He's Harmless I Swear! is an English-language webcomic by Basil the Bear. It can be read on Webtoons. The story is currently in progress, and is being updated every Friday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
The story stars a young woman named Thomasina "Tammy" Walker, who harbors a crush on her adorable next door neighbor, Tomoya Akamine. Her dream of being his girlfriend comes true when Tomoya's sweet but shy little dog, Nala, brings them together. However, Tomoya turns out to be hiding a past that he clearly doesn't want to share immediately. But as their relationship grows, Tammy can't help but notice a side to Tomoya that is a little...odd, to say the least.
The original version is here
. The remake is here.
This work contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Tomoya's dad was abusive to his mom, as well as him and Soya.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Tomoya might be sweet and shy, not to mention traumatized due to the abuse he suffered at the hands of Olivia, but he has a dark and murderous side that comes out when he, Tammy, or Nala is in danger. He even carries a taser around, precisely for this purpose.
- Big Brother Instinct: Inverted, Soya is a little girl, but she is extremely protective of Tomoya because she believes that Tammy will abuse him the same way Olivia did. It's exactly why she doesn't like her...at least, at first.
- Big Brother Worship: Soya very greatly admires Tomoya. It's exactly why she's heartbroken at the fact that he never comes to her violin recitals, all because of his possessive girlfriend, Olivia.
- Break the Cutie: Poor Tomoya. Not only was he abused at home by his father, which led to him developing a split personality. He then entered a relationship with Olivia, which turned out to be abusive as well. As a result, he has no clue what a proper and non-toxic relationship feels like by the time he moves on to Tammy. He even gives Tammy full permission to go through all of his calls and social media just because she gave the impression that she thought he was going back to Olivia.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Olivia, when she was in a relationship with Tomoya, brutally attacks him for things such as talking to other women, even if those women are his coworkers or boss. This is despite her dating other men herself.
- Cool Big Sis: Although not a biological one, Tammy is slowly becoming this to Soya. Her mom even describes her as a "mature young lady".
- Crush Blush: Tomoya's cheeks go bright red around his crush Tammy.
- Curly Hair Is Ugly: Tammy is Black and her parents demand that she straighten her hair every time she meets up with them for a business dinner, which she is clearly upset about. Tomoya at least thinks her naturally kinky hair is cute!
- The Cutie: Tomoya, despite being a fully grown adult. He's still an adorable guy who's been through so much abuse in his life that you just want to give him a hug. Tammy also, to a lesser extent.
- Domestic Abuse: Tomoya's dad abused both the kids and his own wife. Later on, Olivia does this to Tomoya as well.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Hard aversion. Tomoya at first thinks that Tammy will laugh at the fact that a man like him was abused by a tiny woman like Olivia. Tammy angrily responds that it is not laughable in the slightest, that male domestic abuse victims are actually quite common, and that society should take them more seriously. Tomoya feels comforted after that, and the story takes Tammy's side as well.
- Evil Redhead: "Evil" is a stretch, but Tomoya has red hair, and is capable of turning violent when confronted with a threat, or when Tammy or Nala are. Tammy senses that there's something off about him but she doesn't know what. What's actually wrong is that he has a Split Personality named Sam, who happens to be a Yandere.
- Eye Scream: Poor Tomoya has a scar crossing his right eye because of Olivia.
- The Fashionista: Tammy sure does like to dress in style!
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: It's revealed in later chapters that Olivia's father is abusive and controlling, constantly threatening to take away custody of her son, Dillan, and even forced Olivia to sabotage her relationship with Tomoya. This in no way excuses her actions,the pain she put Tomoya through, or the fact that she neglects her son often and even tried to use him to manipulate Tomoya. Olivia herself even admits that her father was only "40% responsible" for her actions, and that she actually enjoyed abusing Tomoya because she like the feeling of control it gave her.
- Harmful to Minors: Tomoya and Soya were abused by their father from an early age. And then Soya becomes jaded as Tomoya moves on to Olivia, who abuses him.
- Important Haircut: Right before meeting Tammy's parents, Tomoya cuts his hair, saying that he can't hide behind it any longer.
- Lady in Red: Tammy wears a simple, sleek, and elegant red dress when taking Tomoya to visit her parents.
- Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Tammy is sweet, kind, friendly, and helps Tomoya out with his trauma as a result of his abuse. Olivia, on the other hand, is brash, rude, violent, and the one who gave Tomoya that trauma in the first place.
- Love at First Sight: Tammy fell in love with Tomoya the moment she saw him.
- Pink Means Feminine: This seems to be Olivia's main color. Her type of femininity revolves around playing the damsel so as to lay the police off her trail, and she takes pride in the fact that, due to her being a woman, she can get "away" with abuse.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Tomoya when he goes Yandere-mode as Sam has red eyes. Although it's likely not in-universe.
- Red Is Violent: Red is the color Tomoya is associated with the most, due to his red hair and warning-sign eyes. He also has a hidden murderous side due to his Split Personality, Sam, a protective alter born to cope with his childhood abuse, although he's only violent when necessary.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Tomoya is the Red to Tammy's Blue. He may seem sweet on the outside, and for the most part, he is! But he's also a Yandere who will do anything to protect Tammy and will even kill for her. Tammy, meanwhile, is more cool and levelheaded, helps Tomoya out with his issues with a soothing touch, and even says she'll reign him in before he kills anyone when he's feeling particularly murderous.
- Sanity Slippage: Tomoya undergoes this multiple times throughout the webcomic. Most of the time, it's actually Sam.
- Scars Are Forever: Olivia gave Tomoya a scar on his right eye during one particularly abusive fit. It's still there to this day.
- Show Within a Show: "D Adventures", which Tomoya, Ichirou, and Olivia liked when they were little kids. It's where Tomoya got the name Sam from.
- Shout-Out: Nala is named after the character from The Lion King.
- Shrinking Violet: Tomoya, and can you blame him?
- Split Personality: It turns out that Tomoya has one named Sam. Named after a child's cartoon character, he serves to protect Tomoya and all that he loves. Deconstructed since this turns out to be the result of childhood trauma and domestic abuse. Due to accusations that the writer could be demonizing DID by portraying Sam as a murderer, Basil is careful to show him in as accurate a light as possible. The only reason he kills his father is to save his family from his abuse. Tammy even lampshades this by saying that he's not the stereotypical depiction of Multiple Personality Disorder, because he actually has a purpose: to protect his host and the people he loves.
- Uncatty Resemblance: Discussed. When Tomoya says that his dog Nala is a fighter, Tammy brings up the idea that a dog reflects their owner and says she bets that Nala learned it from him, though after she leaves, Tomoya privately disagrees, since he doesn't see himself as brave.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Tammy makes it no secret that she will pop Olivia in the kisser if she comes for Tomoya again.
- Wolf Whistle: While walking through the dark city streets during her date with Tomoya, Tammy is subjected to one of these by a male stranger. Tomoya finds it disrespectful, but Tammy says it's just what's bound to happen when you're a pretty lady in New York. Tomoya then expresses displeasure that women have to go through that.
- Yandere: Tomoya is a unique depiction of this. He doesn't ACTUALLY Murder the Hypotenuse, but he does have a hidden dark and murderous side that comes out when Tammy is threatened. He even says he'd kill for Tammy if she just said the word! This is because of his Split Personality, Sam, who he created to protect him from abuse. What makes him unique from other examples(aside from being male, that is) is that he doesn't actually abuse Tammy, he is fully accepting if Tammy wants to break up with him, even saying he won't force her or beg her to stay because he doesn't want to chain her to him out of fear nor pity, and he understands if Tammy were to want to break up with him. He even admits to Tammy that the existence of Sam could be a dealbreaker. It's exactly why he didn't tell her about it, because they like her.
