I am fire. I AM DEATH.
Being a horror comic, there's Nightmare Fuel aplenty. Mort's name means 'death' and that's for very good reason.
- Most of the early part of the comic is Alone with the Psycho, when said "psycho" is a giant, hungry Youkai
. It's a brutally realistic view of what it is like to be at the mercy of something that, at best, sees humans as nothing more than food. And Mort likes to toy with prey he decides he dislikes. - However, the worst isn't when Mort is hungry. That's merely his default state. The true terror begins when something pisses Mort off.Mort *after being burned by the amulet*: WHAT DID YOU DO TO IT?!Noah (frantic): Wait, I don't understand! I had nothing to do with that!Mort: I take it back. I'm just going to eat you! *gapes his jaws to bite Noah in two*
- Mort bluffs and blusters a lot, but when he finally decides it's time to get down to business, the last thing you will ever hear is the sound of your bones breaking as his jaws crush you to paste. Or far worse... the sound of sizzling as your body abruptly erupts in flame.
- When Mort tosses Noah into his waiting jaws we're treated to three separate pages of views of his gaping maw (including one from inside his mouth), filled with More Teeth than the Osmond Family, as well as Noah's terrified expression as he realizes how his fall is going to be broken: By a Sickening "Crunch!".
- Nothing hammers home that Mort is, in fact, a giant predator quite like the close-up of the aftermath, streams of blood and flecks of flesh dripping out from beneath his teeth. Which he proceeds to eagerly lick up.
- Noah's "Groundhog Day" Loop, forced by the amulet, when it chooses him over Mort. It's an amulet of immortality, so the bonded cannot ever die permanently, but is reformed from any remains after death, even ash. And when Noah wakes up, stark naked, the first thing he sees is the face of his murderer leering back at him. There's a reason why Chapter 4 is titled, "A Fate Worse than Death."Mort *bearing a Slasher Smile* :You belong to me now. We're going to have a lot of fun, you and I.
- And the end of Chapter 4 cements this, with Mort's Pre-Mortem One-Liner to Noah:Mort: Shall we do some experimenting to see just how that enchantment works?Noah: *begins screaming*(Smash Cut to end of chapter).
- In Chapter 5, during Noah's Darkest Hour, Mort decides to warm things up rather than let Noah freeze to death. By setting him on fire and swallowing his burning body alive. Mort is not subtle.
- When Noah finally works up the courage to give Mort a frank "Reason You Suck" Speech, he lists out all the various creative ways that Mort tortured him.Mort: A human has no place to speak about heartlessness.Noah: You're the monster here! Keeping me here against my will! Eating me alive! Burning me alive! Ripping my guts out and slicing my throat and chewing off my legs! No human would ever do that!
- Chapter 6 begins with Nightmare Retardant: Noah waking up on the beast instead of inside the beast. However, Mort being Mort, he quickly wheels it right back around to NF by "teasing" Noah.Mort: Were are you going, breakfast? *picks a screaming Noah up and yawns his gaping maw right in his face.*
- The side comic Cookies and Karma shows how completely horrifying a fire-demon attack is, a human village burning while a fire-demon (presumably Mort) rampages through, reducing anyone in his path to a smear of gore in his muzzle. (See the picture above) As if that isn't bad enough, the comic then zooms to the perspective of a woman and her child hiding nearby... as she hears the Sickening "Crunch!" of Mort destroying yet another victim. And then he realizes that they are there...Woman to child: Run. RUN!
- That's before Mort decides It's Personal with one poor sod, whom he refers to as the mayor of the village. Apparently, he'd been skimping on offerings - including live offerings - but the ultimate offence was withholding treasure from him. Like so many of his victims, he summarily swallows him alive, to die drowning in the blood and body parts of his own villagers, Attack on Titan style. All in front of said woman.
Mort: I heard there was a new mayor... and I put the pieces together. You thought you could quietly stop the offerings - keep all the wealth for yourself, hmm? Let this be a lesson to your replacement! - The followup isn't much better.Woman: Swallowed alive...*Insignificant kick to Mort's stomach from his still-living victim inside. Mort looks at her smugly and licks his lips.*
