resulting brain damage.
* MegaCorp: Science Corporation is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, a huge corporation that holds and enforces monopoly on owning and researching artifacts left by {{Precursors}} and developing tech based on them. Naturally, it's actions are not always ethical or legal, but it is so huge at this point that it considered to be as influential as some ''entire species'' of the Alliance.

* StarfishAliens: All of them, from four meter-tall squids to EnergyBeings.

* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Outside of the expeditionary fleet, the story takes place near the city of N on Earth and that's all the reader knows about the setting [[WordOfGod outside of it being "somewhere middle european-ish" and within a couple thousand kilometer radius from the city of Volgograd in Russia]].

* FromBadToWorse: From Zane's perspective. First, [[spoiler: he finds out that Gharr falsified the report, putting both of their careers in serious danger. Then the shuttle crashed, further complicating matters.]]

* MileLongShip: While it's definitely not [[PlanetSpaceship planet-sized]], the Dawn mothership is around the size of a small mobile city. Needless to say, it's ''[[https://wiki.leavingthecradle.com/raharrwiki/images/2/25/Dawn_ship.jpg very big.]]'' Just compare the human's satellite and shuttle to the mothership itself.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/banner_jupiter.jpg]]

''[[http://leavingthecradle.com Leaving The Cradle]]'' is an science-fiction {{webcomic}}, attempting at bridging the gap between space opera and [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness classical hard science fiction]].

** Overall, while the expeditionary fleet discovered Earth one month before the prologue, the First Contact Incident is currently in its second day.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler: Gharr wants to explore the new unknown world that was just discovered. To do this, he doctors the data about humanity's technological development so that Zane can approve the expedition. While it does work, it also has the side effect of risking contact with a not-so primitive species and putting both of their careers in serious jeopardy as a result. Then their shuttle was shot down. It's [[https://leavingthecradle.com/comic/72 implied]] that he actually didn't think humanity was ''that'' advanced, however.]]

* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler: Gharr wants to explore the new unknown world that was just discovered. To do this, he doctors the data about humanity's technological development so that Zane can approve the expedition. While it does work, it also has the side effect of risking contact with a not-so primitive species and putting both of their careers in serious jeopardy as a result. Then their shuttle was shot down.]]

* EarlyBirdCameo: [[spoiler: That raharr with her helmet off back on page [[https://leavingthecradle.com/comic/13 13]]? That's Nea.]]

* INeedAFreakingDrink: After Mark helps bring the unconscious alien to their house, he takes out a bottle of alcohol from the cabinet and [[https://leavingthecradle.com/comic/35 starts drinking.]]

* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[Spoiler: Gharr wants to explore the new unknown world that was just discovered. To do this, he doctors the data about humanity's technological development so that Zane can approve the expedition. While it does work, it also has the side effect of risking contact with a not-so primitive species and putting both of their careers in serious jeopardy as a result. Then their shuttle was shot down.]]

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: [[spoiler: Inverted when Zane finds out that Gharr lied in his report. He decides to keep the deception a secret from the rest of the crew so he can figure out a way to save both of their careers.]] The shuttle crashing makes things a lot more complicated.

** Swapped when shown from Gharr's [[https://leavingthecradle.com/comic/68 point of view.]]

* WhatAreYouThinking?: Said pretty much outright when [[spoiler: Zane learns about the doctored data in Gharr's report.]]