Deviant Dead



"We played Xbox through the apocalypse."

- Izzy, Audition Round

One part contest, one part webcomic, one part roleplay, and thirty-two parts awesome, DeviantDead is an Original Character Tournament ongoing comic contest on Deviant ART that asks its contestants to tell the story of a city infested with the undead and its handful of survivors. Each artist has crafted anywhere from one to three characters, each with unique skills, personalities and backgrounds.

Every round, artists are paired off and pitted against each other. They must each tell a story of their characters meeting and interacting in the form of a comic. Entries are judged based on both story and art. The winning comic becomes Canon and the artist continues on to the next round, and those characters get to live to see another day.

DeviantDead is on its fourth round of five as of this writing. All of the contestants have so far woven a thrilling story that seems to be getting better with each passing round.

Has a character sheet.

"Charlie: They're nobodies! Getting attached to them is pointless! You just love to cry about how sad shit is! Well, cry all the fuck you want, because you just don't wanna face the fact that I'm right and you're wrong! Aaron: You...you don't give a shit about anyone else, do you? You don't even give a shit about me! Well, you'll just have to get the hell out of my car. Charlie: No, I don't give two shits about anybody because I'm not a dumb FUCK like you!! That's what made you a fucking RAG, because you gave a fuck about those stupid blondes and your DUMBASS SISTER! What the fuck will you do when you find they're all dead too?! Aaron: HERE'S WHAT I'LL DO, YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! *TWAK*"
 * Action Girl - It'd be harder to find a female character that doesn't have Action Girl moments.
 * Keziah jumps from building to building and kills zombies with a wrench.
 * Q uses a roundhouse kick to fight off a horde.
 * Izzy keeps score of how many she killed.
 * Jestin kills a zombie monkey with an axe underwater
 * The Black and Nerdy Hannah falls to what appears to be her death, but ends up fighting off hordes of zombies alone. With a pointy stick
 * Saby demonstrates to her new companions how to take care of a zombie as a last resort-- with her keys.
 * "Don't waste any time though... go straight for the eyes!"
 * Action Survivor & Fighting for Survival - most of the cast most of the time.
 * Ambulance Chaser - Sef. "Se habla espanol!"
 * Animesque - Certain artists are. The Aaron/Kaylee storyline is probably the most manga-like.
 * Anyone Can Die - And how! There's been at least one major character death per round, and usually more than one.
 * Apocalypse How - Class 0 Regional Catastrophe, as far as we can tell, the zombie threat is isolated to Major City
 * Art Shift - Each artist only draws one story line, and since every one of them has a distinct style, Art Shift is inevitable.
 * Bean and Vaughn have passed along from artist to artist from round one to round three.
 * Asshole Victim - Michael.
 * Backstory - More important to some characters than others.
 * Very important to Ned's storyline, as he begins the story not remembering much of his past, and it's slowly revealed to the reader as he remembers it
 * Used often to explain Simon and Jay's life-long friendship, as well as Simon and Saby's relationship
 * Charlie and Brian's relationship is sometimes explained through flashbacks
 * Averted by characters like Sydney, Mickey and Pierre, whose story seems to focus almost completely on the present
 * Sadly, many characters died before we could learn much about their past
 * Bad Dreams are predominant
 * Pierre has nightmares about changing into a monster
 * Ned has nightmares about the small few things he remembers about his past
 * Renard has nightmares about
 * Brian has nightmares hallucinations about
 * Simon has often dreamed about traumatic moments in his past, including
 * Aaron has nightmares taking him back to his very unhappy childhood.
 * Beard of Sorrow - Both played straight and subverted with Brian. By the start of round three he had grown a beard. It's played straight because this is symptomatic of his general depression, but subverted because
 * Believing Their Own Lies - Many of the survivors are rather hypocritical or delusional
 * Never more evident than in Ned, who's whole personality is based off shutting out the past and starting life from scratch (read: amnesia). He even gave Brian a lecture on being a better father right before
 * Charlie Gilbert honestly thinks he's much cooler/smarter/better than everyone else.
 * Birdie fancies himself a scientist, and actually does some research. Really though,
 * Carl made a huge mistake in thinking that because he played The Hero in movies, he'd be just as heroic in real life.
 * Brian was oblivious to how much Charlie hated him. He was pretty sure he was just doing what a father was supposed to do, and that Charlie was just messed up.
 * Big Screwed-Up Family - Many.
 * The Gilberts are the first to come to mind - superdepressed dad Brian, daddy-issues son Charlie, and lovable  child Joshua.
 * Then the Woodwards - traumatized Kaylee and why-am-I-so-useless Aaron.
 * Bob is implied to come from one of these, though we haven't really seen his family so far.
 * His father showed up in Round 4. Their relationship is yet to be established
 * We also get the feeling that the same applies for Ned, who hasn't been allowed to see the daughter he loves because of his controlling ex-wife
 * Jestin and Taylor came from a family with messily divorced parents. Their mom won total custody of Taylor, and only Jestin was allowed to see him once a week.
 * Black Dude Dies First - The only two black dudes were eliminated in the first round... not to mention the only brown one.
 * Wrong, subverted:
 * Black and Nerdy - Hannah starts out as one of these. She finds out about the end of the world on 4chan.
 * Body Horror - Pierre
 * Mickey
 * Round 3 of Deviant Dead's prompt involved 'mutant' zombies making an appearance. Many of the mutants were horribly deformed people/people with parts they oughtn't have
 * Boisterous Bruiser - Nikolai tries to act like one, but he comes across as a bit scary instead.
 * Jay started as the Insane Proprietor and became this over the course of the story.
 * Bonus Material - In addition to the main story, the administrators also have run several side contests that is collected as bonus material.
 * In addition, the participating artists have make not one but TWO different omakes - a high school one and a Big-Brother style reality show.
 * And besides their rounds, competitors like Crispy-Gypsy and and-also-dinosaurs expand on their characters and stories with in-between rounds
 * Break the Cutie - Just pick one.
 * Mona's bawwing has become a running community joke.
 * Not to mentions Kaylee and her BSOD.
 * Poor Pierre is just a sweet, loveable butterball. And that was just the audition!
 * Mickey is so oblivious optimistic and sweet that you don't want anything bad to happen to him...
 * Camera Fiend - Q. It's part of her Japanese Tourist persona.
 * Car Fu - It happens surprisingly often.
 * Aaron seems to be specially fond of this.
 * Not to mention Molly and Michael, though
 * Carpet of Virility - Jay. Just look at the image on the character sheet.
 * Catch Phrase - Jay again. "And that's a promise!" * wink*
 * City with No Name - The setting is only referred to as The City and (in some portions) Major City.
 * Comic Book Fantasy Casting - Why hey there Thom Yorke Brian.
 * Crack Pairing - Tightly bound with Ho Yay, include Nedx Birdie, Nedx Charlie Wick, Aaronx Charlie Gilbert, Aaronx Luis, Jestinx Renard, and many more have been suggested
 * Crazy Homeless Guy - Ned was one of these before the whole zombie thing. Then he took a turn in badass.
 * Darkest Hour - As DD enters its semi-finals and it's revealed that  most of the comics are heading in this direction
 * Subverted by Buuya, whose rounds have been surprisingly optimistic in spite of everything the characters are going through
 * Depending on the Artist - How the characters are drawn can vary between artists a lot. Just look at Bean and Vaughn.
 * Canon Discontinuity - This is what happens to the storylines of some of the losing artists.
 * Dropped a Bridge on Him -
 * And.
 * Ensemble Darkhorse - Several, but mostly Birdie.
 * Everything's Better with Monkeys.
 * In Round Two, zombie animals escape a zoo, and not only do Renard, Julien and Micheal run into a vicious troupe, but Jestin also has a fearsome battle against the simian beasts.
 * Somehow Mickey manages to
 * Facial Horror -
 * Fan Service - Some of the artists draw pictures of their characters shirtless or otherwise sexy, including a meme involving pin-up magazine covers featuring characters
 * Fan Nickname - each of the four remaining bands of survivors has their own team name.
 * Team Amnesiac Hobo for Ned, JB, Pierre, and Birdie
 * Team Cripple for Mickey, Syd, Eoin, Mona, and Molly
 * Team Daddy Issues for Brian and Joshua (also Charlie and Aaron, who are following them)
 * Team Mid-Life Crisis for Simon, Jay, and Bob.
 * Team Supercute for old Mona and Eoin team.
 * Team Blondeteen for Aaron and Jestin's original team, in which all four characters were blonde and under 18 years old.
 * Faux Death -  appeared to have shot himself off-screen, only for the audience to figure out that it was
 * Could also be said about because she appeared to be dead and gone for good, only to show up again in round 4. How convincing her disappearance was of her death ended up being the reason for her.
 * The Ferry Man - DJ Voice.
 * Fire-Forged Friends - It's hard not to go through the end of the world and not make any friends. It seems that Eoin, Mona, and Molly are the most susceptible to this.
 * Genre Savvy - Most of the characters are aware that its the Zombie Apocalypse, and at least two of them joked about the possibility with their friends before the dead started walking.
 * In fact, the zombies first attacked Molly during a campus-wide game of Humans vs. Zombies.
 * Ghost City - Well, it is the end of the world, after all.
 * Gratuitous English - Again, Q. Though in her defence, it's the only way she can communicate with others.
 * Growing the Beard - Often the longer someone is in an Original Character Tournament, the more their art and comic skills improve. Also for some, this is literal, as their character gets more facial hair as time goes on.
 * High Octane Nightmare Fuel - where to even begin...
 * Buuya's mutated zombie woman from round three. Absorbs other zombies, too many arms, that TONGUE...brr. Just hope it doesn't absorb living people too. Would not imagine that's a nice way to go. Gets even more uncanny realizing that this was an ordinary person (and kitten) once.
 * Not to mention the
 * Renard
 * Brian
 * Pierre's nightmares.
 * Mickey's
 * Charlie walks through a house in and-also-dinosaur's round 2. In the background, we see what seems to be a mother and child sleeping peacefully. Next panel - the dad is sitting in a chair with his brains blown all over the wall. Still think the zombie apocalypse would be cool?
 * Anybody remembers
 * Ho Yay - People are shipping Charlie Gilbert with Aaron and they haven't even met.
 * Finally met as of Round Three. Their relationship is not the healthiest.
 * Ned/Birdie has its fair share of fans
 * Improvised Weapon
 * Insane Proprietor - Crazy Jay wants to make sure you aren't burnt out. And that's a promise. * wink*
 * Intercontinuity Crossover - As is typical for Original Character Tournaments, many of the characters who appear in Deviant Dead originally came from other works by their respective artists. For example, Eoin, Bob and Mona are from their creators' respective webcomic projects - and that's only the beginning.
 * In this case, its more of a new continuity than a combined one; the characters are given adjusted backstories that fit the setting.
 * Japanese Tourist - Q. Complete with constant companion camera and broken Engrish.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters - Making the character sheet was an absolute nightmare.
 * Mary Sue - for the most part mercifully averted.
 * Mayor of a Ghost Town - DJ Voice. He's been using some radio equipment to get people "north" for some reason.
 * Arguably, all the survivors are some form of this.
 * The Medic - Bob. Technically an EMT.
 * Also Michael Creavley to an extent, as he's a med school graduate. although, he hasn't been much of a help so far
 * Memetic Mutation - There are several inside jokes between the DD artists, most predominant of which is to draw DD characters with Tom Cruise's face.
 * Or that Brian's hallucinations and inability to talk to his son was actually just him being fuggin' hiiiiighhhh.Like...you don't even know!
 * other memes that went through the gambit were 'you draw real good', where participants had the survivors drawing characters to enter into an oct, several fanservicey magazine cover/pin-up pictures, and mghfgh to say the least
 * Mercy Kill - Natural for the Zombie Apocalypse trope. Notably,
 * Missing Mom - Where is Mrs. Gilbert? Where is Mrs. Gilbert??
 * I'm sure Brian is taking good care of the children
 * Mrs. Gilbert was introduced in an in-between comic, but from what we learned about her, she appears to still be a Missing Mom even when she's with the children.
 * No-Holds-Barred Beatdown:
 * Not Using the Z Word - Averted.
 * Not always averted, as seen in smilexstranger's comic, where Jestin called them 'ghoulies', or and-also-dinosaurs comic which suggested they might be aliens. several other comics never mentioned the word 'zombie', while many like auryn's, AmanitaZest's and Koeb's stated it explicitly.
 * Now or Never Kiss - After  finds   and figures out that he isn't dead, they have a big smooch,
 * Nuke'Em - The military's answer to the zombie threat, regardless of how many people are still alive in the city when it happens
 * One Charlie Limit: Subverted. Hard.
 * Three. Different. Charlies.
 * Not to mention the dog, and Kaylee's classmate!
 * Don't forget two Michaels.
 * Our Zombies Are Different - Every artist had their own interpretation on the specifics of zombies. Some artists had fast, some had slow, some were more intelligent, and so far no one has mentioned how the zombie apocalypse even started. At least most all of them are flesh-eating.
 * Played X-Box Through the Apocalypse - Tom and Izzy (if the page quote didn't tip you off).
 * Red Shirts - Some artist tend to cast the opponent's characters into this role.
 * Scenery Gorn - The rivers literally runs red with blood.
 * Not to mention the other, run of the mill Zombie Apocalypse destruction.
 * Schedule Slip - it happens.
 * Ship Tease - on several occasions, but the teasing is not always the author's fault or intention, since it's sometimes just the result of their characters being passed on to other authors
 * In the very start, we are lead to believe Pierre and has a sweet crush on a co-worker, but then
 * Mona and Eoin are good friends and even shared an adorable hug, but Eoin reveals that he's looking for his girlfriend. It doesn't stop them from being a Fan-Preferred Couple
 * Izzy began crushing on Keziah, and admitted to finding her attractive, but was sort've shot down and
 * There has been enough fodder for people to begin to ship Hannah and Jay.
 * There's hints that Ned and JB could like each other all over Crispy-Gypsy's comics, but no solid proof yet that they could become a couple
 * This seems to be proof that they are meant to be canon
 * Michael and Julien seemed to have some chemistry, but then
 * Aaron and Jestin were getting quite flirty, including snuggles and blushes, but
 * It could be argued that there is enough evidence to ship Charlie and Aaron, but most of the flagrant teasing is just and-also-dinosaurs and Penril's own spectator comics and drawings. Although it should be noted that when it's the character's creators doing the shipping, that alone should be enough to go on.
 * It's been stated that Penril that Aaron is actually straight (and likes blondes!), but we've still got to see what will happen with them in the future.
 * Since the verdict is still out on Charlie, who knows...
 * This, even as a joke, seems to imply something...
 * Shut UP, Hannibal - Aaron sort of gave one of these to Charlie at the end of round 4.
 * Shut UP, Hannibal - Aaron sort of gave one of these to Charlie at the end of round 4.


 * He did end up
 * Sinister Subway - Watch out, Team Midlife Crisis (and Bob)! There's a horrible  zombie down there!
 * So Bad It's Good - Some artists go for a cheesy throw-back to old zombie movies as part of the appeal to their comics. This includes delightfully cheesy or punny round and contest titles for the main competition.
 * Story Arc - that's what rounds are for.
 * Sturgeon's Law - Partly applies, partly subverted, because as the contest progresses relatively weak contestants gradually leave.
 * Tear Jerker -
 * They Look Just Like Everyone Else - This could be said about many of the survivors, as the zombie apocalypse has brought about surprising changes in very average-looking people. One of the most surprising was
 * Thoroughly Mistaken Identity - After meeting him, Brian seems convinced that
 * Tonight Someone Dies - Some of the rounds of Deviant Dead were mandatory death rounds, so inevitably, every comic had to have at least one person die off before it was over.
 * Too Good to Last - Due to the nature of the contest, many characters with amazing potential were killed off when their creators lost.
 * Took a Level in Badass - Many of the characters do this over the course of the apocalypse.
 * Ned went from being a hobo that everyone makes fun of to a sort of The Hero to a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits
 * Jay went from a sleazy salesman to a Boisterous Bruiser
 * Hannah went from Black and Nerdy to Action Survivor
 * Subverted by characters like, for whom the apocalypse seems to have brought out the worst in.
 * The Voice - Hell, the character is even called DJ Voice.
 * What Could Have Been - Common in OCT's, when an artist loses or forfeits, whatever story resolution their comic was hinting at usually gets dropped
 * What Happened to the Mouse? - Happens a bit to characters who don't move on and also don't die. For example:
 * Hannah and Sef were this until showing up again in Buuya's Round 4.
 * Renard has more or less vanished since wandering off at the end of Round 3.
 * Renard reappeared in Buuya's round 4
 * Michael (of Michael and Julien) has yet to return.
 * Except for the fact that Michael is in and-also-dinosaur's round 4
 * Even  was accounted for in Crispy-Gypsy's round 4, so most all people that go missing show up again in time.

)
 * Zombie Apocalypse - Of course.
 * Zombie Infectee - Pierre,.