Line #50 ComicBook/Squad


1	[[quoteright:405:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/squad_graphicnovel_cover.jpg]]
2	Squad is a {{Horror}} [[YoungAdultLiterature YA]] Graphic novel created by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Lisa Sterle, and published by Greenwillow Books in 2021.
3
4	Becca is worried about making friends after she and her mom move from LA to a ritzy suburb of Oakland. To her surprise, Piedmont High's posse of popular girls adopt her on her very first day. She soon discovers that they have ulterior motives; they are werewolves and want her to join their vigilante pack. They hunt predators, the kind that will never get punished because of their social status. Saddled with [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse an offer she can't refuse]], Becca must find a way to keep her humanity in the face of ritualized animalistic violence.
5
6	!!''Squad'' contains examples of:
7	* AdultsAreUseless:
8	** None of the pack member's parents ever notice that their daughters come home late on the nights that boys go missing from the surrounding towns. Justified, as nobody would ever suspect their daughter to be a serial killer. We also only ever see Becca sneaking back into her house, and her mother isn't home most of the time because of work.
9	** Implied with the reason why the pack are specifically murdering predators in the first place. The justice system will give them a slap on the wrist at best, as many of them are [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney too rich to punish]].
10	* AuthorAppeal: Maggie Tokuda-Hall stated in [[https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/maggie-tokuda-hall-takes-on-rape-culture-in-new-graphic-novel-squad an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle]] that though the titular [[TitleDrop squad]] are horrible people, "indulging in that revenge fantasy is so satisfying and also such a gift to me as a person who has been sexually assaulted."
11	* AssholeVictim: Most of the men the pack kill are this. They purposefully seek out rapists and the like so that they feel less guilty about killing them.
12	* AttackOnTheHeart: The leader of the college pack, Allyson, does this to [[spoiler: Arianna]] after learning that [[spoiler: she left evidence at the murder scene ''again'']]. She then makes [[spoiler: [[{{Squick}} Marley and Becca eat Arianna's heart to return them to normal humans]]]].
13	* BackToCameraPose: On the book's cover, all of the other werewolves are facing forward, with their backs to the audience. Becca is the only one looking back and she gives the audience a knowing stare.
14	* BeneathSuspicion: Nobody, police included, would suspect four scrawny rich girls for the murders of the boys in the area.
15	* BittersweetEnding: Arianna is [[spoiler: killed so her heart can be eaten to [[DePower depower]] Becca and Marley]], but Becca and Marley [[spoiler: are happy together and delve further into their relationship]].
16	* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Becca frequently gets into arguments with her mom over the smallest stuff. Justified, as Becca and her mother cannot talk to each other normally, so they repress their emotions until it bottles over. In addition, Becca's mother isn't really around much, so Becca has to deal with most of her issues by herself. To be fair, it's not like she can tell her mother what's ''really'' bothering her, because most of that involves revealing that she is a murderer.
17	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: The pack rips men apart limb by limb while mauling them, though it debatable for about how much of it that the victims were conscious.
18	* DeathByFallingOver: [[spoiler: Becca accidentally kills Thatcher by pushing him over in self-defence while he was trying to sexually assault her. Justified, as she has super-strength in her human form as part of her werewolf powers.]]
19	* DePower: [[spoiler: Becca and Marley are forced by Allyson, the college pack leader, to eat Arianna's heart so that they become normal humans again]].
20	* DevouredByTheHorde: The men that the pack eat are basically attacked by four wolves at once until they die. After that, they are split up amongst the group.
21	* DisproportionateRetribution: One boy gets eaten for merely finding Becca and Marley ''attractive''.
22	* DramaticIrony: Thatcher's father assumes that his son's [[spoiler:murderer is male and murdered him ForTheEvulz]]. Only the pack and the audience know that [[spoiler: Becca (who is female) murdered him in self-defense]]. They basically just stand there at his funeral, pretending to be grieving, when inside they are actually celebrating his death.
23	* EatTheEvidence: The pack disposes of most of the evidence by well, ''eating it'', though it remains unseen how they dispose of clothes.
24	* EqualOpportunityEvil: The pack is pretty diverse for a majority-white small town. Becca is Asian and lesbian, Marley is queer, and Amanda is Black. The college pack is even more diverse, with one being a hijabi, and more body-shape diversity.
25	* EveryoneLovesBlondes: Marley, a blonde, has made out with a ''lot'' of men. So many, that she can't even remember many of them.
26	* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: The pack specifically chooses pretty girls to join them, making most of the members this. Justified, as they take turns being bait for rapists, to lure them into secluded areas for an ambush.
27	* FreudianSlip: Arianna accidentally reveals that she intends to use Becca as bait at a party.
28	-->'''Becca''' ''[trying on new dress]'': I feel like an idiot.
29	-->'''Amanda''': You actually look cute.
30	-->'''Marley''': Super hot.
31	-->'''Arianna''': Total bait.
32	-->'''Becca''': Bait? Don't you mean babe?
33	-->'''Arianna''': Sure.
34	* FullyEmbracedFiend: Justified. Most of the werewolves, except Becca, fully embrace their wolf forms and use them to go after men who hurt women and get away with it due to their social status.
35	* HighClassCannibal: The pack is mostly all filthy rich, with Arianna's father being the head of the famous ''Vandergum'' family. Doesn't stop them from eating mostly other rich people, with some poorer people tossed in.
36	* HorrorHunger: The werewolves feel an irresistible urge for human meat if they don't feed for at least a month; they tried deer, but it didn't work. They kill assholes to justify it to themselves.
37	* HowWeGotHere: Future Becca is narrating the story.
38	* {{Hypocrite}}: Downplayed. When Becca and her mother get into an argument over [[spoiler: Thatcher]]'s disappearance, Becca's mother says that she thinks that [[spoiler: Arianna's father]] with a hit on him for breaking up with her; she condemns it because she feels that he didn't deserve to die for apparently cheating on her. Becca argues back with the fact that her mother said that Becca's father deserved to die for cheating on her. Becca's mother points out that she didn't actually kill him, which shuts Becca up.
39	* InnocentlyInsensitive: Marley doesn't get why it's rude to pair up Becca and Bo, the only two Asian people at their school, just because it would be cute because they're both Asian. She also associates being lesbian with being a pervert. Justified, as she is sheltered from growing up in a small majority-white suburb and she is closeted and struggling with her sexuality.
40	* KillingInSelfDefense: [[spoiler: Becca kills Thatcher while he was trying to sexually assault her]].
41	* LiteralManeater: The squad uses one of them as bait (by dressing them up in really skimpy clothes) for the rapists they lure, before the rest of them jump in and devour him.
42	* LovableAlphaBitch: Arianna mercilessly bullies the less popular kids, but once you get to know her, she's pretty nice. She even helps [[spoiler: Becca hide Thatcher's body]].
43	* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: After [[spoiler:Thatcher]] is killed by [[spoiler: Becca]], Arianna puts in body in the local stream. Said stream has a reputation for drunk kids hanging out near it, and she thought it was plausible that he could have stumbled into the stream while drunk, and drowned.
44	* MonstrousCannibalism: The werewolves eat human men while in wolf form.
45	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Arianna Vandergum, the pack's leader, is basically Music/ArianaGrande (alopecia-inducing high ponytail included) with an extra "n", if Grande was a crazy cannibalistic serial killer.
46	* NoSympathy: Becca's mother isn't concerned over the fact that her daughter's best friend's boyfriend was found dead in a stream and her daughter is grieving. She compares Becca's mental strength to that of a horse, and tells her to focus on college admissions instead. Justified, as Becca is really good at hiding her true emotions from her mother, and her mother doesn't know that [[spoiler: Becca feels guilty over being the one to kill Thatcher]].
47	* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: The offer the pack gives Becca at the beginning of the book is essentially, "Join us or die."
48	* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent:
49	** All of the werewolves we see are scrawny women and [[JustifiedTrope as such]] their werewolf forms look sickly and rail-thin.
50	** [[MorphicResonance The werewolves' fur color depends on their hair color]] - Marley (blonde) has light grey fur, and Becca (black hair) has stark black fur for example.
51	** They retain their sapience and memory as wolves, which is essential as they have a specific hunting target.
52	** They are turned via bite, and can only lose their power if they eat the heart of the Alpha.
53	** They are extraordinarily strong even in human form.
54	* PickyPeopleEater: Marley is partial toward men's livers.
55	* PopularIsEvil: Exaggerated. The popular girls at Piedmont High are cannibalistic ''serial killers''.
56	* PowerIncontinence:
57	** Becca accidentally breaks a glass by squeezing it too hard right after getting her werewolf powers:
58	** [[spoiler: Becca]] accidentally kills [[spoiler: Thatcher]] by pushing him too hard after [[spoiler: he tries to sexually assault her]]. Justified, as she probably wasn't thinking straight and conscious of what she was doing.
59	** Marley admits to denting the gym floor during volleyball practice when she spiked too hard. Luckily, nobody other than Amanda noticed.
60	* SexForSolace: Downplayed. Becca and Marley make out after Becca has a bad argument with her mother and broke down in tears.
61	* ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing: The girls are always sure to get naked before they turn, so that their clothing doesn't rip.
62	* SpeakIllOfTheDead: Arianna insults [[spoiler: her dead boyfriend Thatcher]]'s body, and middle fingers his corpse. Justified, as [[spoiler: he tried to rape Becca]].
63	* VigilanteExecution: Basically what the pack does every month. They kill people without a trial and no evidence that would be acceptable in a court of law. Justified, in the sense that most of the people they kill are rich assholes who [[KarmaHoudini escape justice]] due to being rich.
64	* WolvesAlwaysHowlAtTheMoon: As seen on the cover of the book, the pack are very fond of howling at the moon in werewolf form.
65	* WorkingClassWerewolves: Inverted. All of the werewolves we see are filthy rich. The poorest one, Becca, is ''at least'' upper-middle class.

Context ComicBook / Squad