Tropes S - T
- Scenery Porn: The initial description of the Vale of Javangiri in 'Leap Day' as Starforce and Ladyhawk fly over it.
- Schizo Tech: The TASK FORCE Earth, as of when Julie becomes President of the United States in "Coup d'Etat", has a very weird mixture of modern-day (circa 2016) tech, next-generation computer equipment, private individuals with electrogravitics tech equal to anything else in the civilized galaxy, one nation (Sergei Varinnikov's Republic of Central Asia) with a warp-capable spacefleet, and THE most sophisticated teleportation portal in the entire galaxy (underneath Stately Dormyer Manor Mark II).
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: In "V'Han Returns", Istvatha V'Han prevents Starforce's rescue of Ladyhawk in 'The City That VIPER Built', with catastrophic consequences to Earth and its dimension. It's up to Captain Chronos, Ranger, and Lady Blue to keep that from happening.
- Shark Pool: Biomaster's piranha breeding pool in 'Piranharecho'
- Ship Tease: Perhaps it would be quicker to list a story where this trope ISN'T in operation at least once...
- Bob & Tara in 'You All Meet In A Lab'
- Bob & Julie in 'You All Meet In A Lab'
- Bob & Julie, all THROUGH 'The Strange Secret of Matthew Fuseli'
- Ladyhawk & Biomaster in the climax of 'The Strange Secret of Matthew Fuseli'
- Vikon & T'Nereq, all through 'Reconnaissance In Force'
- Julie & Bob, ALSO all through 'Reconnaissance In Force'
- Bob & Sequoyah Holographic's Chief Scientist Natalie Morales, in 'The Evil of Doctor Destroyer'
- Bob & Tara, all through 'Escalation'
- Julie & Bob in 'Escalation' during the lunch with Clayton Stiles, and again in the After-Action Patch Up at the end
- Lady Blue & Ladyhawk (!), also from 'Escalation', once Tara witnesses Julie do an infiltration of Red River Financial Group
- Julie & Lt. Masahara all through 'Megaterak Raids Again'
- Starforce & Ladyhawk (again), briefly during the conversion of the Tokyo Tower into an anti-kaiju weapon and again in the epilogue of 'Megaterak Raids Again'
- Julie & Bob intermittently throughout "The Secret of Arcadia"
- Ted & Thelambra once TASK FORCE arrives in the Valley of Arcadia in "The Secret of Arcadia"
- Bob & Nebula in 'The Paradox of Doctor Destroyer'
- Bob & Julie throughout 'Greatest Generation'
- Bob & Julie at the end of 'Heart of Darkness'
- Aida Lerner & Bob in 'Piranharecho'
- Ladyhawk & Powerfist in '72 Hours'
- Ladyhawk & Starforce, all through '72 Hours'
- Powerfist & Starforce (!), also from '72 Hours'
- Bob & Tara in 'Crowns of Krim'. And how...
- Starforce & Ladyhawk during the infiltration of Mechanon's base in 'Extinction Event'. Noteworthy because this was AFTER Bob had been doing the horizontal tango with Judith Shapiro for a couple of days.
- Ted & Aida in the Epilogue to 'Extinction Event'
- Ted & Dr. Eclipse of Boston's New Paladins superteam in 'Operation Phoenix'
- Shina Arikawa and Mr. Bassman in 'O Little Town'
- Spiritual Warrior & Mr. Bassman (!!) in 'The Battle of Detroit' (implied)
- Ladyhawk and Lady Blue in "The Jewel of Awad"
- Deputy Constable Rendon & PRIMUS Agent Corwin in 'Fields of Saguenay'
- Bob & Tara in 'The First Dimensional War'
- Istvatha V'Han & Bob in 'The First Dimensional War'. Which may go a long way towards explaining why she targeted him and Julie so viciously in "V'Han Returns"...
- Cateran & Bob in 'What Happens in Vegas...', because Julie asked Heather to look after him while she competed at the World Series of Poker
- Elizabeth Anson & Bob briefly in 'Kingdom of Champions', when she finds out that he is a classic Doctor Who fan.
- Tara & alternate-Bob in "V'Han Returns", which actually gets consummated before the timeline is restored
- Nathan & Jackie Drake in 'Cliques'
- Randy Corwin and Lorelei Pierce in the epilogue of 'Cliques'
- Blink & Jocelyn in 'International Treasure'
- Blink & Jocelyn in 'Force of Will' before the assault on Alpenfestung
- Starforce & Lady Blue in 'Force of Will'. Especially notable since Bob has been happily married to Julie for over two decades by this time.
- Tetsuronin and the Countess in 'Mechanon, Inc.'
- Nathan & Jackie again in "Coup d'Etat"
- Shrug of God: The series creator had written several stories taking place in the 1980's and early 1990's using a bridge across Lake Lewisville which would not actually exist until 2009 before discovering his mistake. So, he moved its construction back 20 years in time to 1989.
- Also, don't ask him if Vikon was actually bluffing Ranger during the Poker game in 'Operation Phoenix.' He doesn't know what he was holding, either.
- Shown Their Work: SO many examples...
- The math behind the design of Starforce's anti-satellite rockets in 'Reign of the Destroyer' gets its own Technical Appendix post-story.
- The author also computer-simulated 1989 FC's trajectory during the climax of 'Extinction Event' before writing it not only to know when, what direction, and how hard TASK FORCE needed to apply the acceleration to make it miss Earth -- but also to know whether the epilogue scene took place at sunset (missed behind the Earth) or dawn (missed in front of Earth).
- Also from 'Extinction Event', the series creator devotes an entire technical appendix to the calculation Starforce does in his head to determine how much energy 1989 FC will release upon impact -- then tells the interested reader what to Google to see an even more detailed treatment done by NASA
- Anytime the geography of a location which TASK FORCE visits on Earth is described in detail, you can practically follow along on Google Maps from the safety of your own computer.
- The fuel stops Bob discusses with Julie in the epilogue of 'Megaterak Raids Again' are consistent with the range of the Gulfstream IV business jet they have "borrowed" from ProStar
- The time-and-distance calculations for getting from Dallas to Amchitka in '72 Hours' (along with the location of the two fuel stops), even though they are for the fictional Drake-Victoria VTOL, are consistent with a high-subsonic aircraft with a range of over 4,000 miles
- A quick sidebar in 'Malva Awakens' calculates how much water Starforce had just hit Firewing with to conclude their duel.
- The time-and-distance calculation for the 82nd Airborne's combat deployment from Fort Bragg to the Mbang Mountains in 'World War VIPER' (as well as its refueling stop at Lajes AFB in the Azores) are consistent with the speed and range of the C-17 cargo aircraft in operational use by the USAF at that time.
- Slice of Life: Most stories start with the principle cast in their secret identities attempting to live normal, everyday lives.
- Smug Snake: the psionic Revolution X in 'Street Level' fits the definition to a T
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: How Ladyhawk and Starforce chose to express their Belligerent Sexual Tension when they were younger.
- Society-on-Edge Episode: 'Street Level', for the Pleasant Grove neighborhood of Dallas
- Space Episode: 'The Varanyi Civil War'
- The prologue and first couple of scenes of 'The Battle of Detroit' also count, seeing as they are a direct continuation of 'The Varanyi Civil War'
- Um, how about the scene in Istvatha V'Han's quarters on the Imperator Invictus in "The First Dimensional War"?
- 'Malva Awakens', after Starforce is kidnapped by Kanrok the Acquisitioner
- Special Guest: The then-current president of Purdue University in "Yeoman's Work" introduces Bob before his speech. Bonus points to Bob for also name-dropping the real-life director of the Purdue Varsity Glee Club during the time Bob would have been a member during that speech.
- Bob's thesis advisor/Nobel Prize co-winner, name-dropped in both 'Extinction Event' and 'Operation Phoenix', is also briefly met in-person in "Yeoman's Work." Word of God says that he was a real professor in the Purdue Physics department during the early 1980's
- President Bill Clinton gets a significant number of speaking lines in 'The First Dimensional War'
- President George W. Bush meets the members of the new TASK FORCE in person during the meeting in Stately Dormyer Manor Mark II's Great Room during "Black Ops"
- Square/Cube Law: Defied and lampshaded at the same time by (who else?) Starforce in 'Megaterak Raids Again' when Megaterak climbs out of Tokyo Bay.
Starforce: "Yeah, nothing says 'Screw you, Square/Cube Law' *quite* like Q'laar technology."
- Invoked and exploited by our heroes at the climax of 'Mechanon, Inc.' when Mechanon has leveled up into a Humongous Mecha form. They specifically target its radiator panels and legs during their battle with it after Starforce points out to everyone exactly what it would take to violate the Square/Cube law on that scale.
- Stable Time Loop: At least two, both of which are hugely important in-universe
- In 'Greatest Generation', Starforce forces Private Renton to memorize everything he has seen in Die Glocke. In later years, Private Renton becomes Dr. Renton and uses that knowledge to become an expert in electrogravitics -- which inspires a young Bob Hawkins to go into science. As a scientist, Bob builds a forcefield-based battlesuit and becomes the superhero Starforce...
- Sage immediately lampshades this when he realizes what Starforce has done. Given how horrified he is, you wonder just how much experience the Varanyi have with temporal paradoxii.
- The presence of this time-loop in human history is cited by Starforce in both "Jungles of Guamanga" and "The Great Stronghold Breakout" as an excuse to why he otherwise cannot perform precise temporal navigation calculations unless they're between 1944 and 1986.
- Doctor Destroyer triggering the reality-breaking paradox in 'Leap Day' is what prompts Shadow Destroyer to seek out the TASK FORCE timeline. Shadow Destroyer enters it 10 years prior in 'Return of the Destroyer', which eventually leads to the events of 'Leap Day'...
- Arguably, Julie's Danger Sense malfunction at the very beginning of 'You All Meet in a Lab' can be considered the setup for one that lasts the rest of her life
- In 'Greatest Generation', Starforce forces Private Renton to memorize everything he has seen in Die Glocke. In later years, Private Renton becomes Dr. Renton and uses that knowledge to become an expert in electrogravitics -- which inspires a young Bob Hawkins to go into science. As a scientist, Bob builds a forcefield-based battlesuit and becomes the superhero Starforce...
- Standard Sci-Fi Fleet: The Varanyi Battle Line, as seen exploding above Earth by Doctor Destroyer's hand in the beginning of 'Reign of the Destroyer' and executing the ultimate Gunship Rescue/Big Damn Heroes moment at the climax of 'The First Dimensional War'
- Status Quo Is God: No matter WHAT happens between Ladyhawk and Starforce in the manner of Ship Teasing before 'The City That VIPER Built', something will happen by the end of the story to reset them to their normal Belligerent Sexual Tension.
- Stealth Pun: Run ALL the Mandaarian names from 'Expedition to Earth' through Google's Greek-to-English translator. I'll wait.
- Except for the Prologue, the story 'O Little Town' takes place entirely within the city limits of Lakewood Village, TX... population 535.
- The title of the story 'Nine-Tenths of the Law' is derived from the old proverb 'Possession is nine-tenths of the law.' Guess how Congressman David Sutherland, retired 'superhero', and victim of Shadow Destroyer, gained his powers?
- How about this sequence between Blink and Starforce from 'The Destroyer Wars'?
Blink (to Starforce while facepalming): "You just gave me a Mathematician's Answer, didn't you?"
Starforce: "Got it in one." - Mechanon's final form in 'Mechanon, Inc.' is consistently referred to by the narrator as Humongous Mechanon.
- Story Arc: Lots of them:
- The 1985 story arc consisting of "Escalation", "Megaterak Raids Again", and "The Secret of Arcadia" centers on Zorran the Artificer's theft of an experimental holographic processor Bob has been building -- and the uses to which it gets put
- "The Paradox of Doctor Destroyer" and "Greatest Generation" in 1986
- The relationship between Ladyhawk and Starforce, which is usually an amusing subplot, becomes one of the main drivers of stories in-universe starting with "Heart of Darkness" and not ending until "The Battle of Detroit"
- The 1992 story arc consisting of "Yeoman's Work", "The Varanyi Civil War", and "The Battle of Detroit".
- Bob's relationship with his biological father -- hinted at in "You All Meet in a Lab" and "The Evil of Doctor Destroyer" and given an early-bird reveal to the reader at the end of "Patron of the Arts" -- becomes the main driver of most stories for the next 20 years in-universe starting in "The Legacy of Doctor Destroyer".
- Bob's abduction by Kat el-Hassan in "The Jewel of Awad" has some serious psychological repercussions which drive the plots of both "Land of the Free" and "Island Time" before they get resolved.
- The competition for America's next national hero ("Land of the Free", "Home of the Brave")
- Most of the stories from "Black Ops" to "Leap Day" that involve the new TASK FORCE pursuing a seemingly-resurrected Doctor Destroyer. This arc is notable for having at least TWO fully-contained sub-arcs within it: the Mandragalore sub-arc from "Black Ops" to "The Island of Shadow Destroyer", and Shadow Destroyer's attempt to build and power a time machine from "Castle Doctrine" to "Time and Again"
- The arc involving Jason Renton. Introduced in "Jungles of Guamanga", drives the plots of "Castle Doctrine", "Nine-Tenths of the Law", and "Time and Again".
- Doctor Destroyer's technical achievements -- and the struggles of everyone attempting to steal them for themselves -- form an arc stretching from "The Prisoner of Doctor Destroyer" through "Force of Will"
- The VIPER arc, starting in "International Treasure" and concluding in "World War VIPER"
- Stuffed Into A Trashcan: Starforce's preferred method to deal with UNTIL agents trespassing on Stately Dormyer Manor's grounds in 'Fields of Saguenay'. Next-door neighbor Biomaster helpfully lends his trashcans to accomodate the entire squad.
- Superhero Sobriquets: Surprisingly few for a superhero universe:
- Ladyhawk: Mother of Time Elementals, Hagane no hana ('Steel Flower', in Japan only)
- Starforce: The Clown Prince of the Keyboard (in Purdue Varsity Glee Club lore only), The Son of Doctor Destroyer, Son of Zerstoiten
- Spiritual Warrior: Preacher Man, Pastor, Angel-mon (Mr. Bassman only)
- Doctor Destroyer: the Avatar of Shiva (Vale of Javangiri only)
- Diamond: Ol' Gemhead
- Superheroes Stay Single: Averted with Ladyhawk and Starforce
- Also averted with Ranger and Thelambra
- An implied aversion between Blink and Jocelyn, as they can be seen together in a 2024 Clan Hawkins family portrait with Jocelyn holding a baby
- Superhero Trophy Shelf: We see two very modest ones in-universe, both in Stately Dormyer Manor:
- From 'Ghosts From The Past' through 'Force of Will', there is a full-height case in the library containing both Starforce's and Ladyhawk's armor from 'The Battle of Detroit. This case hides the entrance to Bob's private labs under the Manor, which include the theta-boson Portal room
- Sometime after 'World War VIPER', a more public display can be seen in the Foyer, containing their suits and weapons from that story as well as pictures of Bob winning the Nobel Prize, Julie taking the Oath of Office at her first Presidential inaugaration, and various photos of Clan Hawkins through the years.
- Super Soldier: Many, many examples
- Union Jack, from the UK's World War 2 Super Soldier Programme
- The Perseus Process, which produced the American national hero 'The All-America' between the late 1960's and 1980. Clayton Stiles was the third All-American before his Face-Heel turn and subsequent recruitment by VIPER
- The Yeoman Project, located at a base in southern Indiana, produced the superteam Ameriforce One in the late 1970's
- The Cyberline process, which produced the original Golden Avenger and several Silver Avengers throughout the 1980's. This process ultimately proved fatal for everyone subjected to it
- The Varanyi medical nanotech in Starforce and Ladyhawk post-'The Varanyi Civil War' enhances the human body in ways very similar to the Perseus process
- Take That: the method used by Doctor Destroyer to threaten Detroit in official Champions Universe canon (an Asteroid Attractor) gets bodyslammed twice: once by Bob while visiting his old gaming store in Indianapolis during "Heart of Darkness" and again by the author in a Technical Appendix to his version of that event, "The Battle of Detroit"
- Star Trek's Prime Directive gets epically skewered in this exchange between Ladyhawk and T'Nereq just before the climax of "The Battle of Detroit"
Ladyhawk: ((could you help us with the remaining asteroids, please?))
T'Nereq: ((no need to plead, we have been talking with your spaceborne contingent. They will clear our firing arcs in 30 seconds))
Ladyhawk: ((oh THANK you!)) (beat) ((so the Varanyi don't have a Prime Directive or something that would have interfered?))
T'Nereq: ((only a species as imaginative as yours could come up with something so idiotic and suicidal)) - The 24th Century as portrayed in Star Trek: The Next Generation gets slammed by Holo-D in "The Legacy of Doctor Destroyer" when Julie attempts to compare him to a holodeck
- Star Trek's Prime Directive gets epically skewered in this exchange between Ladyhawk and T'Nereq just before the climax of "The Battle of Detroit"
- Teens Are Monsters: Kara Lerner in 'The Manifestation'. In her defense, some of her personality may have been due to Shadow Destroyer's manipulations during the story...
- Lucas Steele in 'Cliques', not helped by a school administration that actively covers up his rapes in order to keep him playing football.
- That's No Moon: Hilariously lampshaded by the rescue party as Warlord's flagship flies into visual range of the Phazor's Worldship between Saturn and Uranus in 'Malva Awakens'
- There Was a Door: Lampshaded by Baron Nihil in "Fields of Saguenay" when Starforce bypasses the 18-inch-thick steel door between him and his children by destroying most of the tower to which that door led.
- This Is Wrong on So Many Levels: Done twice by Starforce:
- In 'Greatest Generation', concerning the plan to temporarily give Julie Mr. Bassman's musical skills for the USO Show at RAF Woodbridge
- In 'What Happens in Vegas...', when Bob sees Universal Superworld for the first time.
- Throwing Down the Gauntlet: TWICE in 'Leap Day'
- After Doctor Destroyer creates a paradox in the Multifarian version of the attack on Der Riese which threatens to catapult their reality into the Qliphotic Realms, Starforce lays this on him:
Starforce: "Then the sooner we can re-visit 1896 and drop that book off where it needs to go, the sooner we can fix the damage my father has caused. Right?"
Dr. Destroyer: "Do not think our ties of blood will save you once this day is over, Dr. Hawkins."
Starforce (to Dr. Destroyer): "Tell you what. If you *really* think that you're man enough to kill me, you're welcome to try." (beat) "AFTER we kill Shadow Destroyer."
(tense pause)
Dr. Destroyer: "You truly *are* worthy to be Destroyer's son. It will be my honor to kill you then." - Doctor Destroyer to Shadow Destroyer, just as all hell is breaking loose on top of the Pyramid of the Sun in the climax (which doubles as an almost word-for-word shoutout to a story line in Champions Online as well):
Dr. Destroyer: "JAMES HARMON III! FACE ME!!"
- After Doctor Destroyer creates a paradox in the Multifarian version of the attack on Der Riese which threatens to catapult their reality into the Qliphotic Realms, Starforce lays this on him:
- Time Machine: Die Glocke, as seen in 'The Paradox of Doctor Destroyer' and 'Greatest Generation', was built by the Nazis in the last years of World War 2.
- Time Travel Episode: 'Greatest Generation'
- Timey-Wimey Ball: 'Leap Day'. Dear God, 'Leap Day'...
- It's not just a time-travel story. It's a time-travel story involving time travel along two separate timelines
- If Ladyhawk and Doctor Destroyer had just listened to Starforce and taken the 'Liber Terribilis' back to the Point of Divergence between Shadow Destroyer's timeline and theirs immediately upon its discovery, Julie's vision of Starforce being erased from history wouldn't have happened AND Doctor Destroyer wouldn't have imperiled their own timeline by prematurely killing the man who would become Shadow Destroyer
- Also, intimately linking your mind to an eldritch abomination somehow protects you from temporal paradoxii.
- Trope Overdosed: Word of God says that liberal usage of TV Tropes made most of the stories far more interesting than they would otherwise have been.
- Two Person Pool Party: Bob & Julie after marriage. The start of one can be seen in 'Black Ops', and judging from the dialog it's *not* the first time.