Fray

"Bad day. Started bad. Stayed that way."

Fray is an 8-issue Comic Book series written by Joss Whedon. It's a Spin-Off of the work that made Whedon famous, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Hundreds of years in the future, teenage cat burglar Melaka Fray discovers that she is the Slayer, one girl in all the world chosen to fight the vampires, demons, etc. Unfortunately, things have changed since Buffy took up the stake; the Watchers Council have gone insane waiting for the next Slayer to be called, and her only ally is the demon Urkonn, who has reasons of his own for helping her. But there's no time for doubts -- the monsters are back, and someone is planning on ending the world. Again.

Not to be confused with the band The Fray.

"Erin: (after crashing a car onto Icarus) That's for my brother, dickhead."
 * All of the Other Reindeer: Averted. In a world where mutations and birth defects are common, and people deliberately modify their bodies through cybernetics, bio-engineering and drugs, a girl with Slayer skills doesn't really stand out. Even a rather large demon like Urkonn hardly seems out of place.
 * And This Is For:

"MEL: You hib me wib a girder! URKONN: How many claws am I holding up? MEL: You hib my face wib a whole girder! URKONN: You were meant to duck MEL: Can we skib degsteriby?"
 * Angsty Surviving Twin: Though they aren't identical, Mel angsts over accidentally getting her brother Harth munched by Icarus while out on a grab.
 * Arc Welding: The Season Finale of Buffy Season 8 has Buffy.
 * Bald of Evil: Icarus, complete with Beard of Evil.
 * Big Applesauce: Of course, this being the 23rd century, Manhattan is now simply Haddyn.
 * Big Bad:
 * Bad Future: Quoth Whedon, "The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and there are flying cars." It isn't exactly V for Vendetta, but jeez...
 * Bar Brawl: Mel starts one by picking a fight with someone who mocked Loo.
 * But for Me It Was Tuesday: Inverted. Mel knows that for Icarus attacking her and killing Harth should have been Tuesday. So when they cross paths and Icarus does recognize her, (and knows that she's the Slayer) she realizes that something strange is going on...
 * The Call Knows Where You Live: Mel pretty much drags her feet over the whole Slayer thing until
 * The Call Has Bad Reception
 * Catapult Nightmare: Mel, remembering her run-in with Icarus.
 * Creepy Child:
 * Dead Sibling: Harth.
 * Also,.
 * The Dragon: Icarus. Previously the Big Bad of Haddyn but Demoted to Dragon by
 * Eldritch Abomination: Boluz and Vrill, who act as The Man Behind the Man, and Neauth.
 * Extraordinarily Empowered Girl: Mel. Of course.
 * Flash Back: To Harth getting killed by Icarus, and the aftermath.
 * Future Slang: To the point where Buffy starts thinking she should have treated the English language better in the Season 8 tie-in... The slight downside is that no one remembers words like "vampire."
 * Mexican Standoff: Averted. ZZZAP! "I don't have a standoff..."
 * Most Common Superpower: Averted. Joss explicitly states in the TPB that "I wanted a real girl, with real posture, a slight figure (that's my classy way of saying 'little boobs')."
 * Motivational Lie:
 * Multicolored Hair: Mel.
 * Parental Abandonment: We don't see or hear about the Fray siblings' parents. At all.
 * Parental Substitute: Amma and Jove, Loo's parents.
 * Reality Ensues: Mel has been killing vampires left and right, so sends Icarus to finish her off. Big face-off between the Slayer and the monster who killed  her brother? Not so much.
 * Saying Too Much:
 * Shout-Out: After, one of the ads is the moving soda ad from Blade Runner.
 * Tattooed Crook: Icarus.
 * Training From Hell: Urkonn's idea of dexterity training is throwing stuff at Mel and having her avoid them. It doesn't go well.


 * Treacherous Advisor: Urkonn is helping Fray stop from starting the apocalypse because his demon masters aren't ready for it yet, and supposed to kill her when she was done.
 * Twin Tropes: Mel and Harth, fraternal twins.
 * Undead Child:
 * Unusually Uninteresting Sight
 * Waif Fu: Its a Joss Whedon work, what else were you expecting?