History Webcomic / Hero

As stated on the synopsis page: HERO is a story about a perfectly ordinary boy with no memory of the past and no urgency for the future; who one day accepts a most extraordinary offer to travel to distant places and invisible cities.

It is a fantasy {{webcomic}} with allegorical overtones, written and drawn by Malaysian artist Hwei-Lin Lim. Its plot follows the travels of a boy with "no memory of the past and no urgency for the future" as he sets out to see the world and attempts to answer lingering questions about his identity. Currently it spans over 270 pages of a planned 300-some. The first page is [[http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/001.html here]].

''[[http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/ HERO]]'' is a fantasy {{webcomic}} with allegorical overtones, written and drawn by Malaysian artist Hwei-Lin Lim. Its plot follows the travels of a boy with "no memory of the past and no urgency for the future" as he sets out to see the world and attempts to answer lingering questions about his identity. Currently it spans over 270 pages of a planned 300-some.

The comic itself is illustrated with flowing, watercolor-esque digital painting rather than cartoony artwork. In place of speech bubbles or other text boxes, the story is told entirely through custom AltText (actually DHTML tooltips). Interestingly, the idiosyncratically thoughtful first-person narration is maintained even in action scenes or other tense situations.

There is a [[Characters/{{HERO}} character sheet]] for this webcomic, which is under construction.

[[http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/001.html Start Here]]

* AnimalMotifs -- In abundance, pertaining both to individual characters (the Serpent is a pretty obvious example) and to recurring metaphors.

** Vin's horses can transform into clouds, have exaggerated long necks, and are either wild or hot-blooded as Valentine calls them "mad".

* EnvironmentalSymbolism -- Most notably in the use of different palettes. For example, the opening act is very muted, with a lot of DeliberatelyMonochrome bits, perhaps in representation of the peaceful monotony of the protagonist's life before his story's inciting event.

* LossOfIdentity -- Our unnamed protagonist, though it's not a loss so much as a general WTF-who-am-I deal.
* MysteriousPast -- Averted. The protagonist is ripe material, but the focus quickly moves from discovering his past to trying to deal with the interaction of past, present, and future.

* PensieveFlashback -- The protagonist, several times -- though he experiences it from the POV of the owner of the memory, the only thing he can do that deviates from the memory is to think... and technically, [[spoiler:the ones in the compass and the City of Memory were Eira's.]]

* SceneryPorn -- At times heartbreakingly atmospheric, watercoloresque scenery porn...

* SoulJar -- Apparently of the first subtype (and not without negative consequences), these are possessed by more than one character, including a main player: [[spoiler:Valentine, the red rider, and possibly all the demons.]]

* Nyk is a piebald black and white unicorn who can change into other black and white creatures.
* Vin's horses can transform into clouds, have exaggerated long necks, and are either wild or hot-blooded as Valentine calls them "mad".
* The red rider's horse is white with a red mane and tail, who can fly ''and'' gallop over water.

The comic itself is illustrated with flowing, watercolor-esque digital painting rather than cartoony artwork. In place of speech bubbles or other text boxes, the story is told entirely through custom AltText. Interestingly, the idiosyncratically thoughtful first-person narration is maintained even in action scenes or other tense situations.

* XMeetsY -- [[http://diaryofaphanatique.wordpress.com/2007/07/16/webcomic-review-hero-by-hwei-lin-lim/ One reviewer]] described HERO as "''TheLittlePrince'' if it had been written by NeilGaiman, set in the world of ''FinalFantasy VIII'' and illustrated by YoshitakaAmano."

* SoulJar -- Apparently of the first subtype (and not without negative consequences), these are possessed by at least one main character: [[spoiler:Valentine, and possibly all the demons.]]

* [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Crowning Moments of Heartwarming]]
** The Duck is a constant source of these.
-->'''The Duck (to Valentine)''': I will always go and do dumb things for you (like going to look for you, even if you are a big stupid head and go off without me!)--and it means to say I love you.
** Right before Valentine and Lost escape through the Serpent/Venice's door:
-->'''Valentine''': Will you just let me apologize! I have never done anything for you and you have always done ''everything'' for me, even stupid dumb stunts you ''know'' you can't do--
-->'''Serpent''': You're my brother. I'll always do dumb things for you. And whatever I choose to do, you owe me nothing.

* PensieveFlashback -- The protagonist, several times -- though he experiences it from the POV of the owner of the memory, the only thing he can do that deviates from the memory is to think... and technically, [[spoiler:the one in the compass was Eira's.]]

''[[http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/ HERO]]'' is a fantasy {{webcomic}} with allegorical overtones, written and drawn by Malaysian artist Hwei-Lin Lim. Its plot follows the travels of a boy with "no memory of the past and no urgency for the future" as he sets out to see the world and attempts to answer lingering questions about his identity. Currently it spans over 250 pages of a planned 300-some.

* RoadMovie -- Except for the bit where it's a webcomic and not a movie.

* WarIsHell -- It killed [[spoiler:Eira, for one]], and what may or may not have been the same war killed [[spoiler:Eira's parents]].

* WarIsHell

There is a [[Characters/{{HERO}} character sheet]] for this webcomic, under construction.

** The Duck is a constant source of these:

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming -- From the Duck about Valentine: "I will always go and do dumb things for you (like going to look for you, even if you are a big stupid head and go off without me!)--and it means to say I love you." In fact, the Duck is a constant source of these.

* EnvironmentalSymbolism -- Most notably in the use of different palettes -- the opening act is very muted, with a lot of DeliberatelyMonochrome bits, perhaps in representation of the peaceful monotony of the protagonist's life before his story's inciting event.

* CameBackWrong -- Fitting under none of the listed subtypes, actually. [[spoiler:The protagonist looks just like Eira and even has some of Eira's personality and ability to involuntarily access his memories... but he isn't Eira.]]
** Heavily implied of the two reoccuring golem characters, as well. [[spoiler:Or should we say, two ''other'' reoccuring golem characters... the protagonist's status is a bit up in the air.]]

* DropWhatYouAreDoing -- The Lady's reaction when Valentine leads her to believe that D'Urfe is in the City of Desire.

* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan -- Since the protagonist is not exactly up to beating on Valentine, he resorts to throwing his notebook at Valentine ''really hard''.

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice -- [[spoiler: In this case, all five of the half-foot claws on Valentine's right hand impaled in Ganymar's throat. Though]] [[supersecretspoiler: he doesn't die.]] Actually, he seems to be a bit of a magnet for this trope -- [[spoiler: his past human life apparently was ended in a similar fashion. Just on bigger scale.]]

* PapaWolf -- Familial: The Serpent, both as the Serpent and as just Venice. Nonfamilial: Valentine in relation to the protagonist, of course, as well as the tiger-voiced man in relation to the fisherman.

* StunnedSilence -- Valentine, eloquently, upon seeing the Lady.

* UnusualEars -- The fisherman, due to the fact that [[spoiler:he is actually a wolf.]]

->''The world is made up of cities, and the spaces between them.''

* ABoyAndHisX - [[spoiler:Averted, although the initial act(s) somewhat set the reader up to expect A Boy and His Cat.]] See: the image on this page, which is clipped from the end of the first act.
* AltText - Narration and dialogue in one Alty package!
* AnimalMotifs - In abundance, pertaining both to individual characters (the Serpent is a pretty obvious example) and to recurring metaphors.
* CameBackWrong - Fitting under none of the listed subtypes, actually. [[spoiler:The protagonist looks just like Eira and even has some of Eira's personality and ability to involuntarily access his memories... but he isn't Eira.]]

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming - From the Duck about Valentine: "I will always go and do dumb things for you (like going to look for you, even if you are a big stupid head and go off without me!)--and it means to say I love you." In fact, the Duck is a constant source of these.

* DropWhatYouAreDoing - The Lady's reaction when Valentine leads her to believe that D'Urfe is in the City of Desire.
* EnvironmentalSymbolism - Most notably in the use of different palettes -- the opening act is very muted, with a lot of DeliberatelyMonochrome bits, perhaps in representation of the peaceful monotony of the protagonist's life before his story's inciting event.
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan - Since the protagonist is not exactly up to beating on Valentine, he resorts to throwing his notebook at Valentine ''really hard''.
* {{Golem}}s - Of the extremely human-like subtype.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice - [[spoiler: In this case, all five of the half-foot claws on Valentine's right hand impaled in Ganymar's throat. Though]] [[supersecretspoiler: he doesn't die.]] Actually, he seems to be a bit of a magnet for this trope -- [[spoiler: his past human life apparently was ended in a similar fashion. Just on bigger scale.]]
* LossOfIdentity - Our unnamed protagonist, though it's not a loss so much as a general WTF-who-am-I deal.
* MysteriousPast - Averted. The protagonist is ripe material, but the focus quickly moves from discovering his past to trying to deal with the interaction of past, present, and future.
* MagicAIsMagicA - Two rules of creation are explicitly brought up -- ''A life once ended may not be remade'' and ''A golem once ended may not be remade'' -- and heavily affect the story. Others are implicit in brief mentions.
* MoodWhiplash - The adjacent acts "City of Delight" and "City of Despair" are so named for a ''reason'', but even with advance warning the whiplash is pretty jarring.
* NamelessNarrative - It's not just the protagonist who goes without a name and/or a capitalized title. We have the witch, the priest, the fisherman...
* OddShapedPanel - Used frequently and without much fanfare.
* OhCrap - Several such moments, actually. Valentine realizing that D'Urfe's people are following them from the air, the protagonist and Valentine running into Ganymar and Juno just when they think they've escaped the enormous monster...
* ...OurMonstersAreDifferent - Golems, gods, various implicit weresomethings...
* PapaWolf - Familial: The Serpent, both as the Serpent and as just Venice. Nonfamilial: Valentine in relation to the protagonist, of course, as well as the tiger-voiced man in relation to the fisherman.
* PensieveFlashback - The protagonist, several times -- though he experiences it from the POV of the owner of the memory, the only thing he can do that deviates from the memory is to think... and technically, [[spoiler:the one in the compass was Eira's
* RoadMovie - Except for the bit where it's a webcomic and not a movie.
* ScheduleSlip - Remarkable for commonly having delays of weeks or more, but fortunately neither dying nor noticeably slipping in quality.
* ShoutOut - Valentine refers to the plot of ''TheLittlePrince'', without specifically mentioning names, in explanation for his decision to remain with the protagonist.
* SliceOfLife - How the story begins and what it seems to be for a while.
* SpeechBubbles - During "City of Delight," which textually consisted of dialogue printed directly on the panels, each character had a different font/color. In the regular acts, (mostly the nonspeaking) characters may occasionally use pictorial "speech."
* StunnedSilence - Valentine, eloquently, upon seeing the Lady.
* TitleDrop - A buildup from page 120 leads to a [[TearJerker sad and nearly-literal example]] on page 125.
* UnusualEars - The fisherman, due to the fact that [[spoiler:he is actually a wolf.]]
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman - The Serpent's answer: He's not meant to protect humans, he's meant to protect people -- and people are individuals who have "made spaces between each other."
* XMeetsY - [[http://diaryofaphanatique.wordpress.com/2007/07/16/webcomic-review-hero-by-hwei-lin-lim/ One reviewer]] described HERO as "''TheLittlePrince'' if it had been written by NeilGaiman, set in the world of ''FinalFantasy VIII'' and illustrated by YoshitakaAmano."

* {{BFS}} - Valentine's probably qualifies. The Serpent's ''definitely'' qualifies.
* {{Bishonen}} and {{Bifauxnen}} - Occasionally ''very'' deliberate, as with the sibling pair where "the boy" has waist-length hair and "the girl" sports a pixyish boy's cut.
* BlueBishonenGhetto: Sweet mercy, ''yes''.

* PensieveFlashback - The protagonist, several times -- though he experiences it from the POV of the owner of the memory, the only thing he can do that deviates from the memory is to think... and technically, [[spoiler:the one in the compass was Eira's memory.]]
* PreAssKickingOneLiner - "''I've decided that I'm not very happy to see you.''"

* ViewerGenderConfusion - Holy ''crap'' are there a lot of pretty dudes in this comic.

* AnythingThatMoves - Or ''almost'' anything, as Valentine insists. He has ''some'' standards.

* BigBrotherMentor - The Serpent, to a T.

* CatsAreMean - At least according to Valentine.
* CoolBigSis - Juno, oh so much.

* DramaticUnmask - Inverted with the Serpent's introduction; his is more of a Dramatic, er, Remask.

* FanNickname - It's hard to discuss a nameless protagonist, so he was fanicked ASAP: Lost, after Valentine introduces him by explaining that "He's lost. I said he could come with me," and Vin deliberately misunderstands "lost" as his name.
* FunetikAksent - Averted with Valentine's Cockney accent, to the point where words like "moggy" are even ''more'' noticeable.

* LoveableRogue - Valentine. There's that small matter of being rather blasé about eating people/golems, but as the protagonist's friend and protector, we see his sympathetic side very clearly... and, well, demons are ''supposed'' to eat people.

* ThePhilosopher - Most notably our nameless protagonist, but also pretty much every other character at one point or another.

* ThereWasADoor - Although Valentine doesn't have anything against doors in general...

* WhiteHairedPrettyBoy - Subverted in the protagonist. White haired, check. Pretty, arguably. Boy, definitely. But he's about as far from villainous or badass as you can ever possibly get.

** [[spoiler: I was under the impression that the witch was actually Valentine's sister, Vin. Likewise, the tiger-voiced man was the priest and the fisherman was the wolf. If so, while the wolf and the priest may have no names, the witch does.]]
*** However, considering that [[spoiler: Vin and Lost]] show absolutely no recognition of one another in the City of Delight, to the point where she asks who he is, that's rather doubtful.