Webcomic / The Awakened

Ladies and gentlemen, our hero.

Chase Sigismund is falling apart. Chronic insomnia will do that to you. But is his life spiraling out of control because of a simple sleep disorder? Or did reality just become much worse than his nightmares?

What if nothing were coincidence? What if every happy or horrible event that took place in your life was put there on purpose? What if it were all an experiment; a war game that has taken place on a hidden plane since the dawn of humanity? What if you woke to find yourself in the midst of it? What if everything you thought was true was, in fact, a lie?

A fantasy webcomic by Sarah Davis following long-suffering Butt-Monkey Chase, a paranoid teenager who discovers that his nightmares have root in reality. An adventure/drama, with elements of comedy.

Contains violence, language and adult themes.

The comics main webssite is here and ut can also be found here at the artist's DA gallery, along with supporting material.

As far as we can tell the original run of the comic began sometime in 2006. The comic went on it's first hiatus on July 19th 2009. However, starting January 9, 2011, it began updating again. The early parts of the strip were revamped as well as having material added. Essentially the entire comic got a Continuity Reboot, seeing as none of the later pages from the earlier rendition are available for so much as as a comparison. However while the comic updated regularly between January and August 2011 updates stopped (apart from a couple of sketches) until May 2013. Updates were then pretty solid until February 2014 when they died off again, with only two updates throughout the rest of the year. Nothing was updated until January 2016, then updates again stopped after February 2016. Nothing was heard from the author until June 2018 where they penned a lengthy Tumblr post explaining the realities of life (not least of which the vast differences between the author's eighteen year old self who started the comic and their current mid-thirties self) and inviting feedback on whether they should reboot the comic again or "put it to bed" as part of the artists early history and start new projects.

---

This webcomic provides examples of:

• Affably Evil: Keelan. Or at least it seems that way when he's first introduced.
• All There in the Manual: Half the cast (namely Eddie, Garrett, and Fairfax) hasn't even appeared in the comic yet but are featured prominently in promotional artwork for the series.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: Montague.
• Art Evolution: Compare the original first chapter and the redone version.
• Badass Longcoat: Keelan.
• Brainwashed: Happens to Libby.
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Chase starts off talking to his therapist about how his various issues may have started in kindergarten when a classmate refused to let him play with a toy dinosaur.
  Therapist: That doesn't sound very traumatic, Chase.
  Chase: Well, when I asked to play with it, he said no in a really mean voice. Then he stabbed me in the face with a concealed switchblade, and after that repeatedly pummelled me with the dinosaur until I finally passed out from blood loss, at which point I think he might have raped me in the ass with its tail.
  Therapist: Oh.
• Butt-Monkey: Chase, though to some extent also a Chew Toy (see: Escape Fail).
• Comedic Sociopathy: Sue.
• Compelling Voice: Montague, coupled with Hypnotic Eyes.
• Cool Shades: Tristan.
• Cute Bruiser: Sue.
• The Drag-Along: Chase.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Irwin and Samantha Pavey in the background. just after the diner scene in Chapter 3.
• Family-Unfriendly Violence: You've been warned. This page in particular.
• Family-Unfriendly Death: Kishan.
• Fish out of Water: Oh Chase, Chase, Chase.
• Gentleman Snarker: Montague.
• Good Is Not Nice: Not always, at least. As shown with Tristan.
• Hypnotic Eyes: Montague.
• Huge Girl Tiny Guy : Samantha and Irwin Pavey. They're siblings, however.
• Jerkass: Tristan.
• Large Ham: Tristan has his moments, according to Asher.
• Lean and Mean: Montague is 7'2" and only 144 lbs.
• Lovable Coward: Chase.
• Lovable Traitor: Keelan.
• Naïve Newcomer: Chase.
• Nightmare Sequence: Several.
• Noble Demon: Montague and Keelan... to an extent. Montague is "perfectly hospitable" to Libby, even though he brainwashed her. And although Keelan still betrays Kishan, he still shows distaste over the actions he has to take, as well as offering Libby several chances to give up and save herself.
• Manchild: Asher sometimes comes across as this.

  "Throw it! Throw it! Throw it! Throw it-Ah! I really thought you were gonna do it that time but you didn't."

• Odd Job Gods: There are elements for everything, from simple things like fire or love down to, and I quote, "really great recipes involving peanut butter."
• Our Monsters Are Different: All human 'monster' myths are based on the true forms of awakened Fighters.

• Power Perversion Potential: Montague uses his mind control ability to get Libby to sleep with him. Although he did seem a little surprised when she pounced.

• Shapeshifting: You change species when you become a Fighter. Luckily, at least in Valhalla (the Good city) there are support groups to help you adjust to the change.

• Skewed Priorities: Chase is being dragged unconscious through the forest by wolves, while surrounded by evil Elements, and wonders briefly whether tide will get out the mud stains.

• Wolverine Publicity: Irwin has only appeared in 5 panels so far, despite practically being the mascot of the series.

---