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RPG World is a web comic by Ian Jones-Quartey (a.k.a. Ian J.) that takes place in the environment of a role-playing video game (RPG). While much of the humor and story-telling focuses on parody of console RPG clichés and tropes, the story is also meant to stand on its own. The comic is drawn in an idiosyncratic manga-influenced style, and most installments are now in full color.
Most of the story, characters and jokes are based on clichés in the console RPG and anime genres. For example, the main character, Hero, has large, blond, spiky hair; amnesia; and wields an oversized sword—traits that are shared with that most preeminent of RPG protagonists, Final Fantasy 7's Cloud Strife. The other characters fit into similar molds. The villains, too, fit a number of archetypes, such as the huge and faceless corporation, the insane and effeminate individual, and the enigmatic man. Other cliches include the tendency of every major character (and often minor ones as well) to have some sort of buried history with one another.
RPG World is part of the bagofchips comic alliance, and of KeenSpot. Before joining KeenSpot, it was hosted on KeenSpace.
RPG World chapters are called disks, as if it were a multiple-disk game. After every disk is over, Jones-Quartey takes a break by making "Jim. The Guy Who Plays RPG World" comics. They poke fun at the stereotypes about gamers, i.e. Jim is a slob with a bias for Sony products, and lacks any friends except for one, who makes fun of him. The comics are actual photographs with dialogue bubbles overtop. "Jim" is played by David, not Ian J. himself.
Characters
Heroes
Party Members
- Hero
- The spiky-haired party leader. His weapons include various types of swords. An unlikely hero out for adventure, the naive and innocent Hero has no memory of his past other then a brief service in the SEVIL army. While an expert at fighting and solving side missions, Hero has a hard time fathoming more abstract concepts like love, much to Cherry and Diane's chagrin.
As displayed during the incident with the pirates, Hero is somehow able to tap into a mysterious power called the Tatsachore, though only elves and monsters are supposed to be able to wield it. Nevertheless, this power allows him to draw energy from the bond he shares with his friends. Much speculation has resulted on how Hero can do this (or rather, no speculation at all, but... shut up.), and the most likely reason is because of the "modifications" that were done to him while he was in SEVIL. This ability means that he, along with Diane (a half-monster) and Cherry (an elf) may be the ones that will decide the outcome of the impending war between races.
- Cherry Blossomfeather
- The sarcastic thief and summoner. She is revealed to be an elf.<p>Cherry was the first party member to meet Hero, when he interrupted her attempt to rob an innocent traveler. Though she initially agreed to accompany Hero on his quest for the money, Cherry quickly found herself attracted to Hero, much in part to his free and innocent nature.<p>Cherry is also the "Sacras One" of the elves, a child born only once in every few generations with a special birthmark. This means that Cherry, like Hero, is connected directly to the Tatsachore, but unlike Hero, Cherry uses this connection to see past the bounds of their world... leading her to point out the confusing nature of RPG-structured gaming. The elves had hoped that she would become their leader for the approaching war between races, but Cherry ran away. Recently, she was reunited with her people and her father, who, despite not approving of her fraternizing with humans, was more understanding of Cherry's choice of profession.<p>Whoever she is, with AKAs like "Sacras One" and "The Chosen One" you know that something's going on. And you know she's going to have no clue how to handle it. And you ALSO know that since Hero thinks he's the "Chosen One", he'll be absolutely oblivious to this.
- Class: Thief. Later, summoner.
- Weapon: Dagger. Later, crossbow.
- First Appearance: #1, August 27, 2000.
- Tech: Summon
- Angst-Filled Teen: The events in #133 feature a cameo of the lead character from Stubble as Cherry's first summon. This happens concurrently with Stubble #117 which guests Cherry.
- Nexion: A beast Cherry summons from the shower.
- The Intern: Dilton is an intern of Shida (ice summon). His attacks rely on work experience and includes a Dilbert parody. Galgarion uses the Dismiss Summon ability on him.
- Diane
- She has a healing ability named "Kiss", along with being the party's resident Mage. Her primary weapon: a staff.<p>Lien...uh, I mean Diane, ran away from home after her Mom died and her father and stepmother tried to push her into an arranged marriage. (As it turned out, possibly to Hero! (#381)) She was adopted by a harlot named Misty, and was about to follow in her adopted mother's footsteps when she stumbled upon the Hero recruiting new party members.<p>Diane only recently discovered that her mom, Taesa, was a monster that her father met in South City, making Diane a monster/human hybrid and explaining her affinity for magic. She and Eikre have a love-hate relationship going, and they even pretended to be husband and wife at one point. Like Cherry, Diane harbors feelings for Hero. Unlike Cherry, she has no problem acting on those feelings, leading to friction between the two girls and confusion for apparently loveable Hero.<p>Now that the party is in South City, Diane hopes to discover what became of her little brother, though he might be closer than she thinks...
- Class: Harlot. Later, mage.
- Weapon: Purse. Later, Mage Staff.
- Eikre
- He loves Evil. The Band. He had a super-cool, uber-damaging move before he joined the party, but then decided "not to use it any more."<p>A penchant for horrible puns and `the ladies' are Eikre's trademarks. Though initially it seemed that he was probably Galgarion in disguise, (an opinion supported by his suspicious shoutings of "Still thy tongue!" mumblings of `evil plans' and wearings of `I love Evil' t-shirts) it turned out that he was, you know, just a guy, and all the evidence to the contrary was just a number of unbelievable coincidences.<p>Hailing from the town of Ubelton, where the economy is based on performing evil deeds and the training to perform evil deeds. Eikre would've been content to follow his friends on a path of kicking dogs and stealing candy, if it wasn't for Jeff.<p>Eikre's friend Jeff learned the true meaning of evil from the Tiger Book, one of the four mystical keys. The book led Jeff on a destructive rampage resulting in the death of Eikre's mother. From that day forward, Eikre vowed to do his best to rid the world of evil instead of contribute to it. And to get with lots of "the ladies".
- Weapon: Dagger. Later, Dual Knives.
- Attacks: Slice, Double Slice, Backstab, Backslash, Soulfire (September 24, 2004)
- First Appearance: #50, February 2, 2001
- Dragobo
- A young, dragonlike creature hatched from an egg. He uses signs to communicate. According to Wilfrod the Dragobo Farmer, he is a rare "Fighting Dragobo;" other than Eikre, however, the party has shown little interest in developing his natural abilities.
- Reka
- A wrench-wielding heroine who creates powerful robots. She later died, but there are a few 'friends' trying to find a way around that little detail.... If you can't figure out how, we suggest playing Chrono Trigger.<p>Cute, smart and British, Reka is the captain of "The Happy Pirate" - a ship crewed by intelligent robots of her own design. It also happens to be the ship that the main party stowed away on.<p>Reka joined the party in order to take revenge on Galgarion for her father Thad's murder. Thad was killed for `going against' SouthCorp, but before he died, he told Reka about an important treasure he had left somewhere at the bottom of the sea. Reka was on her way to retrieve the treasure when she first encountered the party. Perhaps the only party member with a personal reason to stop Galgarion, she has proved herself a valuable member of the party both in and out of battle.<p>She eventually was able to confront Galgarion twice; once in Langoria, and again in the Dark Woods. There, after a fierce battle, Galgarion brutally killed the unarmed Reka and vanished, thus ending Disk 2.
- Class: Science Pirate
- First Appearance: #156, October 28, 2001
- Weapon: Wrench
- Attack: Whack
- Dual Tech: Fire Wrench
Other Major Heroes
- Evil Soldier #347
- A former soldier under Galgarion.<p> 347 used to work for Galgarion. But that was before Galgarion fired him, destroyed his village and took the souls of his wife Calla and their children. Now he wanders the land with Plum looking for a way to take revenge on his former master. He also has really, really bad eyesight.
- Plum Windrock
- An elf, who was sent by the Head Chancellor of Langoria to find Hero, but somehow got tangled up with Evil Soldier 347 instead. When they finally found the party at Sonova Shores, Plum recognized Cherry and denounced her as an elf, before being knocked unconscious by Galgarion and once again losing the party in the confusion.
She again caught up to the party in Langoria, but by this time they had gotten to the kingdom of the elves under their own steam, and Plum was demoted to Jail Guard for her failure. Since then she has continued wandering the world with Evil Soldier #347 searching for a way to defeat Galgarion and regain the respect of her people.
- Howard Wigglebottom
- A "Mubble," no relation to moogle.<p>Howard is a mubble, a cute fuzzy little race of beings that live in the forests of RPG World. Howard first encountered the party when he robbed them of 3000G and their Dragobo in order to help liberate his people, who had been taken captive by the nefarious Detestai. Later he would meet up with them again when landing in a nearby haystack after being thrown out of an airship by Evil Soldier #347. He has joined the party to save the soul of his friend Azif, and the "light energy" of his girlfriend Caroline,, which were both stolen by Galgarion when he attacked the Mubble Village. Howard may look cute, but he's one tough little guy. Of course you would be too if you'd survived a drop from an airship, and were forced to undergo the mental duress of having to wait for weeks on end in the Menu Bar for non-active players.
- First Appearance: #44
- Race: Mubble
- Class: Cute Fuzzy Thing
- Rabble-Rouser (Reginold)
- A Breakdancer class monster related to Diane<p>A pickpocket and a breakdancer, Rabble-Rouser is the hippest of the denizens of South City... or that's what he tells himself. Unbeknownst to Rabble-Rouser, but knownst to us, he is Diane's brother.
- First Appearance: #286
- Race: Monster
- Class: Breakdancer
Villains
Major Villains
- Galgarion
- The main villain of the comic and fictional game.<p>The main bad guy, and all-around evil personality, Galgarion was in the Hero's unit in SEVIL when they went on a raid to retrieve the Phoenix Book: an ancient relic from before the great war, and one of the four mystical keys. Once he had the book in his possession, Galgarion went AWOL and decided to use the power in the book to rule the world.<p>Though Galgarion was always a major jerk, he took a serious turn for the evil upon returning home from a trip to South City with a mysterious black mask. Since then. he's wiped out whole villages, killed Soldier 347's family out of spite and supposedly killed Reka's father, though he denies it. It seems that he is in league with SouthCorp though he has admitted he is only biding his time. His only really redeeming feature is his good taste: he is madly in love with Cherry and will go to any end to get her.
- Attacks: Evil Fire, Evoke Aroth, Dismiss Summon
- Jeff
- Insane and effeminate, Jeff is the secondary main villian.<p>A shadowy evil from Eikre's past, Jeff is in possession of one of the mystical keys; the Tiger Book, which according to Eikre explains the nature of evil. Jeff was friends with Eikre and Hawk back in school until he was corrupted by the Tiger Book and went on a murderous rampage through the town, killing Eikre's mother in the process. Eikre fought with him and ran him out of Ubelton, but Jeff has recently resurfaced in the upper echelons of SEVIL.
- Detestai
- Has the ability to become an anthropomorphic cat. Also, changes personalities according to whether or not her glasses are on or off.<p>Hell hath no fury like a cute lil' cat-lady scorned. Detestai, like Larry and Earl, is a cat- human shapeshifter. Unlike Larry and Earl, she only ever transforms part way. She used to be Galgarion's girlfriend, but he took all her money and broke her heart. Now she wants revenge... as long as her glasses are on. Otherwise she just wants cuddles.
- Oligarch
- A high ranking official at SouthCorp and ostensibly Galgarion's boss. (Though, as Galgarion ominously said in #394: "It's not you whom I'm reporting to.") Oligarch is, like so many others in RPG World, intent on ruling the world. At the moment, he is mainly concerned with getting the heroes to SouthCorp in time for the dark moon... whatever that means...
Minor Villains
- Earl and Larry
- Detestai's underlings, who happen to be cats, and get killed fairly often. Some say, when their death-count reaches 9, they won't come back to life.<p>Just a couple of morphing cat creatures never meaning no harm... unless Detestai orders it. She's the brains, they're the brawn. They're also really good at information gathering thanks to the books at your local library. Unfortunately for them, they tend to get killed a lot. Fortunately for them, they've got lives to spare... for now.
- The Dragobo-Nabbers
- This evil, tricky bunch, Hawk and Tonya (and their talking dragobo Exodragon) kidnapped lil' Abner in a bid to get Farmer Wilfrod's prize red racing dragobo (got all that?) they challenged Reka to a `battle of cute things' and were soundly beaten.<p>However, it also turned out that Hawk was an old friend of Eikre from Ubelton, and had trained in the evil arts with Eikre and Jeff. Small world.
Non-Playable Characters
- Times are Tough Guy
- NPC who only can say "*sigh* Times are Tough". Quite possibly the most popular RPG World character.
- First Appearance: #9 (http://www.rpgworldcomic.com/d/20001021.html), October 21, 2000
- Capulin
- Cherry's hyperactive father, from whom she ran away.
- Cherimoya
- Cherry's older, and less popular sister.
- Taesa & Erad
- Diane's parents. The mage Arifina used a tascachore altering potion requiring the blood from Erad's forehead; it allowed Diane to appear fully human and for Taesa to survive the birth. The spell failed during Taesa's second pregnancy bearing Rabble-Rouser leading to her death.
- Erad's First Appearance: #380 (http://rpgworldcomic.com/d/20030627.html), June 27, 2003; Taesa's First Appearance: #384 (http://rpgworldcomic.com/d/20030711.html), July 11, [2003]]
- Kapta
- Diane's stepmother.
- First Appearance: #380 (http://rpgworldcomic.com/d/20030627.html), June 27, 2003
- Piddo and Podder-Head
- Two of Reka's beloved robot creations, Piddo and Podder-Head, though made only out of `gears' are really all heart. Piddo, a hyperactive mechanical genius with no common sense, and Podder Head, (designation PDRHED-01) a warrior bereft of his sword arm by a well placed `steal' technique. Now with Reka gone, her `children' are focusing their attentions on finishing Machine Guy's time machine so that they can go back and save their mom.
- Popsicle
- If Rabble Rouser was the protagonist, Popsicle would be the lead love interest. Of course, Rab isn't much of a protagonist, so Popsicle isn't really interested.
- First Appearance: #348 (http://rpgworldcomic.com/d/20030404.html), April 4, 2003
- Glenn
- Third member of Rabble Rouser's crew, Glenn the DJ is Rab's right hand monster, and is always willing to take a `seven winks' for the team
- First Appearance: #348 (http://rpgworldcomic.com/d/20030404.html), April 4, 2003
Non-game Characters
- Jim
- The guy who plays RPG World. He is depicted through a series of live action still photographs. He is played by David, a friend of the comic's creator.<p>Jim is an everyman, sitting alone in his basement three days a week playing his favorite video game as slowly as he can on a television that regularly switches from black and white to color and back. He is a metaphor for everyone who's ever held a controller, for everyone whose tried to resist the urge to look at the strategy guide... and failed. He's you. He's me. He's Jim.
- Jim's Friend
- Jim's only friend, he frequently makes fun of Jim for being a stereotypical gamer. He has since departed to do missionary work, but is still remembered fondly by Jim.
Key Items
- Phoenix Book
- Galgarion's book about conquering the world.
- Tiger Book
- Jeff's book about evil ethics, war tactics and strategy.
- Spirit Bead
- An item that allows an elf to summon.
- Power Bead
- Small stones which can be forged onto weapons in order to enable abilities or effects. They are linked to the earth and increase energy. Seems to be a parody of the attachment system in the games Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2. (Appears in #315 (http://www.rpgworldcomic.com/d/20030101.html), January 1, 2003)
- "I LOVE EVIL" Shirt
- A T-shirt of Eikre's favorite band. It has yet to be washed.
Important Terms
- SEVIL
- The true nature of the Society for the Evasion of Vile evIl Life is still shrouded in mystery. Though supposedly formed to "protect the rights and freedoms of all humans" SEVIL's name and suggestive acronym seem to suggest a less benevolent purpose.<p>SEVIL chemically enhances all of its soldiers so that they gain super strength when angered. This enhanced state, known as "SEVIL Rage" can be countered with an injection of SEVIL-die, as Rabogee did to Hero during his capture. Many of the humans in the story have been linked to SEVIL, including Hero, Galgarion, Diane's dad Erad, and numerous other NPCs. As well Jeff, the murderous evil from Eikre's past, has been revealed near the top of SEVIL's chain of command, though no one knows just how far up it goes.
- Southcorp
- A corporation of monsters located in South City, SouthCorp, like SEVIL is attempting to manipulate the heroes to their own nefarious ends.<p>SouthCorp is somehow linked with Galgarion's past, as well as with the Phoenix Book, though the specifics have yet to come to light.
- Three Souls
- Three of each main race--human, monster, and elf--destined every thousand years to change the course of the world.
- Tatsacore
- The lifeforce of the world.
- RPGW Sketchy Theater
- A pencil sketched comic strip outside of the main story.
Publications
- Jones-Quartey, Ian. (2004) Rpg World Unlikely Hero Out for Adventure: The Comic That's in a Video Game Volume 1. Publisher: Keenspot Entertainment. ISBN 0972235043
References
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