Line #51 Webcomic/HoovesOfDeath


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/copy_of_hooves_of_death_cover_0.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:250:They are a zombie's worst nightmare. And they are adorable.]]
3
4	Humanity, [[ZombieApocalypse wobbling on its last legs following a zombie plague of unknown origin]], finds itself reduced to a single refugee camp in Yellowstone National Park. Lacking in food, water, and manpower, the hopeless situation turned not-so-hopeless as unlikely salvation rode in on a pale horse. Or rather, it ''is'' the horses. {{Unicorn}}s, in fact.
5
6	While the situation has stabilized, the war is far from won, and Yellowstone's tenuous sanctuary is threatened by a mysterious blight killing their remaining crops. Hoping to impress her Commander, [[TheProtagonist Sergeant Glitter]] volunteers to scout nearby for food, but instead finds a single surviving human, [[SoleSurvivor Kate]], who just might hold the key to ending their war for good.
7
8	''[[https://www.webtoons.com/en/fantasy/hooves-of-death/list?title_no=1535&page=1 Hooves of Death]]'' is a 2019 webcomic by [[https://www.instagram.com/sambragg.art/ Sam Bragg]], hosted on Platform/{{Webtoon}}. It ran from February 22, 2019 to December 23, 2022.
9
10	----
11	!! This webcomic contains examples of:
12	* AchillesHeel: [[spoiler: The HorsemenOfTheApocalypse each enslave a unicorn to act as their steed for their "act" of the Apocalypse, but to preserve balance, the steed is capable of killing their Horseman with their horn, as unicorn horn is the only thing that ''can'' kill them, as Silver proves when he takes out War in a MutualKill.]].
13	* ActionGirl:
14	** Sergeant Glitter, who will cut you to ribbons with her horn, stomp you to death with her hooves, and follow it up with a bandolier of grenades for good measure. Also qualifies for BadassAdorable.
15	** The human survivor Kate pulls her weight as well, surviving against a horde of zombies thanks to her feisty attitude and a nail-studded baseball bat.
16	* AlienBlood: Unicorns literally bleed rainbows. Pretty hilarious even when the injury and blood loss is PlayedForDrama, and Kate remarks how it smells "magically delicious.”
17	* ArtStyleDissonance: Takes the trope and runs with it. Even when zombies are being cleaved in two and a child is succumbing to infection before Glitter’s horrified eyes, the art style never stops being clean, colorful, and cutesy.
18	* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Blaze has a crush on Sergeant Glitter, with her affection just about the only thing that can improve his sullen mood. Glitter seems aware of his feelings towards her, but clearly holds a torch for Commander Sprinkles, judging how Glitter calls for him the moment she wakes from unconsciousness and undertakes dangerous scouting missions to impress him. [[DeathOfTheHypotenuse Seven chapters in, the love triangle]] [[BolivianArmyCliffhanger becomes another casualty]]. [[spoiler: Then gets revived when the missing corner returns as an aware zombie in chapter 61.]]
19	* BadassAdorable: Runs on it. Even Glitter’s war cry looks just as endearing as it looks intimidating.
20	* BarrierWarrior: Several unicorns can deploy shield bubbles for about a minute when the situation gets hairy, though specialists like Commander Sprinkles can cast a [[DomedHometown town-sized version]] and maintain it indefinitely.
21	* {{Bathos}}: Humanity is on its last legs, the few survivors are stuck in a single camp with dwindling food reserves, and hordes of zombies are waiting just outside to rip them limb from limb. Meanwhile, sparkly unicorns with names like Commander Sprinkles stand ready to shed their rainbow-colored blood to protect the last of humankind, without more than a wink to the inherent silliness in the concept.
22	* BeautifulDreamer: Glitter, when recovering from a Hellhound attack, looks especially peaceful and adorable as she rests. Even [[TheComicallySerious Blaze]] is reduced to a {{squee}} once he finishes his medical treatment.
23	* BigBadTriumvirate: Pestilence, War and Death, three of the Horsemen of the apocalypse. They've decided to not let the apocalypse end and instead draw it out indefinitely through a zombie-plague, to punish humanity for their many atrocities. [[spoiler: Gets reduced to a BigBadDuumvirate in the season 1 finale, after War is slain by his former steed Silver.]] [[spoiler: Death ends up defecting in season 3 due to a guilty conscience and his feelings of friendship towards Glitter and her group, making Pestilence the sole BigBad. Until the Unseelie Queen joins them.]]
24	* BigDamnHeroes: For a non-combatant, Blaze pulls these with surprising frequency. The first time he intervenes just in time to save Glitter from a {{Hellhound}} assault, literally throwing it beyond the horizon before carrying her and Kate to safety all on his own. The second time, he double-casts shields to save Glitter, Kate, and Commander Sprinkles, with latter being under a DogPileOfDoom at the time, and has enough endurance to maintain the barrier until they're able to make a break for it. If the group is in trouble, typically he's either the one to pull off a timely intervention or find them an exit.
25	* BishieSparkle: Commander Sprinkles always sports a fabulous, glittery mane, always in stark contrast to his many scars and his dead-serious demeanor.
26	* BloodFromTheMouth: Rainbow-flavored, combined with a [[{{subverted}} not-so-]]IncurableCoughOfDeath after Glitter gets bit by a zombie, along with a woozy smile as she tells Kate not to worry about it. She actually ''is’’ immune to the plague, and the continued dripping is instead a symptom of blood loss from the untreated injury and continuous overexertion.
27	* BloodyHilarious: The unicorn's blood is rainbow colored, so any moment where it gets shed is kind of [[LightmareFuel hilarious by default]], no matter [[{{Bathos}} how serious the situation.]]
28	* BolivianArmyCliffhanger: Episode 7 ends this way for Commander Sprinkles, last seen charging through an inferno while leading a horde of zombies away from Glitter and co.
29	* BoyishShortHair: Glitter’s fauxhawk, once shown to be a majestic, flowing mane before her AdrenalineMakeover.
30	* BrokenAngel: A core theme of {{Unicorn}} mythos is their flawlessness, purity, and grace. While the unicorns here once had untarnished appearance, now they're universally scarred, traumatized, or both, with the years of a HopelessWar against the zombie hordes apparent at only a glance. One unicorn in particular, Blight [[spoiler: the steed of Pestilence]], can be spotted even from a distance thanks to their shattered horn.
31	* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: [[spoiler: In order to access their full power, the Horsemen must appoint and ride their steeds. Without them, they are significantly weaker and cannot act out their part of the apocalypse. This is presumably the reason why War didn't kill Silver after abandoning him.]] [[spoiler: This is also what saves Blight's/Starlight's life. Even though he betrayed Pestilence to save his sister, the former still can't kill him, as that would mean losing control of the zombies. The Unseelie Queen gives them a way to circumvent this by giving them some of her power.]]
32	* TheChosenOne: Kate is apparently the one destined to end the Apocaypse. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that she's the ''fifth'' Horseman, Providence]].
33	* CrapsaccharineWorld: The first panels show an adorable, colorful unicorn picking up a belt of grenades, and it while the story never loses its cuteness, it gets pretty dark, pretty fast.
34	* CombatMedic: Blaze, while primarily trained as a healer, is shown to have no issues casually picking up a Hellhound and throwing it over the horizon when Glitter is in danger.
35	* CombatTentacles: Unlike the other unicorns, Silver is able to directly attack with his magic, summoning blood-red tentacles to hold and bisect entire mobs of zombies. Fittingly, the others consider him a [[OneManArmy One Pony Army]].
36	* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Kate isn't too shaken by the loss of Yellowstone camp, as by that point she's already gotten used to the people around her becoming zombie-food. Plus, she didn't like Yellowstone that much anyway.
37	* CoolVsAwesome: Seriously, "Hooves of Death" is an awesome title and all, but really this comic could have just been called "Unicorns vs. Zombies" and it would be a completely accurate title.
38	* DespairEventHorizon: Glitter falls precariously close to this once when Yellowstone camp is overrun and sees Commander Sprinkles, her crush, consumed by a DogPileOfDoom. Her shield dispels itself and she stands catatonic, while Kate begs her to flee, but it's only the sight of Blaze's own shielding rescuing the Commander that she's able to compose herself.
39	* DidntSeeThatComing: Type 3: Unknown / Unknown. Given that the Unicorns couldn’t identify their distinctive holes, chances are they didn’t even know that gnomes existed, much less foresee an entire colony being infected and burrowing under the barrier.
40	* DigAttack: The main advantage the Zombie Gnomes have over Human Zombies.
41	* DomedHometown: Yellowstone National Park, or at least a section of it, houses the surviving humans in a sea of tents along with some basic agriculture underneath a magic barrier maintained by Commander Sprinkles. Other similar safe havens are revealed to exist.
42	* DoomedHometown: The Yellowstone-adjacent town of Jackson for Kate, and the DomedHometown mentioned above, after the zombie gnomes dig under it and infect or eat almost everyone in the camp.
43	* EatDirtCheap: Being unicorns, Glitter, Blaze, and Silver can sustain themselves just fine grazing on grass, but Kate needs a little more sustenance than that, being a human, forcing them to scavenge in locales zombies have a heavy presence in.
44	* EldritchLocation: Underhill, a fae cave in Bryce Canyon. It's paths shift around endlessly, it houses dozens of dangerous mythological creatures and [[NarniaTime time flows oddly compared to the outside world]]. [[spoiler:Kate's friends follow her into Underhill after seven days, only to find a Kate who has survived Underhill for ''six years''.]]
45	* EmergingFromTheShadows: At the end of episode 7, a unicorn with a broken horn overlooks the Yellowstone camp. The next panel shows them with a SlasherSmile and the same [[SicklyGreenGlow sickly green eyes]] of the zombies, seemingly pleased at the camp's destruction.
46	* EverybodysDeadDave: Most of humanity has been wiped out by the zombies, and eventually Yellowstone as well. When Commander Sprinkles shows reluctance to abandon the camp, Blaze informs him that there's nobody alive to rescue, and that the few unicorns that survived have already fled.
47	* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Just about anyone seeing Blaze interact with Glitter notices his massive crush on her ([[ObliviousToLove except for Glitter, apparently]]), from a fifteen-year-old girl to a literal hellbeast.
48	* EyeLightsOut: Or Horn Lights Out in this case, when Commander Sprinkles is consumed by a zombie gnome DogPileOfDoom. His second to last panel shows only his horn emerging from a mountain of gnomes as its spell fizzles weakly, and the last panel shows his horn fizzling out. [[spoiler: Luckily, Blaze was able to get to him before he was actually killed]].
49	* TheFairFolk: Glitter's group comes across a court of fae living in Bryce Canyon. They're a very isolationist people, knowing for their trickery and taking advantage of ExactWords in deals and bargains to drive others to ruin. It's emphasized over and over again that you should ''never'' completely trust a fae and saying "Thank you" to one is basically signing away your life. They also have several layers of {{glamour}} over their true forms.
50	** Played even more straight with the Unseelie Fae of the Winter Court. As Pebble puts it, the regular fae "only' wish to enslave and eat humans. The Unseelie ''hate'' humans and wish to see them exterminated to re-establish faerie dominance over the earth.
51	* FallenAngel: Apparently, not ''every'' unicorn is immune to the zombie plague.
52	** [[spoiler: Commander Sprinkles later returns as an aware zombie, created by a sorceress in Pestilence's employ.]]
53	** [[spoiler: Starlight, Glitter's long-lost older brother, later turns out to be Blight, the steed of Pestilence, who is willingly helping his master spread the plague]].
54	* FantasticRacism: Just because unicorns are helping the last of the humans survive doesn’t mean they all get along, though the lack of food and hopeless odds have are equally to blame for the strained relations. The humans seem quick to blame unicorns for the disappearing crops and gang up on Glitter for her unsuccessful scouting mission, and Blaze seems dismissive of humans for their HoldingOutForAHero tendencies.
55	* FavorsForTheSexy: Well, “sexy” for a unicorn, at least. Glitter dumps her squad training duties onto Blaze so she’d be free for a scouting mission this way. A simple muzzle press against his gets him blushing, and it apparently works so often that Blaze’s spent more time training Sergeant Glitter’s squad than Glitter herself. However, Glitter seems to simply know that the tactic works, [[ObliviousToLove not "how" it works]].
56	* FemaleGaze: The Sirens seen in Chapter 15 run on this, specifically rescuing ridiculously attractive men to populate their safe haven to oogle them, likely throwing everyone else to the zombies, and they thirst hard to add Silver to their harem in exchange for safe lodging.
57	* FluffyTheTerrible: PlayedWith. Cutesy names like Glitter and Sprinkles make perfect sense for unicorns back when they really ‘'were’’ peaceful and adorable, but years of conflict have hardened them all into formidable and battle-scarred warriors [[BadassAdorable that just happen to look adorable]].
58	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
59	** A pair of gnomes appear in the first chapter, when later chapters have the settlement puzzled why their crops are gone and (gnome-sized) holes are the only evidence. The gnomes also turn around to see ''something'' looming over them, and chapter 6 indicates it a zombie attack that spread the infection to ''an entire'' subterranean colony.
60	** When the group comes across Famine, she seems to recognize Grim and acts snippy and dismissive of him. [[spoiler: "Grim" is actually her wayward colleague Death. And since Famine is the TokenGoodTeammate of the Horsemen, she's of course not too hot on him, seeing as him and Pestilence have intentionally been slacking on the job for personal reasons.]]
61	** From episode 30 on, the title card for season 1 has Glitter and Death standing in a [[BackToBackPoster back-to-back pose]]. [[spoiler: Not only does this foreshadow that Death is closer to Glitter than she knows (he's the Hellhound currently traveling with the group), but also is an early hint that Glitter is Death's steed.]]
62	** [[spoiler: In chapter 81, Kate tries to make Glitter her steed, but when she tries to appoint her nothing happens.]] [[spoiler: A few chapters later, it's revealed that the reason for this is that Glitter already has a chosen rider: Death.]]
63	* FromBadToWorse: The situation is bad enough, but a crop failure means that the Yellowstone camp is going to starve to death before the zombies can get a chance to eat them unless they find out the source. And all that becomes a moot point when the Yellowstone camp is breached and only a handful survive.
64	* OurGnomesAreWeirder: Appearance-wise, they look like garden-variety garden gnomes, but have a fondness for tunneling and ironically steal from humans’ gardens instead of guarding them. Unfortunately, they aren’t immune to the zombie virus like [[TheImmune Unicorns are]], and an infected colony quickly tunnels to the nearest mass of prey: the Yellowstone Camp right above them.
65	* GoodScarsEvilScars: Commander Sprinkles has the classically badass "scar across the eye that doesn't actually blind it" version.
66	* {{Hellhound}}: A massive, hellish wolf shows up, having tracked the bleeding Glitter, but the prey it seeks is actually the seemingly-normal human Kate. Its presence indicates there’s more to the setting than merely “unicorns vs. zombies.” [[spoiler: He later turns out to be ''Death himself'']].
67	* TheHermit: Silver, a reclusive old unicorn with a constant disheveled appearance and the dubious honor of being the former steed of [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse War]]]], making him a [[OneManArmy One Pony Army]]. He decides to join Glitter, Kate, and Blaze on their journey, since there's nothing particularly holding him to his current damp, miserable cave.
68	* HornAttack: One of the most effective weapons a unicorn can use is the AbsurdlySharpBlade on its forehead, as Glitter freely demonstrates.
69	* HorsemenOfTheApocalypse: According to Silver they are the cause behind the Apocalypse (as befitting their name). Famine did her thing a while back, later War came to Silver and made him into his steed, the red horse, and caused wars around the world. Currently Pestilence is making the zombies roam the Earth. Silver says that it should have ended a while ago and Death should have started to ride. The captured hellhound says that it is because Death and Pestilence wish for humanity to suffer that the zombie plague has lasted as long as it has. They take unicorns as their steeds, and the only thing that can kill them is unicorn horn wounds.
70	** [[spoiler: Kate is eventually revealed to be the ''fifth'' Horseman, Providence, who is destined to defeat Pestilence and Death and allow the world to recover. She turns out to be a bit of a subversion -- she does indeed ride a unicorn into battle against Pestilence, and is instrumental to allowing the world to recover, but she never has any mystical powers. Her importance is more related to befriending Death and helping shake him out of his funk, as well as collecting a cadre of friends and allies that can aid in the final battle.]]
71	* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: This mindset is why Death and Pestilence are allowing the apocalypse to last so long, figuring that thanks to decades of war, environmental degradation, and disrespect of their fellow sapients, they deserve to be wiped out instead of merely humbled. Given the [[UngratefulBastard attitude]] of the Yellowstone humans, this may have some merit, but as Glitter points out, it's impossible for every human to be deserving death.
72	* {{Hypocrite}}: Pestilence and Death intentionally drew out the apocalypse by refusing to fulfill their tasks properly, on the basis that humanity had caused too much suffering to deserve a second chance after the end. Which is pretty rich, seeing as the zombie apocalypse has only made everything worse for pretty much every living creature on earth and the destruction now far exceeds anything humanity did in their prime. [[spoiler: Death, with some help from Famine, eventually realizes the error of his ways and defects to the heroes' side in season 3, while Pestilence remains steadfast in their opinion that humans deserve to be wiped out, not just punished.]]
73	* ImDyingPleaseTakeMyMacGuffin: [[spoiler:Silver, mortally wounded by War, breaks off his own horn, which is fatal to unicorns, in order to give it to Kate, who needs unicorn horn powder to cure her vampirism]].
74	* TheImmune: Unicorns by default, only gaining a mild fever when bitten by a zombie. It’s one reason why humanity even stands a chance, along with unicorns’ magical powers. Unfortunately, other fantasy species don’t share that immunity.
75	* ImmunityAttrition: [[spoiler:Unicorn horns are filled with life, removing them kills the unicorn in question, and are apparently the key to why unicorns are TheImmune to the zombie plague. But a sorceress has figured out how to shave off ''just'' enough that the unicorn becomes vulnerable to zombification, and when the Queen of the Unseelie Fae adds her power to Pestilence's, they gain enough strength to be able to turn any creature, no matter how magical.]]
76	* InTheBlood: [[spoiler:Glitter, her aunt, and her brother are all the steeds of one Horseman or another. So far the only steed ''not'' connected to their family as far as we know is Silver.]].
77	* ItHasBeenAnHonor: Commander Sprinkles thanks Glitter and Blaze for their service, right before he teleports to the other side of a zombie horde to lead the undead away from the rest. [[spoiler: Subverted as he's brought BackFromTheDead later on.]]
78	* MoodDissonance: Humanity has been decimated by the ZombieApocalypse, and the few that remain live in near starvation in overcrowded camps. Their only hope for survival lies with... sparkly, multicolored unicorns. That bleed rainbows.
79	* MoralMyopia: On the part of the Four Horsemen. While Famine and War brought the apocalypse as they were supposed to, Pestilence and Death are intentionally drawing out their duties to make sure [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters humanity suffers for the harm it did to the world]]. Yet, the zombie plague, wide-scale destruction, and ecological collapse has already surpassed even the worst of humanity's feats, and many non-humans species like Unicorns and Gnomes are suffering just as much. When called on this, Death's {{Hellhound}} emissary claimed non-humans "deserved it" since they hid from humans instead of trying to stop them.
80	* MortonsFork: A cheeky example {{lampshaded}} as Glitter rescues Kate, the unicorn letting Kate know she could either accompany her to the safe zone willingly, or accompany her to the safe zone while kicking and screaming. Kate grumbles out the lack of options, and Glitter wholeheartedly agrees.
81	* LightmareFuel: The ZombieApocalypse has never been so goshdarn ''[[SugarApocalypse adorable]]''.
82	* LongHairedPrettyBoy: Commander Sprinkles, combined with BishieSparkles. Even his CoveredWithScars appearance barely offsets it. Blaze counts as well, but combined with his constant dour mood it makes him look more haggard if anything.
83	* LuminescentBlush: Whenever Glitter pays him a compliment, Blaze gets hit by a blush so intense that the panel background itself will typically turn a lovely shade of pink.
84	* OutsideGenreFoe: Inversion, more of an Outside Genre Ally. In a seemingly mundane world beset by a ZombieApocalypse, the unicorns hiding behind the {{Masquerade}} emerge to hold the line. Even a zombie’s strongest weapon, its infectious bite, does nothing more than give a unicorn a fever. Then played straight, when a {{Hellhound}} “from the literal Hell” arrives. Similarly, even the magical unicorns have no idea that gnomes exist, much less Zombified versions.
85	* OurSirensAreDifferent: Glitter and co. stumble upon a whole island of sirens after a zombie horde chases them onto an unguided raft. They can shift freely between mermaid and bipedal forms, but can't stay out of the water for more than a few hours. While they don't seem to have any hypnotic magic, they keep [[FemaleGaze exclusively hunky dudes]] captive on their island because everywhere else is filled with hordes of the undead.
86	* OurZombiesAreDifferent: While the zombies function like the typical hollywood shamblers, their outbreak seems to be magical in origin. One infection that Glitter witnessed firsthand involved nothing more than a child holding an innocent-looking butterfly, which corrupted the girl into an UndeadChild that immediately attacked Glitter.
87	** [[spoiler:A sorceress has figured out how to zombify unicorns, and their variation of zombies still have their pre-infection personalities, but are forced to obey their creator]].
88	* OvernightAgeUp: [[spoiler:The YearInsideHourOutside nature of Underhill means that Kate gets aged up six ''years'' in what is a ''week'' on the outside]].
89	* PowerDyesYourHair: [[spoiler:A dying Silver breaks his own horn off, which is fatal to a unicorn, so that it can be ground up, as powdered unicorn horn is needed to cure Kate's vampirism. After she's cured, her formerly blond locks are now silvery]].
90	* PreviouslyOn: ''Kate's Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide'' acts as a recap for season 1.
91	* SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud: Glitter, frequently, typically during dramatic moments, like literally yelling “knicker” while knickering as she charges a zombie. Or uttering “gasp” as Commander Sprinkles is overwhelmed.
92	* ScarsAreForever: In a flashback, unicorns like Glitter were shown majestic and pristine as you’d expect. Now, even the background unicorns sport a grim collection of scars, and Glitter adds a nasty-looking one after an encounter with a Hellhound.
93	* ShockCollar: Copying a spell used by Commander Sprinkles, Glitter and co. capture a {{Hellhound}} thanks to a magic collar that'll keep on tightening unless it obeys the unicorns' commands. Foolishly he tries to trip Glitter when fleeing from zombies the next episode, but the collar quickly ensures ''he's'' the one needing rescue moments later.
94	* SignificantHaircut:
95	** Glitter's mane used to be long and flowing in her youth, but has been replaced by a military buzz-cut in the present, symbolizing her loss of innocence. [[spoiler: Her growing it back out a little later on signifies both her growth as a person and her regaining her hope for the world.]]
96	** [[spoiler: Blaze's long bangs get burned off by the dragon during episode 86, coinciding with him taking charge of the group and becoming more assertive and less self-absorbed.]]
97	** [[spoiler: During her six years in Underhill, Kate cut off her bob to a more practical shorter hair-style.]]
98	* SugarApocalypse: Reader comments joke the story's art style feels like [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic My Little Pony]] amidst a ZombieApocalypse, and they’re not entirely wrong.
99	* SuperPersistentPredator: A {{Hellhound}} is dispatched to hunt Kate specifically, claiming her constant survival means she's evaded Death for far too long. He "only eats the souls of the damned," not unicorns, after all. [[spoiler: He's later revealed be Death himself, so of course he'd hound the only person capable of vanquishing him for good to the end.]]
100	* {{Telekinesis}}: Similar to the unicorns of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Friendship Is Magic]], all unicorns can manipulate objects at a distance using their magical horns, which is quite useful for pulling the pins of grenades, lowering fussy children down from trees, or tossing opponents very far away from you.
101	* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Played with interestingly. Since they're cartoon unicorns, both mares and stallions alike have luxurious flowing manes in soft pastel colors, however Blaze and Commander Sprinkles have manes in more "masculine" colors like cool blue and orange, and unlike the males, Glitter is drawn with larger, more anime-character like eyes and visible eyelashes.
102	* TokenGoodTeammate: Famine is this to the other Horsemen. While she did play a part in TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, to her it was just part of the job and NothingPersonal, while War, Pestilence and Death let their biased hatred for humans overcome them and deserted their destined post long ago. Throughout the comic she continually appears to help the heroes on their journey and encourages Kate in her quest to [[spoiler: become the fifth Horseman, Providence]]. [[spoiler: She later on admits to Death that she feels remorse for all the harm she caused humanity, as she never could have anticipated just how many of them would die because of her.]]
103	* TokenEvilTeammate: The {{Hellhound}} stalking the group is eventually captured and pressed into service thanks to a ShockCollar, as they hope to use him to track down his master, Death. Naturally, he's not happy about it, and lets everyone know with constant insults and taunts. As the journey goes on, he starts to grow out of this more and more, even [[WhatYouAreInTheDark saving the group several times when he didn't have to]]. [[spoiler: However, he eventually double-crosses the group and tries to kill Kate when the two of them are alone in Bryce Canyon. After she manages to get her sword and fend him off, he retreats, but swears to come for her again. It's then revealed that he was actually Death himself the whole time.]] [[spoiler: In the end, he subverts the trope for good, as he realizes what he and Pestilence are doing is wrong and that he can't bring himself to actually harm Glitter, Kate and the rest of the group after all they've been through together.]]
104	* TokenHuman: Kate is the only human member of Glitter's group.
105	* TorchesAndPitchforks: Points given for the mob that harasses Glitter actually being farmers who were complaining about their non-existent harvest and lack of food reserves, explaining why they already had pitchforks on hand.
106	* {{Unicorn}}: Obviously. They’re of the classical variety, with white coats, long and colorful hair, stag-like hooves, and leonine tails. They aim to prevent the extinction of humans for reasons currently unknown, but most likely out of moral obligation.
107	* UngratefulBastard: After Glitter returns from her scouting mission with no food and only a lost child, a crowd of humans rush to their TorchesAndPitchforks, even having the nerve to take a swing and [[NeverMyFault cry foul when Kate swings back]]. Their attitude is bad idea regardless, as the Unicorns’ aid is the sole reason the humans remained alive long enough to actually start running out of supplies.
108	* WhamEpisode:
109	** Episode 6: Yellowstone Camp is overrun by zombie [[spoiler:gnomes]].
110	** Episode 67: [[spoiler: Grim is revealed to have been Death in disguise the whole time]].
111	* TheWorfEffect: Commander Sprinkles, who Glitter considers one of the finest soldiers alive, is immediately [[DogPileOfDoom overwhelmed by waves of zombified gnomes once they emerge]], which unfortunately [[FromBadToWorse takes the settlement’s protective barrier down as well]]. Literally one chapter ago, Commander Sprinkles demonstrated he could [[{{Teleportation}} Teleport]], and it takes Blaze's timely intervention to rescue him. Similarly, even the military-trained unicorns along with the villagers wielding pitchforks last chapter seem unarmed and helpless as they go down, not even able to get a swing or a spell off.
112	* YearInsideHourOutside: [[spoiler: To the outside world, Kate's journey in Underhill lasted a week. When Blaze, Sprinkles and Pebble go in to save her and meet her again, Kate reveals that to her it has been ''six years'' since she lost her way.]]
113	* ZergRush: Unsurprisingly used by the zombies, which is their only hope against the plague-immune unicorns, even though it typically results in a single grenade to annihilate the entire clustered group. [[spoiler: It’s far more effectively used by the Zombie Gnomes, tunneling right under the unprepared survivor camp with at least a dozen gnomes swarming over every victim. Unfortunately, Commander Sprinkles is one such casualty.]]
114	* ZombieApocalypse: Zombies? Check. Human civilization nearly brought to collapse? Check. Survivors growing increasingly desperate for supplies? Check. An army of {{Unicorn}}s arrive to save the last of mankind? Double check!
115	* ZombieInfectee:
116	** Glitter gets bit by a zombie during her rescue of Kate, and the human is understandably paranoid that the unicorn will turn. It’s {{subverted}} though, as Glitter lets her know that unicorns are immune to infection, merely gaining a temporary fever. However, the blood loss, coupled with the burning fever and continuous exertion, is an entirely different problem.
117	** After an encounter with a vampire [[spoiler: Kate is now a vampire herself, though she tries to resist her urges, and is eventually cured]].
118	** [[spoiler: Commander Sprinkles returns as a zombie-unicorn who retained his self-awareness, thanks to the sorceress' experiments. He still struggles with HorrorHunger and is very self-conscious about his undead state.]]

Context Webcomic / HoovesOfDeath