What if the Venture Family had a member who was both smart, had common sense, and didn't have a huge amount of bloodlust? Here is hoping they don't drive her into villainy.
Girl Adventurer
is a The Venture Bros. What If? fic which has Team Venture gain an additional member, Rusty's previously unknown illegitimate daughter Sarah Venture. Sarah has inherited the Venture family genius but still retains some common sense, so she now has to navigate life as a member of Team Venture.
Girl Adventurer contains examples of:
- Abled in the Adaptation:
- Sarah gives Billy several prosthetic eyes to replace his missing one.
- Sarah gives Dragoon a new body so that he won't have to remain a head on Red Mantle's body.
- Adaptational Badass: Thanks to Sarah's influence, Hank is much more competent in combat earlier than in canon.
- Adaptational Explanation:
- H.E.L.P.eR is revealed to have been the one to help one version of Hank and Dean shrink themselves and the X-3 before inserting them into Rusty. Though we don't get to know why due to outside circumstances interrupting Sarah and Triana's interrogation of H.E.L.P.eR.
- JJ's cancer is revealed to be a curse inflicted upon him by the Investors, which goes away after the latter are killed off like in canon.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Discussed. Sarah posits the theory that M.U.T.H.E.R. went crazy because Jonas made her too well; she genuinely cared about people, but was unable to prevent any of the atrocities that Jonas committed. Rusty agrees that's probably accurate, and this is confirmed after Sarah reprograms M.U.T.H.E.R. and makes her an admin AI.
- Best Friend: Sarah becomes this with Triana, as the two both have to deal with the fact that they're the most normal member of their respective families.
- Big Brother Instinct: Both Hank and Dean care deeply for Sarah and will defend her from any harm, even if she's more capable than either of them in an actual fight.
- Big Brother Is Watching: Downplayed. M.U.T.H.E.R. keeps an eye on Sergeant Hatred after he's hired as the Venture bodyguard, just in case. She also usually has the automatic systems handling the security rather than monitor the Venture Compound herself if there is nothing pressing going on.
- Brain Bleach: Sarah is disgusted to learn that Otaku Senzuri gets aroused from cutting edge technology and that he kidnapped her so that she can complete one of his company's inventions for the primary purpose of pleasuring himself to it.Sarah: I have never felt so unattracted to something I love… I think I need to take a break from science for a bit
- Cool Big Sis: Sarah sees Sheila as this, and Sheila also cares deeply for Sarah, seeing her as sort of a protégé. As such, when the two are free, they often work together on various projects.
- Cyborg: In order to get Red in fighting condition to go up against the snakemen attacking the Venture Compound, Sarah is forced to turn him into a cyborg.
- Even Nerds Have Standards: Dean admits that he feels this way about Sarah's assertion that her only love is science.“Wow, even I find that kind of nerdy, Sarah.”
- Foil: Sarah, to both her brothers - while Hank and Dean are both Too Dumb to Live, Sarah inherited Rusty's intelligence and is the Only Sane Man among her family. Additionally, Sarah also inherited her father's Mad Scientist traits, but still has a code of ethics, compared to her brothers being a Nice Guy pair.
- The Heart: Sarah always does her best to help others whenever possible, usually tries to get the others to also act altruistically, and is the one who always does her best to ensure that Team Venture acts like a family.
- Insistent Terminology: Even after Sarah points out that butterflies come out of chrysalises and not cocoons, the Monarch refuses to rename the Cocoon.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- As Sarah wasn't around to persuade Gary otherwise, he still leaves S.P.H.I.N.X. to rejoin the Monarch.
- Despite JJ surviving his illness, Rusty still ends up in charge of Venture Techno Industries.
- Little Miss Badass: Downplayed. Sarah's a baseline teenaged girl, so she can be easily overpowered by one or more adults. However, she has received self-defense training from Brock and often has tools on her person that she can use to defend herself.
- Mad Scientist: Sarah is interested in super science just as much as her father; she just has a stronger code of ethics. That doesn't mean she won't dabble in some unethical experiments, though that's mostly when she's collaborating with her father.
- Magic Versus Science: Discussed between Dean and Sarah after their father goes out of his way to steal an idol that's said to have properties that could help him with his impotence.Dean: But I thought Pop didn’t believe in magic?
Sarah: It's not that he doesn’t believe it, it's just that he is one of those science purists who thinks calling anything magic somehow undermines his whole profession or something. He is perfectly happy to use it to his own benefit, he just won’t call it magic. That’s why we are in the middle of nowhere trying to steal a religious treasure of a native tribe rather than asking Dr. Orpheus for a spare one, who, in Dad’s own words, ‘would never let him hear the end of it.' - Mission Control: Sarah becomes this for Gary when the latter decides to continue operating S.P.H.I.N.X. after the others go back to the OSI.
- Not So Above It All: Although Sarah is normally the Only Sane Woman in her family, she occasionally gets swept up, or even actively participates, in her family and friends' misadventures.
- Only Sane Man: Sarah takes this role in Team Venture as she doesn't have the baggage Rusty does, has more common sense than her brothers, and isn't blinded by bloodlust like Brock sometimes is.
- Original Character: Although the story mostly follows canon, Sarah's presence has resulted in a few new characters.
- Legion is the result of Jonas' experiments in creating psychics, resulting in a hive mind of cloned brains. All but one brain had died by the time Sara, Hank, Dean, and Triana found them, with the entire hive mind having transferred all the consciousnesses in it. Sarah helps them out and gets Rusty and Ben's help in creating a body for Legion.
- Point of Divergence: Sarah's presence helps change things from canon.
- The Mike Sorayama android is saved from destruction by Sarah, who keeps the disembodied head around for his robotic expertise and in the hopes of redeeming him. He later makes a Heel–Face Turn after having an off-screen epiphany with Dr. Killinger and becomes an ally of Team Venture.
- Triana is made aware of her magical potential much sooner, so she learns under both of her parents.
- Due to Sarah wanting to be honest with her brothers, she reveals the fact that they're clones after her brothers find the cloning facility.
- Thanks to Legion's help, Sarah learns of how Billy lost his eye and hand. As such, she makes sure he isn't mindwiped again and even gives him an artificial eye and upgrades for his arm.
- Sarah making a good impression with the Dr. Quymn's family, stopping the forest fire soon after it starts, and catching one of the men pretending to be a Were-o-dile results in them parting ways from Team Venture on good terms.
- Sarah decides to reprogram M.U.T.H.E.R. and keep her around as an admin AI.
- Sarah, Triana, and Kim are kidnapped by "Zeus". Later, the three of them are able to contact Team Venture, the Order of the Triad, and Brock who then help defeat Zero.
- Thanks to Sarah's intervention, S.P.H.I.N.X. continues to exist even after Gary takes up the reins as it's leader, with it even getting official recognition from the OSI.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Rusty reveals that he only has three months to complete a ray shield JJ asked him to make a year ago, Sarah decides she doesn't want to help her father clean up another one of his messes and instead helps Gary set up a new version of S.P.H.I.N.X.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Thanks to Sarah, some characters get to avoid their canonical deaths.
- Because Sarah is there to stabilize his condition, Agent Red Bannon survives his injuries.
- Android Mike is salvaged by Sarah, although he is reduced to only a head. She keeps him around so that he can contribute the robotics expertise the original programmed into him, and in exchange, she occasionally gives him access to a robot body so that he can actually do things. After he has an epiphany from talking with Dr. Killinger, he gets a permanent body and becomes an ally of Team Venture.
- D-19 is found by Sarah, who treats him with kindness and sees him as just another brother. As such, when he finally makes himself known to Team Venture, he gets to part with them on good terms as he decides to live on Spider-Skull Island with their uncle JJ.
- Sarah's presence leads to Monstroso avoiding his canonical death, though he has to go into hiding with the OSI faking his death so that the Investors don't go after him again.
- Thanks to Sarah refusing to give up hope, JJ doesn't perform his canonical Heroic Sacrifice.
- Sarah fixes up jBot after H.E.L.P.eR throws him off VenTech Tower and is able to get the latter to accept the former to prevent any further attempts at robot murder.
- Took a Level in Badass: Thanks to Sarah's influence and support, Triana ends up learning magic way earlier than in canon. And unlike in canon, we actually get to see her use it.
- Tough Love: Sarah convinces Triana to clearly and firmly reject Dean so that he can move on from her.
- Workaholic: Sarah acknowledges that she likes to work in the lab on as much stuff as possible.
