History Webcomic / UnicornJelly

* {{Transgender}}: [[spoiler:Wai Wai Ngo]], [=KayWai=], the author.
** Kay Wai is actually a little weirder than that, since the jellese (in the 'main' splay) are sexless. And the Kay Wai of To Save Her is pretty explicitly trans-species.

''[[http://unicornjelly.com/ Unicorn Jelly]]'' is a webcomic by Creator/JenniferDianeReitz. The comic is known for its retro-style computer art. The comic was drawn entirely in D Paint 2, a paint program from 1985.

%%* {{Animesque}}

%%* HilariousOuttakes

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Zuzux and Texto

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: See StealthPun. In fact, in ''Pastel Defender Heliotrpe'', she(Kay-Wai) appears on a tub explicitly labeled "love lube."

[[quoteright:136:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/unicorn_jelly_logo_8952.gif]]

It starts off as a cute little thing about a Lupiko Kazemahou, a young witch; Uni, her pet jelly, and Chou Yaru, Lupiko's crystalline-human hybrid adopted daughter. [[CerebusSyndrome Then it gets weird.]] For starters, it's slowly revealed that isn't set on Earth or an Earthlike fantasy world, but rather on a triangular world-plate with crystal life-forms which is about to be destroyed. The alchemists and witches are fighting, there are murder plots and spaceships, and sometimes {{alternate universe}} comics are drawn as well and linked under the main comic.

!!This webcomic provides examples of:

* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Chou, who, upon realizing that the human government is going to repeat the same mistakes -- again -- on the new worldplate, and that they are rapidly running out of time (and spare Worldplates), goes across the sea, infests the majority of the plate's Slime population turning them into her own personal hive mind, and shows up in biological ''mechs'' just in time to prevent the main characters from being put to death by the corrupt government.]]

* GenreShift: It goes from a low fantasy comic about a witch and her pet slime and ends up in a multiverse spanning scifi epic that covers time travel, alternate universes, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence and the singularity. This was apparently all planned, to boot -- note the comic's first page called it a "Science Fiction Epic with a definitive beginning and end".

* [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative Bitch]]: [[spoiler:Chou. She intentionally fakes emotions to keep Lupiko from stopping her, goes out and creates an army by [[MindRape mindraping]] the entire Jelly population of her new worldplate, and, when confronted by Redcloak about how much power she's aquired, simply retires -- since she's going to live for a very, very long time, she can simply wait for them to die of old age.]] Also [[spoiler: Kaye Haychold]].

* MundaneUtility: The accident that turns Chou into ...what she was is eventually duplicated safely to produce hyper-intelligent precognitive navigators.

* {{Transsexual}}: [[spoiler:Wai Wai Ngo]], [=KayWai=], the author.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/unicorn_jelly_logo_8952.gif

* ShoutOut: Many subtle and not-so-subtle references to classic and contemporary movies, comics, and video games. In one comic, a military commander is shown ordering his squad to "Take off every (fighter)! For Great Justice!. In another, a bit of alien speech is rendered as "klaatu barada nikto".

* StealthPun: There's a jelly named Kay Wai...

''[[http://unicornjelly.com/ Unicorn Jelly]]'' is a webcomic by Jennifer Diane Reitz. The comic is known for its retro-style computer art. The comic was drawn entirely in D Paint 2, a paint program from 1985.

After ''Unicorn Jelly'' ended, Reitz began drawing an independent sequel, ''Webcomic/PastelDefenderHeliotrope'' (now also completed), and a related AlternateUniverse story, ''To Save Her'' (now also, also completed). These comics all share a common... [[TheMultiverse multiverse]], a ScienceFiction setting made up of many worlds, each with [[AnotherDimension completely distinct physical laws]] and in no way similar to the others. (And then each universe has ''its own'' [[AlternateUniverse parallel worlds]], which are subtly different, and... it gets complicated). Our own universe is occasionally mentioned as the original home of humanity, but is never visited in the comics.

* SecretTestOfCharacter: Thilia originally refuses to take Chou's companions along with her on the Arkship. When Chou refuses and insists that others are brought aboard too, Thilia reveals that she was testing her, and would have tossed everyone out if Thilia ''had'' agreed to leave the others behind.

''Unicorn Jelly'' has ended, but Reitz is drawing an independent sequel, ''Pastel Defender Heliotrope'' (now also completed), and a related AlternateUniverse story, ''To Save Her'' (now also, also completed). These comics all share a common... [[TheMultiverse multiverse]], a ScienceFiction setting made up of many worlds, each with [[AnotherDimension completely distinct physical laws]] and in no way similar to the others. (And then each universe has ''its own'' [[AlternateUniverse parallel worlds]], which are subtly different, and... it gets complicated). Our own universe is occasionally mentioned as the original home of humanity, but is never visited in the comics.

''Unicorn Jelly'' is a webcomic by Jennifer Diane Reitz. The comic is known for its retro-style computer art. The comic was drawn entirely in D Paint 2, a paint program from 1985.

''Unicorn Jelly'' can be [[http://unicornjelly.com/ read online]] (free of charge) or bought in two volumes.

!!This webcomic contains examples of:
* AcrophobicBird -Lupiko
* AfterTheEnd
* AllThereInTheManual - The extended author notes, including Reitz's descriptions of alternate realities. Say what you will about her, she can think up some really odd universes.
* AlternateContinuity - the "alternate universe" comics, the "outtakes", later ''To Save Her''
* AncientConspiracy
* AndManGrewProud
* {{Animesque}}
* ApocalypseHow - Class X-4. Tryslmaistan [[spoiler: "scrolls" on a 4th dimensional axis, meaning if something falls far enough it appears right above where it fell. Humans in Tryslmaistan destroyed a worldplate, and the debris caused a chain reaction that literally destroyed the universe.]] Fortunately humanity has the technology to survive this.
* ArtEvolution
* BetterManhandleTheMurderWeapon - Zuzux and Texto trick an innocent bystander into it.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled - [[spoiler: Chou, at the end, centuries after the events of the comic, right as her crystalline cybernetics finally win the battle and start eating her alive.]]
* BigDamnHeroes - [[spoiler: Chou, who, upon realizing that the human government is going to repeat the same mistakes -- again -- on the new worldplate, and that they are rapidly running out of time (and spare Worldplates), goes across the sea, infests the majority of the plate's Slime population turning them into her own personal hive mind, and shows up in biological ''mechs'' just in time to prevent the main characters from being put to death by the corrupt government.]]
* BittersweetEnding - Arguably for both ''Unicorn Jelly'' and ''To Save Her''.
* BizarreAlienBiology
* BlobMonster - Slimes.
* BrotherChuck - ''The title character''. Uni returns in ''To Save Her'', though. [[spoiler: For a little bit, anyway.]]
* BSideComics - the "Alternate Universe" comics.
* CerebusSyndrome - It all started so nicely.

* ConLang - Very detailed and imaginative [[http://unicornjelly.com/alt37.html Talcrylic]] [[http://unicornjelly.com/uni126b.html Script]].
* ContinuityCreep - It all started so simply.
* CorruptChurch - see also Anvilicious.
* DoingInTheWizard - All the "magic" seen in the beginning eventually gets un-magicked. [[spoiler:Except maybe the unicorn]], and even that is deliberately left ambiguous, as the original vision occurs around [[spoiler:a [[MushroomSamba hallucinogenic flower]]]].
* {{Dystopia}}
* EmotionlessGirl - Chou, whose mind has been replaced by the crystalline version of cybernetics.
* ExactTimeToFailure - Done right before [[spoiler: Stormfall]] with a handy on screen countdown.
* FantasticRacism
* FloatingContinent
* FlyingBroomstick - Another magic that's turned into alien physics.
* {{Foreshadowing}} - Lots, especially in the author notes. One particularly poignant example was when the author pointed out that shattrel (a form of crystalline weather) was as static and regular as everything else in the world, literally letting people time their clocks by it... unless something is horribly, horribly ''wrong''.
* FutureImperfect - The Tryslmaistan humans have only fragmenary knowledge about their origins, and some of that is wrong.
* GenreShift - It goes from a low fantasy comic about a witch and her pet slime and ends up in a multiverse spanning scifi epic that covers time travel, alternate universes, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence and the singularity. This was apparently all planned, to boot -- note the comic's first page called it a "Science Fiction Epic with a definitive beginning and end".
* GreenRocks - Vlax, necessary for [[strike:human]] all "red" life but mutagenic in high doses.
* HateDom - More people know of Reitz from the troll "reviews" of her works than her actual works.
* HilariousOuttakes
* HonorBeforeReason - Texto [[LawfulEvil refuses to break a promise]], even one made under duress, regardless of the personal consequences. This is normally a hero's trope, but Texto still takes it UpToEleven.
* IdentityAmnesia - Chou, at one point
* KarmaHoudini - Too many to count, but [[spoiler: Texto/Virtue, Chou, Pho, and Kaye]] stand out.
* LogicBomb - The Jellies, having evolved in and for a static universe, do not handle change well. [[spoiler: A major part of Chou's plot involves dissecting [=KayWai=], who is a mutant and hybird red/green organism, and learning how to infect the various slimes with the ability to adapt.]]
* LostTechnology - from Myrmil.
* [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative Bitch]] - [[spoiler:Chou. She intentionally fakes emotions to keep Lupiko from stopping her, goes out and creates an army by [[MindRape mindraping]] the entire Jelly population of her new worldplate, and, when confronted by Redcloak about how much power she's aquired, simply retires -- since she's going to live for a very, very long time, she can simply wait for them to die of old age.]] Also [[spoiler: Kaye Haychold]].
* MeaningfulName - Chou's name means "Butterfly." Redcloak and Fodderman were supposed to be jokes on RedShirt, which was then subverted in the comic.
* MisterSeahorse - [[spoiler:In exchange for Wai-Wai (a transgender man) being able to legally live as a man, he has to carry a child to term.]]
* TheMultiverse
* MundaneUtility - The accident that turns Chou into ...what she was is eventually duplicated safely to produce hyper-intelligent precognitive navigators.
* OffingTheOffspring- Chou's Father
* OrganicTechnology - [[spoiler:The jelly-walkers]].
* OurMonstersAreDifferent
* ProphecyTwist
* {{Retraux}} - Entirely drawn using a paint program from the '80s.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter - Uni
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong - The alternate universe version of [=KayWai=] in ''To Save Her''. Subverted in that her plan isn't to save [[spoiler: Chou]] like it appears at first but rather to save [[spoiler: the alternate reality [=KayWai=]s.]] Since [[spoiler: [=KayWai=] dying to create the hybird slimes that can survive in a dynamic universe]] was so vital to saving humanity, she explicitly [[spoiler: is trying to kill off humanity.]]
* ShoutOut - Many subtle and not-so-subtle references to classic and contemporary movies, comics, and video games. In one comic, a military commander is shown ordering his squad to "Take off every (fighter)! For Great Justice!. In another, a bit of alien speech is rendered as "klaatu barada nikto".
* ShownTheirWork - The physics of the various universes have been worked out in great detail.

* StableTimeLoop
* StealthPun - There's a jelly named Kay Wai...
** Who also happens to be ''kawaii''. Double StealthPun.
* StrawVulcan - Chou
* TheSmartGuy - Chou
* TheSpock - Chou
* ThoseTwoBadGuys - Zuzux and Texto
* [[spoiler: TimeyWimeyBall]] - Most obviously seen in Pastel Defender Heliotrope, towards the end. ESPECIALLY the last two chapters.
* TransplantedHumans
* {{Transsexual}} - [[spoiler:Wai Wai Ngo]], [=KayWai=], the author.
** [=KayWai=] is actually a little weirder than that, since the jellese (in the 'main' splay) are sexless. And the [=KayWai=] of To Save Her is pretty explicitly trans-species.
* UnsoundEffect
* UnusualEuphemism - Farg

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue - At the end of Unicorn Jelly, which points out which people were the first poet, teacher, etc of the new world.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes - Lupiko is dreadfully afraid of heights and falling. So of course she has to [[spoiler:dive off a worldplate to save Chou and Uni]].
* YaoiGuys - Redcloak and Fodderman, alternate universe Uni and Kay Wai

----
<<|NotableSciFiWebcomics|>>
<<|{{Webcomics}}|>>

* TheBlob - Slimes.

* BetterManhandleTheMurderWeapon

* TheBlob

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs - Especially considering that according to the author, nearly the entire plot was revealed to her in a series of spontaneous visions.

* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong - The alternate universe version of [=KayWai=] in ''To Save Her''. Subverted in that her plan isn't to save [[spoiler: Chou]] like it appears at first but rather to save [[spoiler: the alternate reality [=KayWai=]s.]] Since [[spoiler: [=KayWai=] dying to create the hybird slimes that can survive in a dynamic universe]] was so vital to saving humanity, she explicitly [[spoiler: is trying to kill off humanity.]] In other words, ItGotWorse.

* ItGotWorse - Too many times to count.

* RetroactiveRecognition: The author is responsible for some of the more exceptionally misanthropic takes on TheConversionBureau