Awesome / Girl Genius

"You've been ... THUNDERSTRUCK!"

Mad scientists rule the world. Spectacularly.

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

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First Journey:

Volume 1: Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank

• We should have realized this earlier, as even in his first fight, Gil not only protects Agatha but saves the goldfish too.
• Even before she breaks through as a Spark, an outraged Agatha is still able to intimidate Gil, Boris and even a Jaeger.

Volume 2: Agatha Heterodyne and the Airship City

• Castle Wulfenbach's introduction. It's so big she can't even fit on one elegantly-crafted link: Bow > Stern. Latest news is that's one kilometer of Awesome.
• General Khrizhan stopping the flyer with one hand. And he doesn't seem the slightest bit phased, either.
• This. Even though he's pissed as hell and going to punish them, one of the first things the Baron says to the errant students is "Are you all right?!"

Volume 3: Agatha Heterodyne and the Monster Engine

• The Dreen were in the fight with the Slaver Wasps aboard Castle Wulfenbach. In the graphical version, they aren't particularly impressive, but in the novel:
  Deep within the enemies' midst moved the Dreen, two unearthly, terrifying creatures garbed in dark, wide-brimmed conical hats and long, obscuring veils. They killed with but a touch, and they alone seemed to scare the Slaver wasps. Everywhere they drifted, a circle of emptiness opened around them as wasps desperately tried to escape.
  • Even in the graphical version, with only had one panel with which to portray them (and one prior panel showing an additional set of other warriors to compare them to), they're the only ones on the Baron's side that are completely unharmed while remaining on the offense.
• Gil holds off the Slaver Wasps while imploring Agatha to build something, prompting a Let's Get Dangerous! moment from her.
• An understated moment at the end of volume 3: Agatha's quiet determination as she and Krosp ride off into the sunset on a panoramic double splash page.
  Agatha: All right then. Let's go cause some trouble.

Volume 4: Agatha Heterodyne and the Circus Of Dreams

• Zeetha quickly gets established as a One-Woman Army as Olga recounts about the time she broke herself out of a pirate fortress, leaving behind a trail of blood and mayhem as she slaughtered every single pirate she could find. Of course, she then realized that she'd just killed everybody who could've told her how to get home.
• The circus caravan comes under attack by a wild clank. Agatha's first instinct is to rescue them with nothing more than her guts and her Death Ray. Heterodyne or not, she is truly her father's child.
• Jenka forgives. Once.

Volume 5: Agatha Heterodyne and the Clockwork Princess

• Agatha actually managed to repair the Silverodeon.
• Upon realizing that Agatha is in trouble, Lars immediately plans to infiltrate Sturmhalten to rescue her. He won't be going alone.
  Abner: There's a million reasons why that is not going to work.
  Dimo: Dun vorry. Dere's three reasonz it iz.
• Klaus manages to restore Olga's heavily burned corpse (in the novel Gil deems it a medical miracle), and when news comes of Aaronev Sturmvoraus' death, he instantly works out that Agatha is involved.
• Wooster is the first to find out that you should always Beware the Nice Ones. Gil turns an experienced intelligence agent into a cowering slave with nothing more than sheer force of personality.

Volume 6: Agatha Heterodyne and the Golden Trilobite

• Agatha takes out Vrin, who was wielding a sword at the time, with only a broom and some clever applications of her command voice.
• And then immediately afterwards there's the arc called Agatha Flips Out (Big Fight). It's Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
  • "SHOWTIME!"
• In the novel Lucrezia is surprised and more than a little alarmed at how quickly Klaus recovers from being wasped; apparently victims are incoherent and dazed for a while after their infection, so it speaks volumes about Klaus' willpower that barely a minute after he's been stung, he's figured out who Lucrezia is and attempts to kill her, and he's able to take on Zeetha and win.
• Wooster gets an absolutely classic one with just two words.
  Bangladesh Dupree: Yesssss...
  Wooster: No. *POW!*
• Master Payne: "A good magician never reveals how a trick was done. An evil magician never leaves any evidence that there was a trick in the first place. So- Which am I going to have to be today?"
• The Foglios used a pie-in-the-face gag, a trope so dead, the daisies it pushed up have long since withered. And they made it work!
• How do you escape the Baron's troops hellbent on killing you? Easy: you use an hallucinogen and some Refuge in Audacity to have them cheer on you while you escape on one of their own airships.
• Maxim has his in a tear-jerking moment that speaks deeply to any combat veteran. "Ve don't leave our own behind." Which becomes even more powerful in the final panel: Maxim gives his hat to Abner so that Lars can be given the funeral rites of a Jaeger.
  Maxim: So ven hyu bury him...make sure he gots a hat.

Volume 7: Agatha Heterodyne and the Voice of the Castle

• "Let me tell you about Airman Higgs.".
• Agatha makes coffee. Coffee so good that it stuns a Jager with its incredible taste after she splashes him in the face with it.
• Sun put the fear of Sun into the gleefully psychotic Bangladesh Dupree.
  Dr. Sun: In the future, please refrain from damaging more of my staff...or else I will personally rip off your arms and feed them to you.
• And then there's Gil with his zapping stick. OWNED.
  Gilgamesh: This is not a trick! I did not get lucky! I am Gilgamesh Wulfenbach- AND I AM IN CONTROL!
  • Best part is the chapter title: "Gil Deals With It."
  • "Lightning. He called down the lightning."
  • Plus the fact that he wasn't even certain it would work but had the guts to go through with it anyway.
  • "ANYONE ELSE?"
• And he tops even that in the next few strips, where he bluffs the army into staying surrendered despite being out of ammunition.
  • The two above ones are actually considered In-Universe to be Moment of Awesome. Klaus even considers them an example of the old-fashioned definition of a Moment of Awesome from before the definition was changed - that is, the one that marks a character's biggest accomplishment.
    Klaus: "Anything - being paralyzed for life - would be an acceptable price for seeing what I have seen my son do today. Oh, yes.

Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones

• Gil beats up a Jagermonster who was introduced by tearing a man's arm off.

  Gil: Well, you know what? I can do 'Crazy'. I really can.

• Agatha walking triumphant from Castle Heterodyne's Chapel, suspended on a bridge built out of pure Awesome.
• Dr Sun has his moment right about here, wherein he casually indicates that he can easily take out the large battle-mech currently holding him in its clutches, and being piloted by the king of Europe. With his bare hands. And Baron Wulfenbach's heartfelt sigh of relief upon Dr. Sun's being diverted from this goal would suggest that Dr. Sun wasn't just boasting.
  • Let's also take a moment to appreciate something else in the battle-mech page: a critically injured, nearly immobile Baron Wulfenbach somehow manages to get a giant hospital mech, piloted by two lovely nurses, up and running. A three-way combo of awesome, badass and pimp.
• This captain; not only does he try to warn the town of fire, like he should, but he cares much more about his crew than his pay.
• A crowning moment for a vehicle... then again, this is Castle Wulfenbach we are talking about.
  Airman: Whoah! Captain! Clouds movin' in fast— uh, no... Wait... oh, NO.
• Von Pinn makes an entrance.

Volume 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm

• An enraged Agatha casually zaps the rogue deathtraps throughout Castle Heterodyne. It gets to the point that the castle is begging her to tone down the power on her Death Ray. And it's already on the lowest setting.
• Agatha utterly crushes Zola's confidence, through a combination of giant robot tiger and sheer willpower, after making a pretty scary entrance.
  Agatha: I am Agatha Heterodyne. You are in my town. In my castle. And in my way.
• The whole scene is a kind of "No More Holding Back" Speech of Awesome from Agatha, ending with "Cross me and die." Said with a smile. Not a wicked smile, a pleasant smile. And it works.
  Agatha: ...I'm the evil madgirl with the deathray and the freakish ancestors and the town full of minions and the horde of Jaegers and the homicidal castle full of sycophantic evil geniuses and fun-sized hunter-killer monster clanks and GOODNESS KNOWS WHAT ELSE —
  Agatha: ...
  Agatha: And you know what? I CAN WORK WITH THAT!
• If anyone besides Zeetha REALLY tries to take Gil on? WATCH OUT.
• Agatha outmaneuvers von Pinn.
• This comic shows us that a CMOA doesn't have to be huge or flashy or dramatic. It can be as simple as one word.
  Agatha: Are you two fighting again?
  Gil & Tarvek: No.

Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse

• Sun wasn't boasting. It doesn't matter if you're ruler of Europe or not, when Dr Sun tells you that you need bed rest, he means it.
• This is why Zeetha is AWESOME.
  • A little bit later, we get some context on just how good she is at this.
• Return of the Higgs! Higgs takes another Level in Badass!
• Another CMOA for Higgs is his ability to intimidate Tarvek. After seeing that jerk manipulate everybody and get away with it, it is immensely satisfying to see Tarvek lose confidence and actually fear somebody for once.
• This comic has pretty much topped everything seen yet. Once again, Airman Higgs comes to save the day. He takes a hit from the Castle-controlled robot of mass destruction and doesn't even break his stride.
• What's strong enough for Agatha to wrestle Lucrezia down without her locket? The thought of Lucrezia letting Gil and Tarvek die. "And that is NOT going to happen in MY castle!"
  • And then Agatha revives Gil by SHOUTING AT HIM!
• Violetta's specialties.
• At the end of the Si Vales Valeo arc, Agatha ascends to a new level of awesome. Higgs tricks Agatha into drinking water from the Dyne and Otilia/Der Kestle gives her an electric shock, turning her into this. Before she suffers from Power Incontinence, she splits her new found energy into Tarvek and Gil. The fragment of Castle Heterodyne in Otilia's body is so impressed by this that it finally admits that Agatha probably is a Heterodyne.
  • Followed by a combination of awesome and funny that sums up all you need to know about the Heterodynes:
    Castle: Under the circir/circumstances, I/I am forced to admit that yo/you are most most likely oneoneone of the family...
    Agatha: Oh yeah... I have got to try that again!
    Castle: Yesss... most likely in/in/indeed.
• Who is Ol' Man Death? This guy. Looks unassuming doesn't he. Well first, he casually blocks a Jager with a breadknife. Then, we find something out about him:
  Ol' Man Death: Because I never lost a fight.
  Granddaughter: So?
  Ol' Man Death: No. Listen to me. I'm just a human. Rode with the Jagers. Never. Lost. A. Fight.
  • And Maxim beats Ol' Man Death by using "sottle!"
  • And on top of that, he got Zeuxippe's number!
• We knew Zola had been using Obfuscating Stupidity, but did you really just sucker the Other?
• Von Pinn / Otilia resists Lucretia's voice and scares her away. The best thing about this is that it feels like a Heel–Face Turn until you realise the only thing that has changed is the reader's perspective. Von Pinn is as constant as any construct, she is just protecting someone we want protected this time.
  Lucrezia: Ridiculous! You cannot resist me! I made sure of that when I built you! Stop, I say!
  Von Pinn: Ah, but you did not build me. Even in this miserable flesh, I am Otilia — the Muse of Protection.
• The Baron's majordomo Boris Dolokhov beats the location of the Jagergenerals out of another Jager. This actually impresses the generals enough to hear him out.
  Dolokhov: We need to talk.
  General Khrizkhan: Gospodin Dolokhov. Hod did hyu find us, hey?
  Dolokhov: Your messenger told me.
  General Khrizkhan: Vot? He vould not-
  Dolokhov: Oh- not right away...
  [tosses unconscious Jager at their feet]
  General Khrizkhan: Whoo!
  General Zog: Oho! You haz earned the right to a talk!
  • Wooster's CMOA trumping of Boris gets better on reflection—they're on one of the dozens of auxiliary airships around Castle Wulfenbach, Boris (who was on the Castle) had to beat the location out of the Jaeger messenger, and since Agatha told everyone she was going into the Castle alone, sending Krosp, Zeetha, and Wooster away, Wooster's been, as far as we know, somewhere on the ground in Mechanicsburg. And he comes in through the generals' window. How did he even get up there in the first place? Steampunk Bond.
• Another (potential) one for Higgs. Zeetha has been stabbed by Zola, and the pink banshee is gloating that Zeetha wasn't as good as she thought she was. Higgs' response as he cradles Zeetha? Look upset, look mad as hell, and say this:
  Higgs: Yes, but I vas starting to like her.
• Higgs gets stabbed by Zola. Response is a knee and a punch to the face. Trips Zola and gets booted for his trouble. His response to that is "Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow."
  • What makes this more impressive is that is that it's the same exact wound that put Zeetha down. Higgs ignores it and just keeps attacking until he remembers that he should be acting like he's in pain to stay in character. Even Dimo, a Jager, showed less pain resistance when he had his arm cut off than the Unstoppable Higgs did when stabbed in the lungs hinting at Higgs's true nature years before the reveal.
• And despite being stabbed, beaten, and otherwise horribly injured, he's up and ready to go. It says something about how badass Higgs is when he turns "standing up and smoking a pipe" into an act of pure awesome.

Volume 11: Agatha Heterodyne and the Hammerless Bell

• Otilia, Muse of Protection.
• Tarvek flips the hell out.
  Tarvek: I have lost my castle! My Muses! My town! My hand is revealed to those BLASTED! UPSTART! WULFENBACHS! You and Lucrezia have done nothing but destroy my life and my plans, and now you're trying to destroy the one bright spot left - AND THAT I WILL NOT PERMIT!(...) Oh, nononoNO, you do not "Give up!" YOU DIE!
• Barry Heterodyne got a new one just by existing. In this comic, when his name is brought up in a moment of Tempting Fate, both Zola/Lucrezia(?) and Anevka/Lucrezia realize what they just said and start to panic that he might show up. Keep in mind that this is the Other, one of the cruelest and most evil characters in the series and a candidate for overall Big Bad, and they're TERRIFIED that their brother-in-law might show up and ruin everything. Talk about establishing a rep.
• A difficult obstacle is presented. Gil and Tarvek argue over what to do. Agatha, meanwhile, deals with it.
• It's harder to break things with a knife.
• "And I am fond of you, Professor. Which is why I shall do this quickly."
• Vole taunts Gil by saying that he only won because he was holding back and not trying to kill Gil. However, later on, when said Jager is trying to kill Gil. Vole has just simultaneously beaten him and Tarvek while scolding them for talking during a fight and not taking him seriously. Gil hits him from behind, punches Vole in the face when he starts to talk, starts silently pummeling him with a chain of blows, and ends by putting a gun under Vole's chin and pulling the trigger three times. Too bad it's empty.
  Gil: We'll make it a game: who's the scariest monster?!
• HA! AND THAT ONE'S FOR AGATHA!

Volume 12: Agatha Heterodyne and the Siege of Mechanicsburg

• Moloch von Zinzer has Fraulein Snaug, a bunch of tiny clanks, and some pulleys and leverage. He manages to put the HUGE waterwheel of Castle Heterodyne's Great Movement Chamber back into place.
• Gil tanks the Doom Bell. Even Mama Gkika is shocked. And impressed.
  Mamma Gkika: Hokay! Hy's gun go get my boyz! De Lady Heterodyne's consort needs an escort!
• The Jagers come marching home.
  • As well as those that were being so-tell und sneaky-like!
• The Castle is fixed, the Doom Bell has rung, what else can Agatha do? Wrong question— the correct question is, what CAN'T she do?
  • "Ho! Now DOT'S de right attitude, sveethot! But even ih hyu is a krezy strong spark, it never hurtz to have a nize army to back hyu up!"
• Tarvek is in charge. And he got that way by simply glancing at the operations table and determining an entire army unit had been subverted. Being Genre Savvy, the Wulfenbach planners immediately put him in charge of defense coordination.
• Moloch takes a level in Alpha Minion.
• The Jaeger Generals put in some work. Rank Scales with Asskicking or Asskicking Leads to Leadership? Either way, a whole lot of people got stomped.
• Ruxala. Despite being a kindhearted... whatever-those-things-are lover, she's still quite the Action Girl, even while injured.
• Tarvek manages to kill two of the Baron's stealth fighters effortlessly, then make his escape from the burning ship carrying, in order: Brenn's notes, a (mostly) unconcious Action Girl, at least one adult waspeater, an injured Jaeger and any number of baby waspeaters. Oh, and he also manages to outrun a Hive Queen, while still carrying all of them.
• The action hero-ness of that scene is Crowningly Awesome in itself, but there's another aspect to it that crosses over with Heartwarming: there's no one around Tarvek's trying to manipulate. Yes, there's big-picture strategic value in the Vespiary Squads but for that purpose Tarvek only needed to save Brenn's notes and one of the adult waspeaters. Had he chosen not to take Ruxala, Jorgi, or the rest of the weasels, no one would ever have been the wiser. Tarvek still chose to put himself at greater risk because he knew it was the right thing to do.
• Tarvek may have just 1-uped himself a few pages later with a Big Damn Kiss with Agatha followed by an Offhand Backhand to Othar Trygvassen, Gentleman Adventurer.
  • Tarvek has earned himself enough respect that, at least according to Van, he's now on equal standing with Gil for Agatha's heart.
    Van: That was before Sturmvoraus evened the odds. It's anyone's race now.

Volume 13: Agatha Heterodyne and the Sleeping City

• The Dreen showed up at the siege of Mechanicsburg:
  Jaeger General: Yeek!
  Tarvek: Dreen!
  Jaeger General: Run! Der Baron iz not foolink around anny more! Doze tings iz unschtoppable! vorse-dey's scary!
• Agatha restores power to Castle Heterodyne.
• Castle Heterodyne is back online. And it's going to kick. Your. ASS.
  (Zeetha and Violetta come across a scene of inexplicable carnage where a unit of Wulfenbach infantry was laying down a withering barrage of suppressing fire on them a moment ago)
  Zeetha: Oh... Wow. now that- that's- That's something I'd expect the Castle to do!
  Castle Heterodyne: HELLO, LADIES!
• Oggie gives good romantic advice. Maxim is suitably awed.
• THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING IN MECHANICSBURG! The Castle pulls itself back together and unleashes every single clank and construct abomination within its bowels upon the Wulfenbach onslaught. The world is reminded just why Mechanicsburg is unassailable.
• The Baron's Badass Boast here is so awesome it makes the entire battle for the bridge of Castle Wulfenbach come to a dead halt.
  • A more subtle one on the same page. A random Wulfenbach Airman, not Higgs, proceeds to reduce a clank, made of metal, mind, to scrap with a single punch.
• Using a knife when you need the person you're attacking alive? Not quite as useless as you might think.
• "Curse that girl! She's improved." Why, yes, Martellus, she has.
• Agatha placates an angry monster by doing the one thing no other spark would ever think to do.
  Krosp: Finally one of you gets it right!
• Agatha reminds us once again just how much of a Spark she really is...
• The triumphant return of Airman Higgs. In the same comic, the fact that "miz Zeetha" is in charge of a detachment of Jagers. They're some of the most deadly and unruly soldiers in all Europa... and Zeetha is clearly in charge of them.
• Old Man Death's hat is so coveted among the Jaegermonsters that they had an organized list drawn up of the order of who got to fight Maxim for it. Two years later, Maxim still has that hat.
• This strip reveals that Gil is in open war with the Other, the same entity which destroyed Castle Heterodyne in a single attack and went on to annihilate no less than forty-three Spark houses. And Gil is holding his own.
• Gil has discovered a cure for wasp infection.
  • Unclear if this is the case. Later pages indicate he simply used Tarvek's inoculation formula on everyone on the castle.
• A bit Fridge Logic-y, but in this strip, the construct properties of Adam and Lillith seem to have bred true in Maxina. Which means that Gil has managed to create a true new species.

Second Journey:

Volume 1: Agatha Heterodyne and The Beast of the Rail

• As DuPree points out, there's a reason the title of the comic is Girl Genius.
• CRUNCH. Tweedle really had that coming.
• The remnant of Klaus inside Gil managing to truly terrify Lucrezia!Agatha when she threatens his son.

Volume 2: Agatha Heterodyne and the City of Lightning

• Overlapping with Moment of Funny, Agatha's smile in the last panel here, as a fragment of the Castle's personality that's essentially taken over every engine in Paris like a Trojan comes to life.
  Drusus: I say, what on earth is that?
  Agatha: That's mine!
  • The very fact that Agatha conquers Paris within an afternoon on the same day she arrives. The real kicker is that she wasn't even planning to do so. It's little wonder that, in a world already brimming with mad scientists, the Heterodynes are still held in high regard.
• The Dreen reveal themselves to both see the future, and to be the Eldritch Abominations so scary they got one of the Old Heterodynes to stop their experiments. And Klaus managed to tame these things. Also worth noting in that regard, Dupree is afraid of them.

Volume 3: Agatha Heterodyne and the Incorruptible Library

• For a long while, people thought that Violetta's claims that she's not a very good Smoke Knight were Heroic Self-Deprecation. They weren't.
• In this page, Tarvek wakes up, and takes less than a minute to not only figure out that he was kidnapped, but to get free and turn the table on one of his kidnappers. With a fork.

  Tarvek: (about the fork) So much more versatile than a knife.

• Crossing over with Heartwarming: Dimo reveals the reason behind the Jägers' "absence" from the Heterodyne stories: they were hated, and the Boys wanted to break from their family's reputation. When some were caught following, they were all ordered to remain in Mechanicsburg. Dimo thinks that Agatha should think about that. Here is her reply.

Volume 4: Kings and Wizards

• Voltaire lays down the law very quickly by luring a lot (all?) of the Geisterdamen on the loose in Paris close together, then lifting them up and crushing them all to death with the pavement. Just in case any poor fool thought his title, Master of Paris, was hollow.
  The Master: "VOILA!"
• With one snap of her fingers, Colette destroys all of Beausoleil's extra bodies... and makes him feel each one.
  • Followed by two Badass Boasts from Colette on one page: "The Devil may take your true body, you nasty little traitor." / "You are not important enough to waste any more of my time."

Volume 5: Queens and Pirates

• Krosp arrives in London with the bear army, looking badass.
• Tarvek, showing balls of steel, implies he's figured out what Higgs really is, and then when the latter makes veiled threats, grabs his hand and puts it to his throat, telling him to "threaten me properly." Then, in the very next strip, Higgs calls Tarvek's bluff, leaving him rather horrified when he realizes that a Jaeger General could very easily kill him right then and there, and almost does.
  Higgs: You. Sturmvoraus. Latest in a family of underhanded, devious, scheming serpents. I've known them well - generation after generation - and they have never produced anyone as dangerous as you. (Beat) Heh heh heh heh heh. Yesss, I think you will serve the lady very well indeed.

Volume 6: Sparks and Monsters

• A villainous one, but the revelation of just how powerful Lucrezia/The Other truly was: able to subvert the mirror network and wielding weapons and defenses beyond the understanding even of the Queens.
• Dr. Vanoople demonstrating why he was feared when he had his Spark.
• Though he loses, Snackleford's achievement of having his second break through is quite the accomplishment. Besides for Lucrezia, we don't know anyone who has ever managed to achieve that since the time of the Queens. He may even be the first male to do so ever whereas even a Heterodyne died in the attempt and another, using similar machines, freaked out while summoning similar (though more powerful than Snackleford's) monsters and ditched the research. Though what Snackleford did was pretty wrong, he did get himself in perfect position to achieve what very few have done before and was only beaten due to being drunk on his new power. Given enough time, he probably could have been incredibly dangerous and may still be given that Dr. Vanoople implies Snackleford would be gaining an enormous amount of power in the other dimension.

Volume 7: The Exorcism Engines

• This page is one for Tarvek on multiple levels, counting off:
  • First of all, he inserted an override command into Anevka's body, either when he transferred Lucrezia into it or well before, at all. While this is remarkably obvious for someone as used to schemes and plots as Tarvek, it's still an impressive display of saviness in a world where one of the most common forms of death for sparks is death by own Creation.
  • Secondly, Lucrezia did not know about the override, or thought she had bypassed it. Tarvek managed to pull one over on the Big Bad in the middle of an arc revealing just how dangerous and powerful she really is.
  • Finally, he did in style. Justifiably proud indeed.
  • For reference, the override was indeed part of Anevka's original body ... and was only used just before he installed Lucrezia's consciousness into the same body, so it's very possible she had no idea that it existed.
• Lucrezia-in-Agatha achieving the second breakthrough and becoming a queen. Is it Rooting for the Empire? Yes. Does Lu-Agatha's One-Winged Angel Queen-mode look awesome as hell? Yes!
• Wooster gets one here. He's faced with an ascended Lucrezia in Agatha's body, demanding to know who just who is Queen. His reply? "Albia... is eternal..." He is killed for it, as he almost certainly knew he would be, but he upheld his Queen's honour, dying as he lived and inspiring Albia's troops to attack.
• After thirteen years of comic time, Lucrezia is finally driven out of Agatha's head. Complete with the furious daughter choking her mother.
  • The best part is that Lucrezia begs for Agatha to spare her. To see her pride so thoroughly broken that she's reduced to begging is just so satisfying.
    • Perhaps even more satisfying is Agatha's rather succinct response: she punches Lucrezia in the face.
      Lucrezia: Daughter! Wait! Let me stay! I can teach you!
      Agatha: You've taught me plenty, mother— and I'm not very happy about that!

Volume 8

• After years of strips required to get the Baron and Lucrezia out of their heads so they could even have such a moment, Gil and Agatha share a romantic dance, much to Tarvek's consternation.
• Agatha putting the fear of God in Bangladesh Dupree, paralyzing her and giving her a whispered warning.
  Agatha: You will touch none of my people. None of my friends. Cross me, and I will end you. Blink if you agree. [feigning surprise] Oh, I'm so sorry, I forgot! You can't. You can't move at all, can you? Don't worry, it will wear off. Eventually.

Volume 9

• When a Revenant tries to take control of the airship the group is on, Bang immediately leaps into action, subduing the Revenant and taking command of the ship, immediately giving out orders to minimize the damage the Revenant caused and ensure no other Revenants are aboard.
• Madwa gets the drop on Hadrian and a large group of monsters with Prende's Lantern, which causes anything hit by its light to freeze in time. She notices that Violetta is there as well and dismisses her... and then she realizes that Violetta isn't actually in the light. Violetta had to stay perfectly still the entire time until she had the opportunity to strike, and successfully fooled a master Smoke Knight long enough to make her drop her guard, even if Madwa, by her own admission, was exhausted.
  • Though, as a professional Smoke Knight, Madwa should've easily seen through this. For misdirection it's one of the Oldest Ones in the Book, the fact that Violetta managed to fool Madwa so completely with one of the simplest forms of misdirection until Madwa realized her mistake not only speaks of Madwa's exhaustion but also how she was becoming dependent on Prende's lantern. On top of that Violetta recognized this with very little warning to pull off the deception.
• Dr. Monahan, who so far had appeared to be little more than another bit-part evil Spark, turns out to be working against her old pal "Luci", attempting to destroy her clank body while delivering a brutal "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  Doctor Monahan: Did you really think I would tamely let you use me the way you use everyone and everything? Tch- You honestly did believe it was all about you, didn't you?
  • She also seems to be the second person on screen going for the Second breakthrough meaning that she along with Snackleford are both more capable of handling such power than Agatha. So few sparks make it that far that only Lucrezia and the Queens have been known to achieve it while at least one Heterodyne has exploded in the attempt.
  • And while Lucrezia does survive, the fact that Monahan has now triggered the second breakthrough surely throws a wrench into her plans.

Volume 10

• The fight between Monahan and Clank!Lucrezia escalates until they're both kaiju-sized.
• Their fighting attracts the attention of the Song Keeper, the corrupted Great Cetacean mentioned by Ahnkokanth, who sends an army of monsters to attack everyone.
  Rakethorn: Now you see why Albia takes the Great Cetaceans seriously.
  • The double-page spread helpfully provides a size comparison.
• Surrounded by a looming Lucrezia and an army of giant monsters, princess Neena panics and calls for Albia. She answers.
• In a desperate bid to stop Lucrezia, the gang rams their ship's jumping engine directly into her head, where it promptly explodes. If Lucrezia's resulting scream is any indication, she most certainly felt it.

Volume 11

• When Agatha speaks with the Dreen and demands to know their goals, they tell her that they are waiting for her to remove the temporal blockage standing between them and their quarry. As in, the monster within the time bubble. And no, they're not joking.
  Agatha: What? I heard it was huge! You're planning to kill it? Just the three of you?
  Dreen 1: Heh heh
  Dreen 2: Ho ho
  Dreen 3: Hee hee
  All three: Yes.

Side Stories

• Agatha's awesome even in the side comics. This is a quote people will remember.
• In another side comic, Agatha makes quite an entrance.
  • Literally.
• In a side comic dealing with the Mechanicsburg Guild of Monsters, it is revealed that the guildmaster at the time of the Boys, Jorbelox, fought to stop the guildhall and fleshyards from being demolished to the point of killing six Jaegers and breaking Bill Heterodyne's arm before managing to flee for his life...to become an advisor to the Pope of Rome itself for twenty years!
• Franz finds himself challenged to a fight by none other than Humongulus!
  • Rather than fight Humongulus in a drawn-out brawl, Franz forces him to surrender not with brawn, but with guile and cunning. For his part, Humongulus congratulates Franz on a fair victory.

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