The Last Human (In a Crowded Galaxy) is a Space Opera webcomic by Zack Jordan hosted on Webtoons. It follows a human child named Sarya and her adoptive mother, a spiderlike alien named Shenya the Widow. The two of them move to live on a cosmopolitan space station, but the bureaucrats are suspicious when they can't figure out what species Sarya is.
It can be read here
. The webcomic also serves as a prequel to the full-length novel The Last Human.
Provides examples of the following tropes:
- Androids Are People, Too: Sarya's attitude towards the drones, which she desperately tries to get others to realize. At least one other robot also believes this, though it's still happy to die once it's outlived its usefulness.Robot: ALMOST? I'll have you know I meet the bare minimum requirements for legal personhood. I was a person before you were even a— (body breaks in two)
- Apocalypse How: According to the Network Inspector, humans caused MULTIPLE Class X and X-2 apocalypses, including the destruction of Shenya's homeworld.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Nearly every robot she meets loves Sarya, since she treats them no different from any other person. One that looks like a red EVE starts following her around.
- Body Backup Drive: The red alien and purple alien find a room full of clone bodies for the Network Inspector.Clone: I am getting very tired of being killed.
- Body Paint: Widow culture involves wearing complex body paint patterns, which Shenya applies to Sarya's fingers.
- Cheerful Child: Sarya is almost always cheerful and friendly, easily making friends with other alien children and robotic drones.
- Constantly Curious: Sarya is constantly asking questions.Drone: Excuse me. Do you ever get tired of asking questions?Sarya: You sound like my mom. Ooh! What's that?
- The Dreaded: One Heads-Up Display scans Shenya and in bright red letters spells out "DO NOT ANTAGONIZE".
- Extra Eyes: The Network Inspector has eight eyes, while the purple alien has six on a stalk (her kids have three each).
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: When Shenya seems ready to give up on finding Sarya and is about to accept dying, the alien she's been borderline kidnapping slaps her. Everyone who sees it happen is completely stunned.Purple Alien: Oh, he is gonna die so hard.Network Inspector: I...must agree.
- Goggles Do Something Unusual: Sarya's goggles provide augmented reality, for example showing her colored holograms covering otherwise colorless toy blocks.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: The prevailing belief among aliens, despite no human sightings in over a millennium. Sarya plays "human" with other children, in which she acts as a terrifying, acid-spitting monster.
- Hurricane of Euphemisms: The little drone on Sarya's shoulder offers a staggering array of synonyms for "die" when she asks it to stop saying the word.
- Insectoid Aliens: Shenya's species, which are similar to spiders.
- Mama Bear: You do NOT want to get between Shenya and her child. Not that many would want to cross an alien Giant Spider from a Proud Warrior Race. When Sarya goes missing, Shenya is fully prepared to start a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Mood Dissonance: The drones are oddly unconcerned about their imminent death and recycling. Sarya tries desperately to get them to see they still deserve to live.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The Network Inspector has six arms and two legs.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Shenya the Widow.
- Oh, My Gods!: Robots sometimes invoke the Network, the galaxy-spanning Metaverse and Artificial Intelligence gestalt that's a cornerstone of the setting's society.
- Prequel: The comic is set before The Last Human, a physical novel by Jordan set in the same universe.
- Space Station: Shenya and Sarya move to one early in the comic, and most of the story takes place there.
- This Means Warpaint: When Shenya finds Sarya missing, she puts on purple body paint that's toxic to many species, including her own. The comic has a bonus panel explaining the cultural significance of the war paint.
- Torment by Annoyance: The purple alien's two kids behave like any siblings:Mommmm! Xu's lookin' at me!I am not! I'm lookin' near you!Are not!Am too!Mom says get your gross dry eyestalk off my side!Mom says my eyestalks are silky smooth!
- What the Hell, Hero?: When Shenya and another parent threateningly ask another alien about their missing kids, they flip out.Purple Alien: I have HAD IT UP TO MY EYESTALKS WITH YOU PEOPLE. "Are you going to help us? Because my friend is literally made of knives." "Hi there! Give me what I want or I'll STAB IT OUT OF YOU." Did either of you ever ONCE consider that OTHER PEOPLE have problems? Huh? Did you?
Red Alien: Well, if you don't want to help us—
Purple Alien: I do want to help you. But not because you're a jerk. And not because she's a nightmarish death machine. It's because I'm a parent too. And I do know who took your kids. And I'm gonna help you find them.
