Line #78 Webcomic/DebuggingDestiny


1	''[[http://www.debuggingdestiny.com/ Debugging Destiny]]'' is a webcomic created by Joseph Abolt, started on a dare during quarantine for COVID-19. It tells the story of [[ThoseTwoGuys two unnamed narrators]] attempting to fix the universe simulator. The problem? Apparently Destiny is broken. While working on this, they spin up a second simulation to see what works - [[FramingDevice this is where most of the story comes from]]. In it, [[TheProtagonist King]] tries to find his place among the different factions, eventually teaming up against the manipulative wizard [[TheAntagonist Baleyg]].
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3	Notable for being produced entirely in [=PowerPoint=], giving it an art style reminiscent of a storyboard. A very lo-fidelity storyboard.
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5	Starts [[http://www.debuggingdestiny.com/1 here]].
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8	!! ''Debugging Destiny'' contains examples of:
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10	* AccidentallyBrokeTheMacGuffin: The Mysterious Voice broke the universe simulator in the backstory, prompting [[AmbiguousGender them]] to recruit Redshirt Guy, kicking off the plot.
11	* AdventureFriendlyWorld: Results from an intersection of many characters' specials affecting the world itself and the world being AfterTheEnd of whatever came before. Since everyone can change the world to suit their own whims, everyone is encouraged to venture out and take action to achieve their goals.
12	* AntiMagic:
13	** Strider is immune to any ambient magical effects. %%Expand on this; what are the "magical effects"? You mention "specials" before, is magic a category of special?
14	** Alexander can fire a pulse that cancels any nearby specials. %%Same here; expand the context to describe what sort of ongoing specials are ended. Give an example of Alexander using their power.
15	* ArtShift: The simulation is rendered very differently than the real world. Both are drawn in [=PowerPoint=], though, so there is not much different.
16	** The real world is a stylized, low-polygon drawing of a man at a desk. See [[https://debuggingdestiny.com/1 episode 1]] for an example.
17	** The simulation is 2D, with characters as teardrop-shaped icons with chess symbols on them. See [[https://debuggingdestiny.com/9 episode 9]] for an example.
18	* BeastInTheMaze: Osborne begins the story in a labyrinth created by Shanahan's Wall of Stone special, where he was trapped after ambushing and attempting to devour the Blue encampment. Shanahan rebuilds the maze each day, but Osborne tears through it trying to escape each night. He gets free, eventually.
19	* BitCharacter: Every character represented by a pawn is an unnamed bit character. Most notable are the various knights in the Stallways, who only exist to provide muttered commentary when King first arrives ([[https://debuggingdestiny.com/31 in 31-10]]). The guards in the Stallways playing cards, as well as [[spoiler:Ignacia's hypnotized slaves]] all count as well, each having minimal lines intended to set a scene rather than being full characters.
20	** Averted with [[NominalImportance Morton]], who is the only main character represented by a pawn. The other characters still treat him like an extra.
21	* CastingAShadow: Osborne's Shadow-Walk special lets him generate an aura of darkness that follows him. It's implied that he can still see in this, though others cannot.
22	* CatlikeDragons: [[spoiler:Ignacia]] at times. Especially when lying down, since [[spoiler:she]] waves her tail back and forth like a cat. Since [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] in this setting take the Western form, they are already cat-shaped, helping reinforce this behavior. TheRant also comments on this.
23	* ChekhovsGun: The Crypt Sword, aka Tamwen, is introduced early in the story but picked up much later. Discussed and lampshaded by Redshirt Guy and the Mysterious Voice.
24	* ChessMotifs: Characters do not have faces, instead using chess piece symbols for identification from [[VariantChess Omega Chess]], which includes the Champion and the Wizard. Characters with the King and Queen icon are unique, with no trends to their characterization. Characters using a Bishop or Wizard icon are [[ScienceHero magical]]. Characters with a Rook or Champion icon are [[ActionHero physical]]. Characters with a Knight icon are [[GuileHero tricksy]]. Pawns, of course, are so numerous and [[NominalImportance unimportant]] that they often have only [[BitCharacter a few lines, at best]], except for Morton.
25	* ColorCodedCharacters: Every character in the simulation appears as a colored teardrop-shaped icon with a [[ChessMotifs chess symbol]] on it. Since the symbols repeat, the color is the only way to distinguish characters. The color families (red, blue, green) also create a GeodesicCast - see that entry for more details.
26	** Baleyg is a [[PurpleIsPowerful purple]] Bisohp.
27	** King is a [[RedIsHeroic bright red]] King.
28	** Osborne is a [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver blood red]] Rook.
29	** Ignacia is a medium brown Wizard.
30	** Alvis is a pink Knight.
31	** Ambrose is a blue-grey Champion.
32	** Mercury is a violet Bishop.
33	** Strider is a medium blue Knight.
34	** Shanahan is a sky-blue Wizard.
35	** Elizabeth is a green Queen.
36	** Alexander is a yellow-green Champion.
37	** Morton is a dark green Pawn.
38	** Quinn is a blue-green Rook.
39	* ConstructedWorld: The simulation used by the Mysterious Voice and Redshirt Guy is created in [[https://debuggingdestiny.com/5 episode 5]]. Most of the story takes place within it. It is created explicitly to avoid breaking anything on Earth.
40	* CreepyCute: InUniverse, Strider, Elizabeth, and Alexander find zombies to be creepy, while King and Mercury think they're cute. %%As creator, you cannot add YMMV tropes. This works because it is an inuniverse example.
41	* CrypticConversation: Baleyg (and only Baleyg) loves having cryptic conversations. He actively avoids giving straight answers, and prefers to mislead people than to directly ask for favors or help.
42	* DarkIsEvil: Osborne is the only character to have literal [[CastingAShadow darkness powers]] and is the only character presented as unrepentantly evil. In his first on-screen appearance, he is revealed to [[ImAHumanitarian be a humanitarian]] to establish that he is irredeemable, and has been since long before the story began.
43	* DeadpanSnarker: Both the Mysterious Voice and Redshirt Guy are very snarky, bordering on SnarkToSnarkCombat. Usually anything productive one says is replied to with a snarky comment first. [[TheSnarkKnight Morton]] earns an honorable mention as the OnlySaneMan willing to call everyone out on being overly dramatic.
44	* {{Determinator}}: A surprising amount - King, Strider, and Elizabeth all have shades of this, with speeches about refusing to compromise when they think they are right. King seems to be following this toward IDidWhatIHadToDo when he [[spoiler:crushes Ignacia's slaves against a wall, killing several instantly]].
45	* DragonHoard: [[spoiler:Ignacia]] has a traditional one of gold, but she also collects [[spoiler:Red characters]]. It's unclear if [[OurDragonsAreDifferent all dragons in the setting]] have this compulsion or just [[spoiler:Ignacia]].
46	* DullSurprise: When the Mysterious Voice and Redshirt Guy are making fun of each other, this is their preferred tactic.
47	* EnemyMine: Elizabeth's first thought when hearing about Ignacia is to ally with her against Baleyg. No one else is willing to consider this, though.
48	* EvilIsHammy: [[TheAntagonist Baleyg]] tries to be hammy. He even set up braziers that magically ignite or go out when he appears or disappears. Lampshaded by King.
49	-->'''King:''' Is he really so theatrical to set something like that up ahead of time?
50	* ExactWords: Used by King to protect Morton's secret: [[spoiler:that Morton can detect requests to use Elizabeth's teleport special, and that Morton can recreate her special's effects.]]. No one else understands specials well enough to know this is an evasion rather than King's own lack of knowledge.
51	* FoeTossingCharge: One of Elizabeth's specials lets her perform long-distance charges. This is how she introduces herself (in [[https://debuggingdestiny.com/25 25-18]]), where she throws her foes aside with the force.
52	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Baleyg the Prophet's predictions are this. We have seen one of them come true so far (King is now the strongest man alive).
53	** Redshirt Guy and the Mysterious Voice think that Baleyg will kill everyone, which is either a straight example of Foreshadowing or InUniverse WildMassGuessing.
54	%%* GeniusLoci: The world may be one. Shanahan thinks so, though Strider explicitly disagrees. It is acknowledged that the world can rearrange, though we do now know why or how.
55	%%** In [[https://debuggingdestiny.com/45 45-11]] we see [[spoiler:a heart hanging in the Void, hooked up to some not-Void]], indicating the world is alive.
56	* GeodesicCast: Each color corresponds to a set of roles: [[TheBigGuy warrior]], [[TheSmartGuy mage]], [[TheLeader strategist]], and [[TheHeart teamwork]]. There's one of each role in Red, Blue, and Green. There may be further parallels, though they are not obvious yet. King is the Red Warrior, Osborne is the Red Mage (since he relies on his specials instead of combat strength), Ignacia is the Red Strategist (she prefers to [[TheChessmaster use pawns]]), and Alvis is the Red Cheerleader. Elizabeth is the Green Warrior, Quinn is the Green Mage, Morton is the Green Strategist, and Alexander is the Green Cheerleader. Ambrose is the Blue Warrior, Shanahan is the Blue Mage, Strider is the Blue Strategist, and Mercury is the Blue Cheerleader.
57	* HeWhoFightsMonsters: King is developing this mindset after his first conflict with Ignacia [[spoiler:forced him to crush several of her unwilling slaves against a wall, killing them instantly]].
58	* HypnoticEyes: Ignacia can hypnotize anyone she makes eye contact with, and has used used this to [[spoiler:enslave all but 3 Red characters in the simulation]]. Alvis is scared of eye contact after living in the Ashes because of this.
59	* IHaveManyNames: Said nearly verbatim by Baleyg. So far, he is the only character with multiple names - he introduces himself as Baleyg Gangari, and is also referred to as Grim Eyes.
60	* ImAHumanitarian: Osborne eats people. While he has not done this on-screen, he did ask to go into a room full of sleeping people so he could.
61	* {{Invisibility}}: Alvis has short-duration invisibility powers. They are probably [[{{Intangibility}} more than just invisibility]], though, since they let her [[spoiler:escape King's stasis field and walk through walls]].
62	* LivingStatue: Living statues are present in the [[RuinsForRuinsSake ruins]]. According to Strider, they are very difficult if not impossible to slay, though not all the statues are alive.
63	* LivingWeapon: The Crypt Sword is eventually revealed to be Tamwen, a spirit of earth and fire who happens to be sword-shaped. According to Elizabeth, she can talk, though no one else can hear it.
64	* LoveTriangle: According to Morton, Elizabeth, Alexander, and Quinn are in one. Elizabeth cannot pick one over the other, and they value their friendship with each other too much to fight over her.
65	* LovecraftianSuperpower: Everyone's specials are LovecraftianSuperpower. The art style obscures the worst of this. Not the strongest example, since while all specials are unintuitive, are unique, and involve BodyHorror when activating, they are common in the setting and are not treated as unnatural.
66	* ManipulativeBastard: Baleyg prefers to manipulate people to keep them dependent on him and doing his work. Ignacia [[spoiler:uses her HypnoticEyes to enslave an army of Red pawns]].
67	* MeaningfulName: Almost every named character's name is a hint at who they are or their role in the story.
68	** King is represented by the chess symbol for a king and is [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadowed]] to become a king someday.
69	** Baleyg and Gangari are both lesser-known names for [[spoiler:[[NorseMythology Odin]], a trickster god of knowledge and death]].
70	** Strider is fated to [[WalkingTheEarth walk the earth]].
71	** Elizabeth is the name of a [[ElizabethI famous English Queen]], and is a queen.
72	** Mercury has a [[Music/{{Queen}} magical song]].
73	** Alexander and Quinn mean "defender" and "advisor" respectively, which are also the roles they serve in their kingdom.
74	** Osborne means "divine [[BearsAreBadNews bear]]" representing his role as a supernatural monster.
75	** Ignacia [[spoiler:is a [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon]]]] whose name means "fire".
76	* MrExposition: Mercury often serves this role. Justified, since his Storied special means he knows a little about everything.
77	%%* {{Narrator}}: Redshirt Guy and the Mysterious Voice serve as one, crossed with GreekChorus.
78	%%** The Mysterious Voice also poses as this when trying to convince Redshirt Guy to help fix the universe simulator.
79	* {{Necromancer}}: Appears to be part of Baleyg's powers, using [[spoiler:the PowerOfTheVoid]]. When he [[spoiler:reanimates Ambrose's corpse]], Elizabeth decides Baleyg must be killed.
80	* NoteFromEd: After all kinds of tricks to avoid boring scenes of people walking, the author finally resorts to one of these in [[https://debuggingdestiny.com/49 49-15]].
81	* OneSceneTwoMonologues: Redshirt Guy and the Mysterious Voice in [[https://debuggingdestiny.com/32 32]] talk right past each other.
82	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Osborne's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Vampire special]] heals him when he damages other creatures.
83	* PowerIncontinence: More powerful specials tend to have this.
84	** Alexander's Unbeatable special makes him unable to lose a fair challenge... sometimes.
85	** Shanahan's Portal special lets her open portals... with unreliable accuracy.
86	** Ignacia can hypnotize people she makes eye contact with... except when she can't.
87	* PowerOfTheVoid: This may be Baleyg's special. If so, this is how he achieves {{Necromancer}} status. [[spoiler:Although it is not clear he even has specials, or what exactly he is.]]
88	* RageAgainstTheHeavens: The Mysterious Voice does this while pretending to be Redshirt Guy's stream of consciousness. Crosses with TemptingFate.
89	-->'''Mysterious Voice:''' Alright, Universe. Bring on the caffeine-and-fever dreams.
90	* RunOrDie: So far, every time we have seen Ignacia she incites this in everyone else. Although there is the ever-popular [[TakeAThirdOption third option]]: get hypnotized by her.
91	* RunningGag: People assume King is royalty because of his name. Although, according to Baleyg, he will be royalty someday.
92	* SacredHospitality: Heavily enforced in the Stallways. Ignacia's betrayal of SacredHospitality is our first big hint that she's an antagonist.
93	* ShoutOut: Somewhat common between Redshirt Guy and the Mysterious Voice. So far, they have mentioned ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'', ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', ''Film/TheMatrix'', Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'', and Myth/ArthurianLegend.
94	* TalkingWeapon: According to Elizabeth, the Crypt Sword is a spirit named Tamwen. No one else can hear Tamwen talk, though, so something else may be going on.
95	* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Morton's special is to make sure he nettles everyone he interacts with.
96	* TheProtagonist: King, defined by the simulation. A number of Deuteragonists and Antagonists are officially added later.
97	* TheRant: Appears on every episode (it is a webcomic, after all). Sometimes helps clarify points that the medium is ill-suited to, such as time "stuttering" in [[https://debuggingdestiny.com/3 episode 3]].
98	* UnsoundEffect: Smoosh, whenever King crushes someone against a wall. Otherwise averted.
99	* VoiceOfTheLegion: Ignacia speaks in many different voices when trying to be intimidating. [[spoiler:She does this by having all her slaves speak together]].
100	* WalkingTheEarth: Strider and his followers are doing this while trying to find a way home, although Baleyg uses the name of a different trope (MilesToGoBeforeISleep) when describing it.

Context Webcomic / DebuggingDestiny