Line #16 Webcomic/TheLegendOfZeldaBookOfTheTraitor


1	[[quoteright:338:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bookofthetraitor_tvtropesversion_223.png]]
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3	''The Legend of Zelda: Book of the Traitor'' is a [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]] {{Fan Webcomic\|s}} written by [[Creator/ThornBrain Mikaela Thorn Scholl]][[note]]better known for Creator/TheMidnightFrogs and LetsPlay/TheStrawhatNO[[/note]] and drawn by [[http://mischievousart.tumblr.com Lore Cox]].
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5	The comic is set in the equivalent of a modern day following the "Child"/''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' timeline, after Hyrule has disappeared and given way to the Republic of New Ordon. It stars the core quartet of the [[GenkiGuy energetic]] [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] [[TheHero hero]] Link, his BrainyBrunette [[OfficialCouple husband]] Mike, his ShrinkingViolet {{doppelganger}} Nick, and their MysteriousWaif {{Ninja}} protector Sheik. The villain is a soldier-turned-politician named Vincent, and the story revolves around the titular book.
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7	The comic's prologue was painted by original artist [[http://an-artist-complex.tumblr.com Olivia Voutier]] and posted on January 6, 2015. However Olivia had to step down from the comic in February 2016 before Chapter 1 began, and Lore Cox stepped in as artist later that March. Chapter 1 began for real on September 3, 2016, and the comic has currently finished Chapter 2. Mikaela and Lore dedicated an episode of Mikaela's podcast, ''A Thorn in the Brain'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIUd6MHek1w to talking about the comic]].
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9	The comic was hosted on Platform/SmackJeeves until the site shut down at the end of 2020; [[http://bookofthetraitor.thecomicseries.com/ it is now hosted on ComicFury]]. The comic is on hiatus before they begin Chapter 3 while Lore redraws the prologue.
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11	----
12	!!This comic provides examples of:
13	* ActionPrologue: Chapter 1 is of Link rescuing a prisoner from a military base and the subsequent firefight as they escape. The following chapters rewind to the beginning of the story, which have some action but are more character-based and domestic.
14	* AlternateUniverse: Set in a modern day-like world following ''Twilight Princess'''s timeline at roughly the equivalent of the 80s and 90s. The comic also treats ''Breath of the Wild'' as following ''Twilight Princess'' in a BroadStrokes sense.
15	* AmbiguousTimePeriod: All the reader has to go by is that the comic is set in a Zelda-equivalent of the 80s and 90s, millennia after the events of ''Twilight Princess''.
16	* ArtShift: The original prologue was hand-painted to evoke Medieval mythological art, while the main chapters are drawn like a usual comic. The redone prologue is more in-line with the main art style, but it retains the hand-painted feel with InUniverse ancient paintings.
17	* CastFullOfPrettyBoys: Shamelessly, mostly as AuthorAppeal. Sheik's prettiness was even [[EnforcedTrope enforced]] by the author, and both the comic's former and current artists have mentioned how his prettiness makes him difficult to draw.
18	* ContinuityNod: Several to the ''Twilight Princess'' timeline in which the comic takes place:
19	** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]''
20	*** One of the great evils visualized in the prologue is Ganon in his final bipedal boar form.
21	*** The prologue describes the Interlopers' banishment to the Twilight Realm as "[banished] to the space between worlds", which is where Ganondorf sends Phantom Ganon after the player defeats him in the Forest Temple.
22	*** Sheik's design is the same as in ''Ocarina'', except he's his own character and not a disguise for someone else.
23	*** Link's nightmare in the beginning of Chapter 2 is a more violent version of Ganondorf's declaration of taking over the world. A silent version of this scene is also what Link dreams at the beginning of ''Ocarina''.
24	** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'':
25	*** One of the great evils visualized in the prologue is Zant alongside a Shadow Beast.
26	*** The map of Hyrule is taken from ''Twilight Princess''.
27	*** The traitors to the "Shadow People" (Sheikah) in the prologue are the Dark Interlopers. Their represented artifacts are the Fused Shadows, and the prologue shows the light spirits banishing them to the Twilight Realm. It also shows the Mirror of Twilight shattering above the Arbiter's Grounds.
28	*** The flag of New Ordon is of the Ordonian goat, the Ordona Province's signature animal and center of trade.
29	** Other:
30	*** One of the great evils visualized in the prologue is Vaati's final form from ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords Four Swords]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap Minish Cap]]''.
31	*** The two Sheikah standing behind the king in the prologue share Impa's design from ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]''.
32	*** The mysterious woman that Sheik meets when he first arrives in New Ordon is based on [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask the Happy Mask Salesman]], both visually and in disposition, seeming to know more than she lets on.
33	* CrapsackWorld: Downplayed. New Ordon is still rebuilding after a period of war, corruption, and militant unrest. The heroes live in New Ordon City which, aside from Mike nearly being mugged and stabbed in Chapter 2, is mostly peaceful.
34	* CypherLanguage: The Ancient Hylian language spoken by Sheik, based on the Hylian from ''Ocarina of Time'', is a loose, Romanized Japanese with a different alphabet.
35	* DecompositeCharacter: Combined with GenderFlip for both characters, Zelda has been split into Mike and Sheik. Prince Mike has the Triforce of Wisdom and the romantic relationship with Link, while Sheik is Mike's loyal Sheikah bodyguard.
36	* DramaticIrony: The comic is set up as being set long after Hyrule is destroyed, but Sheik spends Chapters 2 and 3 believing that he's simply been brought to another country.
37	* DramaticSpotlight: A variation in chapter 1. A prisoner is locked in an isolation cell with spotlights shining up from underneath him. The effect causes a surprise visitor to [[EmergingFromTheShadows only be seen as a black silhouette]].
38	* DreamingOfTimesGoneBy: Chapter 2 opens with Link dreaming of Ganondorf's declaration of ruling the world from ''Ocarina of Time'', though it's [[GoryDiscretionShot implied to be a much more violent take]] on the scene.
39	* EasingIntoTheAdventure: Chapter 2 begins with showing Link and Mike's daily routine before the Triforce of Wisdom awoke in Mike and their adventure began.
40	* {{Fanon}}: [[invoked]] The comic follows several fan-theories about the franchise:
41	** The fan-named [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Hyrule Civil War]] and the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Interloper War]] were the same event.
42	** The [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Dark Interlopers]] were a splinter group of Sheikah.
43	* FanWebcomics: To ''The Legend of Zelda'', in a modern day-like age primarily following ''Twilight Princess''.
44	* FriendlySniper: Mike's tactical role in the team is support sniper, during which he engages in SnarkToSnarkCombat with Link.
45	* GoodMorningCrono: Chapter 2, the chronological start to the heroes' adventure, starts with Link waking up from a nightmare.
46	* GrapplingHookPistol: Link comes into possession of the Hookshot once again, using it with pinpoint precision to escape the base in Chapter 1.
47	* HappilyMarried: Link and Mike, who have been married for about a year when the story begins.
48	* HistoryRepeats: The prologue emphasizes Hyrule's constant cycle of good and evil, and it is one of the key elements of the comic, still in effect long after Hyrule's end.
49	* HoldingHands: When Link doesn't have his arm around Mike or hand on his shoulder, they're holding hands.
50	* IstanbulNotConstantinople: The Republic of New Ordon is the latest nation built on the ruins of the long-lost kingdom of Hyrule.
51	* LegacyCharacter:
52	** This Link is a successor to the ''Twilight Princess'' Link.
53	** Mike is a male successor to Princess Zelda.
54	** [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Sheik]] is a character, though his connection to the one from ''Ocarina of Time'' is unknown.
55	* LowFantasy: Much of the magic, mysticism and clear heroism of Hyrule has been lost to the ages. The world is now [[UrbanFantasy a mostly urban setting]].
56	* MaleFrontalNudity: The prisoner in chapter 1 is held completely naked, and his penis is visible for two pages.
57	* MythologyGag: There are occasional references to games outside of the ''Twilight Princess'' timeline:
58	** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'':
59	*** The prologue is composed of medieval-style paintings of the mythological backstory, similar to ''Wind Waker'''s prologue.
60	*** The king is represented in the prologue by Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule.
61	* NakedFirstImpression: The fully-nude prisoner in chapter 1 gets a shadowy visitor dropping in from the vents.
62	* {{Ninja}}: Sheik, as a member of the ninja-like Sheikah.
63	* NoHuggingNoKissing: Defied, as a counter to the ''Zelda'' franchise's chaste and stiff approach to affection. Link and Mike are a HappilyMarried OfficialCouple who kiss right at the beginning of chapter 2 and are constantly affectionate, and Link in particular is physically affectionate to the point of being a CuddleBug.
64	* OfficialCouple: Link and Mike. Plans for the comic as late as Chapter 1's final script had their relationship implied rather than shown, but by the time Scholl began writing Chapter 2, she preferred it be shown directly.
65	* OrangeBlueContrast: Pages [[http://lozbookofthetraitor.thewebcomic.com/comics/2360198/022/ 22]] and [[http://lozbookofthetraitor.thewebcomic.com/comics/2362225/023/ 23]] contrast the dark blue of a low-lit corridor with the bright orange of the glowing machinery room.
66	* QueerRomance: Link and Mike's relationship is one of the core elements of the comic, and Nick quickly develops his own attraction to Sheik when they meet.
67	* RedHerring: The lighting in the beginning of Chapter 1 makes it look like Link is being held prisoner, and his shadow {{doppelganger}} (Shadow/Dark Link) drops in to taunt him. [[spoiler:The shadowy figure turns out to be Link himself, and the prisoner is actually the shadow doppelganger; Link has broken in to rescue him.]]
68	* {{Retraux}}: The prologue is composed of paintings meant to evoke medieval mythological art.
69	* ShoutOutThemeNaming: Three of the characters are named [[Music/NickCave Nick]], Rowland and Tracy, the names of three former members of Australian PostPunk band Music/TheBirthdayParty.
70	* SilenceIsGolden: Link and Mike's daily routine in chapter 2 plays out without text.
71	* UrbanFantasy: The story is set in the equivalent of a modern day, with many of the events occurring within the cities.

Context Webcomic / TheLegendOfZeldaBookOfTheTraitor