Webcomic / The Last Dimension

Eighty years ago, "the Last War" destroyed most of the European continent and left it an irradiated, uninhabitable wasteland. In the wake of this destruction, a mutation began appearing in humanity. A new 38th gene has led some people to develop supernatural powers. These powers are called "Chondrias" while those who possess them are known as "Mits". While most are unremarkable oddities at best, the handful of Mits with Chondrias powerful enough to be used for military purposes are rounded up and trained in Institutes from a young age to use their powers for the governments of the world.

Fai is a young, amnesiac student of the Quainto Institute based in a secluded part of South America. Her Chondria grants her vague premonitions of the future along with much more vivid visions. But there's a catch: there is nothing she can do to change the outcome of these visions. After getting a horrible vision of an explosion that would bring the entire Institute down upon her head, she and her friend Susi follow three new transfer students from the Laire Institute down into the labs in the basement. To Fai's horror, her vision plays out exactly as they always do, sending her and the three transfer students tumbling into an unknown world.

Now Fai, Alex, Philip, and Anne must navigate the strange environment they find themselves in to find a way home. But they are neither the first nor the last to arrive on this world. And they might discover things they'd wish they hadn't...

The Last Dimension is a webcomic written by Leaglem and published by Naver Webtoon as a Webtoon Original. It began serialization on March 8th, 2022. It can be read for free here.

The Last Dimension contains examples of:

• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Fai refers to Susana with the diminutive, "Susi", emphasizing how close they are to one another.
  • Anne calls Philip "Phil" for short and is the only one to do so. As Alex's relationship with Phillip softens, he starts calling Phillip "Freckles" rather than the more mean-spirited "Pirahna" and "Frog Face".
• Ambiguously Evil: The aligment of the Tertabulant Council is hard to pin down. On one hand they seem intent on protecting the galactic Cluster and helped Earth to fight off the Trak invasion. On the other hand they fought a Guilt-Free Extermination War against the Traks, despite them only wanting a new home, and appear to have no problem with Earth raising children with Chondria as Child Soldiers. Plus it seems that under their rule Koos aren’t considered sentient beings and are used as an energy source.
• Ambiguously Human: Philip identifies as human and insists he's just a Mit like Fai and Alex. His powers also operate on the same principles as theirs. But his green skin and sclera, rows of sharp teeth, Extreme Omnivore tendencies, pointy, bat-like ears, and tadpole-like tail are unlike any other character in the series. The "foxalopes" the kids encounter are perfectly friendly to everyone except Phillip, whom they instantly attempt to maul after sniffing him. Philip also looks nothing like his parents or sister in flashbacks. He is actually Trak, an Alien species which invaded Earth 16 years ago and was wiped out by Tetrabulant Council.
• Amnesiac Hero: Fai has no memories before coming to the Institute, including of her parents, her real name, or the world outside of the Institute.
• The Big Guy: Phillip's flexible and potentially destructive powers make him the kids' main frontline fighter, occupying foes by turning into a gaseous form to dodge danger and attacking back with explosions.
• Bully Hunter: Due to her own mistreatment at Quainto and Susi's influence, Fai doesn't take kindly to Alex's treatment of Philip and repeatedly admonishes Alex for his behavior.
• Catchphrase: Susi frequently calls others "frozen toes" the same way you'd call someone a "rotten egg" while also threatening to freeze the toes of people she doesn't like. Lampshaded, as Fai says Susi should really get a new catchphrase.
• Color-Coded Characters: Fai, Phillip, Alex, and Anne are all strongly associated with purple, blue, orange, and green respectively. Speech bubbles where the characters aren't visible are sometimes tinted with the character's respective color to illustrate who's talking.
• Commonality Connection: Hearing all the mean nicknames that Alex uses to refer to Phillip quickly gets Fai to empathize with Philip, as she endured similar treatment for being left at the institute with no memories of her past.
• Cute Monster Boy: Phillip has a number of inhuman features, including green, "icky" skin, a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, and a tadpole-like tail, and red eyes with Hellish Pupils. Despite this, his naturally meek and gentle personality and his still human-like features are drawn as more cute than anything.
• Cute Oversized Sleeves: Phillip is a shy, sweet boy who wears a turtleneck sweater with sleeves too long for his arms. In addition to making him look cute and vulnerable, it also helps him hide his green, frog-like skin should he suffer a Glamour Failure from overexerting himself.
• Dead All Along: It turns out Anne died when the Traks invaded Earth and she is a Koo, the living memory seen as a source of energy by inhabitants of the universe.
• Don't Try This at Home: While trying to convince Alex to stay, Philip comes up with the idea of creating "prank candies". These candies would contain a small amount of metallic sodium so they'll heat up and explode in contact with water (such as human saliva), causing the eater to breathe fire. The explanation includes a caption to not try this at home, since setting someone's mouth on fire probably won't be funny for long.
• Eldritch Abomination: Menter is an alien being that distends into countless black snake covered in eyes. It's able to freely change its form and devour nearby sources of matter to change even further. It's heavily implied that Phillip is Menter's childhood self, and Phillip himself notes that the foxalopes mutated by exposure to the Clue are a lot like him.
• Elective Mute: Philip is initially hesitant to speak out of fear of resentment for his inhuman features like his blue, pointed tongue and mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. He communicates primarily through gestures and nods, only opening his mouth in front of Alex, whom he'd already shown his real face to. But Fai's and Anne's continued kindness to Philip eventually convinces him to speak.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Alex repeatedly calls Philip "Pirahna" due to Phillip's incredibly sharp teeth and tendency to eat most things he can get his hands on. He also calls him "Frog Face" due to Phillip's naturally green skin.
• Extreme Omnivore: Philip absentmindedly takes a bite out of fruit growing on a tree on Imash, the alien world he and the other kids landed on, while exploring the forest. Alex slaps it out of his hands and calls him out on just randomly eating things in a place he's never been. They then discover that its flesh and juices act like Hollywood Acid and eat into the floor. Philip is perfectly fine afterwards and even says it tasted good. Alex says Philip has eaten weirder things, including a hunk of solid clay during art class. After this, both Alex and Fai give Philip the sideeye when Philip starts licking his lips around potentially poisonous berries.
• Eye Color Change: Alex's eye color changes from orange to green while using his Chondria, matching the energy emitted while controlling someone.
• Fantastic Racism: At the start of the story, Alex resents Phillip for "tricking him" into believing Phillip was "normal", citing Phillip's ears, skin, teeth, and tail. He calls Phillip "a freak" and wishes Laire had focused their testing on him instead. But after escaping one perilous situation after another with Phillip, Alex comes to see Phillip as fully human despite his looks.
• Fiery Redhead: Zigzagged. Phillip is usually quite calm, gentle and meek, trying to do right by others while also being afraid of showing his true face in front of Fai and Anne. But Phillip is much more irritable and snarky around Alex due to their Vitriolic Best Buds relationship. Phillip loses his temper when Alex is poking and prodding him and once threatens to bite Alex's head off for yanking Phillip's tail.
• Flight: Anne is able to fly and float around at will. However, she's limited when carrying heavier loads like a whole person, causing her to slowly drift downward instead of propelling upward or forward.
• Freakiness Shame: Phillip is ashamed of his inhuman features, as others ridiculed him for his teeth alone. Alex calls him a freak after Phillip revealed his true face to him some time in the past and became reluctant to speak out of fear of showing his teeth.
• Future Badass: Kori reveals that in the future, Fai becomes known as Tso Pukira, Menter's most powerful Oracle.
• Glamour Failure:
  • Philip's human guise requires effort, mass, and energy to maintain. So when he's focused on using his powers on something else or is considerably drained, his transformation slips and his regular appearance remerges. This happens repeatedly in big fights and Alex has to check on Philip to make sure the girls don't see Philip's real face.
  • After his first night on Imash, a sleeping Philip accidentally lets go of his shapeshifting while the girls are out looking for edible food. Alex sees this and has to jolt Philip awake by stepping on his tail to get him to realize that his features are all out in the open. Unfortunately for Alex, it looks like he's bullying Philip in the process, and a cross Fai dishes out a Bitch Slap that leaves both her and Alex aching for a while.
• Gratuitous Spanish: Owing to being based in South America, Quainto's computers have all their information written in Spanish even though all of the children are taught to speak English. Fai and Susi sometimes throw Spanish words like "Chica" into their everyday language. Fai in particular goes an enormous tirade in Spanish and English after she sees Alex apparently bullying Philip before giving him a Bitch Slap. Lampshaded by Alex, who is surprised she can speak Spanish too.
• Happily Adopted: Given that his family looks nothing like him, it's implied that Phillip is adopted. But he has nothing but pleasant things to say about them and his mom and dad tried to hide him from the Seer to prevent him from being taken by the Laire Institute.
• Having a Blast: Phillip's primary means of attack is to convert substances into water and metallic potassium or sodium to trigger a violent explosion.
• Hey, You!: Alex almost never refers to Philip by his name, calling him a slew of nicknames such as "Pirahna", "Freckles", and "Frog Face". This reflects their strained relationship due to Alex being Philip's Secret-Keeper.
• Hide Your Otherness: Philip is constantly expending mass and energy to shapeshift his features to hide his tadpole-like tail, red eyes, green complexion, and pointy ears because of the ridicule his teeth alone got him back at the Laire Institute. This is implied to be incredibly uncomfortable for him as he drops this effect whenever he's alone. But he's terrified of letting anyone find out, as Alex, the one person he did open to, resents him as his Secret-Keeper.
• Internal Reveal: Near the end of Season 1, Phillip suffers a Glamour Failure in front of Fai and Anne, revealing his true features to them. Fai initially mistakes Phillip's appearance for something that was done to him, but later apologizes when she learns it's Phillip's natural appearance.
• Jerkass to One: Philip is meek, gentle, and sweet to Fai and Anne, who are equally kind and supportive of him. By contrast, Philip is often snippy and snarky toward Alex, who constantly lobs insults at Philip in turn. This tension is largely rooted in their troubled relationship, as Alex is the one person around who knows Philip's true face and constantly tries to keep it a secret from others. But this causes Alex no end of grief as the weight of this secret alienates Alex from his friends. Despite this, the two care enough about each other to constantly leap to the other's aid, and Philip sees Alex as his Only Friend before meeting Fai and Anne.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Alex is egotistic, loud, and brash. The pressure of being Phillip's Secret-Keeper makes Alex verbally abusive toward him and prone to blaming Phillip for everything. Despite this, Alex is good-natured deep down and has a Jerkass Realization when Fai calls him out on his bullying tendencies. He repeatedly risks life and limb for the others, including Phillip, while going to great lengths to help Phillip keep his secret.
• Kid Hero: The story centers around Fai, Alex, Phillip, and Anne, who are all around ten years old as 5th graders by a modern education system. While they prove to be plucky and resourceful, they're clearly out of their depth on Imash.
• Lethal Chef: Phillip's Extreme Omnivore tendencies means that the "oatmeal" he tries to transmute for the other kids to eat is a pink, nasty-tasting liquid that instantly makes Fai Green Around the Gills. Alex is hacking and gagging with one lick of it and calls it "bio waste". Luckily for them, Phil does better on his second try, though Anne fines Phillip's first batch perfectly tasty.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: The "foxalopes" the kids encounter are canine-esque creatures with spines along their backs and horns on their heads. Their nuzzle and lick friendly creatures like dogs but will also snarl and attack like them as well. They also seem to have a pack mentality, with one summoning many others by howling.
• Morphic Resonance: After turning himself into a living parachute for Alex, Phillip's face can be seen on the underside of the parachute while his hair is sticking out the top.
• The Nicknamer: Alex frequently refers to others with nicknames rather than their actual names. He calls Fai "future girl", Philip, "Pirahna", "Freckles", and "Frog Face", and Anne "cabbage girl".
• No Conservation of Energy: Discussed. The Mits' powers are justified by the creation of a new gene that produces energy that the body can then project as a Chondria. But entropy Chondrias explicitly violate the laws of entropy, allowing them to move heat at will to produce effects like freezing things or breathing fire. Phillip also mentions that he needs to have energy to perform his transmutation, making more complex transmutations like cookies difficult if he's tuckered out.
• Not What It Looks Like: When Phillip suffers a Glamour Failure in his sleep, Alex has to step on Phillip's tail to wake him up. He then forces his blanket over Phillip's head to cover his face while Phillip transforms. But all of this is so sudden that Phillip instinctively squirms to get out after yelping in pain from getting his tail stepped on. Fai and Anne walk in on this and Fai comes to the understandable conclusion that Alex is bullying Phillip. Alex tries to explain himself but gets a slap powerful enough to throw him to the ground for his troubles.
• Nursery Rhyme: The Mits are supposed to memorize the classifications of their powers through a song akin to a children's tune or nursery rhyme. Alex hates it and never bothered to memorize it, which serves as a Framing Device to introduce the song to the reader.
  All Chondrias come in four different types
  Study them well by singing these rhymes
  
  Most Utso Chondrias are easy to tell
  Space-time, then energy, and matter as well
  Then the Vehc Chondrias you can swiftly spot
  They deal with forces and movement a lot
  
  Baelta Chondrias are harder to see
  Auras, illusions, are magic to me
  Lastly Kel Chondrias they deal with the mind
  Memores, feelings, and even with life
  
  These are the Chondria types that you must know
  Learn all these rhymes, and wise you will grow
• Only One Name: Fai only has her one name because it's a placeholder. She has no memories of her life before coming to Quainto nor can she remember her parents or the outside world. Susi offers Fai her last name, "Lagos", so they can be sisters, but Fai is hesitant and wants her last name to be something truly special.
• Overly Long Name: Alex's full name is "Alexander Gustavo de la Cruz Hill", though he normally just goes by "Alexander Hill".
• Pungeon Master: Once he starts opening up, Phillip enjoys cracking punny jokes whenever he can. When the kids see lightning flash over a hill, Philip can't help but stretch himself over Alexander Hill's head before getting smacked to the ground for wasting energy. Later on, Philip christens a lagoon full of umbrella-shaped trees the "Umbrellagoon".
• Required Secondary Powers: Philip is remarkably intelligent for his age and has memorized all sorts of chemical formulas and reactions to make use of his Transmutation power. He's also able to taste exactly which compounds are in things he eats, determining that some berries he found are perfectly safe for the others to eat because he tasted nothing but organic compounds. He can also tell if they're alkaline or acidic and is immune to corrosive substances.
• Scarf of Asskicking: Philip wears a deep blue scarf that he pulls over his mouth when he feels insecure about his features, particularly when the others are talking about how alien things are. He's also the best fighter of the four overall and is usually the one to hold off ravenous beasts.
• Shapeshifter Baggage: Phillip's Transmutation powers are limited by the amount of mass at his disposal. He can't create matter out of thin air and can only work with the matter in the environment or in his body. After shedding mass to act as a thin parachute for Alex, Phillip crumples as he lands in the water to absorb it and transmute it to restore his own body mass.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Alex is the self-proclaimed "King" of the Laire Institute for his rare Mind Control ability and is extremely proud of it. However, it only works for eight seconds on a single person or creature he touches and fails to work on several of the alien creatures he encounters. By contrast, Philip, the most frequent target of Alex's ego-fueled anger, is kind and shy, but possesses a remarkably effective and flexible Transmutation Chondria.
• Shout-Out:
  • When Fai is livid over what looks like Alex bullying Phillip, an image of a giant, furious Susi can be seen behind her as an extremely familiar "ゴゴゴゴ" sound effect is drawn across the panel, alluding to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
  • While ribbing and encouraging Phillip in equal measure, Alex says that even if Phillip came in a pod and was sent to conquer or destroy Earth, he wouldn't because he's on Team Mits. This alludes to Goku's backstory in Dragon Ball, as he was sent to Earth as a baby in a pod to conquer it, but hit his head on the way down and went native.
• Stable Time Loop: Kori speculates that Menter deliberately arranged the situation so they would get transported to the past and recruit Philip (implied to be Menter’s younger self) and his friends.
• Transmutation: Etsumi Mits like Philip are able to transmute one substance into another, provided they has enough mass, energy, and concentration to do so. Phillip's most frequent use of it is to transmute an object into water and then throw metallic sodium or potassium into the mix to cause an explosion as an attack or for propulsion. He's able to make objects as complex as a working electronic tablet from his own body mass. He can also use this on himself to shape his body into a variety of forms, from turning into a wispy gas-like substance to avoid injury to shaping himself into a fleshy parachute to save Alex from a lethal fall.
• Tyke-Bomb: The whole point of the Institutes is to scout and conscript children with potentially powerful Chondria to use as military assets. Many children from the institute don't have strong memories of their parents because they were taken at a young age.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Once Fai starts reining in Alex's worst outbursts, his relationship with Phillip settles into this. The two boys constantly trade barbs with each other but are also most open with their thoughts around one another. Phillip trusts Alex to keep his secret and protects him from the dangers of Imash, while Alex keeps Phillip's spirits up through Backhanded Compliments. In Episode 27, Alex affirms Phillip's humanity and that he sees Phillip as part of the team... all while pulling at and insulting Phillip's features.
  Alex: It's settled then! You're just an ugly Mit!
  Phillip: Your brain is ugly!
  Alex: Hurry up! I saw something moving!
  Phillip: Your whole digestive system is ugly!
  Alex: What's that supposed to mean?
• What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Most Chondrias tend to be really lame. For instance, low-level Whisperers can only read the surface thoughts of others and not with any real precision. One child at Quainto can only read the minds of reptiles, amphibians, and birds, but not people. Even Alex, the supposed strongest Mit at Laire, can only use his Chondria for eight seconds before he loses control of his target.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Alex is eager to hunt the denizens of Imash as food, bragging about how he's going to be called the "alien-slayer" once he gets home. This clearly bothers Phillip, who asks if Alex thinks all aliens are bad. Alex says the ones who are treating to eat them are bad, but Phillip points out that they're trying to hunt aliens to eat and if that makes them bad. Alex shouts back that it's different because he's hungry. Besides, regardless of Phillip's icky skin, weird ears and tail, he's a human who grew up on Earth.
• World of Technicolor Hair: Mits can develop unnatural hair and eye colors as a side effect of their mtuations. Fai's hair and eyes are purple, Alex has orange eyes, Philip has bright red hair, and Anne has cabbage green hair. This is common enough that Spott is able to recognize that the kids are Mits from their hair color alone.

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