"Just me against the world...with a little help from a friend."
— Amara Namani
Pacific Rim: Amara is a prequel webcomic to Pacific Rim: Uprising. It was written by Cavan Scott and Zhang Ran, with art by BigN, and was released in ten issues on Webtoon from March to April 2018. A trade paperback version was released on December 4, 2019.
The webcomic focuses on the film's deuteragonist, Amara Namani, who loses her family in a Kaiju attack at the age of five. She is taken in by Kai, a former tech CEO who now works on robots salvaged from Jaeger parts, and his partner Hannah. Under their reluctant guardianship, Amara grows into a surly preteen with a penchant for mech-racing... but the machinations of the Mech-Czar threaten her second family.
Tropes:
- Big Damn Heroes: The other mech-racers, Lew, Lizzie, and Riya, show up at the eleventh hour to help Amara fight back against the Mech-Czar's flunkies.
- Kid Amid the Chaos: The second issue expands on the flashback to Amara's family's deaths in the film. After they were killed on the pier five-year-old Amara was left to fend for herself in the rushing crowd.
- I Work Alone: Headhunter's sole pilot, Riya Khatri, claims to race alone.Amara's narration: Said she didn't need a navigator. Wasn't big on teamwork.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kai is cold, gruff, and harsh towards Amara, but genuinely loves her and sees her as a daughter. He is ultimately killed trying to protect her.
- Labcoat of Science and Medicine: Kai's companion Hannah, who was a former employee of his tech company and now tinkers in the workshop with him and looks after Amara, is always wearing a labcoat.
- Past Experience Nightmare: In the fourth comic Amara dreams that her parents have returned to her before they morph into Kaiju, a metaphor for the day she lost them. She wakes up sobbing.
- Protagonist Title: The comic is named for its main character Amara Namani.
- Rival Turned Evil: Yaozu and Sokolov are initially just racing rivals to Amara, but they turn villainous when they join up with the Mech-Czar and hurt Ada and Amara in the name of becoming the big stars of mech-racing.
- Robot Dog: Kai and Hannah have a robotic dog named Twitch, which instantly bonds with Amara.
- Spider Tank: Garza hijacks Ada's mech-race with Arachnaut, a robotic spider cobbled from Jaeger parts.
- You're Not My Father: Five years into being Amara's surrogate father, Kai gets into an argument with her about stealing the turbo jumpers, and says "No daughter of mine...". Amara, who is still reeling from the death of her biological family, screams that he's not her dad. She later acknowledges that he is her dad...just before he dies.
