Reflets d'Acide

Reflets d'Acide is a French humoristic audio webserie parodying the fantasy genre and the RPG. Its creator is only known through the nickname "JBX". Reflets d'Acide started in 2003, and today has fourteen episodes (the fifteenth and last is still in current development). All the episodes and some bonus stuff can be downloaded on the official website.

The adventure is based on an amateur fantasy RPG called Reflets d'Acier and the four main characters are inspired by the creator and his friends characters in Reflets d'Acier.

The story begins in a tavern with a warrior half-demon called Wrandrall trying to recruit companions for a quest. After hiring Zarakaï ("Dwarf Master", a kind of warrior), Enoriel (Elven bard), Zehirmahnn ("Zorlim", a kind of Fire Genasi with martial and magic fire-related skills) and Guertrude (female Human Barbarian), the group goes to an underground dungeon, following instructions of a mysterious map carried by Wrandrall...

The webserie is famous in French-speaking world because of all the jokes, puns, shout-outs, rhymes and verses, etc. that it contains.

Tropes used in Reflets d'Acide include:
  • Aerith and Bob: Zarakaï the Dwarf, Enoriel the Elf, etc... and Roger the Bartender.
  • Affably Evil: Alia-Aenor's human form has a sweet, little girl-like voice, acts polite and courteous toward everyone (including thieves who attempt to attack her) and seems to have a liking for romance, to the point the Narrator was initially shocked he had to use her as a villain. Despite this, she's probably one of the most vicious and cruel characters in the whole serie.
  • Affectionate Parody: The whole point is to spoof the fantasy genre.
  • All Trolls Are Different
  • Ambiguously Gay: Subverted; Enoriel tends to have slightly effeminate mannerism (which isn't exactly surprising for an Elf, however), but he hates being mistaken for a female, has no problem with using violence and is actually the only one in the group who is known to have had a relationship with a girl in the past
  • Artifact of Doom: Wrandrall's sword, which harbours a part of his demonic father soul.
  • Artificial Limbs: Zarakaï has an adamantium leg.
  • Ascended Extra: Roger (cf Chekhov's Gunman below).
    • Also, the animals of the forest (a chaffinch and a frog) were used early in the saga, and JBX decided to reintroduce them after some fans on a forum started to imagine in-universe jokes and stories with them. He even added the additional animals that the fans imagined in their stories (an otter and a duck).
  • Audible Sharpness: Justified, as it is an audio serie, this is a way to show that characters unsheathed their weapons.
  • Author Avatar: Zehirmann is the character that the creator plays in the RPG which inspired the serie.
    • Kyo Shin Zammurato was the author's first attempt to play a samurai parody in the aforementioned RPG. He found it so hilarious he introduced him in the saga.
  • Ax Crazy: Guertrude and Zarakaï, although the second is more "hammer-crazy".
  • Barbarian Hero: Subverted. Guertrude is a female one, but she died at the end of the first episode.
  • Battle Cry: "Tata Yoyo!" (Zarakai).
  • Berserk Button: Zarakaï has several, including touching his beard, touching his mithril ring (see Grave Robbing below) and hearing some innocent words which phonetically sounds like "Nain-Insult" ("Nain" is the French for "Dwarf").
  • Big Bad: Belial.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Alia-Aenor's human form obviously looks NOTHING like a villain. She talks like a sweet girl, enjoys beautiful things, atcs feminine, to the point the Narrator is initially shocked to have to use her as a villain... only to be relieved when she mercyless kills thieves attempting to rob her, such revealing how dangerous a cruel she is.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: Several times the characters answer or comment the Narrator's words. They also say their stats, skills, alignment,...
    • Justified, as the story isn't really an actual fantasy adventures but people playing a RPG. These sequences are just players speaking to the Game Master.
  • Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: Enoriel, Zarakaï and Zehirmann try to fight and stop Belial. He kills them, but later they are resurrected by a divine intervention.
  • Broken Bridge: An ogre blocks the bridge and let cross anyone who pays him.
  • The Brute: Guertrude is a female exemple.
  • Bullying a Dragon: litterally: a bunch of thieves attempt to attack Alia-Aenor as she's on her way to Maender-Alkor. This doesn't end well for them, of course.
  • Character Alignment: According to the official website :
  • Chekhov's Gun: Wrandrall carries a sword mentionned as cursed since the beginning. He is suddently possessed by his sword in the eleventh episode.
  • Chekhov's Gunman:
    • Roger the Bartender first shortly appears in the first episode. He isn't seen again until the sixth episode and becomes an important support character, even having his own subplot since the seventh episode.
    • In the sixth episode the characters visit a graveyard and read the names on tombstones. These dead are reanimated in a later episode.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The result of the "Show Alignment" spell.
  • Deadpan Snarker: The Narrator and Enoriel.
  • Dead Sidekick: Guertrude in the first episode.
  • Death Trap: Everywhere in the stairs down to the "Gouffre de... AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH" (see below).
  • Demonic Possession: Wrandrall, shortly, thanks to a bit of Belial' soul in his sword.
  • Deus Ex Machina: Several times. Most of those moments are of the kind "I suddendly remember I can do this" or "I have the specific item which can help us now", but one of those is the sudden apparition of Trichelieu's Goddess after he prayed her, who cancels his Metamorphosis and resurrect the dead characters.
  • Dirty Old Monk: Trichelieu the Cleric. Altough he is a former cultist of the Goddess of Carnal Pleasures.
  • Disc One Nuke: Wrandrall has a cursed sword that allows him to slice even minotaurs in half in a single strike. He's also a level 1 character and supposed to be weakest, least experienced member of the group.
  • Double Entendre: About 9 out of 10 of Trichelieu's sentences are sexual ones, and they're always funny.
  • Drop the Hammer: Zarakaï.
  • The Dragon:
    • Mortis is a kind of this to Bélial.
    • Alia-Aenor is quite literally this to Mortis himself.
  • Dungeon Crawling
  • Elfeminate: Zarakaï's favourite insult to Enoriel is "faggot".
  • Evil Laugh:
    • Mortis and Belial, during several minutes.
    • The Narrator, too, from times to times.
  • Evil Versus Oblivion: Alkor vs Belial in the backstory.
  • Fantastic Racism: Most of discussions between Enoriel and Zarakaï are insults.
  • Fantasy World Map: On the official website. The adventure occurs in the region of Maender Alkoor (in the West of the middle of the map).
  • Five-Man Band:
  • Gorn
  • Grave Robbing: Zarakaï suddenly goes looting a mausoleum after smelling mithril in it.
  • Grave Humor: "Ci-gît mon ami Sourdingue le nain ; moi qui fuyais au loin, lui qui chargea soudain, moi qui hurla « un dragon nain ! », lui qui comprit « un ragondin »" ("Here lies my friend Clotheared the Dwarf ; me who was fleeing, he who suddenly charged, me who screamed « a midget dragon ! », he who understood « a coypu »"). There is several other examples.
  • Hellish Horse: parodied with Belial's demonical horse, who seems to fit this trope... except he's named Grandadin.
  • Heroes Prefer Swords: Wrandrall.
  • Half-Human Hybrid: Wrandrall is born from a woman and a demon. It isn't a spoiler, the fact is revealed by the Narrator in the first minutes of the first episode.
  • I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: Wrandrall's map goes through "la Forêt des éventrés" ("the Forest of Disembowelled Ones"), "le Fleuve des Glaires tièdes" ("the River of Lukewarm Phlegm"), "la Grotte de l'Herpès écorché" ("the Cave of Flayed Herpes"), "la Colline des Mille Gangrènes" ("the Hill of Thousand Gangrenes"), "le Mont Mucus" ("the Mucus Mount"), "le Gouffre de... AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH - appelé aussi le trou de la Mierdaille" ("the Chasm of... AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH - also known as the Hole of Shit"). Apparently such names are common in the Chaotic Lands.
  • Hurricane of Puns: Happens quite often, due to the phenomenal amount of (very good) puns in the saga.
  • Inconvenient Summons: Each time Zarakaï summons Roger.
    • One time it saves both Roger and his wife's life.
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: A lot of them. Especially from Trichelieu.
  • Instant Messenger Pigeon: Roger is given this role one time. Discovering that an Undead army what marching to the city, the party summons Roger, tells him the message and immediately unsummons him.
  • Interactive Narrator: Justified, since he is also the game master.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: Kyo Shin Zamurato. Justified, as he is a Samurai.
  • Kill It with Fire: Zehirmann's speciality.
  • Killer Game Master: He usually don't succeed.
  • Live Item: Wrandrall's map speaks.

"Vous êtes ici!" ("You are here!")

  • Loin Cloth: Guertrude's clothes.
  • Lovable Coward: Wrandrall and Enoriel.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: Belial to Wrandrall after being freed.
  • Magic Music: Enoriel uses it from times to times.
  • Meaningful Name: Sacher-Masoch, one of the bad guys, is a priest of Shamrodia, Goddess of Torture and Physical Pain; he is rather masochist, too. Mortis, the Necromancer king, has his name coming from a Latin word meaning "Death".
  • Metamorphosis: Trichelieu becomes a talking wild goose after the bartender's wife makes him drink one of his own potions. He was knocked out and she tried to reanimate him, believing it was an healing potion.
  • Mirror Match: The protagonists reflect in a mirror and have to fight and kill their exact opposites. Wrandrall the Half-Demon fights an angel, Zehirmann the Fire-Planar fights an ice-elemental, Enoriel the surface Elf fights a Drow, Zarakaï the lawful-good Dwarf fights a Chaos Dwarf and Trichelieu the perverted priest fights a young and pure virgin.
    • Also qualifies as a Played With Trope, since, as you read it above, the protagonists' opposites literallycame out of a mirror.
  • Mordor: The Chaotic Lands.
  • Munchkin: Zehirmann bears a lot of powerful magic stuff.
  • Mundane Wish: After finding a mithril ring when looting a mausoleum, Zarakaï is granted by a ghost the power to use it to summon at will the creature he will choose now. Zarakaï chooses... Roger the Bartender (see Ascended Extra above).
  • Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Mortis ("Death" in latin), Belial (a "classical" demon).
  • Necromancer: Mortis.
  • Never Split the Party: At one instance the Narrator/GameMaster don't allow the group to split because there would be "characters everywhere", which would make the game very complicated to run further.
  • Only Sane Man: Zehirmann is the wisest member of the group.
  • Our Dragons Are Different: Alia-Ænor.
  • Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Zarakaï.
  • Our Elves Are Better: Enoriel.
  • Our Ogres Are Hungrier
  • Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: Alia-Aenor to Enoriel.
  • Reincarnation: Trichelieu has been created by Guertrude's player after Guertrude's death.
  • Running Gag: The insults of Enoriel and Zarakaï, the bartender-summoning, the horny puns of Trichelieu, and a lot of others.
  • Samurai: Kyo Shin Zamurato.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: Belial the Demon, father of Wrandrall, is trapped in a mirror.
  • Shout-Out: Tons of them.
    • To put it in perspective: A website held by some fans went through the fourteen episodes of the saga, and compiled a lot of statistics about it. The number of "references" found? 1681.
  • Standard Fantasy Setting
  • Stealth Pun: A lot of them.
  • Summon Magic
  • Talking the Monster to Death: The characters discussed so long about "how to cross the river without paying and with the less risks" (see Broken Bridge above) that the ogre fell asleep.
  • Tap on the Head: Trichelieu receives several blows on the skull from his companions in order to make him shut up.
  • There Is No Kill Like Overkill: "Mort de masse" ("mass death") is the favourite spell of Alia-Ænor
  • Too Dumb to Live: Guertrude. A level-1 Barbarian who decided to hunt, kill and flay a bear because she needed a blanket... Who had to flay who ?
    • That said, a barbarian is usually a match for a bear. A barbarian who rolls a Critical Failure twice (which can only be attributed to bad luck, not lack of skill), not so much.
  • The Undead: An army of them is sent to destroy the town in which the adventure began.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Wrandrall is the son of a powerful demon and, as all his siblings, he has a map which will guide him to the place his father lies in order to release him. His companion are some, too.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: The Doppelganger in fairy form, Alia-Ænor the female-Dragon transformed as a woman.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Zehirmann to Wrandrall, when the latter suggest to summon Roger the Bartender in order to throw him down the trapped stairs in order to trigger the traps.
  • You All Meet in An Inn: The beginning of the story.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Belial kills Mortis and Alia-Ænor after having being freed, because they're the descendants of those who sealed him and as such have a piece of his soul.
  • Younger Than They Look: Zehirmann is the tallest member of the group and the wisest. He also says during his own presentation in the first episode that he isn't fully grown up yet.
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