Krig RAWR is a Swedish Webcomic written by Tomb Svalborg and drawn by Mirjam Löfgren. It's an epic war drama about the conflicts between the Herbivore and Carnivore Dinosaurs of Pangea. Anachronism Stew is in full effect as these Dinosaurs blast the crap out of each other with Assault Rifles and other modern weaponry.
Think of it as a Darker and Edgier version of Dino-Riders... without the riders.
In addition to its publication on the web, Krig RAWR has also been released in Fan Zine form and published in the Anthology Magazine "Utopi". As of 2014, Krig RAWR is on a hiatus as Mirjam is busy with college. Read it here.
This web comic contains the following tropes:
- Anachronism Stew: The comic revolves around the conflict between herbivore and carnivore dinosaurs which is explicitly stated to be taking place on Pangea supercontinent in prehistorical age... and which is somehow waged with modern weaponry, including real-world, recognizable firearms like M4 carbine.
- Artificial Limbs:
- General BWN has a cybernetic implant for a hand/paw.
- Larger carnivore breeds, like Tyrannosauruses, overcome the limitations of their tiny front limbs thanks to combat harnesses connected to large, clawed metal arms which they control freely as if they were their own.
- Badass Creed: "You/we are flesh, and flesh demands sacrifice", the Carnivore faction motto.
- Blood Knight: One of Herbivore generals, a Pachycephalosaurus named BWN is... surprisingly trigger-happy for a herbivore. When the meeting of dinosaur leaders is interrupted by sudden attack, he gleefully pulls out a pistol, exclaiming that it "seems like [they've] got some visitors", as if he waited for this his whole life. Later he can be seen laughing maniacally while shooting at incoming carnivores with assault rifle. He appears to be playing with the wrong team.
- Excuse Plot: The setting of this comic is... confusing, to say the least. While the casus belli is quite simple (in short: herbivores and carnivores used to maintain peace thanks to an agreement which required the former to regularly sacrifice some of their young to the latter so they would have no need to actively hunt them... until eating little dinos failed to suffice the carnivores and they started to demand more), the background of the conflict itself requires a huge amount of suspension of disbelief. When the war breaks out, there are no signs that dinosaurs have even created a civilization of any sort — in fact, they live just as your average, non-sentient dinos — but somehow, they enter the conflict equipped with full repertoire of modern military hardware. How did they come into possession of it? It is never explained.
- Furry Confusion: Some dinosaurs are anthropomorphised in one way or another — special mention goes to herbivore military leaders during meeting in the first issue. Others... are not. This is not delved into in any way.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Z has several smaller ones on his face, General CLAWR has a big nasty one, where his right eye used to be.
- Grey-and-Gray Morality: The carnivores might seem evil, but all they really want is to have something to eat. They never once kill out of sheer sadism.
- Infinite Supplies: As noted above, outside the herbivore-carnivore war, both sides of the conflict live just like non-sentient dinos, in a manner similar to protagonists of works like The Land Before Time or The Good Dinosaur, but they still come equipped with modern assault rifles, big guns and rocket launchers — despite having no industry nor production facilities that would be required to create them. There is no explanation for this, except "because dinosaurs with guns are cool".
- Jump Scare: Invoked by Z on his subordinate FRR to demonstrate how unexpectedly the Tawas can sneak right up to you.
- Made of Explodium: During the battle scene in the first issue, a Tyrannosaurus throws a dead Diplodocus at enemy Ankylosauruses with artillery guns mounted on their backs. This somehow causes them to explode.
- The Mole: A female Segisaurus guarding the Herbivore base camp at night turns out to be a double agent in CLAWR's employ. She knocks out her Thecodontosaurus comrade with gas, and then gladly opens the gate to let a team of Dromeosaurids in.
- One-Letter Name: One of the herbivore generals is named "Z".
- Please Wake Up: In the first issue, Z recalls a story of his friend RASA, who got shot in the head by a stray bullet during battle. When he saw him lying dead on the ground, Z briefly shouted at him to wake up before he broke down crying.
- Power Fist: Those giant, metal claws connected to combat harnesses worn by larger theropods certainly invoke this trope.
- Schizo Tech: Apart from already mentioned fact that this comic features sentient dinosaurs who don't seem to have any actual civilization but somehow still wage war with modern weaponry, the hardware and tactics they use range from downright ancient (apparently, they never invented engine of any kind, since they use no vehicles, and their heavy ordnance is carried by larger dinosaur breeds akin to beasts of war) to Great War era-like (reliance on big guns and trench warfare) to modern (they use many contemporary firearms like aforementioned M4 carbine and are equipped with bulletproof vests) to slightly futuristic (see Artificial Limbs entry above).
- Shout-Out: The picture which currently serves as the page image is actually based on Korean War photo◊, which is focused on Captain Francis Fenton of US Marines. His nonplussed expression stems from the fact that he was just informed that his men are running out of ammo and currently he's pondering what to do now.
- Slasher Smile: Carnivore dinosaurs unavoidably sport these. Not just because of their rather intimidating sets of teeth, but also because they tend to smile when battle is going in their favor.
