History Webcomic / TheWaterPhoenixKing

* SpaceElves: The Wyrds, pretty much, of the Type II Enlightened Mystic Race kind -- they've got the [[OurElvesAreBetter longevity, speed, grace, superior senses,]] and the PointyEars -- with that making the Ulenites the [[ElvesVersusDwarves Space Dwarves.]]

** Vish lost his girlfriend and [[spoiler:forty thousand civilians in the city of Esgavi]] to a raving madman's doomsday weapon. What is the most logical course of action? Break into negotiations and offer Oxo diplomatic immunity in exchange for a full alliance with the Ulenites. Gilgam outright calls Vish the better man for having the moral integrity to choose the greater good over getting revenge on a mass murderer.
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: Maresh starts out as a HeroAntagonist, but is repeatedly tortured for failing missions. This reaches a breaking point when he [[TheStarscream betrays his master]] and tries to cause the apocalypse so he can torture the survivors into obedience forever.
** Thrale may or may not be an example - Ismene's view of Thrale pre-torture is biased and he may have been EvilAllAlong - but it's clear from his mass-murder fetish that the torture drove him insane.

* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: The reason why Gurahl ruined everything. First he killed the mass murderers and cultists. Then he killed the rapists and thieves, then he killed the average joe because mortals were evil like 50% of the time, and then he decided that nobody was a saint every waking moment of their lives and that was the reason why everybody left had to die. The gods killed him before he could complete his genocide, but his final 'gift' to the world was a static karma system, Tamantha, which he completed and implemented. Tamantha is utterly flawed; [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain it is racist]], [[DoubleStandard sexist]], [[FantasticCasteSystem caste-based]], [[IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure punishes everyone for one person's sins]], and [[DisproportionateRetribution always uses excessive force]]. Naturally, people rebel against this prejudiced morality, the karma system oppresses them even more, etc.

* CatsAreMean: More like "Cats Are Cats", as the Inn of Silver Leaves has many feline occupants all of whom seem to spend most of their time [[TruthInTelevision sleeping on various perches]] but they do persecute Arcoan the bokkminn (short insectile alien) busboy, stalking and chasing him around the halls until someone intervenes. He claims to be convinced that they will eat him someday, but they don't mess with the other bokkminn staying at the inn -- a soldier, even if he is only the disrespected "mascot" of the Bison Guards, he wears armor and carries a spear and seems to be generally far less impressed with most things -- and Arcoan ''claims'' to have been a champion tamer of riding dragonflies in the past, so something else strange seems to be going on there... Oh, and cats on Chalt have variously colored halos, thanks to what whimsical deity we don't yet know. [[http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2010/mar/10/poetry-i-will-consider-my-cat-jeoffry/ Christopher Smart would approve.]]
* ChekhovsGun: Ever wonder why they called it the "Silver Leaves Inn"? [[spoiler:Answer: Nanotechnology that looks like silver leaves, designed to transform Wyrd villages into electromagnetic cyberspace]]. Followed by the Bishop of Narmathex using this against Gilgam by scattering said leaves with wind.

* CloningBlues: As of chapter 17, Anthem uploaded her mind to Okeshida and made a backup copy of her mind for her body to use. Since she knows that souls aren't just minds this only takes a few weeks of angst. Played for laughs when Gilgam and Savi understand what she's saying.
--> Anthem: So it's like my mind has been transferred, except that we take a nonsimilar set of thought processes and subconscious routines-
--> Gilgam: Software Emulation.
--> Anthem: Oh right, you guys have lived with machines.

** Chapter 20: Maresh summons a ''huge fucking sword'' the size of a small moon with the intent of drowning the world and his greatest threat.

* LaserGuidedKarma: DECONSTRUCTED. The karma system (known as Tamantha) has a glitchy targeting beam at best and is outright malfunctioning at worst, spawning monsters and natural disasters for oblivious slights made by average people and ultimately causing massive AesopCollateralDamage, which leads more people to commit more crimes out of desperation or suffering, causing the karma punishments to escalate in a vicious cycle leading to the death of an immortal king who was protected by Tamantha, which sets up the grim background of the world-ending plot. Tamantha is also elitist, racist, and sexist because that's how it was programmed by the top god Gurahl, and then ironically HE was killed by the fire goddess Ailari because he murdered her sister Okeshida to finish it. Maresh, who would normally be the hero of a low fantasy story, becomes the villain due to repeated torture for his failings, while Anthem, who is a childish sociopath and KarmaHoudini, ends up becoming a heroine and a revolutionary scholar because she's taught about her failings and how to overcome them by her friends instead of being punished immediately.

* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: Maresh. Starts out as a hero-wannabe working for the bad guys, but is betrayed and ridiculed by allies and enemies alike (especially Anthem) until his insanity reaches a breaking point. By the final arc, he's a [[spoiler:genocidal necromancer; his main goal is to flood the planet and his long-term goal is to impose BlackAndWhiteInsanity on as much of the universe as he can]].

* WomanInWhite: Corva, obviously. (Off-duty she favors earth tones and darker neutrals.)

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Both played straight ''and'' subverted in Chapter 2, with Ismene the Escavite princess-in-exile and head of LaResistance getting some guff about the absurdity of monarchy from radical egalitarian Gilgam after he rescues her and her loyal retainer from assassins, but acting like a true leader who cares for her people in strong contrast to [[spoiler: her ex]] the arrogant and destructive Prince of Nammathar, and then herself turning out to be [[spoiler: a patriotic shapeshifter who took on the identity of the real princess after the latter suicided rather than be taken prisoner by the Water Phoenix King's knights during the war.]] When her secret is revealed [[spoiler: after she survives a "sunset wound" protecting the Prince she still loves]] this becomes [[spoiler: an AwesomeMomentOfCrowning when it is later revealed that her people did not turn on her after learning she's an inhuman magical "abomination" and still regard her as their True Princess,]] to the confusion of her enemies.

* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: Maresh. Starts out as an honest cripple trying to be the hero, but is betrayed by allies and enemies alike (Anthem included) until his insanity reaches a breaking point, causing him to surpass and kill all of his former tormenting superiors (while tragically losing the one who was NICE). By chapter 20, he's a genocidal necromancer whose main goal is to flood the planet and long-term goal is to impose BlackAndWhiteInsanity on as much of the universe as he can.

* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: The reason why Gurahl ruined everything. First he killed the mass murderers and cultists. Then he killed the rapists and thieves, then he killed the average joe because mortals were evil like 50% of the time, and then he decided that nobody was a saint every waking moment of their lives and that was the reason why everybody left had to die. The gods killed him before he could complete his genocide, but he was planning to do so by making a static karma system, Tamantha, which he completed and implemented. Tamantha made hell appear to the innocent when they didn't bow and obey their superiors so that the upper crust could practice "virtuous" ''slaughter''.

After that, it gets significantly more complicated to explain — but can equally truthfully be called an epic HighFantasy adventure about a GenreSavvy TeenGenius MagicalGirlWarrior who is also rather an AntiHero and more than a little AxCrazy — her first exchange with her newly-revealed SpiritAdvisor is a demand to assist her in DisposingOfABody '''''not''''' the one from her ''first'' AccidentalMurder — but who doesn’t really ''want'' to be Evil (that business of summoning the EldritchAbomination was a ''complete'' accident), her angst-ridden nerdy (yet {{Bishonen}}!) MentorArchetype guardian FallenAngel who constantly protests his unheroic inadequacy before flinging himself into the fray, the [[ShellShockedVeteran traumatized]] [[ProudScholarRace former lawyer]] with the [[ScarsAreForever horrific scar]] currently working as a [[ParttimeHero bartender/bouncer/janitor]] who’s just crawled back from the DespairEventHorizon after [[TheDrifter ten years in the wilderness]] considering his [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld immortality]] a curse [[WhoWantsToLiveForever not a blessing]] to [[RetiredGunfighter take up his gun]] in one of the strangest rookie-veteran team-ups ever, and the rest of the RagtagBunchOfMisfits who either through fate or chance -- if there ''is'' any difference in this universe — have all [[YouAllMeetInAnInn Met In An Inn]] which has turned out to be the InnBetweenTheWorlds and stayed there under the protection of the [[TricksterArchetype Goddess of the Crossroads]] to try to save their country, and ultimately their homeworld itself, from the impending Doom that has turned out to be the inevitable consequence of humanity overthrowing the titular GodEmperor in a war that ended up embroiling nearly everyone on — or off — the planet. (Turns out [[FisherKing The King is the Land]] holds doubly true [[PhysicalGod when “divine right” is literal]].)

* AHandfulForAnEye: Early on in the first issue, Gilgam makes use of enemy campfire embers in melee, establishing his GlassCannon and [[{{Tricksters}} Trickster-Hero]] status at the same time.

* MasterOfIllusion: Vish, naturally, as an emissary of the [[TricksterArchetype Trickster;]] he has promised to train Anthem in this.

* TricksterArchetype: The goddess Ailari, patron of travelers, messengers, merchants, inns, freedom, and fortune. Her various servants and champions all embody these aspects in different ways, starting with Anthem's protests that she's nobody's servant, thankyouverymuch, and Gilgam's shameless [[RulesLawyer Rules Lawyering]] and outright deceptions to see justice done without giving her away. (Vish, for all his Lawful inclinations, even wears Hermes' winged sandals.)

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Both played straight ''and'' subverted in Chapter 2, with Ismene the Escavite princess-in-exile and head of LaResistance getting some guff about the absurdity of monarchy from radical egalitarian Gilgam after he rescues her and her loyal retainer from assassins, but acting like a true leader who cares for her people in strong contrast to [[spoiler: her ex]] the arrogant and destructive Prince of Nammathar, and then herself turning out to be [[spoiler: a patriotic shapeshifter who took on the identity of the real princess after the latter suicided rather than be taken prisoner by the Water Phoenix King's knights during the war.]] When her secret is revealed [[spoiler: after she survives a "sunset wound" protecting the Prince she still loves]] this becomes [[spoiler: a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming ''and'' an Awesome MomentOfCrowning when it is later revealed that her people did not turn on her after learning she's an inhuman magical "abomination" and still regard her as their True Princess,]] to the confusion of her enemies.

* JustFriends: Averted entirely. It's impressive how thoroughly it's averted, in fact -- there is never any point at which the bond between dainty, feminine teenaged Anthem and battered, rakish immortal Gilgam even hints at something sexually inappropriate. Their relationship segues back and forth between sensei/student and older/younger siblings conspiring in mischief to the rarer real-life phenomenon of two intergenerational individuals "clicking" as equals, when it could ''so'' easily be filled with the creepy, but -- well, it's ''still'' full of creepiness, but the creepy overtones have to do with their equally casual acceptance of violence and Eldritch Sorcery, and the meddling of the Gods, instead. A prime case in point: the sequence in the second issue when Gilgam manhandles her down to the basement and ''puts her in a time-out until she '''stops threatening to rip someone's throat out with her teeth or call down cthonic retribution from the heavens''' on their enemy''-- who admittedly deserves a comeuppance but the former would be imprudent and the latter overkill for bystanders. [[spoiler: It ends up a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming, in a very sad way -- not least because for him to do that, given what she is and has done, is a braver thing than standing down TWO simultaneous armed mobs earlier in the issue]]. Even more impressive in that the aversion isn't done by means of any usual gimmick: Anthem is not a PuritySue too innocently childlike to be thought of "in that way" and Gilgam ''doesn't'' consider [[MayflyDecemberRomance humanity to be an insumountable obstacle]] to romance, either. They really are friends -- no "just" about it.

* FantasyWorldMap: This is also a map of the Cosmos, which is more critical than one might think, unless one is familiar with how {{Alchemy}} operates as a magical system[[http://www.alchemy-works.com/planets_mars.html]]...

* FunctionalMagic: Several different systems are in operation, including {{Alchemy}}, Device Magic, {{Necromancy}}, Rule Magic, and Theurgy. The Scientific Method appears to be able to be applied to all of them to increase their efficiency, although this is somewhat controversial when it comes to dealing with the Gods.

* KnightInShiningArmor: Mostly subverted, but played straight in Book 2 with Sir Commito Ai-Chalse, who fills the [[ThePrisonerOfZenda Sapt role of older Mentor]] to Princess Ismene.

** Lord Ezheis describes himself and his companions as "villains," even as he demonstrates that EvenEvilhasSTandards.
** Gilgam's threat to Anthem during the first exploration of the Library is pretty genre savvy as well.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Very likely, Chancellor Jarjuna off in the distant capital; locally, Arduna, though unfortunately his authority is limited to the Inn of Silver Leaves. (Well, legally, anyways. Mission creep has begun to set in.)

* GlassCannon: Gilgam, with or without his gun -- though his fighting skills improved drastically between the time he first took up his gun again and the arrival of the lunar Embassy a few weeks later, he's very frank about the fact that "run away very fast" is still his preferred strategy when outnumbered without tactical advantage, because he's just too thin and wiry ''not'' to be flattened in melee if he gets cornered. Paradoxically, this just serves to make him even more insanely {{BadAss}}, because he keeps determinedly tanking all the same, when there's no one else to do it.

* {{Mentors}}: Vish fulfills the [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Giles role]], for the most part, though he's not as BadAss as "Ripper" by any means (better at bluffing, though) and has only recently accepted the need to help Anthem with weapons practice in addition to magical and mystical disciplines, since Gilgam has absolutely refused to train her in swordplay. (This is ''not'' because he objects to women in combat or thinks that she ought to stay "innocent," but may be related to his PTSD and fears of responsibility, or because he feels that whacking on her with beater swords would cause problems for their friendship. Gilgam also mentors Anthem, socially, but ... his mentoring comes off as a little ''skewed'' even at the best of times: "Cheer up, we still have enemies to kill!" would not be an acceptable pep talk to an anxious teenager, by most standards.)

* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: The reason why Gurahl ruined everything. First he killed the mass murderers and cultists. Then he killed the rapists and thieves, then he killed the average joe because humans were evil like 50% of the time, and then he decided that nobody was a saint every waking moment of their lives and that was the reason why everybody left had to die. The gods killed him before he could complete his genocide, but he was planning to do so by making a static karma system, Tamantha, which he completed and implemented. Tamantha made hell appear to the innocent when they didn't bow and obey their superiors so that the upper crust could practice "virtuous" ''slaughter''.

* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: The reason why Gurahl ruined everything. First he killed the mass murderers and cultists. Then he killed the rapists and thieves, then he killed the average joe because humans were evil like 50% of the time, and then he decided that nobody was a saint every waking moment of their lives and that was the reason why everybody left had to die. The gods killed him before he could complete his genocide, but he was planning to do so by making a static karma system, which he completed and implemented. Tamantha made hell appear to the innocent when they didn't bow and obey their superiors so that the upper crust could practice "virtuous" 'slaughter'.

* TreasureMap: In classic ''TreasureIsland'' mode, this doesn't quite work out the way it's supposed to. (It gets hung over the bar -- bloodstains and all -- as a souvenir, afterward.)

Got all that? Either you want to be reading it already, or you need more assurance. We haven’t even gotten to the zebra-riding samurai not-orcs, the dragonfly-riding insectile aliens, tortoise-riding traveling salesmen, the [[KillerRobot killer robots]], the “war weasel,” the teenage [[KnightTemplar aspiring-Templar]] [[ArchEnemy nemesis]] with the {{BFS}} (mace, actually), the sword-vs-death-ray fights, or the cannibal demigods! (This troper was a very hard sell, but after “I can quit any time” wore thin admitted the inevitable and became volunteer PR staff.) ScienceFiction or {{Fantasy}}? Don’t even go there, the answer is, "[[ScienceFantasy Both, of course!]]" The art is semi-realistic, a bit like early medieval miniature illustrations, densely detailed with rough but very expressive pen work and beautifully moody colors, and the story moves quickly.

* AerithAndBob: Averted almost entirely -- this troper has found only one name so far (the aforementioned Ismene) taken untranslated from Earth-Prime, and that could be a deliberate cue.

* BloodyHilarious: Often, especially in Chapter 1 -- though for this troper, only after the fact.

* {{Fanservice}}: Averted, deliberately per the creator. Yes, a comic with a teenage blonde protagonist, several cast regulars who are prostitutes, and an Evil Overlord Wannabe with a harem of [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Blue Space Babes,]] ''doesn’t'' focus on T&A or find excuses to spotlight their secondary sexual characteristics. That’s not to say there aren’t instances of nudity and people (not only women) in various states of undress -- the “M” rating isn’t just there to be edgy and there are multiple reasons for it, including the occasional brief sex scene -- but it’s not done to be titillating, just in a matter-of-fact nod-to-realism way. On the other hand, there is a fair amount of CostumePorn, justified by the real world historical settings the cultures in the story are modeled on or inspired by. (Understated, in fact, compared to the amount of bling found in portrait galleries up through the 18th century.) The detail level of clothing and gear, in this troper’s opinion, not only adds considerable visual interest to the pages but makes it easy to keep track of a large cast of characters. Moreover, as Hollywood has long known, historic costume is Hawt! all on its own! (There is also a bit of ContinuityPorn in the costume department, for the attentive reader.)

* JustFriends: Averted entirely. This troper finds it impressive how thoroughly it's averted, in fact -- there is never any point at which the bond between dainty, feminine teenaged Anthem and battered, rakish immortal Gilgam even hints at something sexually inappropriate. Their relationship segues back and forth between sensei/student and older/younger siblings conspiring in mischief to the rarer real-life phenomenon of two intergenerational individuals "clicking" as equals, when it could ''so'' easily be filled with the creepy, but -- well, it's ''still'' full of creepiness, but the creepy overtones have to do with their equally casual acceptance of violence and Eldritch Sorcery, and the meddling of the Gods, instead. A prime case in point: the sequence in the second issue when Gilgam manhandles her down to the basement and ''puts her in a time-out until she '''stops threatening to rip someone's throat out with her teeth or call down cthonic retribution from the heavens''' on their enemy''-- who admittedly deserves a comeuppance but the former would be imprudent and the latter overkill for bystanders. [[spoiler: It ends up a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming, in a very sad way -- not least because for him to do that, given what she is and has done, is a braver thing than standing down TWO simultaneous armed mobs earlier in the issue]]. Even more impressive in that the aversion isn't done by means of any usual gimmick: Anthem is not a PuritySue too innocently childlike to be thought of "in that way" and Gilgam ''doesn't'' consider [[MayflyDecemberRomance humanity to be an insumountable obstacle]] to romance, either. They really are friends -- no "just" about it.

* MedievalEuropeanFantasy: Yes ... and not exactly. There ''are'' knights in full plate with swords and shields riding around on big horse-things "covered in curtains", and other trappings indicative of "Western" inspired fantasy -- but it's not ''just'' Northern but also Mediterranean, there are other cultures both on and off the main continent with entirely different sorts of historical inspirations, and purely fantastic otherworldly ones as well. It could be a mess, a horrible "culture collage" of the most random sort, but somehow it's not. This troper finds that the simplest way of explaining it is: Imagine if the Conquistadors had ''allied with'' Tenochtitlan instead, returned to conquer Spain and formed a fusion culture and religion; the Armada had won; and the Stewarts hadn't just claimed "Divine Right" but actual ''divinity'' in their rule of the resulting combined Holy Human Empire, its protectorates and colonies across Europe and much of the Americas. And magic actually ''worked'' the way people still hoped it did in the 16th and 17th centuries, in the age of John Dee and Paracelsus, and the cosmos really was Neoplatonic and inhabited as the ancients believed. Everyone expects the Anglo-Aztec Inquisition -- but that doesn't mean they like it!

* RuinsForRuinsSake: Averted, with the history of the realm involving ancient warring nations occupying the region for ages past. (It should be noted that the author lives in a part of the country where [[http://www.primaryresearch.org/stonewalls/schweizer/index.php centuries-old stone walls running through the middle of dense woods]] are [[TruthInTelevision to even be remarked upon.]] This troper has found forgotten basements, gravestones, and wells on hikes in the Northeast, though never containing treasure, unfortunately -- or monsters, fortunately.)

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The scale is ''very'' well oiled. This troper feels it weighted towards "Cynicism," but then there are all these surprising Heartwarming moments! Only they tend to come, if not in a welter of gore, at least in situations fraught with and surrounded by, intense violence and brutal cruelty. So...yeah...?

* WhiteMaskOfDoom: The Forgers of Pain. This troper finds them to be very, ''very'' far down into the UncannyValley due to their puppet-like aspects.

** The former Ulenite leader did not condone slavery, even against humans. [[spoiler:And was so horrified at Oxo's genocide on Esgavi that he fled to Anthem to tell her what atrocities his people committed]].

** Thrale may or may not be an example, but it's clear from his mass-murder fetish that the torture drove him insane.

So far, four issues out of a planned 24 are complete and free for reading online at the main site and mirrored at Website/TheDuck, along with some background information on the world-building and brief character profiles.