Line #68 Webcomic/DarwinCarmichaelIsGoingToHell


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dcigthcover_1.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: Just an ordinary day in [[BigApplesauce Brooklyn.]]]]
3
4	It's tough living in Brooklyn when you've got a crap job, you haven't been on a date in a long time, and you've got so much bad karma that nothing goes right for you. Your pet manticore is always annoying you, and those good-for-nothing angels on your couch do nothing but smoke pot all day. And, oh yeah, you're going to Hell.
5
6	''[[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/ Darwin Carmichael is Going to Hell]]'' is a webcomic by Sophie Goldstein and Jenn Jordan that ran from 2009 to 2012. Set in a version of Brooklyn where AllMythsAreTrue, the comic chronicles the karmically-challenged Darwin Carmichael in his everyday life and his (generally futile) attempts to avoid damnation.
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8	Darwin himself has to deal with a buildup of negative karma due to making the Dalai Lama "retarded", which is partially responsible for giving him a terrible life and will send him to Hell unless he does something about it. His friends include Ella, an almost-literal KarmaHoudini, his landlord Patrick, a [[OurMinotaursAreDifferent Minotaur]], his pretentious artist roommate Matt, Matt's Muse girlfriend Melete, and his pet [[OurManticoresAreSpinier manticore]] Skittles, with a [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld literal age of 2000 or so and a mental age of twelve]]. The series has a fairly detailed art style and combines comedy with serious explorations of the characters.
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10	----
11	!!''Darwin Carmichael is Going to Hell'' contains examples of the following:
12	* ActualPacifist: In the finale, [[spoiler: Darwin]] refuses to attack anyone when forced into a fight to the death.
13	* TheAlcoholic: Pat. Generally played for laughs.
14	-->'''Pat:''' ''You know, I was in AA for 13 years.''
15	-->'''Pat:''' glug glug glug
16	-->'''Pat:''' ''...or was that Prohibition?''
17	* AllMythsAreTrue: Apparently, the Christian God sent down some angels to prevent Darwin from accidentally letting the Dalai Lama hurt himself as a baby. Most of the minor characters also seem to be from Greek mythology. Every cute girl also owns a unicorn.
18	* AllUpToYou: Supporting characters [[spoiler:Pat and Rhiva]] team up in the finale to rescue [[spoiler: Darwin and Ella.]]
19	* AmbiguouslyBrown: Rhiva. Darwin, Mina, and Joyce Fitzgerald may be this as well- Sophie Goldstein's art style makes everyone rather tan, and no one has a stated ethnicity.
20	* AmbiguouslyHuman: Matt. The character bio describes him as "possibly an alien". He has the prominent cheekbones and large eyes of TheGrays, but otherwise looks and acts like a normal pretentious human.
21	* AmicableExes: Darwin and Ella dated in college. While there's still a little underlying tension between the two, they are overall very good friends.
22	* {{Animorphism}}: One arc has Ella transformed into a cat by a [[{{Curse}} cursed]] version of her signature hat.
23	* AntiAntichrist: [[spoiler: Darwin, with the world's worst karma,]] is key to the initiation of the apocalypse. He [[{{ScrewDestiny}} refuses to go along]], and ultimately sacrifices himself to stop it.
24	* ApocalypseMaiden: In the final arc, it's revealed that [[spoiler: Darwin and Ella are the Anointed Ones, and supposed to lead the parade into the [[{{TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt}} end of times]]. ]]
25	* ArtShift: Skittles takes over drawing the comic on several occasions, with a noticeably simpler and crayon-ed style. Jenn Jordan draws these comics.
26	* ArtsyBeret:
27	** Melete, who dreams of being a serious artist, wears a beret in a dream where she is a real artist painting.
28	** In a comic drawn by Skittles recounting his time living with Creator/DanteAlighieri, Skittles is a Renaissance painter and wears a beret while painting a portrait of Dante.
29	* BeenThereShapedHistory: Skittles had many famous owners, including St. Augustine, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Florence Nightingale. He [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/067-skittles-owners-presents-oscar-wilde/ claims]] that many of his witty quotes were [[WrongfullyAttributed misattributed]] to [[Creator/OscarWilde Oscar Wilde]].
30	* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Deconstructed throughout the comic. Ostensibly this holds in-universe, where angels and demons exist and where people's alignment is clearly delineated by their karma. However, the morality/agreeability of people's actual behavior does not align with their karmic status. A lot of characterization in the comic serves to critique the universe's moral system.
31	* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Token black guy [[spoiler: Wesley is the first person to die in the battle arena]], and the first character to die (outside of flashbacks) in the comic.
32	* BlatantLies: Jesus and Horus are forbidden from [[spoiler:preventing the Apocalypse]], but [[LoopholeAbuse there's no rule]] saying that if they were to ''"accidentally"'' drop a couple of magical weapons nearby, mortals would be forbidden from using them to do it by themselves.
33	* BreastExpansion: The strange magic of [[spoiler: the apocalypse]] has this effect on [[spoiler:[[SuccubiAndIncubi Ginny due to her half-succubus heritage]],]] causing her breasts to balloon to enormous size.
34	* ButtMonkey: Darwin, as a result of his bad karma. His friends are always messing up his apartment, he gets arrested 17 times, hassled by Buddhist monks, and stabbed in the ass by a unicorn. And whenever he tries to do something good, it [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished never works out for him.]] [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/038-karma-katastrophe/ This page is a montage]] of such effects.
35	* CerebusSyndrome: The comic starts out with mostly short, comedic (though always somewhat [[BlackComedy dark]] and character-based) arcs, but gradually arcs become longer and more dramatic, revealing HiddenDepths within many characters. The final arc involves [[spoiler: the MayanDoomsday.]]
36	* CheerfulChild: Skittles is innocent and always cheerful.
37	* ChildhoodBrainDamage: Darwin's greatest mistake in life was allowing the infant Dalai Lama to fall out of his high chair, leading to serious brain damage that rendered him with the intelligence of a child.
38	* CloudCuckoolander: Skittles
39	* CountryMatters: Referenced by Darwin [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/221-into-the-woods-part-viii/ here]].
40	* CrapsackWorld: Make one mistake as a teen and you can get saddled with negative karma for life, being harassed by karma police every time you pass a traffic camera and going to Hell once you die.. On the other hand you can inherit a boatload of karma from your parents and get away with murder.
41	* CrossoverCosmology: Christian God, various pagan gods, and the reincarnation-based Dalai Lama all coexist, using a Indic karma system that appears to send people to Christian Hell and splitting jurisdiction throughout the world. At one point, the angels [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/183-a-man-a-mission-part-xxxvi/ use their jurisdiction]] to rescue Darwin from the Dalai Lama's [[WarriorMonk bodyguards]].
42	* TheDividual: The stoner angels Az, Rags, and G-man are pretty similar and are never seen apart.
43	* DramaticShattering: Az drops and shatters his [[PricelessMingVase bong]] as soon as he sees Ginny walk in, setting the stage for the dramatic [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/259-the-visitations-partix/ confrontation that ensues]].
44	* DropInLandlord: Pat, minotaur landlord to Darwin and his roommates. He frequently hangs out in Darwin's apartment with or without a landlordy excuse for it. While older (he's implied to be thousands of years old) than most characters, he's a crude booze-hound, but he still gives advice and a sympathetic ear to Darwin and friends.
45	* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:In the end, Darwin's karma finally makes it into the black, allowing him to go to Heaven. To accomplish this, he had to [[HeroicSacrifice let himself die]] after his terrible karma led him to be chosen as a key figure in [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt bringing forth the Apocalypse]], therefore preventing the Apocalypse from taking place.]]
46	* EasyRoadToHell: No matter how hard he tries to make up for his actions, Darwin Carmichael is going to Hell. Inverted with Ella, who has so much ''good'' karma that she can get away with almost anything. Implicitly averted for everyone else, thanks to services like Karmic Readings and the Karma Police letting people know if they are currently Hell-bound and giving them a chance to change their way, and [[AllMythsAreTrue all religions being true to some extent]].
47	* EmoTeen: In the final arc, [[spoiler: Skittles undergoes RapidAging]] and becomes an angry and angsty teen. He gets a Scene haircut and spends his time moping and listening to Music/GreenDay.
48	* FailureMontage: [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/038-karma-katastrophe/ One strip]] is a montage of Darwin's various attempts to improve his karma via community service, but all his efforts to improve the world end in failure and are appreciated by no one.
49	* FantasticRacism: [[spoiler: Ginny's family]] experienced a lot of discrimination growing up because her mother is a [[SuccubiAndIncubi succubus]].
50	* FearsomeCrittersOfAmericanFolklore: The Hodag makes an appearance as a conceptual artist from Wisconsin now living in Upstate New York.
51	* FlatEarthAtheist: A group of scientists - who are the in-universe equivalent of crazy doomsayers - were able to convince the pot-head angels that God doesn't exist.
52	* FlorenceNightingaleEffect: [[spoiler: Ginny and Darwin are drawn together after Darwin]] gets his [[AssShove ass gouged out]] by an [[AccidentalInnuendo over-eager unicorn horn.]]
53	* FluffyTheTerrible: Subverted with Skittles. He's a manticore with a poison tail, portrayed in-universe as fearsome monsters. But Skittles is actually cute and childlike, in accord with his name.
54	* FoodChains: The transformed theater troupe's food is enchanted to [[TalkingAnimal allow them to talk]], but also brainwashes them into loving theater.
55	* ForcedTransformation: One arc involves a street vendor who sells clothes that turn people into animals against their will.
56	* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler: Ella's karmic inheritance is [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/132-damned-anonymous-part-xiii/ "enough to cover several murders."]]]]
57	* FromZeroToHero: For much of the story, Darwin Carmichael is a LoserProtagonist who's stuck in a dead-end job in New York City, constantly being tormented by his wacky friends. [[spoiler: At the end of the comic, he ends up stopping the apocalypse and saving the world through a HeroicSacrifice.]]
58	* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: In the final arc, a group of juvenile delinquent magical animals [[spoiler: and minions of the evil gods trying to cause the apocalypse]] all hang around smoking cigarettes. This is lampshaded by the AltText, which notes that you can tell they're evil because they smoke.
59	* HalfHumanHybrid: [[spoiler: Ginny]], whose mother was a [[SuccubiAndIncubi succubus]] and whose father was a human.
60	* HeavenSeeker: The comic's whole premise. As the title says, Darwin Carmichael is going to Hell, and most of the comic revolves around his attempts to change this.
61	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Darwin]] allows himself to be killed to save everyone from [[spoiler: the apocalypse. It sends his [[{{DeathEqualsRedemption}} karma into the black]].]]
62	* HiddenDepths: Despite his cheerfulness and immaturity, Skittles [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/052-rock-god-part-iv/ harbors fear and sadness]] about all his past owners who have died.
63	* {{Hipster}}: Flavors of this are abundant throughout most of the cast, both parodied and played straight (if such a thing is possible with this trope). The characters are young, artistic people living in a trendy part of Brooklyn. Many minor or background characters, as well as Darwin and Ella to a lesser extent, embody the epitome of hipster aesthetics (check out the [[Myth/HinduMythology Ganesh]]-[[{{Expy}} expy]] in the page image). Some specific examples:
64	** Darwin usually wears a shirt that says "BAND NAME," echoing the hipsters who wear obscure band t-shirts. Whether ironic statement is being made by Darwin or by the authors at his expense, this marks him as a hipster.
65	** Special prize goes to Matt, who has huge amounts of pretentiousness to accompany his hip appearance and lifestyle. One arc parodies this by having him rescued by the {{Leprechaun}} of Gentrification after he is unable to survive outside of his trendy neighborhood.
66	* InterspeciesRomance: Unsurprisingly pretty common in this universe.
67	** Skittles falls in love with a (non-talking) kitten at a party. He sends her a letter depicting their future PatchworkKids.
68	** The animal transformation guy had a [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/304-the-magic-hat-part-xxv/ tumultuous relationship]] with a magical [[TalkingAnimal talking possum.]]
69	** And then there's [[spoiler: Ginny, a [[HalfHumanHybrid half-succubus]] who previously dated angels. ]]
70	* JerkassWithAHeartOfGold: Ella. She's irresponsible and inconsiderate (for example, at the end of the animal transformation arc, she fails to consider whether the transformed animals are happy that way, leaving them homeless when she turns them back), and often ignores Darwin's feelings (with Mina, or less extremely during the Upstate vacation arc). But at the same time, she genuinely cares about Darwin and wants to save his soul.
71	* TheJoyOfX: One comic has Ella and Rhiva consult from ''The Joy of Witchery.''
72	* KarmaHoudini: Ella's parents (who seem to be [[{{Expy}} expies]] of John Lennon and, um, someone else) were able to acquire so much positive karma that she is unable to do anything wrong. On the other hand, Darwin's negative karma resulting from accidentally allowing the [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten infant Dalai Lama to fall and damage his brain]] has screwed Darwin over so badly he's having trouble getting back to zero karma again. [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/?p=409 Observe.]]
73	* KarmaMeter: Everybody has one that can be sensed by supernatural beings. If it's in the negative when you die, you go to Hell, otherwise you go to Heaven. Making the Dalai Lama retarded is worth enough negative karma that no amount of repenting (not even being implicitly forgiven by the Dalai Lama himself) could possibly save Darwin's soul [[spoiler:unless he [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices his life to prevent the Apocalypse]]]]. Karma can also be transferred from one person to another through inheritance - Ella's parents were such good people that [[KarmaHoudini she is allowed to commit several illegal acts with no consequences]].
74	* KentBrockmanNews: In the last arc, two humanoid reporters add some [[MoodWhiplash inappropriately chipper]] commentary to the main events of the comic.
75	* LetsGetDangerous: [[spoiler: Pat and Rhiva take up the holy weapons to stop the apocalypse.]]
76	-->'''Rhiva:''' ''What's the plan?''
77	--> '''Pat:''' ''Fuck. Shit. Up.''
78	* LookBehindYou: In the final arc, Ginny distracts the angels by saying "Oh look, it's Music/SnoopDogg and then running away.
79	* LoserProtagonist: Darwin hates his job, can't seem to get laid, has a generally crappy apartment full of mooching angels, and is [[BreadEggsMilkSquick doomed to hell for all eternity]]. [[spoiler: He gets better.]]
80	* MagicalGirlfriend: Melete to Matt. She's hundreds of years old and magically inspires him, and her interest in him is sort of inexplicable. Of course, Matt isn't exactly [[AmbiguouslyHuman normal]] either.
81	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Ella, a quirky, lighthearted girl who's always trying to cheer up and literally redeem (by saving his soul) the cynical and gloomy Darwin. Played with in that Darwin and Ella's romance already failed in the comic's backstory, and over the course of the comic Darwin increasingly resents what he sees as her irresponsibility and judginess.
82	%%* MayanDoomsday: [[spoiler: This comes to pass in the final arc, set in 2012, when the apocalypse is triggered.]]
83	* MermaidProblem: Patrick sees a hot mermaid at a party, but accidentally sleeps with her sister, a reverse-mermaid with a fish's upper body.
84	* MistakenForGay: Darwin assumes [[spoiler: Ginny is a lesbian because she is roommates with Rhiva and because of a comment about "what she does" [[TechnicalVirgin not counting]]. Turns out she has only dated (male) [[NonHumanLoverReveal angels]].]]
85	* MonsterRoommate: Darwin Carmichael is a normal (if karmically-challenged) human who lives with his pet manticore, a pretentious, ambiguously human artist and his thousand-year-old girlfriend, and a trio of pot-smoking angels. Skittles the Manticore has lived with Darwin since Darwin's teen years.
86	* MundaneWish: Skittles uses his birthday wish on cake.
87	* TheMuse: Melete's profession or race is [[LampshadeHanging literally]] a muse, and she has spent her entire (implied to be centuries-long) life inspiring artists. Later {{deconstructed}} when we learn she dreams of being her own artist, but can't create anything unique due to her role as a muse.
88	* MustMakeAmends: What motivates Darwin, who needs to improve his karma after "making the Dalai Lama retarded." Stands in contrast to Mina, although there are some hints that she may feel some remorse as well. In particular, the plot of an arc which has him visiting the Dalai Lama.
89	* MyInstinctsAreShowing: [[{{Myth/ClassicalMythology}} Pat]] sometimes feels compelled to watch ''{{Film/Labyrinth}}'' on loop.
90	* OurDemonsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: Ginny's]] mother was a succubus, and the angels' dealer is a demon. Named [[SpecialPersonNormalName Greg]].
91	* NightmareFetishist: Possibly Matt. One [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/055-rock-god-part-vii/ panel]] shows him [[{{LuminescentBlush}} blushing]] while dreaming about rampaging Dune-style [[{{SandWorm}} sandworms]].
92	* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: In exchange for positive karma, Darwin is sent by the stoner angels to collect the soul of a guy barely clinging to life by willpower alone. Darwin gets the guy medical attention and saves his life. He is then refused the promised karma because saving the guy's life defied the will of God.
93	* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Everyone, from the police to Darwin's friends, won't stop giving Darwin a hard time about how he accidentally "made the Dalai Lama retarded". Much of the plot involves him trying to find redemption and earn karma to make up for his youthful mistake.
94	* OurMinotaursAreDifferent: Pat, Darwin's Minotaur landlord, who seems to have been the [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/085-beast-diaries-part-iii/ original Minotaur.]] Unlike many portrayals, he's a friendly and genial if sometimes crude guy.
95	* PalsWithJesus: Skittles [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/068-skittles-owners-presents-jesus/ was]] once the pet/companion of Jesus H. Christ himself.
96	* PhysicalGod: [[{{PalsWithJesus}} Jesus]], [[{{Characters/EgyptianMythology}} Horus]], [[{{Myth/HinduMythology}} Kali]], and [[{{Myth/NativeAmericanMythology}} Coyote]] and other all make an appearance. The Dalai Lama may also count.
97	* PricelessMingVase: The stoner angel treat their bong as incredibly wondrous and precious, and it is constantly threatened with destruction, which comes to pass repeatedly.
98	* ProgressiveEraMontage: The angels visited Darwin a few decades too early, showing up in the 1950's instead of the 2000s. One strip has a different decade in each panel, as they become hippies, go to Woodstock, do lots of coke in the 80's, etc.
99	* RapidAging: [[spoiler: Skittles in the finale]] becomes a teen and then an adult in a matter of days [[spoiler:after having been a child mentally for millennia]].
100	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: A number of characters who date back to Myth/ClassicalMythology appear to be normal-aged:
101	** Skittles has lived since Classical Antiquity, but still has the interests and personality of a 12-year-old.
102	** Pat the Minotaur appears to be the actual Minotaur from the myth of Theseus, implying that he's been alive for several thousand years. He acts like a middle-aged bachelor.
103	** Melete is part of the race of Muses from Greek mythology. She's lived for thousands of years, and inspired countless artists dating back at least to Renaissance times.
104	* RedemptionQuest: The overall arc is Darwin's ongoing struggles to improve his lousy karma, although the comic has a lot of [[{{SliceOfLife}} slice of life]] content.
105	* RoommateCom: The premise is about the antics of a bunch of young(ish) people living together in New York City. Except that all the roommates are magical creatures, except for Darwin, who's doomed to Hell.
106	* RunningGag: The angels' bong being threatened or broken, and G-man's overreactions and despair about it. Lampshaded in the AltText [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/051-rock-god-part-iii/ here.]]
107	* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/295-the-magic-hat-part-xvi/ "No, my visage!"]]
108	* ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing: When Ella restores some formerly human animals to their original state, they're [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/303-the-magic-hat-part-xxiv/ all naked.]]
109	* ShootTheDog: In the last arc, Ella [[spoiler: kills Wesley and Mina]] to save herself and Darwin.
110	* ShoutOut:
111	** [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/201-off-leash-unicorn-park-part-vi/ One of the unicorns]] is essentially [[Webcomic/HarkAVagrant Fat Pony]] with a horn on its head.
112	** They have literal [[Music/{{Radiohead}} Karma Police]]. Darwin has been arrested by them seventeen times by accident.
113	* SleepingDummy: When Darwin goes to pick up a departed soul, there's a bit of DramaticIrony when the dead soul turns around to "put the sheets over his dead body". He actually hides pillows in his bed to make it look like the body is still there, concealing from Darwin that he's actually still alive with his body and soul united.
114	* SoulCrushingDeskJob: It's not given a lot of focus, but one of the many factors contributing to Darwin's despair is his job at a university financial aid office, which mostly involves crushing students' dreams and giving them debt. The character bio describes him as an office drone.
115	* TheStoner: A group of three angels, oddly enough. Whose dealer is a demon.
116	* SuicideByPills: One arc has Darwin take over the angels' job as a {{psychopomp}} as a favor, and he's tasked with carrying a departed soul to the next life. The soul in question took a lethal dose of pills over his lost love, but after meeting Darwin he has second thoughts and tries to return to his body, eventually persuading Darwin to take him to the hospital where he ultimately recovers. In typical NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished fashion, Darwin then gets chewed out for "going against God's will" by not letting the guy die.
117	* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: Matt's dreams are too weird for the nightmare-inducing rock god.
118	* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: The gang meet a bizarre conceptual artist Upstate who does mixed media installations involving walking through a tunnel of banana flavored condoms and stills from Fox News. He claims it means whatever you want it to, causing everyone else to facepalm.
119	%%** Matt's work, such as "Untitled Series #12" a.k.a. "[[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/029-matt-throws-a-party-part-ii/ I Stuck My Head Up My Ass and This Is What I Found]]".
120	%%** After Ella and Skittles go on a raid randomly stealing street musicians' instruments, Matt decides to "take credit" for the jumbled mess they leave.
121	* UnicornsPreferVirgins: Unicorns love virgins, though they have a [[http://dcisgoingtohell.com/205-off-leash-unicorn-park-part-x/ rather crude attitude about it]]. They seem to operate on TechnicalVirgin rules, however, as they like Darwin, who's just been having a long dry spell, and Ginny, who does things that "don't count".
122	* UnlimitedWardrobe: All the characters who wear clothes wear a different outfit in every strip that takes place on a different day, or when they go outside. The stoner angels often wear the same shirt, but this reflects their laziness rather than being a stylistic choice.
123	* WingedHumanoid: The angels look like regular stoner guys with feathery wings.

Context Webcomic / DarwinCarmichaelIsGoingToHell