Rumplestiltskin is a webcomic adaptation of Rumpelstiltskinnote by H0lyhandgrenade
(who also makes Mokepon). It stars Christine (Chris for short), a girl who's sick and tired of living on a farm with her brother Toby, particularly after both their parents died. After that incident, Toby was too angsty to play pretend with her and all Chris had for true companionship was this strange man who lived in the woods and refused to give his name.
Ten years later, Chris is still sick of living on a farm. Fortunately, she's had plenty of time to not only dream up the perfect adventure that she’d go on eventually, and she's also picked up some minor magical skills (that she's forbidden to use because women with magic have a history of being Drunk on the Dark Side). But lo and behold, word on the street is the king is looking for a bride that can do magic and has modern ideals. Chris decides that it's worth it to drop by and say hello. To Make a Long Story Short, she ends up breaking a bunch of expensive things, indirectly almost murdering a handmaiden and getting herself arrested. How is she supposed to get out of this mess?
Maybe the masked guy that appeared outta nowhere can help.
The whole comic can be read for free here.
This webcomic provides examples of:
- A Dog Named "Dog": Fair. It’s the name of his species.
- Altar Diplomacy: A downplayed, non-arranged version. The king wants to marry a magically-powerful commoner both to help bridge the gap between nobles and commoners and to encourage his kingdom to become more open-minded about magic. He gets to chose his own bride, and does ensure they like each other before getting married.
- Alt Text: Nearly every single page in the Smack Jeeves version.
- Blow You Away: Chris' first onscreen power.
- With Great Power Comes Great Perks: She tries to sweep up her barn with it. Keyword being "tries."
- Bob from Accounting: Or rather his distant relative, Mandy from Down the Road.
- Character Development: Christine grows up a fair bit throughout the comic. Check her talk in chapter 8 with Princess Asche, and compare how well Christine handles it compared to how she would have acted at the start of the story.
- Childhood Friends: Chris and Rumplestilskin.
- Cool Mask: Fair, right on the cover.
- Foreshadowing: Rumplestiltskin is wearing the same mask around his neck.
- The Faceless: Both of them, mask or not.
- Foreshadowing: Rumplestiltskin is wearing the same mask around his neck.
- Famed in Story: Jackandthe Beanstalk apparently happened a long time ago. Princess Asche suggests in chapter 8 that several rags-to-riches fairy tale stories are true and famous in-universe, including Christine's.
- Egopolis: The town you're seeing in the link is simply known as "Jackley."
- Fractured Fairy Tale
- Our Fairies Are Different: The kind that center on True Names, obviously.
- Give a Man a Fish...: The message of this is both Invoked and Averted when Chris suggests that Fair could teach her how to spin straw into gold. The conversation follows as such:Fair: Okay. First, tie your yarn into the bobbin, threading it through the flyer hooks, like you would normal...Chris: Uhuh...Fair: Start treading, allowing the straw to gradually cling to the leader...Chris: Uhuh...Chris: You’re hilarious.
- Hammerspace: Demonstrated perfectly here.◊Chris: Where the hell did you pull that [fully-functioning spinning wheel] from?Fair: My ass.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Caleb has a straight, narrow scar on the left side of his face and is basically a By-the-Book Cop in knight-form.
- "I Want" Song: Fair teases Christine by encouraging her to sing one.
- Once per Episode: Each chapter has a Flash Back part and a current-events part.
- Princess Phase: Chris had one.
- Rich Bitch: Despite being famed in-story as a Royal Who Actually Does Something Princess Asche looks down on common-born girls who make it to the top and disapproves of Christine's kingdom's attempts at modernization, specifically because her own country did it first. It's also implied that she hides behind General Laika, and isn't as talented herself.
- Rubber Forehead Cows: Every cow, no matter the gender, has three horns.
- Sacred First Kiss: “I’m not going to waste it on someone I can’t see.”
- Sacrificial Lion: Poor Toby...
- Scenery Porn: Observe.
- Schizo Tech: On one hand: cattle-driven carriages. On the other: FULLY-ARMORED KNIGHTS ON MOTORCYCLES.
- Shout-Out: "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you."
- The Unpronounceable: Rumplestilskin’s name? It’s not Rumplestilskin.
- Affectionate Nickname: Chris thought it up. Also, Chris herself qualifies.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Toby, when it comes to magic and anything Luviellian. Both had a hand in killing his dad.
- Wizarding School: Chris runs one after becoming Queen.
