One part contest, one part webcomic, one part roleplay, and thirty-two parts awesome, DeviantDead is an Original Character Tournament ongoing comic contest on deviantART that asks its contestants to tell the story of a city infested with the undead and its handful of survivors. Each artist has crafted anywhere from one to three characters, each with unique skills, personalities and backgrounds.Every round, artists are paired off and pitted against each other. They must each tell a story of their characters meeting and interacting in the form of a comic. Entries are judged based on both story and art. The winning comic becomes canon and the artist continues on to the next round, and those characters get to live to see another day.DeviantDead is on its fourth round of five as of this writing. All of the contestants have so far woven a thrilling story that seems to be getting better with each passing round.Has a character sheet.
This show contains examples of:
Action Girl - It'd be harder to find a female character that doesn't have Action Girl moments.
Keziah jumps from building to building and kills zombies with a wrench.
Q uses a roundhouse kick to fight off a horde before falling to her death.
Izzy keeps score of how many she killed.
Jestin kills a zombie monkey with an axe underwater
The Black and Nerdy Hannah falls to what appears to be her death, but ends up fighting off hordes of zombies alone. With a pointy stick
Saby demonstrates to her new companions how to take care of a zombie as a last resort— with her keys.
"Don't waste any time though... go straight for the eyes!"
Pierre has nightmares about changing into a monster
Ned has nightmares about the small few things he remembers about his past
Renard has nightmares about killing Julien
Brian has nightmares hallucinations about people he's killed/watched die telling him to commit suicide
Simon has often dreamed about traumatic moments in his past, including being attacked by a big dog, and a fight he had with Saby
Aaron has nightmares taking him back to his very unhappy childhood.
Beard of Sorrow - Both played straight and subverted with Brian. By the start of round three he had grown a beard. It's played straight because this is symptomatic of his general depression, but subverted because he grows it BEFORE the tragedy that comes at the end of the round - namely, Josh's zombification.
Never more evident than in Ned, who's whole personality is based off shutting out the past and starting life from scratch (read: amnesia). He even gave Brian a lecture on being a better father right before seeing his own daughter, thinking she was just his imagination, and letting her die.
Charlie Gilbert honestly thinks he's much cooler/smarter/better than everyone else. He isn't.
Birdie fancies himself a scientist, and actually does some research. Really though, he's just insane.
Carl made a huge mistake in thinking that because he played The Hero in movies, he'd be just as heroic in real life. He wasn't.
Brian was oblivious to how much Charlie hated him. He was pretty sure he was just doing what a father was supposed to do, and that Charlie was just messed up.
The Gilberts are the first to come to mind - superdepressed dad Brian, daddy-issues son Charlie, and lovable zombie child Joshua.
Then the Woodwards - traumatized Kaylee and why-am-I-so-useless Aaron.
Bob is implied to come from one of these, though we haven't really seen his family so far.
His father showed up in Round 4. Their relationship is yet to be established
We also get the feeling that the same applies for Ned, who hasn't been allowed to see the daughter he loves because of his controlling ex-wife
Jestin and Taylor came from a family with messily divorced parents. Their mom won total custody of Taylor, and only Jestin was allowed to see him once a week.
Black Dude Dies First - The only two black dudes were eliminated in the first round... not to mention the only brown one.
Wrong, subverted: Hannah remains alive, and Izzy remained alive until round 2.
I believe the trope is called black 'DUDE' dies first.
Black and Nerdy - Hannah starts out as one of these. She finds out about the end of the world on 4chan.
Body Horror - Pierre is carrying an infected bite which has begun to affect his body chemistry in frightening ways.
Mickey has begun some kind of zombie mutation — there's a zombie face growing out of his head while he's still alive and conscious.
Round 3 of Deviant DEAD's prompt involved 'mutant' zombies making an appearance. Many of the mutants were horribly deformed people/people with parts they oughtn't have
Boisterous Bruiser - Nikolai tries to act like one, but he comes across as a bit scary instead. Until he dies. Then he's just scary.
Jay started as the Insane Proprietor and became this over the course of the story.
Bonus Material - In addition to the main story, the administrators also have run several side contests that is collected as bonus material.
In addition, the participating artists have make not one but TWO different omakes - a high school one and a Big-Brother style reality show.
And besides their rounds, competitors like Crispy-Gypsy and and-also-dinosaurs expand on their characters and stories with in-between rounds
Mona's bawwing has become a running community joke.
Not to mentions Kaylee and her BSOD.
Poor Pierre is just a sweet, loveable butterball. But then the girl he was crushing on bit him! And that was just the audition!
Mickey is so oblivious optimistic and sweet that you don't want anything bad to happen to him... and then he mutated into a zombie. while still conscious.
Darkest Hour - As DD enters its semi-finals and it's revealed that the military has decided to bomb the entire city, most of the comics are heading in this direction
Subverted by Buuya, whose rounds have been surprisingly optimistic in spite of everything the characters are going through
In Round Two, zombie animals escape a zoo, and not only do Renard, Julien and Micheal run into a vicious troupe, but Jestin also has a fearsome battle against the simian beasts.
Somehow Mickey manages to befriend an uninfected fluffy little monkey. It is a match made in heaven.
Fanservice - Some of the artists draw pictures of their characters shirtless or otherwise sexy, including a meme involving pin-up magazine covers featuring characters
Fan Nickname - each of the four remaining bands of survivors has their own team name.
Team Amnesiac Hobo for Ned, JB, Pierre, and Birdie
Team Cripple for Mickey, Syd, Eoin, Mona, and Molly
Team Daddy Issues for Brian and Joshua (also Charlie and Aaron, who are following them)
Team Mid-Life Crisis for Simon, Jay, and Bob.
Team Supercute for old Mona and Eoin team.
Team Blondeteen for Aaron and Jestin's original team, in which all four characters were blonde and under 18 years old.
Faux Death - Simon appeared to have shot himself off-screen, only for the audience to figure out that it was just the gun's recoil after shooting a zombie.
Could also be said about Marina because she appeared to be dead and gone for good, only to show up again in round 4. How convincing her disappearance was of her death ended up being the reason for her actual death.
Fire-Forged Friends - It's hard not to go through the end of the world and not make any friends. It seems that Eoin, Mona, and Molly are the most susceptible to this.
Genre Savvy - Most of the characters are aware that its the Zombie Apocalypse, and at least two of them joked about the possibility with their friends before the dead started walking.
In fact, the zombies first attacked Molly during a campus-wide game of Humans vs. Zombies.
Ghost City - Well, it is the end of the world, after all.
Gratuitous English - Again, Q. Though in her defence, it's the only way she can communicate with others.
Growing the Beard - Often the longer someone is in an Original Character Tournament, the more their art and comic skills improve. Also for some, this is literal, as their character gets more facial hair as time goes on.
Buuya's mutated zombie woman from round three. Absorbs other zombies, too many arms, that TONGUE...brr. Just hope it doesn't absorb living people too. Would not imagine that's a nice way to go. Gets even more uncanny realizing that this was an ordinary person (and kitten) once.
Not to mention the Nikolai mutant that then eats the woman mutant.
Renard mercy-killing Julien when her face gets ripped off.
Brian shooting Jestin and Taylor as they're celebrating their escape. He kills Jestin first, and then shoots Taylor as he's mourning his dead sister's body.
Pierre's nightmares.
Mickey's infection REVEALED.
Charlie walks through a house in and-also-dinosaur's round 2. In the background, we see what seems to be a mother and child sleeping peacefully. Next panel - the dad is sitting in a chair with his brains blown all over the wall. Still think the zombie apocalypse would be cool?
Insane Proprietor - Crazy Jay wants to make sure you aren't burnt out. And that's a promise. * wink*
Intercontinuity Crossover - As is typical for Original Character Tournaments, many of the characters who appear in Deviant Dead originally came from other works by their respective artists. For example, Eoin, Bob and Mona are from their creators' respective webcomic projects - and that's only the beginning.
In this case, its more of a new continuity than a combined one; the characters are given adjusted backstories that fit the setting.
Mayor of a Ghost Town - DJ Voice. He's been using some radio equipment to get people "north" for some reason. Revealed as of Round 4 that it was because there was going to be a bombing raid.
Arguably, all the survivors are some form of this.
other memes that went through the gambit were 'you draw real good', where participants had the survivors drawing characters to enter into an oct, several fanservicey magazine cover/pin-up pictures, and mghfgh to say the least
Mercy Kill - Natural for the Zombie Apocalypse trope. Notably, Julien. Oh God, Julien.
Missing Mom - Where is Mrs. Gilbert? Where is Mrs. Gilbert??
Mrs. Gilbert was introduced in an in-between comic, but from what we learned about her, she appears to still be a Missing Mom even when she's with the children.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Aaron to Charlie Gilbert at the end of round 4, even if he did feel horribly guilty about it immediately afterwards.
Now or Never Kiss - After Saby finds Simon and figures out that he isn't dead, they have a big smooch, even though the last time they talked, they were fighting.
Nuke 'Em - The military's answer to the zombie threat, regardless of how many people are still alive in the city when it happens
Our Zombies Are Different - Every artist had their own interpretation on the specifics of zombies. Some artists had fast, some had slow, some were more intelligent, and so far no one has mentioned how the zombie apocalypse even started. At least most all of them are flesh-eating.
Ship Tease - on several occasions, but the teasing is not always the author's fault or intention, since it's sometimes just the result of their characters being passed on to other authors
In the very start, we are lead to believe Pierre and has a sweet crush on a co-worker, but then she turns into a zombie and bites him.
Mona and Eoin are good friends and even shared an adorable hug, but Eoin reveals that he's looking for his girlfriend. It doesn't stop them from being a Fan Preferred Couple
Izzy began crushing on Keziah, and admitted to finding her attractive, but was sort've shot down and then she died.
There has been enough fodder for people to begin to ship Hannah and Jay.
There's hints that Ned and JB could like each other all over Crispy-Gypsy's comics, but no solid proof yet that they could become a couple
This seems to be proof that they are meant to be canon
Michael and Julien seemed to have some chemistry, but then Julien died.
Aaron and Jestin were getting quite flirty, including snuggles and blushes, but they got separated when Kaylee ran off, and later Jestin was killed.
It could be argued that there is enough evidence to ship Charlie and Aaron, but most of the flagrant teasing is just and-also-dinosaurs and Penril's own spectator comics and drawings. Although it should be noted that when it's the character's creators doing the shipping, that alone should be enough to go on.
It's been stated that Penril that Aaron is actually straight (and likes blondes!), but we've still got to see what will happen with them in the future.
Since the verdict is still out on Charlie, who knows...
Shut Up, Hannibal! - Aaron sort of gave one of these to Charlie at the end of round 4.
Charlie: They're nobodies! Getting attached to them is pointless! You just love to cry about how sad shit is! Well, cry all the fuck you want, because you just don't wanna face the fact that I'm right and you're wrong!
Aaron: You...you don't give a shit about anyone else, do you? You don't even give a shit about me! Well, you'll just have to get the hell out of my car.
Charlie: No, I don't give two shits about anybody because I'm not a dumb FUCK like you!! That's what made you a fucking RAG, because you gave a fuck about those stupid blondes and your DUMBASS SISTER! What the fuck will you do when you find they're all dead too?!
Aaron: HERE'S WHAT I'LL DO, YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! *TWAK*
He did end up apologizing after Charlie broke down crying though, even when his fists and counter-speech did break all of Charlie's armor.
Sinister Subway - Watch out, Team Midlife Crisis (and Bob)! There's a horrible Nikolai zombie down there!
So Bad, It's Good - Some artists go for a cheesy throw-back to old zombie movies as part of the appeal to their comics. This includes delightfully cheesy or punny round and contest titles for the main competition.
Sturgeon's Law - Partly applies, partly subverted, because as the contest progresses relatively weak contestants gradually leave.
Tear Jerker - Jestin and Taylor, finally reunited the round before, are brutally shot in the head by Brian. Brian shoots Taylor as he's crying over his dead sister's body.
They Look Just Like Everyone Else - This could be said about many of the survivors, as the zombie apocalypse has brought about surprising changes in very average-looking people. One of the most surprising was Brian, harmless up until then, who shot two young children in an attempt to 'feed' his own
Tonight Someone Dies - Some of the rounds of Deviant Dead were mandatory death rounds, so inevitably, every comic had to have at least one person die off before it was over.
Too Good to Last - Due to the nature of the contest, many characters with amazing potential were killed off when their creators lost.
Took a Level in Badass - Many of the characters do this over the course of the apocalypse.
is an Original Character Tournament ongoing comic contest on deviantART that asks its contestants to tell the story of a city infested with the undead and its handful of survivors. Each artist has crafted anywhere from one to three characters, each with unique skills, personalities and backgrounds.Every round, artists are paired off and pitted against each other. They must each tell a story of their characters meeting and interacting in the form of a comic. Entries are judged based on both story and art. The winning comic becomes canon and the artist continues on to the next round, and those characters get to live to see another day.DeviantDead is on its fourth round of five as of this writing. All of the contestants have so far woven a thrilling story that seems to be getting better with each passing round.Has a character sheet.
0 reviews