We Live In An MMO?! is a webcomic by online artist RandoWis
. Set in a fictional world of Mamuon, the comic follows a party of four adventurers:
- Rando the Warrior, the main character and physical tank.
- Mike the Dual Blader, the nerdy rogue of the group.
- Amirul the Magician, a flamboyant and prideful spellcaster.
- Lu the Necromancer, a Cat Girl who serves as support and backup.
Despite ostensibly being a quirky comedy series that mostly pokes fun at typical RPG tropes, the series also explores the darker implications of such a world, particularly the concept of "NPCs" versus "players" and the rules and restrictions both have to follow.
The comic can be found on RandoWis's website or DeviantArt page.
This webcomic contains examples of the following tropes:
- And I Must Scream: All but stated to be what life as an NPC is like; stuck following the role laid out for you and unable to protest, resist or even defend yourself. Especially demonstrated in the flashback to the group meeting Lu.
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Awesome Ego: Amirul, Amirul, Amirul. He can't go two sentences without talking about awesome he is, but when you see him in action it's hard to deny it. - Bait-and-Switch: Amirul is introduced facing what appears to be an intimidating Antlion Monster, only to squash it with his staff and reveal it to be the size of an actual ant.
- Bare-Fisted Monk: In battle, Rando seems to prefer using his body and raw brute strength to take down opponents.
- Barrier Warrior: When battling the seal, Amirul conjures up a large blue barrier that it utterly fails to break through, and shatters it to sent the seal flying.
- Berserk Button: Rando might be a pervert, but he draws the line at putting your hands on a woman without her consent.
- Catchphrase: Amirul likes to tell people how "awesome" he is, as well as refer to the other party members as "Foo'".
- BFS: The sword Rando is seen wielding in the past has a blade the size of his body. He's discarded it in the present day, preferring to use his hands.
- Black Mage: Amirul, judging by his job title "Magician".
- Bowel-Breaking Bricks: When Dullah jumps out of a bush at the boys, Rando is seen with a very large cubical bulge in his pants.
- Bullying a Dragon: A group of rival players who antagonise the main party. They harass the locals, insult and demean the party and outright assault Rando. Doesn't work out for them.
- Cat Girl: Lu, judging by her cat ears and two tails.
- Chain Pain: Lu's spells manifest themselves in the form of spectral chains, which she uses to restrict enemies. She's also seen using them offensively against the party in a flashback to when they first met.
- Chivalrous Pervert: Rando. He's introduced peeking up a girl's skirt, he can't resist glancing down Lu's top while comforting her, but he will not tolerate someone putting their hands on a woman without consent. He was taught this by his grandfather, Dullah, who is just as much of an example.
- Cool Old Guy: Dullah. A pervert and a troll he might be, but he teaches Rando valuable life lessons and encouraged his noble behaviour. He also offered Rando and his party some of his equipment when they were going on a particularly dangerous quest.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Poked fun at when the party levels up. Rando initially puts all his stats in strength, but it leaves him a drooling moron that can't even speak until Lu adjusts it. Amirul likewise tries to put all his stats into intelligence which grants him "knowledge of everything" but weakens him to the point he gets pinned down by a pebble.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Rando vs the visiting party in Dafurst Village.
- The Dreaded: "The Guards". White-armoured NPCs who are summoned whenever a player breaks the rules to deal out the appropriate punishment. This is invoked, as the threat of the Guards is the main thing that keeps players in line.
- Dual Age Modes: Lu is capable of shifting into an older and more powerful form.
- Dual Wielding: Though he's yet to use both at once, Mike has two swords on his back and his job title, "Dual Blader", implies he is capable of this.
- Establishing Character Moment: Each main character gets one:
- Mike attempts to steal some potions from a vendor, only to immediately run back and claim he's just joking.
- Rando is first seen laying on his back and looking up the Event Lady's skirt.
- Amirul is shown on a sidequest, effortlessly defeating low-level enemies while ranting about how amazing he is.
- Lu is introduced alongside Amirul, trying to get him back on track to meet the others.
- Fate Worse than Death: Permanent Banishment. When we see Rando after his banishment, he's trapped in a seemingly infinite white room with nothing to do. It's implied he would be left there forever.
- Fantastic Racism: The players who harass the Events Lady justify their behaviour towards NPCs due to them being "mindless dolls" and mock the main characters for defending them.
- Genre Deconstruction: Of the RPG Mechanics 'Verse.
- I Fought the Law and the Law Won: Anyone who breaks the rules within Mamuon such as harming NPCs or killing players within a village risk summoning the Guards, who are implied by the characters fearful reactions to be either absurdly powerful or outright invincible. Defied when Rando is arrested and banished for murdering the players who were harassing the Events Lady, as he doesn't even attempt to resist and actively discourages Lu from helping him for this reason.
- Intrepid Merchant: Dullah; the boys meet him at one point when he's gotten lost on his way to a village, yet he laughs it off.
- It's All My Fault: Lu blames herself for Rando's banishment because she didn't transform to fight the guards.
- Nerd Glasses: Mike is drawn with large square glasses, with square-ish spirals in place of pupils.
- Player Killing: When the visiting players harass the Events Lady, insult the party and attempt to kill Rando, he finally snaps and murders them in an extremely brutal fashion.
- Punny Name: All the location names; Dafurst Village, Dapinku Forest, Hyuujasu Tree, etc.
- The Reveal: Lu is an NPC.
- RPG Mechanics 'Verse: The entire concept of the comic.
- Stone Wall: Rando. He shrugs off a punch from the "powerful seal" that sends him across a forest thanks to his HP Regeneration, and outright no-sells a point-blank hit from a spell that destroys his armour and a large chunk of Dafurst Village.
- Tranquil Fury: Rando's reaction to the second party harassing the Events Lady is quiet yet blatant rage. When their spellcaster's attack injures his friends and the Events Lady, he upgrades to Unstoppable Rage.
- Underestimating Badassery: The players harassing the Events Lady dismiss and disrespect Rando and his party due to their "2nd Tier Equipment". Rando quickly proves how wrong they are.
- Unstoppable Rage: Rando, once the other players press his Berserk Button too many times. Both Amirul and Mike try to hold him back, but they fail to stop him killing the three other players, which results in his banishment.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: The party. All the time. They fight and yell and insult one another, but when the chips are down they have each other's back.
- Visual Pun: Amirul points out that "a powerful seal" is preventing access to the ancient tower. Next panel shows a very large and muscular seal guarding the way.
- The Powerful Seal:Fuck off bitches! Oaw-oaw!
- Wham Line:
- Played for Drama during Rando's arrest when he discourages Lu from transforming.Rando: After all... how else would the Guards react if an NPC suddenly transformed inside the village?
- Also Played for Laughs at a later point.
Rando: Lu... after all these years... is it real this time?
Lu: Years? What are you talking about Rando? It's been a couple of hours at most. - Played for Drama during Rando's arrest when he discourages Lu from transforming.
