Protect the Knight is a Korean Webtoon that was licensed for an English release on the Webtoons app, where all but the latest 5 chapters can be read for free and it updates weekly.
Ye-eun lives with her older sister, a working woman and an avid collector of figurines and models. When dreaming of kissing her cute classmate, she decides to practice on the new knight figurine her sister had gotten as a gift. This winds up bringing him to life! Byrk recalls a proud career as a knight, fighting for his kingdom, and suspects that the dangerous witch he was on a mission to defeat is the one responsible for cursing him into the form of a toy.
Now Ye-eun must figure out how she was able to bring Byrk to life, find a way to return him to his original world, and keep her classmates from finding out that she's carrying a knight figurine around in her purse.
This work contains examples of
- Alpha Bitch: One of Ye-eun's classmates gets an embarrassing photo of her with Byrk, and blackmails her into staying away from Huichan with it. She reveals the photo after they become friends anyway, but it ultimately backfires when Huichan reveals to the class that he likes figurines and dolls too.
- Ascended Fangirl: Ye-eun's sister is quite excited once she finds out about Byrk's situation.
- Big Brother Instinct: Byrk became a knight to protect the princess, whom he has no romantic interest in, because she's his little sister.
- On a related note, a man who has a crush on Ye-eun's sister also becomes protective of Ye-eun, defending her when a man tries to steal Byrk and giving her his contact info to use if she ever gets harassed again.
- Distressed Dude: Byrk being doll-sized means that he is quite easily stolen.
- Magic Kiss: Ye-eun's kiss is what brings Byrk to life, and another kiss turns her into a doll, and a third one will make her normal again.
- Mr. Fanservice: Byrk winds up shirtless more than once.
- Oblivious to Love: The entire series happens because a man who has a crush on Ye-eun's sister finds Byrk at the beach and realizes she might like to add him to her collection. She doesn't realize he has a crush on her.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Ye-eun's crush, Huichan, actually likes dolls and figurines but hides it because when he was younger he was made fun of for his interests. Ye-eun still likes him after finding out.
- Required Secondary Powers: Being a doll also means a much higher pain threshold and the ability to shrug off lost limbs. This is Played for Laughs.
- Wicked Stepmother: Byrk was born to a king and a commoner, and the queen fiercely opposed him becoming heir to the throne because she feared it would mean he'd become a threat to her position.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: When trying to figure out how to open the doorway between worlds, Ye-eun's sister has her attempt to reenact various portal fantasy plot points, such as going into a wardrobe and climbing down a well.
- Yandere: The witch's reason for kidnapping the princess was actually to lure out Byrk, her true target. Her goal was to turn him into a doll and keep him for herself.
