The Kenny Chronicles
is a twice-weekly Furry comic by Garrett Williams (read it here). It is about a teenage fox (a "Tarneki") named Kenny who lives in the year 2129 on a ship called the Ballyhoo, part of a large "nation" of ships called Tarnation. There's no government out there on the high seas, and thus we have anarchy (plus the inhabitants were created by pirate scientists). So far it details Kenny's life trying to keep three part-time jobs, and from November 2008 to Nov. '09 his rivalry with Funky Skunk.
Williams has also created a themepark on Second Life based on the comic.
Ended on November 23rd, 2011, but a sequel, Ferrets Vs Lemmings, premiered the following January.
The Kenny Chronicles includes examples of these tropes:
- Affectionate Parody: The Doggone Dailies of Summer 2009 included parodies of both Pinky and the Brain and Garfield.
- Art Evolution: Kenny started out looking like something from an old Sonic the Hedgehog game.
- Art Shift: During the Doggone Dailies of Summer Williams experimented with the coloring a little.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: In one comic Kenny's cousin saw a wanted poster of him and speculated that he may probably stole something, set something on fire, or killed someone. He actually went streaking on a ship of prudes.
- Artificial Limbs: Death's left arm is prosthetic.
- Asshole Victim: Funky, unfortunately his friends didn't realize that and immediately accused the one person who had tried to kill him before (and his death was a complete accident).
- Attending Your Own Funeral: Well, a few days short of it.
- Author Avatar: Like Kenny, Garrett Williams works in food service and retail, and he has appeared in the comic multiple times.
- But We Used a Condom!: Kenny and Death used birth control before she got pregnant with their daughter. Oh, well.
- Carnivore Confusion: Kenny probably should have found out Death was a lemming before ordering lemming on their date.
- Though otherwise averted as all Tarnekis are based on human DNA, for example Kenny routinely eats live mice.
- Character Blog: Death's Twitter.
- Chocolate Baby: Death is implied to be the interspecies version (lemming, both parents baboons). She got her name by giving her father a heart attack.
- City on the Water: Most Tarnekis live on converted cruise ships, Ook island is a floating platform.
- Cutaway Gag: One, or two.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Basically the point of all of the Funky vs. Kenny arcs.
- Documentary of Lies: In-universe example, a human-made documentary about Tarnation that is a little biased.
- Dream Sequence: The Doggone Dailies of Summer 2009 consists mostly of Kenny dreaming while sleeping on a beach in India.
- Exty Years from Publication: The top bar of the comic states how many years in the future a comic takes place (starting with 115). It was a "rolling calendar" until March 26, 2011, when Garrett decided to set the date relative to then, so that day's comic took place in 2129 as it was "118 years in the future").
- Fantastic Racism:
- Humans apparently don't like Tarnekis very much.
- There's some issues between carnivores and herbivores.
- Look at the title of the sequel.
- Humans apparently don't like Tarnekis very much.
- Furry Confusion: There are normal dogs, cats, chickens, and mice on board the Ballyhoo, but the difference between them and Tarnekis seems pretty clear most of the time.
- Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke: Probably what the pirate scientists who made the Tarnekis had in mind.
- Hallucinations: Kenny started getting hallucinations of Funky a year after his death. One time he tried asking the "ghost" for advice."For the last time, I'm not Funky's ghost. I'm just a figment of your imagination."
- Hard Head: Subverted and lampshaded, he was in a coma for three months after getting pummeled by a crate full of dodgeballs.
- Holographic Terminal: Tarneki teenagers wear collars that have holographic displays and seem equivalent to a laptop. While humans apparently have full mind links with their computers and consider Tarnation equivalent to a third world country because they don't have them.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: the Ook island employees, as lampshaded in the Apocalyptic Log left by the last survivor.
- Interspecies Romance: Kenny's black and white fur pattern is apparently because he's part cat. And his younger (half-)brother Pat probably isn't 100% fox either (he's blue!)
- And he's dated a cat and is currently engaged to a lemming whose mother was a baboon.
- Istanbul (Not Constantinople): Referenced with two brands of soda in this comic.
- Karmic Death: Funky, fell six stories into a dumpster and his feud with Kenny started in a dumpster.
- Naked People Are Funny: Kenny likes streaking, and it's the only crime he's been caught for so far. Though he still gets embarrassed when his pants are stolen.
- No Waterproofing in the Future: Averted Trope. As you would expect for a society that lives on the ocean all electronics in Tarnation are waterproof.
- Police Are Useless: They're technically ship security but they still don't seem to be around when needed and show up when not wanted.
- Pirates: The scientists who created Tarnekis were supposedly pirates, but better known for wearing Jayne Cobb hats and lab coats than eye patches
- Pregnant Badass: Death.
- Shout-Out: Behold, the sole reason for Kenny's name.
- The Future: Originally it was perpetually 100+ Kenny's age years in the future, but Willyums eventually decided to set the date relative to 2011 and in 2012 he'll start putting the precise year in each comic. Partially so he could add some parts of the Star Trek timeline (they have warp drive but no aliens).
- The Password Is Always "Swordfish": On Funky's robot: "kennysux"
- Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Kenny seems to be this sometimes.Kenny (after seemingly killing Funky): "Well, now that I've taken care of ''one pain'' in my life, I think I'll hit the massage parlor."
- Vengeful Vending Machine: The webcomic has one strip where the protagonist really needs some caffeine but a vending machine instead gives him something caffeine-free. Which the author notes was an inversion of something that happened to him in real life (he ordered Sprite and got VAULT).
Ferrets Vs. Lemmings
- All-Natural Snake Oil: Death catches a guy selling "natural remedies" including willow bark extract (aspirin), water, some herb with several side effects, and "poppy seed pod extract".
- Cool Crown: Guy has an impractically large crown.
- Deflector Shields: The island has them for diminishing hurricane damage, apparently they're the discount kind.
- Feudal Future: We've got Guy King, King of Dook Island, Queen Death Golden of Ook Island, and Kenny, Duke of Dook and Ook.
- Furry Confusion: Intentionally invoked by dressing up a pet ferret like King.
- Future Food Is Artificial: Dook island's primary export is cultured meat, but protein sequencers are starting to cut into their business, especially on the moon.
- Heinz Hybrid: Death is 50% lemming and 50% baboon, Kenny is 25% cat and 75% fox, their daughter Jenny, is a bit complicated.
- Naked People Are Funny: Possibly clothing optional beach, warthog, nuff said.
- One Nation Under Copyright: Dook Island was re-settled to expand Guy's business.
- Shower of Awkward: A visiting senator fell through the ceiling of the royal bathroom while Death and Kenny were showering. Incidentally. they were discussing renovations to the capital.
- Unmoving Plaid: Invoked with smart clothes here.
