Line #109 Webcomic/ThePhoenixRequiem


1	[[quoteright:232:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d22c6a57c9993103048830a0d476a260.jpg]]
2
3	->''"It's important to believe in something, don't you think?"''
4	-->-- '''Jonas Faulkner'''
5
6	''[[http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/ The Phoenix Requiem]]'' is a finished Victorian-inspired supernatural fantasy comic created by Sarah Ellerton, creator of ''Webcomic/{{Inverloch}}''.
7
8	A peculiar man by the name of Jonas Faulker is discovered in the small village of Esk, unconscious and dying of a gunshot wound. The resident doctor-in-training, Anya Katsukova, manages to save his life not long before the townsfolk begin to die of an unknown flesh-eating disease. Malicious ghosts known as Shades begin to appear, and Anya soon finds herself entwined in both Jonas’ troubled past and a centuries-old conflict between two divine races: revered psychopomps known as Spirits, and the condemned Hellions.
9
10	----
11	!!''The Phoenix Requiem'' provides examples of:
12
13	* ActionSurvivor: Petria, Robyn, and for that matter most of the population of Esk, when the shades start to become a problem.
14	* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: The Spirits take a humanoid form, though it's glowing and ethereal. [[spoiler:Ksendra says it's ''intended'' to appeal to humans who think that LightIsGood]].
15	* AgeWithoutYouth: This ''would'' have been the case for [[spoiler:Jonas under the sole "care" of the spirits, since they just need him to be alive and not necessarily healthy. Ksendra used her power to keep him young and pretty.]]
16	* AntiMagic: Spirits and shades cannot enter Hyde Asylum[[spoiler:,which makes Jonas feel safe there, however horrible that place is]].
17	* AprilFoolsDay: [[Series/DoctorWho Jonas gets into his TARDIS]] [[http://fav.me/d1hvw1i and vanishes.]]
18	* ArmiesAreEvil: The army [[spoiler:wants magic on their side]], and apparently a little immorality isn't beneath them if that means attaining it.
19	* ArtEvolution: Originally it was in a cel-shaded, animesque style much like Webcomic/{{Inverloch}}, but now is more like a Victorian-era painting. The original cel-shaded pages have now all been re-done in the latter style.
20	* BadassBoast: Robyn [[http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/viewcomic.php?page=427 once killed fifty men in fifteen minutes]]. He's not ''usually'' one to exaggerate, but he neglected to mention that he [[ExactWords didn't do it without]] a [[{{BFG}} steam cannon]].
21	* BadassPreacher: Father Davith [[spoiler:takes on a fifty-foot shade armed with a torch. It wallops him, but he sure was fearless]].
22	%%* BedlamHouse: Hyde Asylum.
23	%%* BittersweetEnding
24	* BlessedWithSuck: Jonas. His supernatural powers culminate when he's on the brink of complete physical or mental collapse, they're destroying him from the inside out, and it turns out that [[spoiler: the Spirits and the army want to use them for their own corrupt purposes, whether he likes it or not.]]
25	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The reason Ksendra picked Jonas? [[spoiler:He was "the prettiest of all men." He's fairly ticked off when she tells him this.]]
26	* BookEnds: The story begins and ends at the same festival.
27	* BreakTheCutie: Jonas, prior to the events of the comic. Aaaand further, throughout the comic.
28	* CallToAgriculture: In Robyn's backstory. He was a soldier, and now he has a farm in Esk.
29	* CatapultNightmare: Jonas [[http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/viewcomic.php?page=366 here]].
30	* CessationOfExistence: [[spoiler:Ksendra sacrifices her soul and ceases to exist to give Jonas her powers.]]
31	* ChairReveal: When Anya arrives home from Aubeny, she finds out that Dr. Blythe is dead this way.
32	* CharmPerson: Jonas initially appears to be TheCharmer--it's very easy for people to like and trust him, and he admits to taking advantage of it sometimes. [[spoiler:His wife Ksendra was once considered a goddess of love, and she put some of that into him.]]
33	* CloudCuckoolander: Jonas, but, [[JustifiedTrope well...]]
34	* ConverseWithTheUnconscious: Petria jokes that Anya always talks to her patients when they're asleep.
35	* CreepyShadowedUndereyes: Jonas has these when thing get rough for him. [[spoiler:And in the epilogue, because while he's immortal, he can't always eat as much as he needs and occasionally drugs himself into a stupor to cope.]]
36	* CuteGhostGirl: Subverted with the shade child. However cute it looks, it's still a shade that tries to kill you.
37	* DarkAndTroubledPast: Jonas obviously, because of the insane asylum and his wife. Also Robyn, though not as much is made of it; he has some bad memories of his time in the army, and sees ghosts ever since he was gravely wounded.
38	* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:Jonas. The Spirits have been keeping his soul and body together because he's useful to them. He finds it quite uncomfortable. The only way he could die for good would be if Ksendra took him to the place where the Spirits and Hellions are imprisoned. Even then he couldn't reach the afterlife. In the end, Ksendra makes sure the Spirits have no more hold on him, and does something herself to keep him in the world. It's a BittersweetEnding, since even though he gets to be with Anya, it's still an unpleasant state, and he may be permanently barred from the afterlife.]]
39	* DeathOfAChild:
40	** Jonas' wife murdered their son in the backstory [[spoiler:because he held some of her essence, and she needed it back]].
41	** [[spoiler:Anya's little brother Slavik dies from the plague after she and Jonas visit the Katsukova household.]]
42	* DivineDate: [[spoiler:Jonas's late wife turns out to be a Hellion.]]
43	* DrJerk:
44	** We don't see much of Dr. Blythe's manner with patients, but with Anya he can be very brusque. However, he also defends her when Armand makes sexist comments about her choice of profession and is mainly just fussy.
45	** Dr. Tambur is a genuine jerk. Although he takes great personal risk in his research, he's most concerned with making the discovery ''first''. [[spoiler:He was also involved in the torturous "research" Jonas was subjected to in the asylum.]]
46	* DueToTheDead: The only way to deal with a body is to cremate it. Bodies that aren't cremated before they've significantly decayed risk their souls becoming lost, and staying earthbound as ghosts. The skeptics merely think it's practical since land isn't wasted on graveyards...even though later in the comic it's shown that some people bury the ash in graveyards anyway.
47	* EmotionsVersusStoicism: When Robyn warns Petria that she needs to stop flirting or she'll be destitute her old age, she says that ''he's'' going to be the lonely one because he's afraid to show people how he feels.
48	* TheEmpath: Jonas is a variety of this. He reportedly makes other people feel 'safe', something he admits to using to his advantage.
49	* EmpathyDollShot: [[http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/viewcomic.php?page=595 page 595]].
50	* EnergyBeings: The Spirits.
51	* {{Expy}}: Doctor Pedro Tambur seems to be one of [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 The Medic]].
52	* FacePalm:
53	** Anya [[http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/viewcomic.php?page=341 when Jonas tells her parents about shades]].
54	** Anya [[http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/viewcomic.php?page=374 reacts to Jonas being silly]].
55	** Jonas does a double facepalm [[http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/viewcomic.php?page=431 when he realizes that his powers are discovered]].
56	* GaslampFantasy: Set in a place that looks like Victorian England.
57	* GoMadFromTheRevelation: Jonas, after he learns [[spoiler: what the spirits are really up to, but not to worry. He got better.]]
58	* GoodAllAlong: [[spoiler:Ksendra, and the Hellions in general.]]
59	* HaveYouSeenMyGod: The conflict between Hellions and Spirits began [[spoiler:when the Hellions--that is, the Medheia--started to indulge in mortal pleasure and gladly let the Spirits take over their duties without question.]]
60	* HeadPet: On Page 701, a chicken appears on Petria's head for one panel (she was feeding hens and one apparently decided to perch...) This instantly became famous among fans.
61	* TheHeartless: Shades are formed by the negative emotions of someone suffering a traumatic death.
62	* HereThereWereDragons: Magic disappeared along with the Spirits. Now that the Spirits have shown signs of returning, people want the magic back. [[spoiler: Well, UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans...]]
63	* HeroicBSOD: Jonas has a full-on mental breakdown when [[spoiler:he realizes the Spirits are evil]].
64	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Ksendra dissipates herself in order to sever the spirits' link to Jonas.]]
65	* HeroWithBadPublicity: In chapter 24, we find this is true of [[spoiler: the Mehdiea]].
66	%%* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Part of Petria's backstory.
67	* IdleRich: Jonas has a significant amount of money at his disposal but no actual job; Anya's father disapproves.
68	%%* IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer: Robyn to Jonas about Anya.
69	* INeedAFreakingDrink: Or rather, "''you'' need a freaking drink," a judgment made by Robyn when Jonas shows up at his house [[spoiler:because he's supposed to be dead, the spirits' use of him as a gateway is torturous, and he's really trying to stay off of morphine]].
70	--> '''Robyn:''' Here. [hands Jonas a glass] \
71	'''Jonas:''' I don't indulge in the hard stuff.\
72	'''Robyn:''' You do now.
73	* InspectorJavert: Even Armand's name sounds intimidating! He's not above threatening and practically stalking Jonas, despite the fact there is no evidence against him. Well, other than that the plague seems to follow him around. Armand does think he has evidence, of course.
74	* ISeeDeadPeople: Jonas can see lost souls, as well as "visiting" his dead wife in dreams. He also tells Robyn that those closest to death see things that others do not, explaining why Robyn can also see ghosts, and why some of Robyn's army comrades who (like him) had been severely wounded could. Jonas has a double reason: [[spoiler:he's dead-and-resurrected himself, and he's also a gate to the afterlife.]]
75	* ItIsNotYourTime: Inverted in the beginning. Jonas, who is close to death, envisions himself with his wife urging him to move on. He decides that he's rather not up to dying at the moment.
76	* ItsAllJunk: Jonas [[http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/viewcomic.php?page=472 throws his wedding ring into the lake]], which he had been keeping in his pocket after the death of her wife.
77	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler:Ksendra's final decision. She could have taken Jonas away with her forever, as was her intention all along, and was tempted to chance that the Spirits might get free in the process; but she realized that he no longer loved her, and instead sacrificed herself, locking the Spirits away and allowing Jonas to be with the one he really loved.]]
78	* LettingHerHairDown: Anya is particularly dedicated to her career and feels responsible for her patients at all time. With the arrival of Jonas she started to relax somewhat.
79	* TheLifestream: [[spoiler: It is revealed that instead of an afterlife, the dead souls merge into a pool from where they can later be reborn. The spirits were actually eating these souls instead of letting them enter this pool, giving people magic in exchange. The heroes argue that this pool would dry up over time, so they refuse to free the spirits.]]
80	* LoveTriangle: One was built up between Robyn, Anya and Jonas in the beginning; however, Robyn very soon gave up.
81	* TheMagicComesBack: Through the Spirits.
82	* MayDecemberRomance: [[spoiler: Anya and Jonas. He's permanently young-looking, but nearly 30 years older than her in chronological years. Even though much of that time was the lost unremembered period in Hyde Asylum, he's still gone through a whole lot more than she has, including a previous marriage and child, and many horrific events. By the end of the story, since he's now become the Grim Reaper, he'll likely never die either - and Anya is still a mortal woman.]]
83	* MixAndMatchCritters: As a ShoutOut to ''Webcomic/{{Inverloch}}'', the da'kor return as animals: a wolf/goat hybrid.
84	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Robyn keeps doing things that ''seem'' to be the right action at the time, but will later on prove to be horrifically wrong.
85	** Using water to battle shades [[spoiler:which then washes into the town water supply and spreads the plague faster]].
86	** Convincing Jonas [[spoiler:to return to Hyde so he'll stop spreading the plague. Well, the plague destroys the town it's in, Jonas loses his mind again, and when Robyn forces him to dispel the large population of shades the Spirits are greatly strengthened and suddenly that is a ''very'' bad thing]].
87	** Convincing people to hide in the church [[spoiler:only worked the first time because Jonas dispelled the shades. When they learn that the shades are trying to get everyone together to ''infect'' them and Jonas isn't around, it's not so good. Admittedly, someone else probably would have thought of this anyway]].
88	* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Petria has a habit of draping herself over her friends, which she says is from when she used to drape herself over men ''professionally''.
89	* TheNothingAfterDeath: [[spoiler:The spirits claim that there is no individuality or conscious thought in the afterlife, it's just an ocean of pure soulstuff. {{Reincarnation}} is still possible, though, and the spirits could be lying.]]
90	* ObfuscatingInsanity: Played with. Jonas wants to get back to Hyde Asylum because, despite how horrible place that is, he feels safe there (see AntiMagic). [[http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/viewcomic.php?page=563 When he apparently speaks to himself]], which Armand takes as he is either genuinely crazy or faking it, he actually talks to the spirits.
91	* OddShapedPanel
92	* OhCrap:
93	** Anya when she finds out that [[spoiler: the plague is spread by ingesting the ashes of the dead, after they've already washed some of the ash shades into the river they get their drinking water from.]]
94	** The spirits when [[spoiler: Robyn threatens to kill Jonas in strip #653]].
95	** Anya gave out one when [[spoiler: she saw the [[FinalBoss gigantic shade]] moving towards them from the horizon.]]
96	* OhMyGods: Most people swear by the spirits.
97	* OlderThanTheyLook: [[spoiler: Jonas, who appears to be in his mid twenties, is actually something closer to forty or fifty.]]
98	* OurDemonsAreDifferent: The Hellions/Mehdiea.
99	* OurGhostsAreDifferent: People who are not cremated before they've decayed become ghosts. There are two varieties: Lost souls, who are invisible to most people and are waiting for a chance to be reincarnated, and shades, who are the angry spirits of people who've suffered traumatic deaths, and are visible to everyone.
100	* OurSpiritsAreDifferent: See {{Psychopomp}} below.
101	* OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: The doctors in the Medical Research Committee certainly have.
102	* ParasolOfPain: Li-Hua [[http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/viewcomic.php?page=284 starts hitting Jonas with her umbrella]].
103	* ParentalMarriageVeto: Jonas's parents did not approve of his bride [[spoiler:because she worshiped the Hellions. They disowned him when he married her anyway]].
104	* ThePlague: A particularly nasty one that causes its victims to decay while still alive. It turns out it's caused by [[spoiler:the Spirits, in a bid to create more shades to consume.]]
105	* PoorCommunicationKills: Jonas is highly secretive and tries to deal with his troubles on his own, but if he had sought some help in his efforts, they might have figured out some important truths a lot sooner.
106	* PosthumousCharacter: Ksendra, Jonas's deceased wife.
107	* PoweredByAForsakenChild: [[spoiler:Magic is fueled by the remnants of the souls the spirits feast on.]]
108	* PrettyBoy: Jonas, InUniverse even. [[spoiler:This is even the reason why Ksendra picked him. He isn't happy about this.]]
109	* TheProfessor: Moretty.
110	* {{Psychopomp}}:
111	** The Spirits serve to ferry the souls of the dead to the afterlife. [[spoiler: Or at least that's what they want you to believe. The AwfulTruth? They ''eat'' disembodied souls.]]
112	** In chapter 24, we learn that [[spoiler: the Hellions/Mehdiea are actually this trope, played straight this time. Not that they actually [[HaveYouSeenMyGod want to do it]].]]
113	** The ending reveals that [[spoiler: this is Jonas's ultimate fate. Forever [[WalkingTheEarth wandering everywhere to put the restless spirits to rest]].]]
114	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Ksendra,]] at the end.
115	* {{Reincarnation}}: Souls that haven't moved on may do this, and may be distinguished from other new souls by their [[WiseBeyondTheirYears premature maturity]]. Jonas theorizes that Anya is the result of reincarnation for this reason.
116	* ReligionIsMagic: The presence of Spirits allowed people to use magic. However, since they've been trapped for seven hundred years, magic is mostly a forgotten art.
117	* TheReveal: [[spoiler: The Spirits are the bad guys.]]
118	* RunningGag: Jonas losing his shoes seems to be a theme... [[spoiler: Though this is given a [[SchrodingersGun dark twist]] when it was revealed that when he was incarcerated in the asylum, they kept taking his shoes due to the fact that he kept trying to strangle the doctor with the shoe laces. His [[RoomFullOfCrazy room at the asylum]] was full of shoes he stole from the nurses hanging from the ceiling.]]
119	* SeekingSanctuary: Subverted. The people think that they are safe from the shades in the church, but they are wrong. On the other hand, [[spoiler: [[BedlamHouse Hyde Asylum]] is a real "asylum" from shades and Spirits, though not from human evil]].
120	* ShellShockedVeteran: While not that serious, Robyn has been seeing ghosts since he fought in the war. [[http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/viewcomic.php?page=610 It is explained]] that it often happens to soldiers in war.
121	* ShipperOnDeck: At the beginning, Petria thinks that Robyn should keep courting Anya, which he refuses because she's turned him down for being kind of overbearing and needing a farm wife instead of a doctor. Later, Petria starts shipping Jonas with Anya.
122	* ShirtlessScene: Robyn has a brief shirtless moment to dispose of some shades, to fans' delight.
123	** The scene in question starts [[http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/viewcomic.php?page=387 here]] for your viewing pleasure.
124	* ShoutOut: To Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail.
125	--> '''Petria''': Don't you go saying nothing about Robyn being a girl's name. He'll challenge you to a duel.
126	--> '''Jonas''': Don't be daft, of course it's not a girl's name. Haven't you ever heard of Brave Sir Robyn?
127	--> '''Petria''': No.
128	** To ''Webcomic/{{Inverloch}}'', see MixAndMatchCritters above. Also an Acheron doll.
129	** To ''Franchise/StarTrek''.
130	** Jonas is [[WordOfGod explicitly stated]] to be visually based off of [[Series/DoctorWho The Tenth Doctor]]. Especially the hair.
131	* ShowSomeLeg: Petria [[http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/viewcomic.php?page=497 gets very close]] to a soldier to try and get some more information.
132	* SkepticNoLonger: Anya didn't believe in the Spirits in favor of a deity her home country believes in. Then Spirits started showing up.
133	* SlutShaming: A drunk man threatening Jonas calls Petria the "town toffer." She's quite hurt, as she thought she had left that behind.
134	* SmokyGentlemensClub: The "Society For the Preservation of Natural Order." [[spoiler:Their mission is to prevent the release of the Spirits ''and'' the Hellions. They use their connections to send anyone with a sincere shot of doing so to Hyde or execution. Armand and the Katsukovas' butler are both members.]]
135	* SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: Most scientists dismiss spirits, ghosts and such as superstition, when it becomes obvious that they not only exist, but they are the ones responsible for the plague, dr. Tambur and Anya start finding a cure by using pure scientific methods, but taking the ghosts into account. [[spoiler: They find that the plague is spread by the ash that once belonged to a shade, and later find that the shade still occupies the ash even after the creature itself is destroyed. This is something that Anya can see but dr. Tambur can't, because she is able to see ghosts.]]
136	* TalkingInYourDreams: Jonas.
137	* {{Tomboy}}: Petria wears trousers and a man's cap, though the clothing is tailored to flatter her figure. She also has unusually short hair at the start, but that's only because she sold it (it grows out over the course of the story).
138	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: [[spoiler: The Spirits]].
139	* VisibleSilence
140	* VoiceOfTheLegion: The Spirits talk in chorus, which is represented by grey words just visible behind the more legible ones. They seem to all say similar things with different phrasing, which must add to the maddening effect they have on Jonas.
141	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: A townswoman [[spoiler:wants to recover the ashes of her husband, which were buried to prevent them from being shade fuel. But she can't read the headstones... so she digs up ''all'' of them and pours them out, thinking that it will reunite her with her husband's ghost... instead, it becomes a gigantic shade that starts the plague all over again when people accidentally ingest its ashes]].
142	* WaifProphet: Jonas is a rare male example.
143	* WalkingWasteland: Where ever Jonas goes, the plague seems to follow...
144	* WhamLine:
145	-->'''Jonas:''' [[spoiler:''Don't free...the spirits...'']]
146	* WhatTheHellHero: In Chapter 23, Anya calls out Jonas big time for running away from all of his problems and trying to pretend they don't exist in the first place.
147	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: [[spoiler: Jonas, again.]]
148	* {{Workaholic}}: Anya, a nurse, is a non-corporate example.
149	* WrenchWench: Petria.

Context Webcomic / ThePhoenixRequiem