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Bergères Guerrières, or Sheperdess Warriors, is a French Action-Fantasy comic book series written by Jonathan Garnier and illustrated by Amélie Fléchais.
It has been ten years since all of the men in Molly's village have been called to the Great War, leaving the village vulnerable to attacks from both livestock thieves and wild beasts. In retaliation, the women of the village founded the Order of the Sheperdess Warriors. Ten-year-old Molly is most eager to begin her training and prove herself worthy of the title.
The comic provides examples of:
- The Ace: Molly's Aunt Jane is not only the best warrior idolized by the trainees (especially Abbie), she is also the founder of the Order of the Sheperdess Warriors.
- Action Girl: Pretty much every female character.
- Amazon Brigade: The Sheperdess Warriors. It's in the name.
- Badass Cape: Every Sheperdess Warrior wears a hooded cloak, varying in color depending on her rank (green for the trainees, dark blue for the graduates, and red for the elites); Molly is particularly looking forward to getting to wear one.
- Big Friendly Dog: Vladimir is an enormous dog who looks more like a big, cuddly bundle of hay.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Abbie, Erin and Molly, respectively.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Abbie is easily one of the best out of all of the Sheperdess Warriors in training, but she would also much rather stay in bed.
- Disappeared Dad: Molly's father Finn left for the War before she was born, and she longs to meet him one day.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Granny Maria.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The village and the land surrounding it are reminiscent of Scotland and Wales, while the local culture has a somewhat Celtic aesthetic with some Old Norse inspiration thrown in for flavor. The dog-rearing tribe who dwell in the plains are for all intents and purposes based on the Mongols of the Eastern Eurasian steppe.
- Fiery Redhead: Molly.
- Hidden Elf Village: The Druids live hidden in harmony with nature.
- Horse of a Different Color: The Sheperdess Warriors ride combat goats into battle, and the earliest form of initiation into the order involves being chosen by a baby goat. Molly's goat is named Blackbeard, Erin's is Blockhead, and Abbie's one is just called The Goat. Liam's dog Vladimir is also big enough for him to ride.
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: The aptly named Dead Lands, a barren wasteland where ash falls and amasses like snow.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: Ellen has a rivalry with our protagonist Molly and never wastes an opportunity to provoke her, which seems to set her up as the Alpha Bitch. Turns out, she's not actually as mean as she makes herself out to be, and admits that she mainly picks on Molly because she's jealous of both her aptitude at archery and her close and loving relationship with her mother, while Ellen herself can frequently be found on the training grounds if only to avoid being at home, which hints that her own family isn't so great. Ellen even winds up comforting Molly after she storms off on her mother, though she draws the line at hugging.
- Muggle–Mage Romance: Jane turns out to be the product of one of these, since Granny Maria had a fling with Urty the Druid before she met Molly's grandfather.
- Adam and Tara, though their story ended in tragedy.
- Never Mess with Granny: Molly's grandmother Maria is stout and spry for an old lady, and wields a blunderbuss.
- Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Sarah.
- The One Guy: Liam, who is initially forbidden from joining the Sheperdess Warriors by virtue of being a boy. They eventually decide to make an exception after he proves himself particularly persistent in his desire to join their ranks and defend the village.
- Power Incontinence: Sarah, as a result of trying to supress the immense power she has over crows. This foreshadows the mysterious events involving Tara the rat whisperer.
- The Rival: Ellen is this to Molly, though not a very effectual one. She's not actually as mean as she makes herself out to be.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Molly looks almost identical to her mother Anna, who in turn looks quite a lot like Granny Maria. Aunt Jane on the other hand looks nothing like the rest of the family, since she's tall and willowy where her mother, sister and niece are more on the short and stocky side. This later makes more sense when we meet Jane's biological father, Urty.
