Webcomic / Random Doom

Clockwise from far left: Scratch, Sibelius, Edna, Danny, Merry, Elizabeth, Matthew, Cotton, Napoleon, Rupert, Vincent, Veruka, Saria and Ross

Random Doom is a Pokémon webcomic and collection of fan works by TamarinFrog on DeviantArt about a Pokemon trainer named Elisa (formerly know as Jenna), but more importantly about her various Pokemon that she owns. The series started as single gag comics but expanded to have several well developed characters and stories. The series was expanded into a proper story. At the moment, Random Doom consists of:

• Random Doom - A collection of 20 gag comics. Ongoing, last updated in March 2014.
• Random Doom the Comic Series - The spin-off of the aforementioned gag comics. Consists of 7 (and counting) short stories:
  • "Riolu is Born"
  • "For the Love of Luvdisc"
  • "Ghost of Old Chateau"
  • "Dear Departed"
  • "Random Doom in Veilstone City"
  • "Once Upon a Dream (Part 1)"
  • "Once Upon a Dream (Part 2)" -
  • "Many Happy Returns"

Ongoing

• What is Random Doom? - A collection of bios and backstories of various characters from Random Doom's various comics and side works.
• Dozens upon dozens of peripheral pieces of art.

Also, for a collection of assorted fan works, it's popular. Really popular. To the point where Random Doom's comics have managed to gain the following of 7 running fan translations and have led to the creation of a small body of its own fan works, including this story, "The Toxicroak Prince," which was made canon.

On November 9th, 2012, the author has announced a revamp into the main series, due to many loopholes and mistakes she made about the timeline and the characters as well. As a result, every character had its story revised and even small edits happened in the first chapters to make everything more consistent to the ongoing story.

On April 23th, 2018 the comic creator has announced that the series has, more or less, come to an end with its final story arc 'Many Happy Returns' having ended with a Distant Finale, with even the random strips finally coming to an end.

They can all be found here.

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This webcomic contains examples of:

• Art Evolution: The series has been running off-and-on for over a decade. The quality of the artwork has noticeably improved in that time.

• Author Avatar: Prior the 2012 revamp, the Pokémon Trainer was called Jenna, who the name and even the appearance mirrored the original author. Later she changed her name to Elisa, changed her appearance and even made her 10 years older to distance the character from herself.
• Berserk Button: Don't threaten Cotton or Veruka; Napoleon and Vincent respectively will not be happy. Also, it's not wise to tease of test Matthew's patience.

• Babies Ever After:
  • Tragically subverted with Napoleon and Cotton, who can't have a child naturally. Thankfully, they are given an egg that hatches, and adopt the resulting Zorua, naming her Morrigan.
  • Veruka and Vincent are shown to have produced an egg of their own in "Many Happy Returns."

• Cassandra Truth:
  • Rupert claims that he's dating a Loppunny named Vanilla. The problem is that she's a nationally renowned model, so nobody believes him.
  • Napoleon tries to mock this to Cotton... except that she's friends with Vanilla and confirms that Rupert is telling the truth, as seen here.
• Cerebus Syndrome: Random Doom began trending towards more serious undertones and themes starting with the launch of its comic series. Thankfully, it has managed to do so while retaining its initial sense of humor and lovable cast of characters.
• Character Development: The entire cast has evolved from their initial characters over Random Doom's lifespan. One of the most clear-cut examples would be Presto Sebelius' alterations since his introduction.

• Dark and Troubled Past: Multiple ones.
  • Veruka's mother died when the barn she was in burned down, and she never knew her father.
  • Vincent got really lucky; he was the result of a Pokemon version of a Puppy Mill, and his bio openly states that there was a high risk of him dying young or having other genetic problems. Thankfully, the ring was broken up by the cops and Elisa took the poor guy in before he hatched, and he hasn't exhibited any health problems thus far. Then, in his first moments of life, he revealed that he had Earthquake and got trapped in a cave, which traumatized him.
  • Matthew. Dead brother, former battle maniac, troubled love life...
• Dirty Kid; Vincent's first words are:
  Vincent: Dude, she's cute! Do you think I might have a chance to score?
• Disproportionate Retribution: The Gengar from Ghost of Old Chateau had some decidedly nasty plans for revenge for Danny and Merry spoiling the locals' preparations for a party.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Danny really doesn't like it when Merry calls him "Poffin."

• The Fool: Oh, Vincent, Vincent, Vincent, you lovable idiot. You're the klutziest, ditziest character in the strip, a hopeless Fool for Love and inimitable fountain of randomness. And that's exactly why the fans all love you.
• Foreshadowing: This page foreshadows both that Vincent and Veruka have an Aura link as well as Rupert's future relationship with Vanilla.
• Girl on Girl Is Hot: Well, Vincent seems to think so, at any rate.

• I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin!: Rupert and sugar, to the extent where he inadvertently causes a large chunk of Ghost of Old Chateau while attempting to get a soft drink.
• Interspecies Adoption: Napoleon the Floatzel and Cotton the Lopunny are in the same egg group, but one or both of them is infertile, leaving them unable to produce an egg naturally. They adopt an egg from Unova that hatches into a baby Zorua, and she is named Morrigan.
• Jerkass: A few of Elisa's Pokémon have their moments, especially Napoleon and Elizabeth.
• Heartbroken Badass: Napoleon, when it turns out that he and Cotton can't have children naturally.
• Keet: Scratch and Sebelius.

• No-Sell: In "Riolu is Born," when Vincent has just hatched and is running around, Rupert tries to make him flinch with Fake Out. It fails, as Vincent's ability unexpectedly turns out to be Inner Focus, which makes him immune to flinching.
• Odd Friendship: The Power Trio seen below. All three are fighting types, but Vincent and Rupert have types that make them very vulnerable to Veruka's (She's a fire-type, Vincent and Rupert are steel and poison types, respectively). Furthermore, his bio page reveals that Rupert is actually afraid of most fire. Yet somehow, the three of them make it work.
• Perky Goth: Edna may be a witchlike ghost-type, but has a fun-loving (if mischievous) personality.

• Power Trio: Vincent the Lucario, Veruka the Infernape, and Rupert the Toxicroak are all close friends, and the ones most likely to be seen, to the point that the author once announced that there would be a delay in making the next comic because she wanted to have one that didn't star these three.
• Primal Fear: Vincent is terrified of the dark, the result of getting lost in a heavily Poke-populated cave as a young Riolu. This fear, however, is sometimes played for laughs.
• Official Couple: Several. In the main cast alone, we have:
  • Vincent and Veruka
  • Napoleon and Cotton
  • Ross and Saria
  • Rupert and Vanilla
• Retired Badass: Leopold doesn't fight much now, but he won't say no to a worthy opponent. Matthew, on the other hand, was expressly forbidden to fight after he tore off part of Zorro's wing and possibly almost killed him.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Young Vincent in "Riolu is Born."
  • Morrigan, the Zorua who recently joined the cast, is very much this, mostly due being a Zorua, who is known to have a mischief nature.
• Second-Face Smoke: During the "For the Love of Luvdisc" story, Elizabeth does this on Cotton's face. The smoke even come in the shape of a hand holding her chin!
• Shrinking Violet: Ross, especially around Saria.
• Silence Is Golden: The three comics about Napoleon and Cotton trying to have a child are dialogue-less, in order to emphasize the seriousness of the situation.
  • In When Dreams are Broken, Napoleon and Cotton decide to start trying for a baby, but the months pass from May to November without any sign of an egg, and a Pokémon doctor confirms that they cannot have children naturally. They're both heartbroken, but end up comforting each other.
  • In I Still Believe in Miracles, they receive an egg from Unova in the mail, and cry Tears of Joy at the revelation that they are going to become foster parents.
  • In Together We Make a Family, Cotton is sitting under a tree one day with the egg until she feels it begin to crack. She joyously tells Napoleon, and then everyone on the ranch is told about the news. All the Pokémon surround the egg as it hatches, and the last panel shows the new baby, a Zorua whose birth certificate says her name is Morrigan.
• Stalker with a Crush: The Feraligatr from For the Love of Luvdisc.
  • Zorro the Mothim would also qualify for Elizabeth.
  • Edna may apply to this, for knowing (almost) everything about everyone and doesn't care to invade the personal space of other character in order to acquire the information she seeks.

• Time-Passes Montage: In When Dreams are Broken, Napoleon and Cotton start trying to have a baby. In the second panel, the calendar reads May 7 and they're both excited; in the third panel, the calendar now reads November 15 and they're anxious and sad, as it's been months and they still haven't produced an egg.
• Time Skip: While chapters 1 through 6 of "Random Doom: the Series" seemed to take place more or less sequentially, there's plenty of evidence that chapter 7, "Many Happy Returns," takes place months or even years later, since not only is Morrigan around (when there had been several comics previously about Cotton and Napoleon trying- and failing- to have a child together, and said process taking months) but Vincent and Veruka had a relationship upgrade.
• Tsundere: Veruka is a type A.

• Wham Episode: "Many Happy Returns," begins by showing Veruka holding an egg... and Vincent is the father.
• Will They or Won't They?: Several examples.
  • Ross and Saria have been dancing around each other since they first showed up. They finally confess their feelings in "Once Upon A Dream" Part II.
  • Vincent and Veruka. Vincent's been chasing her since... well, literally the first line he ever spoke in official art was "Dude, she's cute, you think I have a chance to score?" "Many Happy Returns" shows that they've had an egg together.

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