The Cyantian Chronicles

The Cyantian Chronicles is a Science Fiction Soap Opera written and drawn by Tiffany Ross. It features furries as Technologically Advanced Aliens, mostly being Twenty Minutes Into the Future. The Chronicles are composed of a handful of different webcomic series at different times and places in the continuity, resulting in bits and large chunks of Canon Discontinuity. It is also available in dead-tree format via Indyplanet.

The basic history is that there were some scientifically advanced aliens that were dying from a degenerate disease and decided to make some helpers. First they brought humans from earth, next they created plantigrade then digitigrade to help them, taking DNA from Earth animals and splicing it with Human DNA (or is it the other way around?). Next, this group of aliens, called Cyantians, were enslaved by the Moulin Phedra (squid), who genetically engineered some of them to be fighters in a ring, editing them to have strange characteristics, such as regeneration and manipulating energy. After driving the squid off the planet, they set up a patriarchal government. And that about takes it up to the current storylines.

The following are currently on the main site:

  • Akaelae: Involves the main furry characters of Campus Safari in high school. Akaelae was recently split to follow the side characters of the story, while the main story will be covered in Darius. Akaelae is still recommended as the first story to read though.
  • Darius: This is the true "Akaelae" comic. It was recently split and re-focused on Darius, who is the main character in Akaelae.
  • Gralen Cragg Hall [dead link] : This follows the adventures of princesses raised by giant anthropomorphic cats.
  • Genoworks Saga [dead link] : A retelling of the events that lead to the creation and adoption of genetically engineered skunks who smell fruity.
  • Campus Safari [dead link] : The comic that started it all. This deals with using an experimental transporter with someone who shouldn't touch such things.
  • Sink or Swim: This follows the adventures of kangaroos in space.
  • No Angel [dead link] : This seems to suffer a bit of Canon Discontinuity, mainly because the artist has said that later parts of No Angel is in its own continuity, and even threatened to move it to another domain to drive the point home. This story centers on the humans in Mars Academy.
  • Cesilee's Diary & Academy Diaries [dead link] began as a short filler arc for Campus Safari, but was so popular that Tiffany decided to continue it as it's own comic and later folded it into Campus Safari.

The following are no longer available online, but can be bought through Indy Planet:

  • Puppet Strings: Happens just before Akaelae. The kids go on a camping trip, only to meet an old friend long thought dead. They also run into Marion, another Sirac, who seems to want something from the past.
  • Akaelae 0: Prequel to Akaelae and Puppet Strings: The skunks are left to their own devices in an abandoned building and have to find help in a perceived enemy. No longer in print and is being re-written as Genoworks Saga.

Also, the author writes other comics besides the Cyantian Chronicles comics. Other Titles include: Alien Dice, Pure, Shivae-Cler, Shivae-Vas, Shivae-Caiden and Koel, Sivine Blades and more! All of these comics and the Cyantian comics can be found at the Artists main studio site, Shivae Studios.

Tropes used in The Cyantian Chronicles include:
  • Action Girl: Silver and Celina best embody this trope. Quinn will, once she does more than spar with family and friends. Chatin, Cilke and a few others cover this trope to a (very slightly) lesser degree.
    • It helps that the majority of Cyantians have some kind of combat training. Especially the members of the Akaelae family and the Mounty royal family. Which makes sense given the need to protect themselves.
  • Alien Non-Interference Clause: The former Trope Namer is mocked in Campus Safari, although Cyantians won't give a growing race weapons or let said race adapt other technologies into weapons.
  • Alien Lunch: Jules during Campus Safari. Twinky, also in Campus Safari. Darius, during a barbecue, mentioned in Campus Safari. Darrik during Akaelae.
  • Aliens Speaking English: Averted and played straight, depending on the situation. Most of the Cyantian characters speak Cyantian (derived from Latin) but they are required to speak English at the Mars Academy.
  • Alliterative Name: Alpha Akaelae. Although, Alpha Akaelae IS a leader in a culture of anthropomorphic wolves. Not to mention that "Alpha" becomes a title after the original Alpha Akaelae dies.
  • All There in the Manual: There is the Shivaewiki [dead link] that has information about the characters, species and world of The Cyantian Chronicles, Alien Dice, and Shivae.
    • Though since it's a wiki there are some inconsistencies and outright errors (Darius's relationship to Alpha for example, most pages say Alpha's his paternal grandfather while others say he's his maternal grandpa).
  • Alphabetical Theme Naming: The C-Group Skunks have names that begin with "C". They are: Cisco, Cilke, Chrome, Chatin, Calle, Cam, Carrde and possibly others.
  • Animal Stereotypes: They're subverted more often than they are played straight. Syke's characters tend to be characters first and species second.
    • Notable examples are: Phoenix, a red mouse who can intimidate cats. (Her roommates, in a subversion) and Velour, a Were Ferret who is as duplicitous as her species reputation.
  • Applied Phlebotinum: Cyantium, it's an antigravity metal and possibly for other for other applications.
  • Arm Cannon: Cere's artificial arm contains a technomage chip, which can function as an arm cannon of sorts. Although, it IS unreliable.
  • Annoying Younger Sibling: During Akaelae, Darius and little brother Ravon. During Campus Safari, Darius and little sisters Tae and Kea. Inversion: Quinn is older than Collin, but still manages to be an annoying little sister to his levelheaded "older" brother act.
  • Arranged Marriage: Tira and Caite.
  • Art Evolution: See the first comic in Campus Safari. Then see the current Akaelae strip. Very different art style, definitely better art quality.
  • Art Shift: All comics written/drawn in The Cyantian Chronicles have at least some changes in the art style over the years. Although Art Shift is especially apparent in Cesilee's Diary and in Genoworks Saga.
  • Ascended Extra: Cesilee's Diary was meant as filler and was once only about 10 comic strips long. It is now scheduled for a rewrite and the original was merged into Campus Safari because it was that popular.
    • Chrome is another example.
  • Aside Glance: Darius does one [dead link] while lampshading his tendency to be somewhat self-centered.
  • Attention Deficit Creator Disorder: Maaaybe...
    • Two active, around a dozen inactive and in the works. Plus three others unrelated to the core Cyantia storyline (as of May 2010)
  • Author Avatar: Averted. The closest Tiffany has gotten are the recent appearances of her pet Corgi, Vash.
  • Badass: Rama and Syrus qualify.
  • Berserk Button: Jasmine on being called a white fox, Celina on Darius.
  • Benevolent Alien Invasion: Attempted Aversion; the Cyantians on Mars are trying to find a way to contact Earth without this occurring.
  • Big Badass Wolf: Syris. So much so that he is often depicted as a god of war on a blood red horse in Fox art.
    • Rama qualifies as well. Rama was exiled to another planet for four centuries after starting one war. When he returned, he ended up starting another war not long after.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Darius gets one, but doesn't realize it.
    • Mercial too, though her arrival causes other problems.
  • Bishonen: Jules reacts this way to Sean. Although that might just be because of his wings.
  • Blessed with Suck: Cil are a dimension traveling explorer species that has transformational and energy/matter conversion abilities that could put a Technomage to shame. If only they lived more than 30 years. The Cil lifespan is so short that much of the entire species have permanently altered themselves into other species so they can live longer.
    • Sean has pretty wings which attract girls. They also throw off his balance and sometimes itch. Some of the people they attract want to exploit his for movies, others want to worship him as an angel. They're also a result of Sean and his brother being altered in the womb by the American Men In Black, so the AMIB wants to recapture him and his brother. Even though his brother doesn't have wings.
  • Blind Without'Em: Twinky in Human Form.
  • Bound and Gagged: It happens more than once.
  • Bounty Hunter: Genoworks Exotica wants it's creations back. This is their preferred method.
    • Mercial, though she doesn't work for Genoworks Exotica.
  • Brainwashed: Prince Kiet Al'Rashon (AKA: Caite Medici).
    • Rama has had his own children brainwashed to be more "manageable".
  • Break the Cutie: Jules gets the wrong end of this in No Angel. Although she really isn't the cutest of cuties, she still qualifies.
    • Darrik and Vin are rare male versions, though they both luck out after encountering Darius, Syris and Alpha.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: Mostly averted in the canon comics. Only NOT averted when "We Have a Shivae-13 Rating To Maintain", which only happened once so far.
    • Played for laughs in a fan scripted bonus comic contained in the print version of Akaelae#5.
  • But Your Wings Are Beautiful: Subverted: Sean knows his wings are beautiful. He calls Jules on being attracted to him only because of his wings and not because she actually knows him.
  • Call a Rabbit a Smeerp: Acid Whip = Dragon. Equid = Horse. Just don't call the sapient Cyantians "animals"; they consider it a major insult. And just look up "Mounty" in the Shivaewiki to find the alternate names for the various terran felines in their anthropomorphic cyantian forms.
    • Digni = Subterranean Armadillo People.
  • The Cameo: Various fan made characters have gotten cameos as part of a donation drive.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: In Campus Safari
    • Rayne to Silver, though Silver isn't so shy.
    • Twinky and Collin to Chatin. Chatin's other suitor, Cisco, is on the other end of the spectrum.
    • Darius to Sheana.
    • Subversion: Marcus hasn't been able to tell Cesilee that he's NOT interested.
    • Celina to Kel in Akaelae.
  • Carnivore Confusion: ALL cyantians are omnivores, regardless of the diet of their non-sapient counterparts.
    • Inverted by Rama. He wants ribs for dinner, and if a certain sentient rabbit doesn't perform to his satisfaction, she will become that rib dinner.
  • Cats Are Mean: Marcus' view of cats. Poor Cesilee.
    • It's subverted too. Cyantian felines have one of the kindest cultures on Cyantzium. Many of the foxes persecuted by Shour Rashon's tyrannic dynasty flee to mounty territories for safe haven.
  • Cats Hate Water: Played straight for most cats, including the subversion that Tigers love water.
  • Cat Smile: Tira uses this during Akaelae here, in the last panel. Which is odd, because she's a fox, not a cat!
  • Censor Box: In Cesilee's Diary, a male fox's naughty bits are covered by a black censor bar saying "We Have A Shivae-13 Rating To Maintain!"
  • Chekhov's Gun and Chekhov's Gunman are used at various points and in various forms. Chekhov's Skill is also present.
  • Chew Toy: Khaelis and Marcus. Though Marcus does more to deserve it. Darrik gets gnawed on a little in Akaelae.
    • Correction, Darrik is the Chew Toy of the Akaelae cast. Poor guy!
  • Cheerful Child: Quinn Akaelae. It lasts well past childhood too!
  • Chibi: Chibified characters have been seen in both Akaelae and Campus Safari. (And possibly others comics.) They're mainly seen during comedic moments and are absent during serious segments.
    • Tiffany has done Chibi commissions as part of a donation drive. One Chibi of Darrik ended up crossing the hill into the Uncanny Valley.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Celina in Akaelae. But only a little.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Subverted and generally bent into a pretzel by Quinn Akaelae. She can actually teleport into another dimension and often speaks with two residents of said dimension, who can only be seen by her.
  • Colony Drop: Cargo Shuttles are dropped from orbit on Centralis to start the Centralis Teraplex war. They're not colonies, but they still work as a shock tactic.
  • Contest Winner Cameo: There's several instances, but the most notable is the fan scripted bonus comic at the end of Akaelae #5. Although, The Scripting Game only let Hariman cameo as the writer. It didn't get a character included.
    • There is a contest for a "rotating roomie" slot in the upcoming rewrite of Cesilee's Diary.
  • Crash Into Hello: Collin and Autumn Cisaan http://cyantian.net/csafari/2003/02/10/02102003/
    • Cilke and Chrome too.
  • Creepy Child: Quinn and Collin.
    • Collin is a telepath who can walk through walls. He's experienced fear from some people due to this fact.
    • Quinn is also a telepath. She can also walk through walls, teleport through another dimension that only she can reach. Quinn also has "Oulies" as friends, who are beings who are trapped between life and death in a realm that only Quinn can see. IE: Quinn's invisible friends are real. And to top it all off, Quinn has been known to surprise/creep out Collin and the other members of her family.
  • Cursed with Awesome: Twinky and the other Cil Hybrids. They gained energy manipulation and transformation abilities which could put technomages to shame. However, there are only six left after the original Cil started killing the Hybrids off as mistakes and accidents.
    • Ironically, the Cil Hybrids are accidents, as most pregnant women who were possessed by Cil simply miscarried. The few that didn't gave birth to what are essentially weres with extra energy manipulation abilities.
      • Also, Cil Hybrids and other people who can manipulate energy can become technomages to further refine their energy manipulation abilities.
    • Black foxes who do not learn how to control their energy manipulation abilities properly will give themselves a heart attack or an aneurism.
  • Cute Bruiser: See Action Girl above, except Celina, who is more intimidating than cute.
    • Phoenix qualifies as Cute Bruiser too. Although Phoenix has yet to show signs of Action Girl.
    • Again, the high percentage of self defense training mentioned in Action Girl contributes heavily here as well.
  • Cuteness Proximity: Occurs in comic around some of the Ridiculously Cute Critters.
    • Tae and Kea actively use Cuteness Proximity to get away with making all sorts of trouble. Unfortunately, Darius has developed cuteness immunity over the years.
  • Darker and Edgier: No Angel is significantly darker than Campus Safari. So much so that No Angel was declared a separate universe/storyline.
  • Deconstruction: Reality shows get deconstructed when various characters get kidnapped at put on "Survivor Ship". With Chatin and Cilke as the prize at the end.
  • Defusing the Tykebomb: Syris gets the job for his adopted litter, though they really didn't get much indoctrination.
    • Cere could use a little more defusing, though Zax Akaelae seems to be working on it.
  • Distracted by the Sexy: Marcus. Repeatedly. Hilarity Ensues.
  • Damsel in Distress(s): Chatin and Cilke during Campus Safari, though they're not the type to be held long.
    • Jules during No Angel, bordering on The Load.
  • Door Step Baby: Silver and other black, white and silver fox cubs. Justified because the parents are protecting them from a killer ruler who ordered the death of all of the black, silver and white foxes in his kingdom to eliminate the previous ruling caste.
    • Thankfully, the fox ruling cast gets better. See "The Virus" below.
  • Drop What You Are Doing: Darius during Campus Safari.
  • Empathic Environment: It always rains when Vin is sad, because of his powers
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Filaire [dead link] to Rama. Lampshaded in the Shout Box. Except, it's a subversion, Filaire will compromise those standards to get revenge on Shour Rashon.
  • Everything's Better with Princesses: Gralen Cragg Hall. Complete with Royal Brat and Spoiled Brat.
  • Eyes Always Shut: Tira, during Campus Safari. Because she was blinded by a gas that was designed to induce temporary blindness in humans that causes permanent blindness in cyantians. Tira actually sees through her technofamiliar and has very good hearing.
  • Evil Minions: Niram and Filaire to Rama.
  • Face Hugger: Chrome's miniwhip, Aurla.
  • Fan Disservice: This [dead link] is as close to a Panty Shot as we're going to get in The Cyantian Chronicles. Quinn, the raccoon in the linked image, is underage. Plus, the perspective is that of someone at least 50 feet away.
  • Fan Service: Occasionally seen in comic, but mostly reserved for holiday or donation drive wallpapers.
  • Fantastic Caste System: The Fox, based on fur color.
    • Pre-revolution: Whites = rulers, Silvers = nobles, Blacks = elite guards or artisans (depending on how they use their powers), Golds = guards, Blues = scientists, Reds = commoners.
    • Post-revolution: Whites, Silvers and Blacks were exterminated, the new king was a self-proclaimed "Royal Red" but all other castes were the same as before.
  • Fantastic Racism: Humans are actually discriminated against by certain Cyantians.
    • There's also a certain amount of speciesism between the different species of Cyantia. Given that each "main" species (Wolf, Fox, Rabbit, Ram, Mounty (feline), and Coyoti) all have different nations, societies and customs.
      • The prejudice against the Foxes and the Vulpine Nation is both played straight and subverted. In the past, the hatred was justified due to having a homicidal madman as the ruler. (He tried to exterminate certain colors of foxes, as they were the previous ruling class.) However, by the time of Campus Safari, said madman is dead and the fox nation has taken a turn for the better. The hard part is hatred is formed faster than it dissipates.
  • Filler Strips: With the mentioned below Schedule Slip, Tiffany will use both sketches and guest art to fill the gap.
    • Guest art always comes with a Shout-Out to the creator and often links to the guest artist's comic and/or art page.
  • Finger-Poke of Doom: Occurs during one of Akaelae's more recent (September 2008) storylines.
  • For Science!: (And For Art!) Why else would Genoworks Exotica genetically engineer people like winged kangaroos, Potpourri skunk people and psychic raccoons.
    • For Profit?
  • Four-Fingered Hands: Foxes, but most other species have five fingers.
  • Freudian Excuse: More than one character has one, though the main villain that has one is Rama Tibal.
    • It arguably only makes Rama sympathetic, not excusable.
      • Subverted too. More than a few characters have had nasty childhoods and ended up good people.
  • Fridge Horror: The worst of Rama's actions and plans are either implied or only briefly mentioned, leaving your imagination to fill in the blanks.
    • This is especially present in the Darius comic, as certain foreshadowing is only made more horrifying by a certain presence revealed much later.
  • From the Mouths of Babes: Tae, during a conversation with Kea. Tae and Kea together, at points. Kibi, who is smarter than many adults. Collin and Quinn, during Akaelae.
  • Fun Personified: Quinn, who (almost) never ceases smiling and trying to cheer everyone else up. Recently, Quinn stated that she wants to have "Fun! Fun!" when asked what kind of fun she wanted to have.
    • Darius shows some of the requisite traits, though he's more prone to the not-happy side of emotions.
    • Azlan is specifically requested by King Laish to cheer up Quinn, Sheana, Vin and Cilke because he is Fun Personified. Not that Quinn needs any help.
  • Funetik Aksent: Darrik is occasionally written with a Southern accent, seeing as he grew up in Louisiana.
  • Furry Comic: And Marcus loves it that way.
  • Furry Confusion: Averted yet still Lampshaded too. Although we haven't seen it "on screen", the Cyantians will one day meet up with their non-sapient counterparts.
  • Furry Fandom: Marcus is a furry fan. Thus, he loves Mars Academy.
    • Inverted with Cesilee, who seems to have a thing for humans. Now if only Marcus liked cats.
  • Gargle Blaster: Any strong terran alcoholic beverage will get a Cyantian smashed. Cyantians are far more sensitive to alcohol and medicines than humans. This actually results in Tira getting permanently blinded by a gas that only temporarily blinds humans.
  • Genetic Memory: Neefla have genetic memories. Mostly. Sometimes a bloodline's memories won't get passed on to the next generation. Children born without the genetic memories are considered both a tragedy and a boone. While they lack years of knowledge, they have no preconceptions and are the greatest inventors and innovators of Neefla society.
    • This is actually a subversion, as the knowledge is imparted during the birthing process.
    • The Rumuah had this as well, Ada suspects the Akaelaes do too, they certainly have Eidetic Memory
  • Genre Savvy: Quinn demonstrates a little of this in Akaelae. Collin does too.
    • Quinn demonstrates a certain amount of this in Darius too. Unfortunately, this is Quinn, so she also demonstrates a some Genre Blindness too. Fortunately, Brody has enough sense to protect Quinn from herself and some of the dangers she wouldn't normally heed.
  • Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Delivered twice by a small jewelry box. [dead link]
  • The Glomp: Cesilee frequently pounces Marcus in Campus Safari, much to Marcus' chagrin.
  • The Greys: Cil in their natural form, and the Rumuah.
  • Hammerspace: More than one character have "subspace" storage devices. They are often used to keep Dataplates (Cyantian Tablet Computers), suits of armor, and various other items, including weapons, conveniently stored. This also results in more than one Hyperspace Arsenal.
  • Hates Baths: King Laish's son Sar, to the point of throwing a screaming fit and calling for his mother, Queen Mirand.
  • Heart Symbol: Seen in Campus Safari when Cilke first met Chrome. They were immediately dubbed "Floaty Love Hearts."
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: The Vulpine King, Shour Rashon (a tyrannical traitor to the prior regime), commissioned a biological weapon that could be used against the Guttouve, AKA: Gutter Fox. (The lowest social class in fox society.) The biological weapon ended up killing off the majority of the cyantian fox species and all of the fox royalty, save the eldest son Kiet Al;'Rashon. Kiet Al'Rashon was, in fact, the son of the prior King (Parin Medici) who was taken as a "special project" and brainwashed into believing that he was Rashon's son.
    • Rezna killed Alexandera's parents and almost killed Alexandera in a fire while she was a baby. It is implied in No Angel that Rezna is burned to death when he tries to finish what he started and ends up within reach of Alexandera's Acid Whip; AKA Alexandera's 40 foot dragon.
  • Horse of a Different Color: Mounties (felines) ride "Acid Whips" (Dragons in all but name.). Various cultures use Shivae (fuzzy extra large velociraptors) as mounts.
  • Hot Witch: Certain amounts of fan reaction to Mercial (a technomage) point to this trope.
    • Ditto for Phoenix.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The parents in the Cisaan family are a Male Tiger, (over 6 or 7 feet tall) and a Female Rabbit, who is potentially under 5 feet. Though only their daughter, Autumn, who had to be specially genetically engineered by Genoworks Exotica due to genetic incompatibility is seen. She looks like a 6 foot cross between a lop eared rabbit and a tiger.
  • Humans Are the Real Monsters: The AMIB (American Men In Black) use brutal capture methods on various characters and are generally hated/feared/loathed/disliked. Other humans are mostly not as bad.
    • Tiffany is a fair author. Certain Cyantians are bastards, too.
  • Humans Are Special: Quoting Darius: "They never give up."
  • Humongous Mecha: Darius Pilots a "Master Grade Lift" (Potentially a Shout-Out to the grade system of Gundam models.) which is basically a 40 foot tall mecha.
  • I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: Not specifically said, but implied in a partial Inversion. Twinky is a "regular guy" while Chatin is rich, famous and considered above his reach romantically.
  • Idiot Ball: Alpha and/or The Council, who decided to exile Rama one Earth during the dark ages. Is it really a smart (or moral) move to exile a violent, superpowered sociopath with advanced technological knowledge on an underdevelopped planet full of vastly weaker beings which just happens to be ripe with portals connecting it to Cyantia?
  • If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: given by Collin and Cisco to Twinky, concerning Chatin, at the same time Collin gives Twinky a "My Sister Is Off-Limits" speech. Which makes me glad that Collin and Chatin are adoptive siblings.
  • I Just Want to Be Normal: Twinky. Chatin and Cilke wish they were ordinary skunks, instead of Strawberry and Peach scented skunks, respectively.
    • Sean wishes he didn't have wings. If he didn't, he could be back on earth without memories of bad times with the AMIB.
  • I Just Want to Be Special: Jules, who leaves earth to make a name for herself as a journalist. Alien first contact would be one hell of a scoop!
  • I'm a Humanitarian: Rama Tibal
  • Immortality Begins At Twenty: Elites, though their age catches up to them towards the end of their lifespan and foxes don't live any longer then normal Cyantians (~120)
  • Immortal Procreation Clause: Very much averted by Elites, especially Shean Tibal.
  • Imported Alien Phlebotinum: Technomage Chips, as the oldest technomages were created by the long dead Rumuah.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Chatin, Cilke, Cisco and the other C-Group skunks have oddly scented skunk sprays. They were all designed as living art/living air fresheners. It may seem like a joke, but that skunk spray has been a lifesaver for certain characters!
  • Instant Armor: Lifts are often stored in a Hyperspace Arsenal and can be summoned at a moments notice. If they're not the size of a small house.
  • Intangible Man: Most siracs, at will. Though Quinn abuses it the most.
  • Interspecies Romance: Contrary to what this article may make The Cyantian Chronicles seem like, the requisite majority of couples are same species. Interspecies romance isn't commented on much (in universe) save for pairings that result in deformed offspring. Said pairings are frowned upon because of the suffering the children go through. For more thorough details read this page from the Shivaewiki.
    • Chatin and Collin are a Skunk and a Raccoon. (Both genetically engineered from the setting's felines.)
    • Cesilee and Marcus are an ocelot/puma hybrid and a human, though the relationship is more of Cesilee's obsession with Marcus than anything else. (Played for Laughs) Not to mention Marcus doesn't like felines.
    • The parents of the Cisaan Family are a Tiger and a Rabbit. (Offspring are genetically engineered, which was a first and a massive controversy in universe.) They have nine children, all of whom are the same age.
    • Rama's Parents were a wolf and a Liger (Double hit there. Also pertinent to his and Vin's backstory.)
    • Chatin and Twinky are technically a Wereskunk (Human Cil Hybrid with Skunk Characteristics) and a genetically engineered strawberry scented skunk.
    • Alexandera, adopted human mounty (Mounty = Feline) princess has a mounty (feline) boyfriend. (Alexandera has a few issues.)
    • In years past Syrys, a wolf, was in love with Danie, a fox. (Impossible to breed with each other.)
    • Vincent's Father is Rama, a wolf/feline hybrid and his mother was a wolf. So Yeah.
    • If you're wondering about Chatin: Yes, she does have a Love Dodecahedron worth of suitors. Her third suitor is another skunk, which is a subversion for this trope.
    • And it's actual romance that is taken seriously.
  • In the Blood: It's one of Vin's greatest fears.
  • Ironic Echo: Alpha Akaelae has fun with this trope during Akaelae.
    • Cisco uses this against Collin in Campus Safari.
  • It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY" Various Cyantian characters use Latin pronunciations for their names. IE:
    • Chatin = Sha-Teen not Satin.
      • Collin calls Twinky on calling Chatin "Satin" at one point. Although, to be fair, Twinky first heard Chatin's name through a translator, which translated it into "Satin".
    • Cilke = Sil-Kay not Silk.
      • Cilke doesn't mind getting called Silk, because it's such a pretty fabric.
    • Chrome = K-Ro-May not Chrome, though he doesn't mind the alternate pronunciation.
    • Cardde = Kar-Day not Card.
    • Calle = Kal-ay not Cal.
    • Cisco is a subversion, as he's still Cisco.
    • Syrys = Sigh-russ not Sir-iss.
  • I Was Just Joking: Darius got slapped [dead link] for the "joke". (This Troper thinks he deserved it.)
  • Karmic Death: There's a well deserved example during No Angel.
    • There's also a less deserved pair of karmic deaths during Akaelae. Actually, only one of the two deaths in question was actually deserved.
  • Kid with the Leash: Kamila to Cyclone
  • Kill All Humans: Rezna
  • Lampshade Hanging: Khaelis lampshades his own status as a luckless wonder at one point in Campus Safari. Darius lampshades the Khaelis' luckless wonder status during Campus Safari as well.
  • Last Of Her Kind: Tira and Silver are the last (known) White and Silver foxes. Though the genetics of fox colors aren't clearly hereditary, Silver's biological parents were Gold and in Campus Safari a couple of Blacks gave birth to one of each Elite color (black, white, silver, and gold).
  • Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Invoked here: By a tigress. Start here for this to make sense. (It's only a few pages.)
    • Khaelis' bad day while assigned to guard Jules is probably something he never wants to speak of again.
  • Lighter and Softer: Campus Safari to No Angel. To the point of Canon Discontinuity to each other.
  • Loads and Loads of Characters: Including technomage familiars and pets, the current count is well over 200. There might be a few more than that if the current crop of cameos hasn't been added in yet.
  • Love Makes You Crazy: Sheana in Campus Safari and Celina in Akaelae.
  • Love Makes You Evil: Rama, the reasons for which are explained in Akaelae's Wham! Episode
  • Love Triangle: Chatin, Collin and Cisco, before Twinky arrived. Post Twinky it's a Love Dodecahedron.
    • Almost like a reverse harem.
    • Cilke is actually jealous of this because she has had trouble getting men to take her seriously.
  • Luminescent Blush: Both Celina and Kel.
  • Magic From Technology: Technomages.
  • Masquerade: There is one thing almost everyone agrees: average Joe is not ready to learn of life in the universe. Well, aside from the few hundreds/thousands who were already kidnapped/welcomed aboard on alien ships, and those who actively engage in trying to shoot down said things.
  • Mars Needs Women: OK, so no women are kidnapped. (Well, Jules was, but that's for her own good.) But there is a startling lack of human women at Mars Academy during Campus Safari. In fact, there's less than a half a dozen.
  • Meaningful Name: Khaelis translates to "Chaotic Good Intentions" and Tiffany herself has pointed that out. Make of that what you will.
    • A recent character addition to Akaelae, Brynn, has me wondering if her name is only a coincidence or if it's deliberately similar to Brunhilde / Brynhild. This is both spoilerriffic if I'm right and an I Knew It! moment. Or just another wild mass guess.
  • Mechanical Lifeforms: Xaibars. Familiars are technological creatures created by transferring a specially trained pet's consciousness to a robotic shell when it dies. The familiar creation process should be noted as driving sapient people insane, so it's only used on non-sapient pets who gain a certain amount of sapience from the process.
  • The Men in Black: American Men In Black (AMIB), to be exact.
  • Mind Control Device: Certain technomages and some Siracs.
  • Mind Probe: Also certain Siracs and technomages.
  • Mismatched Eyes: Syris has one blue and one yellow eye.
  • The Mole: Zimae. Others have been hinted at as well.
  • Mood Whiplash: The Cyantian Chronicles does consist of romantic Sci-Fi dramatic comedies. Or is that comedic dramas?
    • Akaelae is bearing the brunt of this trope. Even with Plot Armor, trepidation abounds.
  • Morph Weapon: Darius's birthday present [dead link]
  • Mugged for Disguise: Used twice so far.
  • Multicultural Alien Planet: Cyantzium itself.
  • My Biological Clock Is Ticking: Sheana brings this up with Darius at one point. Although Darius does note that they have a long time before her biological clock runs out.
    • It was that time of the year for her, and from cues from Darius and others, she always acts that way when it comes.
  • Naked People Are Funny: Twinky, but that's in character. Marcus, though he's only half naked. Khaelis too.
  • Neglectful Precursors: The Rumuah, who created all of the different types of Cyantian, have a good excuse: They died off due to a lack of genetic variety and disease.
    • Genoworks Exotica also tends to let failed creations run wild in the nearby wilderness. Not to mention the number of sentient creations of theirs running around in wolf and mounty territories.
  • Nerds Are Sexy: Chatin and Twinky.
  • News Post: There's one below the comics for that comic. There's a main news post to the side of the comics. And there's the rarely updated news on Shivae.net.
  • Ninja Pirate Robot Zombie: It's part of the charm. Let's start a list:
    • A Technomage Vixen riding a Shivae. With a rabbit who wields a giant axe as a partner in mercenary work.
    • Anthropomorphic sabertooth cat people riding dragons. With bows that shoot energy arrows.
    • Wolves and cats riding horses. Hunting a Demon Horse.
    • A Koyoti (Coyote) Princess Riding a Mechanical Horse.
      • This troper feels she is a Fennec.
    • A Female Cyborg Kangaroo Escaped Science Experiment Spaceship Captain Working for La Résistance.
    • A Wolf piloting an 40 foot Mecha fighting a sentient robot. On Mars. Fighting a seeker of knowledge sentient robot who has gone berserk. With the help of another Seeker of Knowledge robot.
    • Powered Armor Wearing Mice! Or any species for that matter. Anybody who qualifies can go to school to become a lift pilot.
    • The Cil Hybrids. Who are Lycanthropes of various animals (Skunk, Weasel, Wolf, Cat and ? and ?) who have energy manipulation abilities too.
    • A Blind Vixen (Techno)Mage Owner of a 40+ foot Dragon/Princess of a Feline Kingdom, whose sister princess is a Vixen Special Forces agent who is capable of breaking the arms of people twice her size.
    • Beautiful Anthropomorphic Living Art Potpourri Skunk Women! And Potpourri Skunk Hunks for the ladies as well.
    • Vixen Princesses of a Feline kingdom pretending to be Explorer Princesses.
  • Non-Idle Rich: The Akaelaes are implied to own most of the Akaelae lands and significant portions of the industry there as well. Not to mention the whole fighting wars and protecting the populace from certain past mistakes.
  • Non-Mammal Mammaries: Averted for the various avian and reptilian species. (Thankfully.)
    • Subverted for the Crais, who are anthropomorphic sharks. The female Crais' gills are on their chest, which makes sense as they don't get squeezed by a growing child during pregnancy. However, this give the appearance of, well, mammaries. This fact causes the expected reaction [dead link] of Hello, Nurse! from Marcus.

Ciphyr: I will never understand how two curved masses can render some males into slobbering animals! They are gills!

Mercial: Make it a clean cut.

    • Word of God says "Every script I have so far with Mercial involves them chopping off heads."
  • Oh Crap: The look on Syrys' and Mercial's faces when they realize that Darrik's entire family is at risk of accidentally killing themselves because they don't know how to control their elite black fox abilities.
    • Darius has one in his self named comic. He really should learn not to antagonize Celina.
    • The fandom's reaction to the firing of a Chekhov's Gun from the villains of the piece.
  • Old Shame: The earlier works. They're getting redrawn because the script is getting refined and the art is getting upgraded to Tiffany's current standards.
  • Only a Flesh Wound: Averted in Campus Safari, as Cilke's "shallow" wound isn't so shallow and gets (almost) immediately bandaged.
    • Subverted by genetic elites, whose regeneration allows them to ignore minor wounds. In fact, genetic elites can handle multiple normal combatants at the same time because the normal soldiers have trouble inflicting enough damage to overwhelm the regeneration. But Elites have to move to regenerate. The regeneration was designed as part of a pit fighter modification, so it shuts off when the elites aren't moving. (IE: not in battle.) If an elite isn't moving, wounds affect them just as much as a normal person.
  • Only Sane Man: Darrik feels like this before he meets the rest of the cast in Akaelae. (he still feels this way sometimes.)
    • Twinky feels like this during Campus Safari after he arrives on Mars.
  • Our Centaurs Are Different: The Rifiers Chai and Quio are definately felitaurs.
  • Our Dragons Are Different: They spit hypergolic acid after exhaling steam to prevent the resultant fire from burning their own faces. All three sizes of Acid Whip (Miniature cat sized, medium very large dog sized and full blown legendary dragon sized) are all available as pets. Though I'd hate to see the food bill for one of the largest ones.
    • Wait, doesn't that make them Dragons in all but name?
      • Well, they do have the poisonous stingers on their tails. But yeah, the main difference is that they're explained by science rather than magic.
  • Our Souls Are Different: Quinn knows the most about this. Although it applies mostly to her Ouly friends, all souls pass through limbo for an instant when a person dies. Some just get stuck there.
  • Our Werewolves Are Different: Voluntary Shapeshifting caused by your mother getting possessed by a body hopping shapeshifting alien while she was pregnant with you.
    • Specifically: Twinky, Saige, Velour and the other Cil Hybrids, arguably, they also cover Animorphism, although it's restricted to their specific animal: Skunk for Twinky; Cougar for Saige; Ferret (or perhaps Weasel) for Velour; Wolf for Braedon. And several other as of yet unknown cil hybrids.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: It doesn't fit, and he's not acting the part as well as he could, but it's a serious use of the trope.
  • Parental Abandonment: Vincent, during Akaelae. His mom left him so her abusive boyfriend couldn't hurt him anymore and then the real father comes up (Rama) and slaughters both his mom and her boyfriend. Vin was, luckily, unconscious at the time. The story presents itself better than this weak summary.
  • People Puppets: Marion, one of the Siracs, controls people's bodies, but not their minds.
  • Pick on Someone Your Own Size: Inverted in Akaelae, as Darius picks on wolves who are larger than he is, though not to a villainous extent.
    • Was played straight until the larger wolves realized he was stronger than them.
  • Plot Armor: Any major character who has shown up in Campus Safari (Syris, Darius, Sheana, Ravon, Cilke, Chatin, Silver, Tira and a significant number of others.) is guaranteed to live through the prequel, Akaelae. This Troper strongly suspects (IE: I'm Reasonably Sure.) that the Plot Armor will vanish and Invert this trope during the later stages of Campus Safari. The author has stated that when she kills characters, she kills them well enough that they don't come back.
  • Powered Armor: Cilke and other characters wear "Lifts", which are the cyantian version of Powered Armor. Lifts range from Light Lifts, which are basically unpowered armor to heavy lifts, which are the cyantian equivalent of tanks to Master Lifts, which cross over to Humongous Mecha. Medium Lifts are person sized power assisted battle armor.
  • Power Strain Blackout: The first time Darrik's energy manipulation abilities activate, he tosses a horse. It uses so much of his energy that he is left nearly unconscious.
  • Promotion to Parent: Darius. Syris, by lack of actual parents for his newfound charges.
  • Psychic Powers: Quinn and Collin: the Siracs, or Psychic Raccoons. Marion too. Technomages have demonstrated techniques that mimic psychic powers.
  • Puppy Dog Eyes: Used effectively by Tae and Kea, the Akaelae Twins.
    • Used ineffectively by Khaelis.
    • Ironically, that's both literal and figurative Puppy Dog Eyes in both examples. Tae and Kea are wolves and Khaelis is a fox.
      • Quinn and Silver have also used puppy eyes. So that's a raccoon and another fox to the list.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Alpha Akaelae has hidden his age at times due to the stigma attached to being an elite.
    • If you take his date of birth and the current date into account, Syrys qualifies. Otherwise, it's iffy.
    • Rama qualifies.
  • Retcon: Campus Safari will have a large section rewritten. According to Word of God, this will only correct a few errors and will actually add a lot to the story.
    • Also, Akaelae 0 is being re-written as Genoworks Saga.
  • Ridiculously Cute Critter: Miniwhips (Miniature Dragons), Minigriffons, Nalokets (Fuzzy puffsballs of fur with tails.) and Keterlin (Similar to Nalokets), and the Akaelae Twins, Tae and Kea.
  • Rock Beats Laser: Actually, rock beats psychics/telepaths.
    • Swords and other melee weapons also beat long range weapons in Cyantian wars. The Cyantians do happen to be Petting Zoo People who can avoid gunfire far better than a human could. So staying at range is harder than having a melee weapon ready.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: Princess Tira will end up as Queen of the fox territory.
    • Princess Silver is the head of the Mars Academy Special Ops Division.
  • Rule of Cool: 40 foot tall combat robots? Check. More than one Hyperspace Arsenal? Check. Quinn? Check. Technomage chips which allow a trained user to use technological Functional Magic? Check. Skunks designed as living art, including fruit and flower based air freshener scents. Check. Mature handling of romantic and interpersonal plot elements? Check. Quinn? Double Check.
  • Rule of Funny: This rule pokes it's nose in now and then. Most notably striking Chew Toy characters. Although, really, nobody is safe from Tiffany's sense of humor.
    • Not even the villains. Sheana is very good at throwing stones.
  • Running Gag: Khaelis' unlucky nature.
    • The floor was recently layered, so it's slick.
  • Schedule Slip: Motherhood, conventions, the occasional tornado warning (or actual tornado) and motherhood cause some slips in the schedule. But most of the time we get at least two updated comics every week day.
  • Schizo-Tech: Even with mecha Cyantians still use swords and other melee weapons as primary weapons of war. Not to mention that even out in the boonies in a stone house a child is likely to be educated through interactive TV.
  • Seinen: Considering the serious, realistic take on romance and the 60/40 male to female audience split, I'd say Seinen is a (mostly) accurate description. Although, I don't think it was the author's intent to create a Seinen comic. Not to mention there's probably a larger audience than the seinen crowd.
    • Coincidentally, Alien Dice, the other "main" comic of Tiffany Ross', has a 40/60 male to female audience split. Odd how that works out.
  • Servant Race: The immigrant Cyantians were originally intended as this for the Rumuah (after humans were found "unsuitable") and according to the Fox all Genoworks creations are as well.
    • Cyantians were also briefly a Slave Race during the Squid occupation a century after the Rumuah went extinct.
  • Sexy Backless Outfit: Sheana's backless swimsuit has had a lasting effect on Darius.
  • Shapeshifting Lover: Any Cil Hybrid that hooks up with someone. An odd dual case for Twinky and Velour, (Wereskunk and Wereferret) who have since broken up. (Part of Twinky and Velour's backstory, in the Shivaewiki.)
  • Shock and Awe: Vin steps out of a cave and displays a new way to deal with his father.
  • Shout Box: all Shivae Studios Comics, which includes all Cyantian Chronicles comics, have a Shout Box below the comic.
  • Shout-Out: The author has given Shout Outs to her colorist Spike and various other people who have contributed to the print versions of the various comics in the comics that they have contributed to.
    • There's a possibility that the Master Grade lifts (See Humongous Mecha) are a Shout-Out to Master Grade Gundam Model Kits. But this troper doubts it.
    • Quinn makes me wonder if she has a "Q" based name.
  • Shown Their Work: The Shivaewiki shows a lot of work in making the comic's world believable, down to Cyantia having a listed mass in the "World" entry.
  • "Shut Up" Kiss: Delivered to Vincent, complete with Post-Kiss Catatonia.
  • Single-Minded Twins: Kika and Anka Krioka. Due to Neefla genetic memory, Neefla must be taught how to access and use the genetic memory. Usually, this means twins are separated. One pair of parents is usually only enough to teach one Neefla child how to use said genetic memory. Kika and Anka's parents kept both of their twins. As a side effect, they both are codependent on each other and enjoy the same pursuits.
  • Skunk Stripe: They're on the skunks!
  • Smelly Skunk: Subverted three times.
  • Sorting Algorithm of Deadness: Word of God States that characters who are killed are Killed Off for Real and will stay Deader Than Disco.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Chatin and Cilke are referred to as Satin and Silk in parts of Campus Safari because their Translator Collars mangled their names when they first arrived on earth.
  • Spotting the Thread: The clues are there and some have been spotted. We're just not sure if they'll be headed.
  • Squee: The sound heard when Cilke and Chrome hooked up.
  • Start of Darkness: Rama in Akaelae: Chapter 14 "Malevolent Designs".
  • The Stoic: Celina Asara. Word of God says "Nothing ever phases Celina." She's so much The Stoic that she would qualify for The Comically Serious were it not for her sense of humor and certain comical actions.
  • Superpowerful Genetics: Elites, though sometimes it skips a generation.
  • Take That: Darius takes a potshot at Star Trek during Campus Safari. It's a well deserved potshot too.
  • Techno Babble: Cesilee is capable of spouting this to answer a difficult question at school despite being mostly asleep.
  • Techno Wizard: Twinky, who designed some really impressive gadgets on his own.
    • Chatin, who has invented a personal teleporter, written video games and is one of the smartest characters in Campus Safari.
    • Kibi, who is a Child Genius.
    • Chrome's greatest seen invention is an alarmed wallet which beeps very loudly when it gets too far away from it's owner.
  • Teleporters and Transporters: Technomages are often able to teleport, and the Siracs are able to do this as well using their Psychic Powers. In addition, Campus Safari started with Chatin making a personal transporter and Cilke accidentally using it to send them to Earth.
  • Tempting Fate: Done several times minimum. The most notable is Biely during Akaelae.
  • Theme Twin Naming: Taema and Keama Akaelae. What? They rhyme!
    • Arguably Rayne during Campus Safari as well.
    • Cere fits this bill for the Sink or Swim cast.
  • Throw It In: This page of the comic Akaelae The author posted this comment after speculation on who the involved characters were.

Actually, these two are the last two cameos. :D It was never mentioned that they were involved as characters .. it was just too fitting to pass up with the dialogue that came to mind.

    • Also, Cesilee's Diary was originally supposed to be only 6 strips long. It ended up far longer and was eventually combined with the former primary comic, Campus Safari.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Occurs three times total for No Angel and Campus Safari. (They are parallel storylines until they begin.) Two incidences are lethal, one is not.
    • Also occurs in Akaelae. Fatality is avoided due to a want to capture the character in question.
    • And once more between webcomics. See the entry for The Virus.
  • Translator Collar: Rather undignified for Cyantians to wear, but it works.
  • Tyke Bomb: Cere and the other Roos of Sink Or Swim are taken by the Fox Military for this purpose. It doesn't work out.
    • Quinn, Collin and the other Siracs are also another attempt at Tyke Bomb creation. With Quinn and Collin, it might have worked too well. Especially since genoworks couldn't keep hold of them.
      • Ditto for Quill and Needles, who also escape.
  • Unobtainium: Cyantium is a rare metal with antigravity properties that makes the bones of Cyzantium's fauna stronger and lighter than normal. Off-worlders will often invade and slaughter whole herds and clear cut entire forests and occasionally dig open mines to get the stuff.
  • Unsound Effect: "Pounce," [dead link] "* Pity Me* ," and "Glomp" have all been used as sound effects.
  • Unusual Euphemism: "Squid!" for the F-bomb and a number of other swear words.
    • In the Sink or Swim story line we have Nil, who uses machine terms for almost everything because she was a biocomputer that the main cast of that story line found in a derelict ship and as result her responses to otherwise normal things can be a little funny.
    • "Dratsad" fills in the role of "Bastard".
    • "Squid on a Stick!" is this troper's favorite variation.
  • Villainy Discretion Shot: Used to good effect in all of The Cyantian Chronicles, which is the least graphically violent of all of Tiffany Ross' webcomics.
  • The Virus: Designed by the fox ruling class, it was meant to use against the "guttouve" (lower caste) foxes. It backfired and nearly wiped out the whole of the fox population by turning them into "very fast zombies" before killing them horribly.
  • Wacky College: Mars Academy needs its own Special Ops team and freaks out more than one earth native.
    • Jules and Marcus apparently went to one, before getting taken to Mars Academy.
  • Walk It Off: Elite Regeneration only functions while said Elite is moving.
  • Webcomic Time: And how!
    • So much so that in the Campus Safari Relaunch several characters are getting their outfits updated "out of The 80s".
  • We Have Become Complacent: More or less said by Alpha after Celina is taken by aliens, after said aliens gloated about their inability to intervene to get her back. See also Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped.
  • Weirdness Censor: Jules and Marcus' college is so heavily populated by wierdos that nobody notices that Chatin and Cilke aren't in costume. Or if they do notice, they don't care.
    • Also in effect at Mars Academy, as Twinky notes that most people are used to Technomage antics when Dallas teleports him for the umpteenth time.
  • Wham! Episode: Akaelae Chapter 14: "Malevolent Designs".
  • Wham! Line: There are a few here and there. There's a recent one that's taken Rama's Complete Monster status from debated to confirmed.
  • When She Smiles: Celina is typically scowling or straight faced, but she has one of the warmest smiles of all the cast.
  • Who Wants to Live Forever?: Alpha Akaelae (The original from Akaelae) views his thousand year lifespan as a burden. One can understand why when he's had more than one child get killed or die of old age. Not all of his children got his lifespan and old age hits extra hard when it finally catches up with him. Look up "Elites" in the Shivaewiki for more information on this.
  • Wild Mass Guessing: Not only present in the aforementioned Shoutboxes, it is actively encouraged by the author and even given an alternate name: The Update Game.
    • It's hilariously fun because Tiffany always keeps her fans guessing and/or in suspense.
  • Writer Revolt: Don't point out a mistake in Tiffany's art if someone has already pointed it out. It's rude and Tiffany doesn't like it when people repeat what other people just said.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Rama Tibal applies this to Vin's Mother, Noira, after he decides that he's going to reclaim Vin.
    • Also applied by Rama at later point in the "Darius" comic. However, the second time it's conditional on the servant in question failing at her appointed task.
  • Zombie Apocalypse: Vixinte, the capital city of the Fox Territories, suffers a Zombie Apocalypse. While it is localized due to the biological weapon being designed to be used against Guttouve (Gutter Fox, AKA: The lower classes), it still nearly wipes out the Cyantian foxes as a species and it ends up changing fox society forever.
    • Statistically, the "zombie plague" killed 99.94% of all foxes in Vixinte. There are only about 100,000 fox left alive. And not all of them are happy with the new regime.
      • It's worth noting that the "Zombies" created are actually living infected who will die after the biological weapon that turned them into zombies runs it's course.
  • Zombie Gait: Averted. Infected Foxes become some of the fastest zombies ever imagined, as cyantian foxes are digitigrade and run faster than a human could.
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