In the autonomous city of Graymark all crime is punishable by death, even if its just spitting on the road. The city is divided into six Blocks all controlled by a powerful Administrator whose job it is to find criminals and kill them. By far the worst district to live in is Block 5 because of the overzealous and over powered Administrator, Great. A man who will stop at nothing to eradicate any and all crime. Its in this crazy city that we find our main protagonist, a young woman by the name of Burner. Content to keep her head down and just try to make enough money to get out of Block 5, Burner spends her days as a punching bag for the elite rich people slumming it in Block 5.
Burner's life changes though when she sees a young boy being kidnapped by an "Anteater" professional kidnappers who steal children for various reasons, none good. Showing off her prodigious martial arts skill, Burner makes quick work of the kidnapper and frees the boy. The boy runs away and feeling she did a good deed Burner goes home. But the next day she finds the boy has been killed by Great for stealing a teddy bear. In a rage she goes after the man, sick and tired of all the death and fear she has had to live with. Now she vows to stop Great once and for all.
Burning Effect is a Korean Webtoon created by Tae Hyeon Park and published on the webtoon site Daum.
Tropes Present in this work
- Abusive Parents: "Sword", the current head of the Bear family is this to all of the children born from his program to revive "Bear" since he's also their biological father. He was especially cruel to Great (the last and most powerful child), spending years pretending to be a loving father to him solely to make Great fall into despair by faking his own death at the hands of the Mafia (by having a dummy shot through the face right in front of Great).
- The Ace: Great, he is so powerful that no one can control him and being able to just survive an encounter with him is considered an impossible feat.
- Artificial Human: Turns out the reason Great is so powerful is because he's the clone of a dying Physical God who is in his prime. And he's just the last and most successful result of the Bear family's eugenics program. The second strongest clone who is 98% identical to the original "Bear" is Burner.
- Ax-Crazy: Great does not actually qualify, as while he is kill happy he only kills those he believes deserve it. Drian on the other hand just wants to be the strongest and will kill anyone in his way to prove it.
- Berserker Rage: Burner can tap into an unholy amount of power the more angry she gets, but on the other side she also loses control of herself until she becomes a raging beast and has no memory of it when she's calmed down.
- Cain and Abel: Burner and Great are the last two children born from the Bear family's plan to revive "Bear", making them siblings.
- Dirty Coward: Cigar and then some, he makes a living as the leader of the child kidnapping Anteaters. He is cocky as hell when he thinks he's in control but he nearly wets himself anytime someone remotely strong comes after him.
- The Dreaded: Pretty much everyone is scared of Great due to his sheer power and ruthlessness. When he shows up to interrupt a heated battle, the combatants on both sides immediately (and rightly) prioritize him as the biggest threat.
- Evil Versus Evil: There's a long-running power struggle going on between the Hapsburgs and the Bear family for rule over Graymark, and both groups are willing to resort to truly awful means to seize power. The Hapsburgs play dirty political games and take full advantage of ties to criminal organizations, while the Bear family has been running a ghastly eugenics program that has already resulted in hundreds of children being born and disposed of as trash. It is very clear that either group winning and becoming the undisputed King of Graymark would be a very bad thing.
- Face–Heel Turn: After the Time Skip, Burner herself has taken up the position of lesser Head of the Bear family and is the new leader of their Black Bloods.
- Killed Off for Real: Robert dies after taking severe mortal wounds in his battle with Great. He even turns down an offer to be healed at the cost of never being a swordsman again. He dies satisfied that he wield his blade in service to a cause as worthy as Xevolt and being able to protect his friends.
- No Place for Me There: Great knows all too well that he's not so different from the criminals he kills. He knows he won't have any place in the crime-free sector he hopes to create for his old friends.
- Playing with Fire: Burner and Pound ignite their aura with blue flames when using their martial art. After the Time Skip and joining the Bear family, Burner's flames are black.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The redness of Burner's eyes is a good indicator of what level of berserk she is at.
- Split Personality: Drian between a Ax-Crazy psychopath and a cold blooded monster, the way to tell which is in control is if his eyes are purple and he's acting polite. If that happens you should probably run.
- Villainous Valor: Great, as crazy as he is, he actually does have a code he honors, he will kill a criminal no matter what, and while often it can seem petty and evil, he will also go after high ranking officials abusing their authority. Its also shown he really does believe what he does is for the greater good.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Xevolts goal is to change the status quo of Graymark without taking a single life.
- World's Strongest Man: Bear was this in the past, capable of single handedly fighting a war against Graymark's army all by himself.
- As Bear's clone possessing 100% of his DNA and his physical strength, Great is currently the strongest character in the series with the others being completely overwhelmed by his power when fighting against him.
