History Webcomic / MagicalBoy

Scholastic published the webcomic in one book in fall 2021.

The comic can be read on Website/{{Tapas|Media}} [[https://tapas.io/episode/1051887 here]]. A [[https://tapas.io/series/chico-magico Spanish translation]] is available on the same site.

Max is your average high school student trying to get through life as himself. He may not be your average boy, being [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} born biologically female, but he's set on being the man he is]]. Though, trying to come out to his parents is one thing, his mom coming out as a MagicalGirl is another. Now it is Max's responsibility to take on the family tradition of becoming the next Magical Girl and save humanity.

Max is your average high school student trying to get through life as himself. He may not be your average boy, being [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} assigned female at birth, but he's set on being the man he is]]. Though, trying to come out to his parents is one thing, his mom coming out as a MagicalGirl is another. Now it is Max's responsibility to take on the family tradition of becoming the next Magical Girl and save humanity.

* TheSacredDarkness: While the series starts out establishing that LightIsGood and DarkIsEvil, [[spoiler:it is revealed later that they were both originally equally good, Devoid a goddess who acting as psychopomp for life on Earth, before she grew sympathetic to the magical creatures of nature being pushed to near-extinction by humanity.]]

The comic can be read on Website/{{Tapas|Media}} [[https://tapas.io/episode/1051887 here]]. [[Check out Chico mágico on Tapas https://tapas.io/series/chico-magico Spanish translation available here]].

Scholastic will publish the webcomic in one book in fall 2021.

The comic can be read on Website/{{Tapas|Media}} [[https://tapas.io/episode/1051887 here]].

* RealityEnsues: In an age of social media, Max's mission in fighting monsters does not remain a secret for long and the monsters become public knowledge. Not only that but when the footage shows Max and his friends actually going ''to'' the incredibly dangerous situation and handling it themselves, it does not take long for their school to call in their parents to let them know what they have been doing.

Max is your average high school student trying to get through life as himself. He may not be your average boy, being assigned female at birth, but he's set on being the man he is. Though, trying to come out to his parents is one thing, his mom coming out as a MagicalGirl is another. Now it is Max's responsibility to take on the family tradition of becoming the next Magical Girl and save humanity.

Max is your average high school student trying to get through life as himself. He may not be your average boy, [[{{Transgender}} being assigned female at birth, but he's set on being the man he is]]. Though, trying to come out to his parents is one thing, his mom coming out as a MagicalGirl is another. Now it is Max's responsibility to take on the family tradition of becoming the next Magical Girl and save humanity.

* MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction: The series is an {{Animesque}} webcomic where the main character is a {{Transgender}} boy who is struggling with both his gender identity and the fact his mother, who is a Magical Girl, wants him to be feminine so he can connect with the Goddess Aurora and fight evil. Themes include homophobia and transphobia. [[spoiler:He finds out that his magical girl outfit is mostly for show and can actually be manipulated to become a more masculine outfit.]]

* CastFullOfGay: Of the four leads -- Max, Jen, Pyper, and Sean -- [[spoiler:all]] of them are gay.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Hikari goes through this when [[spoiler:she ''finally'' realized her transphobic behavior is why Max is having difficulty fending off Devoid]].

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
%%** Hikari goes through this when [[spoiler:she ''finally'' realized her transphobic behavior is why Max is having difficulty fending off Devoid]].

* TransRelationshipTroubles: After Max says that the nice and cute StudentCouncilPresident Tobi is straight, Jen says that maybe he'll make an exception for Max. Max isn't keen on the idea since he doesn't want Tobi to see him as a woman.

* TheDividual: [[spoiler:When the universe began, Aurora and Devoid thought of themselves as simply two-halves of a single TopGod. It wasn't until life began to flourish did they begin to see themselves as individuals, their interests taking them into different directions before animosity grew.]]

* LegacyOfTheChosen: The role of Goddess has been passed down from mother to daughter from one generation to another in Max's family.

%%* AlphaBitch: Pyper, at first.
* ArmouredClosetGay: The reason why Pyper is so abrasive towards Jen and Max is that she harbored attraction towards other women (most likely Jen) and is fully aware of how her pastor father would think about it, internalizing these feelings and taking out her frustration on them. [[spoiler:She gets much better later on, [[BullyTurnedBuddy joining Max on his Magical boy adventures]] and might secretly being in a relationship with Jenna.]]
* AerosolFlamethrower: Pyper uses one in "Within the Forest", and again in "Determination" during Lord Avarita's attack at the mall.
* AscendedDemon: [[spoiler: In "[[https://tapas.io/episode/1673175 Wrath of Devoid]]", it is revealed that Walnut was originally one of Devoid's monsters, Lord Animosus, before he eventually defected and sided with Aurora, acting as Guardian to her descendants.]]
* AuraVision: Max has the ability to see people's auras, which reflects how they're feeling. He calls them "light farts".
* ButchLesbian: Jen, Max's best friend, to the point of being mistaken for a guy from behind.

* DarkIsEvil: Devoid, God of Darkness, is portrayed as the GreaterScopeVillain in the story and the story's CreationMyth, the Goddess' job done expressly to keep Devoid and his armies out of the mortal world.
* DeconstructiveParody: Of the MagicalGirl genre. The genre has often been marketed towards girls when it's tame, men if it has {{Fanservice}}, and will often [[AcceptableFeminineGoalsAndTraits enforce certain gender norms in its fashion, themes, and morals]]. Max himself is the current incarnation in a [[LegacyOfTheChosen long-line]] of Magical Girls who have fought against monsters that feed off hatred and misery. Max himself comes out as trans and openly rebels against all the glitter and ruffles that define the genre's look. Max's mother Hikari acts as an allegory for the genre-traditionalists, trying to keep the Magical Girl role to its default and forcing Max to adhere to traditional gender roles in the belief that not doing so possesses an existential (or in the narrative's case, literal) threat. Because these stories typically follow a "love defeats hate" narrative, [[RealityEnsues Hikari's attempts at making Max adhere to his given name and gender hinders his role at Goddess more than it helps by flooding him with doubt and self-enmity]], something that only makes his enemies stronger.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Sean posts a video about one of the group's more public battles...without censoring their faces. This results in [[NiceJobBreakingItHero him, Pyper, and Jen getting dragged to the principal's office to explain themselves, Sean's father lecturing him and dragging him to the police station for interrogation, Pyper getting outed as a lesbian in front of her father's congregation, and Max getting yet another transphobic lecture from his mother]]. Max is almost as guilty however, as he gave Sean permission to upload said video to the internet.

* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: Hikari blames her husband for giving into "her delusions" of being male and that doing so is why his mission as the goddess has been slacking. He retorts that the whole point of the goddess is to be compassionate and loving and understanding and she herself has not been living up to those very standards. This gives her a HeelRealization...in that she thinks that Max is trans because she made him hate feminine things.
* EmotionEater: After Aurora introduced light (and with it, the emotional spectrum) onto the world, Devoid discovered a dark-based by-product of this light born from negative emotions and that feeding on this darkness made him stronger. His minions are also able to feed on this darkness as well, growing bigger and stronger the more they feed off of humans. [[spoiler:What better place for Lord Timor to build up their strength than at the high school?]]
* FaceOfAThug: Sean is introduced with the image of a standoffish delinquent but he's actually an adorable sweetheart [[{{Otaku}} who loves magical girls]].
* FanDisservice: Max is horrified when his first Magical "Girl" TransformationSequence destroys his binder[[note]]though it comes back later[[/note]] and forces him into a frilly dress and high heels, ties his hair in a ribbon ([[PowerDyesYourHair and turns it silver]]), and gives him make-up, jeweled earrings, and a necklace. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking The whole thing would look incredibly gaudy even if Max was a cis woman]]. The chapter begins with a well-deserved ContentWarning saying it may induce gender dysphoria. Tellingly, it's the ''only'' time we see the transformation in full, with subsequent versions being a simple flash.
* ForcedOutOfTheCloset: [[spoiler:Pyper gets outed to her pastor father by members of his congregation.]]
* GayBestFriend: Max's ButchLesbian friend Jen is the first one to know Max's gender identity, and supports him absolutely, even buying him a binder and some new clothes. The comic has yet to show her in a romantic relationship with anyone.
* GenderRestrictedAbility: Defied. Because all of the Goddesses have been female, Hikari has come to the conclusion that adhering to traditional gender norms regarding femininity are correlated to one's effectiveness in the role and tries enforcing it on her trans son. While he struggles with his powers at first, his own methods of using his powers, while unorthodox, get the job done. His outfit even begins to change with every transformation into a more masculine form to better suit his personality. [[spoiler:Eventually subverted entirely when ''[[SupernaturallyValidatedTransPerson Aurora herself]]'' tells Max that the idea that gender conformity somehow helps being a goddess is a completely arbitrary standard her descendants made in their effort to make sense of it all.]]
* GetBackInTheCloset: Max suffers from a HeroicBSOD when he fails in closing the third gate and his behavior is upsetting his normally confident mother, so the next day he walks out in a dress. He only walks a few blocks on his way to school before suddenly suffering from an anxiety attack.
* TheGrimReaper: [[spoiler:It is revealed that Devoid was originally this, her purpose to lead the dead to their eternal rest and to recycle their light for the living.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: Pyper initially comes off as a HeteronormativeCrusader AlphaBitch and is intolerant of Max's gender identity, but when she [[LGBTAwakening comes to terms with her own sexuality]], she breaks up with her GirlPosse and starts supporting Max and his friends.
* HeroicComedicSociopath: Max's mother Hikari has a rather narrow view of things when it comes to her family's role as the descendants of Aurora to the point of being insufferable. She tries enforcing strict gender-roles onto Max while completely overlooking him coming out as trans, does everything she can to make him fulfill his role as the current goddess without considering how he feels about any of it. It is even implied that the only reason why she married her husband was that she would have named her daughter "Áine Owen", a name that has symbolic significance with the CreationMyth and the LegacyOfTheChosen.[[note]]However, this might have been more of a joke as a later strip hints that one of the reasons Hikari is so panicked about the mere possibility that her child might not live up to their inherited responsibilities is that her own past mistakes almost got her husband killed at one point.[[/note]]
* HistoryRepeats: Walnut compares Hikari fighting with Max over his more masculine goddess form is just like [[spoiler: Hikari's mother shaming her for having a short skirt in ''her'' goddess form]].
* HotBlooded: Hikari, oh so very much. She's deeply passionate about her role as one of Aurora's descendants and makes sure that Max instills the same devotion to defeating Devoid. [[spoiler:It gets PlayedForLaughs in the finale when she chews out a shop clerk for bringing out a dress instead of a suit for Max, and her husband explains it away that she's always been like that.]]
* IAlwaysWantedToSayThat: When [[spoiler:purifying Devoid's remaining monsters]] in episode 38, Max says "May the power of gay compel you!" and then that he always wanted to say that.
* IncompatibleOrientation: [[spoiler:Unfortunately for Max, Tobi is straight. They still remain friends afterwards.]]
* ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: The role of Goddess was forced onto Max on his birthday, specifically the day he decided to come out to his parents as trans. Because the Goddess is an exclusively feminine role to take, he is forced to have his hair up, his face covered in make-up, and wear a frilly dress whenever he has to take on his duty (which he has no real say in whether he ''wants'' to fulfill it or not). If he does not fulfill his destiny, then the world will be overrun with [[EmotionEater emotion-eating]] monsters, leading to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. When he is not powered-up, his zealous-to-the-point-of-obnoxious mother tries reminding him of his destiny every chance she gets, ignoring his coming out and trying to enforce his assigned gender onto him so that he may be a "proper lady."

* LastMinuteHookup: The very last chapter has [[spoiler: Sean asking out Max when the latter's attempt to hook up with Toby didn't work out.]]

* LightIsGood: In the CreationMyth, Aurore, Goddess of Light bestowed light upon the world and banished Devoid from his role as dark lord over the planet before bestowing light onto the creatures that lived there. After her being was sacrificed in her efforts to banish Devoid from our dimension, her descendants take up the role of MagicalGirl to keep Devoid and his minions from escaping.
* LipstickLesbian: While she's [[ArmouredClosetGay initially in denial about it]], Pyper is a lesbian, and she's got a very feminine sense of style, what with cute backpacks and hair decs.

** Hikari goes through this when [[spoiler:she ''finally'' realized her transphobic behavior is why Max is having difficulty fending off Devoid]].
** [[spoiler:[[SinisterMinister Pyper's father]] is also appropriately mortified when he realizes rejecting his lesbian daughter may very well have caused TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt]].
* NotSoDifferent: [[spoiler:Much like Max, Hikari had her own nigh-crippling doubts with being a Goddess. Complete with a [[AbusiveParents less than supportive mother]] who shamed her for expressing herself differently than tradition dictated.]]

* OpenMindedParent: Max's father accepts his gender identity and preferred name immediately, and promises to support him despite his wife's unsupportive attitude.
** [[spoiler:Max's mom and Pyper's dad are shown to be going down this path in the finale.]]
* ParentsAsPeople: Hoo ''boy''. Hikari is overly fixated on having a ladylike daughter inheriting her role as the Goddess' Descendant, completely ignoring Max's discomfort. His dad does the best he can to keep her in line, though he admits he was off on his guess that his child was a tomboy who preferred girls since he'd never heard of trans men before.
* PlatonicLifePartners: Max and Jen, very much so. She's the first person he came out to (both about being trans and his new powers), and her birthday gift to him was a proper chest binder, a haircut, and new masculine clothing.
* RealMenWearPink: Sean has the FaceOfAThug, and, at first glance, would be the last guy you expect to get chummy with anyone. In actuality, he loves magical girls and collecting cute things, fanboys over Max's magical transformation and fights, and wants to make his own magical girl movie.

* SamusIsAGirl: Zig-zagged with [[spoiler:Devoid, who seems male at first but in the past, they were apparently Aurora's "sister" goddess. Even then, Aurora notes that "she" had no preference as to her gender identity and is arguably non-binary.]] It's also arguably inverted with [[spoiler:Aurora herself, who is also technically genderless but identified more with female creatures due to their ability to create life and thus began thinking of herself as female accordingly]].
* SinisterMinister: Pyper's father is an ultra-conservative Fire and Brimstone preacher who [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity holds a very narrow view of right and wrong]]. When earthquakes start happening and the monsters become public knowledge, he claims that they are demons sent by God to punish a morally unrighteous society. When his daughter is caught helping to fend off the monsters in a viral video, he drags her out of school and shames her in front of the whole congregation for consorting with riff-raff, her old friends only making it worse by [[ForcedOutOfTheCloset outing her as gay in front of everyone]]. The anger and distrust he stirs in his flock are so potent that when one of Devoid's monsters gets there, he is already at full size and conjures a portal on the spot. [[spoiler: When she fully admits to being gay and tells them that their hate and fear-mongering is what brought the monsters there, [[IHaveNoSon him disowning her on the spot]] fills her with enough hopelessness to finish opening the gate for Devoid to escape through.]]
* StarSpangledSpandex: When transformed, Max's hair and clothes take on the patterns of a starry night.
* StraightGay: [[spoiler:Sean takes Max by surprise by asking him out in the finale.]]
* SupernaturallyValidatedTransPerson: Inverted - Max, when he transforms, is forced into an extremely feminine and sparkly persona, despite being a trans guy. This slowly works its way to being played straight, however, as his outfit gradually becomes more masculine. Over the course of a few pages, his dress has become shorter and less sparkly, he's been getting a SkirtOverSlacks, sneakers instead of high heels, and, in later strips, has become a tunic and pants, along with short, masculine hair. Also, when his Magical Girl staff is broken, it transforms into a sword instead. Even before the costume starts shifting to something more masculine, it [[RuleOfSymbolism has the same color scheme as the Trans Pride Flag.]]

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: [[spoiler:The reason why Devoid looks so monstrous is because she chose that look, deciding to play the "devil" against Aurora when she has grown to conform to humanity's vision of her.]]

* TransTribulations: After coming out as trans, Max has to deal with his mother's constant deadnaming and misgendering. It's more frustrating since Hikari firmly believes that [[GenderRestrictedAbility adhering to feminine gender roles makes a Goddess more powerful]].
* TwoferTokenMinority: Itself a twofer. Max is a gay trans man and Jen is both lesbian and Indian-American.
* WantedAGenderConformingChild: Hikari has ''really'' been wanting Max to take up his intended role of a Goddess, even since before he was born. (She flat-out ''balks'' at the possibility of having a son when she's pregnant with Max.) Of course, she doesn't react well when he comes out as trans and is still [[{{Understatement}} having trouble accepting it.]]
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Devoid was not always a monster. She was originally a goddess who attempted to form a revolt against her sister Aurora because she believed that the magical creatures of the world were being persecuted and driven to extinction by humanity. It is not until she goes over the DespairEventHorizon and destroys the forest that she swore to protect trying to kill Aurora, this being why Walnut defected in the first place.]]

* AerosolFlamethrower: Pyper uses one in "Within the Forest", and again in "Determination" during the attack at the mall.

* AerosolFlamethrower: Pyper uses one in "Within the Forest".

* LegendFadesToMyth: At the start of the series, the CreationMyth establishes the Goddess Aurora as the GodOfGood and Devoid the [[SatanicArchetype Satan-Esq]] monster that only wishes to destroy everything ForTheEvulz, Aurora's descendants tasked with keeping this metaphysical status quo from ever shifting to Devoid's favor. [[spoiler:It turns out that Aurora and Devoid were actually ''sisters'', embodiments of Light and Darkness that coexisted in the world. While Aurora saw potential in humanity and decided to foster it, Devoid sided with the magical creatures that where being threatened by human progress, a divide that would eventually cause a falling out between them and [[EvilMakesYouMonstrous her hatred towards humans turned Devoid into a monster]].]]

* TransRelationshipTrouble: After Max says that the nice and cute StudentCouncilPresident Tobi is straight, Jen says that maybe he'll make an exception for Max. Max isn't keen on the idea since he doesn't want Tobi to see him as a woman.

''Magical Boy'' is an original webcomic by [[https://www.thekao.net/book The Kao]]

!!This webcomic provides examples of the following tropes:

* IfItsYouItsOkay: {{Discussed|Trope}}: After Max says that the nice and cute StudentCouncilPresident Tobi is straight, Jen says that maybe he'll make an exception for Max. Max isn't keen on the idea since he doesn't want Tobi to see him as a woman.

* GenderRestrictedAbility: Defied. Because all of the Goddesses have been female, Hikari has come to the conclusion that adhering to traditional gender norms regarding femininity are correlated to one's effectiveness in the role and tries enforcing it on her trans son. While he struggles with his powers at first, his own methods of using his powers, while unorthodox, get the job done. His outfit even begins to change with every transformation into a more masculine form to better suit his personality. [[spoiler:Eventually subverted entirely when ''Aurora herself'' tells Max that the idea that gender conformity somehow helps being a goddess is a completely arbitrary standard her descendants made in their effort to make sense of it all.]]