History Webcomic / TheDreamlandChronicles

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Happens on both sides, with the four rulers Alexander (King of Dreamland), Nicodemus (Evil Dragon King), Nastajia (Queen of the Elves), and the dwarves' King Bognok all being the most skilled fighters.

''[[http://TheDreamlandChronicles.com The Dreamland Chronicles]]'' is an entirely computer-generated, three-dimensional webcomic with over sixteen hundred pages and counting. The Dreamland Chronicles is almost entirely suitable for all ages, with no outstanding adult themes.

!Tropes

* DidntSeeThatComing: Somehow, Nicodemus remained under the impression that [[spoiler:KingArthur was ''still alive'', despite the last 400 years spent ruling Dreamland. When the Sword of Kings tells him otherwise, along with the fact that Alex is Arthur's successor to the throne and was able to enter Dreamland through a loophole in the rules, the dragon doesn't take it well. Granted, Nicodemus actually had reason to believe Arthur was still alive, as Arthur had been trapped in a state between life and death for centuries. But, when Alex drew the Sword of Kings from the stone, Arthur passed on.]]

* KingArthur: Alex's ancestor, who not only ruled Camelot (in the 14th century, surprisingly), but Dreamland as well, having used Astoria as a template for Camelot. He was also the king who was betrayed by Nicodemus.

* MadeASlave

* ShiningCity: Ashendel, the city of the Elves. [[https://web.archive.org/web/20190718234125/http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/page-154-155/ Its view from a distance is truly gorgeous.]]

As a child, Alexander had adventures every night in Dreamland with his mythically-inclined friends, flying across Dreamland. One 'day' in Dreamland, Alex found an ancient temple housing a magic sword, which practically leaps into his hand. A talking dragon assaults the young boy, and he wakes up with a strange sword necklace.

* ArtEvolution: While it was always look good, thanks to the advancement of computers it has gone from [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/the-dreamland-chronicles/chapter-01/page-2/ from this ]] [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/page-1183-and-1184/ to this]]. I mean, come on dude. That's just going over the top. Attention to detail indeed. Ultimately however, when the final arc was made, the technology used for the previous chapters was out of date and proved very difficult to upgrade. As a result, the final arc uses cartoon style instead of 3D CGI.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Happens on both sides, with the four rulers Alexander (King of Dreamland), Nicodemus (Evil Dragon King), Nastajia (Queen of the Elves) and the dwarves' King Bognok all being the most skilled fighters.
* BladeBrake: Alex does this, leaving a good 50-foot slice in the {{Big Bad}} castle.

* CassandraTruth: Nobody believes Alex about Dreamland at first. Dan comes around early on, only because Alex is his brother. [[spoiler:Nicole only does after discovering that Alex is dreaming about her childhood friend Felicity.]]
* {{Chiaroscuro}}: Alex [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/page-275/ in Nicodemus' prison, meeting Felicity for the first time]]. Also, Nastajia, Felicity and Kiwi [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/todays-dreamland-chronicles-670/ finding Alex in a dark cave, illuminated by Kiwi.]] Towards the end of the story, much of the nightmare realm is this... and another new realm, [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/page-1925/ too.]]

* ColossusClimb: Played with: combined with a ZergRush [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/page-748/ when]] the [[spoiler:Dwarves do it.]]
* ComesGreatResponsibility: Nastajia brings this up on her responsibilities as Queen of the Elves to Alex who she believes is still as irresponsible as back in his childhood.

* {{Curse}}: [[spoiler:Nicodemus put a curse on King Arthur's first-born descendants (rightful heirs to his throne in Dreamland) that takes away their ability to dream to prevent them from entering Dreamland so as long as King Arthur is alive, usurping human reign over Dreamland for the first time.]]
* [[DidntSeeThatComing Didn't See That Coming]]: Somehow, Nicodemus, all this time, was under the impression that [[spoiler:KingArthur was ''still alive'', despite 400 years ruling Dreamland. When the Sword of Kings tells him otherwise, along with the fact that Alex is Arthur's successor to the throne, able to enter Dreamland through a loophole in the rules, the dragon doesn't take it well. Nicodemus actually had reason to believe this, as Arthur had been trapped in a state between life and death for centuries. But when Alex drew the Sword of Kings from the stone, Arthur passed on.]]

* EmpathicWeapon: Alex's sword, The Sword of Kings. [[spoiler:It was created to record the lives of the kings, that their successors may learn from them. Thus it is sentient to provide Alex with the information about former kings.]]
* EnemyMine: When Nicodemus learns of [[spoiler:Abbadon's plans to invade Dreamland, he offers a truce with Alexander to protect Dreamland.]]
** While he comes off as a WellIntentionedExtremist in the Arthur flashback, he evidently has been keeping things from Arthur before his betrayal - before reading Merlin's letter, he hadn't told him something as important as ''how'' fragile the peace between Dreamland and Nightmare Realm really is.

* ExplainingYourPowerToTheEnemy: When Abaddon exclaims bewilderment at Dan's NighInvulnerability, Dan gives a BadassBoast, explaining that thanks to lucid dreaming, his dream form is invulnerable. Abaddon later points out that his physical body is vulnerable, resulting in an OhCrap from Dan.
* FantasyKitchenSink: Pretty much the essence of Dreamland being the home to a plethora of mythical creatures.
* FlawExploitation: Fear is exploited by the Pirates to render the children powerless, becoming easy kidnapping targets.
* AFriendInNeed: Felicity saves Alex and in return he and his friends save her from the Kraken.
* FungusHumongous: The Fairy Village. Although the fairies are about 6" tall, some of the mushrooms are well over Alex's height. [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/page-76/ Windows]] reveal they are [[MushroomHouse mushroom apartment buildings.]]

* HiveMind: Abaddon is actually a collective of different Nightmare Realm beasts, sharing a single mind.
* HonoraryUncle: The Elder of the Fairies, Pistachio to the human children.

* InMediasRes: After being shown that The Guardians have something "special" for her to do while her friends venture off into the Nightmare Realm, Felicity re-appears about to begin her quest in the outskirts of Dreamland. She flashbacks to her briefing by the Guardians: she is to retrieve their Tablet as she is the only one who can do so.
* IllNeverTellYouWhatImTellingYou: Whether on purpose or out of stupidity, Abbadon gives Daniel information about [[spoiler:it's true master, the Dreamer]], even as it denies telling him anything.
* {{Irony}}: Felicity has to retrieve the Tablet of the Guardians as only a Tigrin like her could do so, in order to safeguard the tablet from thieves by its own people due to its tempting magical properties. Only problem is, she is a thief herself too. [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/page-1707/ The Guardians are much aware.]]

* KickTheDog: The guards of Astoria, working under Nicodemus are appropriately mean-spirited. Once they deflated a child's ball and mocked her just for it being in their way.
* KingArthur: Alex's ancestor, who not only ruled Camelot (in the 14th century, surprisingly), but Dreamland as well, having used Astoria as a template for Camelot, and was the king who was betrayed by Nicodemus.
* KingInTheMountain: [[spoiler:King Arthur and Merlin. The former was forcibly in this situation by Nicodemus up until Alex drew the Sword of the Kings and the latter until Felicity incants the spell from the Tablet of the Guardians.]]
* KrakenAndLeviathan: In chapter 6, the heroes sneak into a Kraken's cave while it's away to find one of the tablets... Surprise, surprise, the Kraken shows up.

* LastOfHisKind: [[spoiler:Felicity]]

* MasterOfIllusion: Abaddon is said to be one of these, and it has used this power to taunt Alexander with illusions of Nastajia. [[spoiler:Likewise it taunted Daniel with illusions of Nicole but failed miserably.]]

* MoreHeroThanThou: The Dwarves would rather Alex & Co. run off to safety and die trying to fighting the King Nicodemus they just betrayed after almost-constant loyalty.

* NarniaTime: A short period of time with an inconsistent amount passes between Alex's appearances in Dreamland but his friends managed to age into adults in his prolonged absence.

* OddShapedPanel: The comic occasionally makes use of [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/page-513/ overlapping]] [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/page-1765-2/ panels]].

* OurElvesAreDifferent: The Elves are a formidable and intelligent race compared to others [[spoiler:(well, the latter until we know of the more technologically advanced Guardians)]] but alone they cannot defeat Nicodemus whom they dislike the most.

* OutrunTheFireball: Is the trope played with when it's [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/page-1974/ this adorable?]]

* {{Pirate}}: Yep. Whole crew of 'em. With Airships.

* PowerGlows: Felicity coincidentally stole an amulet that allows the gang to find the [[PlotCoupon Plot Coupons]] only because of this.

* PowerNullifier: Fear causes powers humans have such as flying in Dreamland to be ineffective. The Pirates rely on this to kidnap many children easily.
* ThePromise: Alex makes one to Orion to train into a better warrior fit to battle Nicodemus. He also makes a crucial one to Nastajia's parents to bring Nastajia back safely to Ashendel for a reunion, [[spoiler:this proves to be his ultimate undoing as in response to his stubbornness on upholding it, Nicodemus revokes the very curse that allowed Alex on Dreamland in the first place by loophole.]]
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: As mention, all royals are key figures in the major battles occurring throughout Dreamland.

* SayingTooMuch: After [[spoiler:fatally poisoning Felicity]] in the temple where The Tablet of the Guardians is kept wraiths of the Nightmare Realm who [[spoiler:destroyed nearly all of the Tigrin]] indulge in some EvilGloating, telling the golems guarding the temple trying to protect the last one that they are invulnerable so long as they are wrapped in shadows. [[WeakenedByTheLight Guess what]] the golems do next.
* ShiningCity: Ashendel, The city of the Elves. [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/page-154-155/ Its view from a distance is truly gorgeous.]]

** Daniel is the first one to believe in Alex's experiences despite lack of actual proof because he's his brother.
** Alex goes for the pirates the instant he realises that they are attacking where his cousin Joey is right now.
* TrueCompanions: Alex says that he, Kiwi and Paddington are these to her as long as her parents are absent.
* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Dan, Alex, and Nicole. Starts off with the two brothers and then Nicole gets introduced a few chapters in.

* VictoriousChildhoodFriend
* WeakenedByTheLight: The wraiths appear to be among the most powerful of the Nightmare Realm's forces. But they can be rendered vulnerable by ordinary sunlight.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: In the flashback to Arthur's time, both [[spoiler:Arthur and Nicodemus seem like this. Arthur just wants to show his enemies the peace in Dreamland to demonstrate they can make their own utopia, however, he knows all to well this could cause a war with the Nightmare Realm, but he at least demonstrates an attack of conscience, being forced to make a choice between potentially seeing Camelot fall and potentially causing a war in Dreamland. His eventual decision to go through with the plan comes with a heavy IDidWhatIHadToDo vibe. Nicodemus is firmly stuck on making sure the latter does not happen at any cost, ultimately [[ForegoneConclusion betraying Arthur]]. While neither are fully in the right, Arthur is a lot more sympathetic, being idealistic and actually considering his options while Nicodemus is fully convinced that Arthur's plan will not work anyway as he thinks HumansAreBastards by nature. It's later revealed that [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramesses_II Ramesses II]] had attempted a plan much the same as Arthur's which ended in disaster, making Nicodemus' position more understandable...but Nicodemus had been deceived by Abbadon as to ''why'' it had been a disaster.]]

* YouAreNotAlone: Orion, the leader of the Centaurs pledges this to Alex given that with being King of Dreamland ComesGreatResponsibility in both the real world and Dreamland. He then gives him a medicine bag that allows things from the real world to be transferred to Dreamland.

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: The Dwarves [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/chapter-12/ don't look really diverse]].
* OurElvesAreBetter: The Elves are a formidable and intelligent race compared to others [[spoiler:(well, the latter until we know of the more technologically advanced Guardians)]] but alone they cannot defeat Nicodemus whom they dislike the most.

* EmpathicWeapon: Alex's sword, The Sword Of Kings. [[spoiler:It was created to record the lives of the kings, that their successors may learn from them. Thus it is sentient to provide Alex with the information about former kings.]]

* EnemyMine: [[spoiler:When Nicodemus learns of Abbadon's plans to invade Dreamland, he offers a truce with Alexander to protect Dreamland.]]

* {{Chiaroscuro}}: Alex [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/page-275/ in Nicodemus' prison, meeting Felicity for the first time]]. Also, Nastajia, Felicity and Kiwi [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/todays-dreamland-chronicles-670/ finding Alex in a dark cave, illuminated by Kiwi.]] Towards the end of the story, much of the nightmare realm is this.

* {{Chiaroscuro}}: Alex [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/page-275/ in Nicodemus' prison, meeting Felicity for the first time]]. Also, Nastajia, Felicity and Kiwi [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/comic/todays-dreamland-chronicles-670/ finding Alex in a dark cave, illuminated by Kiwi.]]

* ArtEvolution: While it was always look good, thanks to the advancement of computers it has gone from [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/the-dreamland-chronicles/chapter-01/page-2/ from this ]] [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/the-dreamland-chronicles/the-making-of-the-dreamland-chronicles/making-of-the-dreamland-chronicles-book-five-page-11/ to this]]. I mean, come on dude. That's just going over the top. Attention to detail indeed. Ultimately however, when the final arc was made, the technology used for the previous chapters was out of date and proved very difficult to upgrade. As a result, the final arc uses cartoon style instead of 3D CGI.