Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures



Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures is a light-hearted Animesque Furry Comic originally based on characters on an early MMO (Furcadia) of which the author, Amber M. Williams, was a regular member.

It is a well-written and consistently funny series with a surprisingly detailed Backstory (much of it only given in an extended world description presented as a set of separate webpages). However, it's probably best to start with Chapter 6 or 7, or even 12, which leads into a Retool.

Check it out.

""I offer this advice to you two: If you're going to destroy something... do it mid-dialogue. They always expect you to finish talking first.""
 * Adorkable: Jyrras.
 * Affably Evil
 * Fa'Lina, to the point that some wonder if she's even evil at all. Although, evil or not, Fa'Lina is an utter bitch sometimes. (Technically she is a complete bitch all the time. Since she's, you know, a poodle.)
 * Kria is a bit too affable.
 * A God I Am: Subverted by Jyrras who tries hard to convince Lorenda he's not playing god in his lab, with mitigated success.
 * All Crimes Are Equal: Albanion is well known for handing out Fae curses at the most minute perceived slight towards Queen Nutmeg. Refusing a hug (even if the spear in her chest would have killed you for accepting), running out of Nutmeg's favorite cookies, sneezing in her general direction... of course, this is pretty much par for the course for his Cloudcuckoolander race.
 * All Part of the Show
 * All There in the Manual: The Demonology 101 pages.
 * Exclusively Evil: Mostly averted by Word of God.
 * Amazingly Embarrassing Parents
 * Kria hands down, as she demonstrates here and here. And she outdoes herself here.
 * And we also have Moira who reminds Jyrras that he will always be her baby boy.
 * Ambiguous Gender: Mink and Fluffy. Whether Mink's a male or a female without Non-Mammal Mammaries has yet to be confirmed, thanks to the use of Gender Neutral Writing, and in a Reader Mail, Amber admitted that not even she knows what gender Fluffy's supposed to be. And apparently, Mink's gender won't be revealed in the foreseeable future. Especially because not even Mink hirself knows.
 * Ambiguously Gay: Abel
 * Amoral Attorney: Jyrras's mother, Moira Gianna. Kria not only recognizes her, but admits being only second most evil next to her. She even causes Kria to have a Even Evil Has Standards moment.
 * And Then John Was a Zombie:
 * Anti-Magic: Fa'Lina recommends two methods for avoiding mind reading from cubi telepathy: either memorize mind-numbingly dull textbooks or make yourself seem like an unappealing target.
 * Arranged Marriage: Wildy has one set up for a certain age and her father has so far found five possible candidate husbands which she finds acceptable. When Dan points out how weird this sounds to him, she replies that not having your marriage arranged sounds weird, backwards and impractical to her.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Kria's hobbies are "chaos, destruction, hiking" while Regina's are "mayhem, murder, jewelery-making".
 * Art Evolution: Just look at the first comic and the last comic- you could never tell they were the same artist!
 * Lampshaded after  has become an adult cubi: he is shown a photo album picture of an old strip to demonstrate that yes, his powers have made him sexier.
 * Asexual:
 * Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny: Warp Aci are especially prone to this.
 * Attractive Bent Gender: Well at least Biggs thinks so.
 * Author Appeal: The fact that two of the main characters are male, are relatively well-built, and walk around shirtless most of the time probably has nothing at all to do with this trope.
 * Author Guest Spot
 * Author Phobia: Amber is frightened by horses, and the main villain is a demonic black horse. One of the other scary characters (Kria) appears to be some sort of zebra with wings. I wouldn't say it's much of a stretch to assume that this is because of Amber's fear of equines.
 * Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other: Wildy actually cares about Dan; they're even hugging.
 * Badass Abnormal: Turns out Dan's mother
 * Badass Boast
 * page 127
 * Kria has a rather impressive one too.
 * Badass Normal: Dan, back during his adventuring days. Inferred, from his being called out of retirement, vanquishing Dark Pegasus, and because Regina fears to face him without a weapon in hand. The "Normal" part is arguable, though. Normal for the setting, at least.
 * Back From the Dead: Dark Pegasus. Thrice prior to the series, then a fourth time that Dan tries (and fails) to stop after killing him for the third time.
 * Bag of Holding: Matilda has a belt designed to sneak food into movie theaters that can hold a whole lot of stuff. Matilda sells these kinds of things for a living. Mab originally went to her store to find one to LIVE IN. The sword she gave Dan as a gift during that visit also has one in it.
 * Barefoot Cartoon Animal: Mab. Also see Does Not Like Shoes.
 * Beat Panel
 * Triple trouble. See Abel's Big No below.
 * Double panel for young Pyroduck. Never expect a direct answer from a phoenix oracle.
 * Beware the Nice Ones
 * Both Mab and Dan have exhibited this.
 * Even Jyrras has shown shades of this. See comic 102
 * Lorenda Soulstealer, at least early in the series, where she actually does eat people on occasion.
 * Kria Soulstealer... though, after about the 900th comic, when she stops being so actively depicted as a literal maneater, she's still not exactly "nice" so much as "Affably Evil".
 * Big Brother Instinct: Dan is really overprotective of Alexsi sometimes. Despite being the younger sibling by about two years. Dan shows shades of a Knight Templar Big Brother in this strip.
 * Big No: Little Abel no likey homework. Also counts as a Poke the Poodle moment for Kria.
 * Big Red Button: Subverted.
 * Big Screwed-Up Family: Poor Lorenda.
 * Bilingual Bonus: Debatable whether this was intentional, but... Incubus literally means "I lie on top," Succubus, "I lie beneath." And Cubi are generally considered to be tricksters...
 * Blue and Orange Morality
 * Demons and Fae, at least, amongst the Creatures, both have this going on. Fae are, well, they're The Fair Folk. Demons believe strongly in Social Darwinism and thusly not only are fine with eating anyone too weak to keep them from doing so, are stated to generally not have a concept of "revenge" on the individual level. By their viewpoint, any Demon weak enough to be killed by another race deserved to be killed.
 * On occasion used for laughs. For example, Jyrras's mom sees Kira Soulstealer as perfectly justified for eating her bull lover and the filly he was cheating on her with before destroying the farm, given that he was cheating on her while she was pregnant with his baby.
 * When Kria sees Dan trying to kill her niece Regina, she does nothing to stop him and laments that if she'd only been younger, Dan would have sworn to kill her instead.
 * Boobs of Steel: Almost literally: Nutmeg has enough strength on her chest to snap a spear in half.
 * Boxing Lessons for Superman: SAIA has self defense and combat courses. Cubi are naturally Unskilled but Strong, but they often lose to Weak but Skilled opponents, as they are too emotional and fight like "a drunk in a bar".
 * Brain Bleach: Dan wants some here and Jyrras wants some here.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall: One of the best uses is through an issue in this comic.
 * Brick Joke
 * A retroactive example:
 * In the Janus Bond book, Dan and Lorenda managed to set the hallway on fire while fighting. The comic's title was "You'd be amazed at what can be set on fire." Nearly four hundred comics later, Abel and Dan manage to set the cabbage on fire.
 * Bring My Brown Pants: Regina had this kind of reaction, when she discovered that Dan had since she last fought him.
 * Brown Note: Supposedly Dan's Biggus Dickus, though it only appears to have that effect on straight men and his relatives. It even works on adventure encounters!
 * B-Side Comics: Abel's Story. A different character (Mikelo) is going to have his own side comic once Abel's is finished.
 * Came Back Wrong: Dark Pegasus' sister comments sadly that every time he returns, he's a little more... changed.
 * Cameo: Florence plushie
 * Cannot Dream: Adult Cubi are supposed to suffer from this. Abel comments on needing to talk to Fa'Lina about the whole thing.
 * Carnivore Confusion: Even beyond the fact Demons and some 'Cubi (at the very least) eat Beings, there are also non-sentient animals running around that are eaten for meat. The author's notes state that there is something of a taboo against eating "equivalent" species (dog-Being eating a non-sentient dog, for example), but otherwise nobody makes a big deal out of it. The Creatures do tend to throw this fact around when Beings object to being eaten by them.
 * Cat Smile: Since about half of the population is feline-based, they're not rare.
 * Here is Dan sporting a fine one.
 * An even better, more recent example is on this page.
 * Abel also sports one to Jyrras here and even Amber herself gets in on this in the last panel.
 * Catch Phrase
 * Abel has "Hate! Hate! Hate! Hate! Hate! Hate! Hate! Hate!" Not that he's the first to use that line.
 * "That is not the proper way to use a [cooking instrument]"
 * Cerebus Syndrome
 * While retaining its comical roots, the strip has become... darker.
 * In-universe, this is actually an aversion—the secondary arc in chapter 24, likely the darkest one thus far, is actually a flashback to Dan's first outing as an adventurer.
 * Chekhov's Gun
 * Practically called out by name by
 * A less ominous one can be see here about Cubi powers.
 * Chekhov's Gunman
 * Abel was taught magic by ; the two have yet to meet in the main comic.
 * Dan's father. For starters, Well, he definitely knew his former wife. You know, ... and
 * Genesis (Jen) and Merlitz' former adventuring party.
 * The Chessmaster:  who, as a member of an immortal and nigh-omniscient and omnipotent race, appears to be running at least one major gambit with some very sneaky behind-the-scenes and direct manipulation. The true motives and goals are yet unrevealed, as is if these gambits are even linked. It appears that the plot is mostly to do with
 * Clap Your Hands If You Believe: It seems the whole Fae realm runs on this. When science-minded Jyrras goes there, he steps on a circle hovering in midair and promptly falls. Once someone mentions knowledge of his secret lab, he starts flying. Just needed motivation!
 * Comic Book Time: Though the strip has been going strong since the beginning of the 2000s the strip implies itself to have only really progressed by days, weeks or months at a time rather than the many years it has been running.
 * Comically Missing the Point: Kira demonstrates it here.
 * Comforting Comforter: So far we have three instances: Abel to Jyrras, Pyroduck to Alexsi, and, bringing the first one full-circle, Jyrras to Abel.
 * Contest Winner Cameo
 * How the comic itself started...
 * Also, a number of characters in the comic were created by fans, such as the aforementioned sociopathic doctor
 * Most of the characters from the "Dan at SAIA" storyline aside from Mink and Fa'Lina are forum avatars.
 * Continuity Nod: Several.
 * Notably Dan's unusual brand being discovered later by Abel
 * Dan is twice mentioned to have a stash of high heels under his bed "to improve his balance". In a flashback of his first adventure, Dan sprains his ankle while wearing high heels and decides to find a way to keep that from happening again.
 * Contractual Genre Blindness: Dark Pegasus isn't so much genre blind as he prefers the "classic ways" of doing things whenever possible. Not being a stupid villain, however, leads him to only fall in the cliches when facing Dan, as he knows that Dan believes in a fair fight.
 * Conversation Casualty: During a flashback to the first meeting between Dan and Dark Pegasus, Dark Pegasus kills a girl with a blast of magic in mid-sentence.
 * Conversation Casualty: During a flashback to the first meeting between Dan and Dark Pegasus, Dark Pegasus kills a girl with a blast of magic in mid-sentence.

"Abel: Oh crap...Middle name used. This only means bad!"
 * Cool and Unusual Punishment: Death by Shonen-ai.
 * Correspondence Course
 * Costume Test Montage: Dan's, courtesy of Abel, starts here.
 * Crap Saccharine World: While fuzzy, comedic and with pastel colors (see image above), the world is flat out one of the most brutal, depressive, unfair settings you will ever find. 9/10 of the Complete Monsters are free to rape and torture as they please, casual murder is routine and is treated as comedic, an entire race of Jerkass Gods run around creating havoc with impunity and the Demons roam Furrae unchecked to torment mortals for eons. Winterweir is freaking Equestria in comparison. This strip states that the vast majority of races don't live to die of old age because Furrae is such a tough world.
 * Cuddle Bug
 * Mab loves hugging. She keeps a list of things she has not hugged yet so that she doesn't miss a single one.
 * Mink introduces himself to Dan this way.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Dan vs. Falina, Played for Laughs.
 * Cursed with Awesome: Dan seems to think Fae curses of vengeance fit this. Makes sense, since a Fae curse discourages anyone else from harming the target—Fae really don't like kill-stealing. Fae are also capricious enough that they tend to forget about their targets for years, and the eventual "revenge" is usually little more than a harmless prank. Dan once had such a curse. He abused the hell out of it. But then the Fae called in their revenge.
 * Cute Little Fangs: They sneak in from time to time. Mostly on cats.
 * Amber has now proven that Cute Little Fangs do not belong on a horse.
 * But they do make Dan so adorably cute!
 * Cute Monster Girl: Arguably, Matilda. At least when compared to everyone else.
 * Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Kria is willing to forego Dark Pegasus' revival, for a price... and has the bill to prove it.
 * Dangerously Genre Savvy
 * Dark Pegasus towards unknown opponents, including such fun tricks as attacking mid-monologue, because "they always expect you to finish talking."
 * Also Fa'Lina, who "prefers cliche arrangements which are in &#91;her&#93; favour".
 * Even Dan has shown some skill with this trope: He has to fake being somebody's boyfriend? He tells his real girlfriend all about it, preventing possible misunderstandings.
 * Darker and Edgier: Abel's Story is much darker than the main comic.
 * Dating Service Disaster: A dating service file sorting error matched Jyrras' parents for a date because it failed to tell apart regular kangaroos from kangaroo rats, leading to a Tiny Guy, Huge Girl match that was also Love At First Sight. They are still Happily Married. Not only that, they got pregnant again in their sixties. The subsequent Parental Sexuality Squick got Jyrras reaching for the Brain Bleach. His sister seemed just fine with it though.
 * Dead Little Sister: Fa'Lina's entire clan was killed.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Abel and, to a lesser degree, Jyrras.
 * Devin, from what we've seen of him.
 * shows traces of this. Maybe. A rare example seen here, hinting at being far more than we've been let on to believe.
 * Deathbringer the Adorable: Trope Namer.
 * Death Is Cheap
 * As noted above, Dark Pegasus just won't stay dead. Of course, this is largely thanks to reviving him with the ritual he developed. Kria points out that he would stay dead if they just cremated the corpse. It's also arguable how "cheap" death is, since Kria says he comes back slightly more wrong every time.
 * Death is only figuratively cheap. Resurrection is costly, and Kria has the bill to prove it.
 * A Degree in Useless: When Fa'Lina explains to Abel that he's following Dan back to Lost Lake, he objects that he will miss his classes. In golf and grass growing.
 * Detached Sleeves: Apparently these have a fanbase in Furrae; a number of characters wear them, most notably Abel.
 * Deus Angst Machina: Abel's backstory, as seen in his side comic.
 * Didn't See That Coming: Used utterly sincerely when someone heard Abel's snark!
 * Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: Here.
 * Did You Die?: A couple times -- example.
 * Did You Just Have Sex?
 * Alexsi seems quite happy here...
 * All but confirmed here.
 * Evil Jyrras in Wildy's novel is oblivious to all the obvious clues, however.
 * Distinguishing Mark / Glamour Failure: Most Cubi have a Clan mark, which they cannot conceal with shapeshifting. They can, however, cover it with clothing or even make-up.
 * Distracted by the Sexy: clotheslesscubiclotheslesscubiclotheslesscubi...
 * Does Not Like Shoes: Mab's official biography once stated that "Mab has a deep seated dislike of wearing shoes."
 * Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Devin, in Abel's Backstory.
 * Doomy Dooms of Doom: Behold Azlan's squeaky koala doll OF DOOM!
 * Dude Looks Like a Lady: Dan, with his long hair, fluffy wings, and dress robe, gets mistaken for a woman all the time. Sometimes he hates it, but sometimes he uses it to his advantage...
 * Early Installment Weirdness: Much of it can be explained by Rule of Funny and Rule of Cool, but still...
 * Despite her protests, at first Lorenda seems almost as dangerous as her mother, meeting Jyrras after killing some predators stalking him, moving in with him after being evicted for killing and eating everyone else in her building, and as soon as she's settled in killing two door-to-door salesmen for being door-to-door salesmen. Contrast to when Jyrras is under the Fae curse, and she harmlessly knocks out the paparazzi. It was suggested in that early story arc that Beings followed the normal food chain, and the Soulstealers' demonic heritage only explained why a cow and a horse eat meat, whereas it's later established that all Beings are omnivores, preying on non-anthropomorphic animals, but only Demons and other Creatures eat sentient beings, and indeed, even this is later downplayed.
 * A joke is made early on about Mab being caught up in in eighties nostalgia, when later knowledge about the history of Furrae ("guy" is an older word than "man," a flashback to the seventeenth century looks very much like the twentieth, etc.) makes the similarity in eighties fashion seem essentially pure coincidence, and a date of 1991 making the nostalgia joke seem odd. And Mab's Sailor Moon doll is much more recent than the eighties.
 * When Aaryanna first appears, it seems Succubi are a kind of Demon (indeed, she even calls Destania a "Demon" at one point) who act like typical Horny Devils and necessarily feast on the innocent. All this flies hard out the window when we meet Abel and Fa'lina...
 * Easter Egg: A number of secret pages have existed on the site at one time or another, with a warning that mentioning them on the forums would result in a ban, containing plot-relevant future information, including a bio of Rose with a number of insights into the Fae, and Fa'Lina's bio before it was posted officially. However, likely due to the attention from outside sites such as these, all that haven't been posted openly have been taken down, with one exception.
 * Eccentric Mentor: Fa'Lina fits this trope perfectly, as her semi-omniscience gives her the desire and opportunity to play a very odd mentor. While she always tries to help those involved with her, she prefers teaching them lessons in the most ironic ways possible. And muffins.
 * Elaborate University High: SAIA is a combo of this and a Wizarding School, since it covers topics both magical & non...
 * Eldritch Abomination: While not seen in the series proper, it seems these do exist in the 'verse, in one form or another...
 * The Empath: Cubi.
 * Even Evil Has Standards
 * A two-fer in this comic, while Kria talks to Jyrras' mother—a lawyer, and thus more evil than she is.
 * Fa'Lina, while not voicing any objections to a whole class around torture, squelched Destania's plan to get children involved. There was also a memorable moment where she punched Aniz repeatedly for his bad, bad parenting.
 * Even the Guys Want Him: Less an in-story development than a local meme: Everyone is gay for Abel. Everyone. And now everyone is straight for Abel. Well, except girls, who are all gay now. Fugit. Everyone is now Bi for Abel.
 * Everyone Is Related: Almost everyone in the series has deep connections to the Ti'Fiona and Soulstealer families.
 * Evil Brit: Dark Pegasus is voiced by a British man in the DMFA Radio Project. Why? "Because the villain always has to be English".
 * Evil Matriarch:
 * Evil Overlord: Dark Pegasus
 * Exact Words: Mink telling Dan that he will never want for another bed after spending a night in his room. Possibly Mink's room is the reason why most Cubi don't sleep.
 * The Fair Folk: The author does a good job showing that the Fae, rather than being expressly good or evil, are utterly alien to the rest of the setting. Visiting their realm indeed qualifies as a Mind Screw to non-natives.
 * False Cause: In character example by Dan here.
 * Fanfic: There have been numerous stories posted by fans on the forum that take place in the DMFA universe. Fortunately the most prominent ones barely qualify as the first type of Elsewhere Fic.
 * One of which is being adapted into a webcomic (note that it doesn't have any canon characters and takes place over a century later).
 * Fantastic Racism
 * There's a lot of tension between Beings (effectively humans) and Creatures (everything else with magic powers) from a long, not quite over history of Creatures considering Beings to be prey. Different kinds of Creatures have had outright racial warfare.
 * Dark Pegasus despises the Undead and considers them his greatest mistake. Seeing a fashion article that considers the Undead to be popular hits his Berserk Button, and he decides to put all of his other ambitions on hold to finally deal with the Undead once and for all.
 * Fantasy Gun Control: "I mean, who knows what kind of device one can make with a fully natural material?!" "Bang."
 * Fat and Proud: Lorenda the Demon-Cow
 * Flat What: Pyroducks's reaction when he lost his ball and asked where it was. Having an Eccentric Mentor parent who speaks in a Cryptically Unhelpful Answer will do this.
 * Fluffy the Terrible / Killer Rabbit: Do not screw with Pip. Seriously. It's a really bad idea.
 * Foxy Grandma: Dan's succubus grandmother, Cyra.
 * Four-Fingered Hands: All the Beings and being based races have them. Averted sometimes, such as when Dan was turned into a human, he had five fingers, and Maltilda has two (no thumbs).
 * And yet when Amber draws herself, she has only four fingers. According to Fluffy it's because Amber secretly believes she's a Fraggle.
 * Full Name Ultimatum: Abel Dimitri Rewanz.

"“Miss, you have a bat in your hair!”"
 * Furry Comic
 * Furry Fandom: Inverted with Wildy: She likes humans.
 * Gag Boobs: Fa'Lina. It's a rather subtle progression, but Fa'Lina's breasts gain a noticeable size increase between her first appearance and present day.
 * Gag Penis: Implied that this is how Dan once took out a horde of Ice-Orcs with one slip of his loin cloth. (Also the implied reason for Dan's Brown Note effect.) Mind, this can also be interpreted as "no one wants to see Dan's junk, period".
 * Gambit Pileup: Several factions—most of them with nebulous motives—are known to be making plots involving the main cast, including
 * Gender Bender
 * A few times, most importantly when Dan was pretending to be his sister. The characters treat it no differently from crossdressing, even though the art makes it clear it's..."total".
 * Not to mention Abel a couple times.
 * Genius Loci: The SAIA Librarian is bound to Library in all possible ways...
 * Giant Spider: And they quote poetry and Shakespeare!
 * Gilligan Cut: Comic 597, Abel: "I don't want to go. And I know you won't force me, so unless you have a trick up your gloves, this matter is closed." Cut to Abel walking down the hall with his luggage.
 * Glamour Failure: Fae and Cubi can both shapeshift, sometimes imperfectly. Jyrras has tried to synthesize it with his Patches, with varying success.
 * Cubi can't hide their clan markings by shapeshifting, although clothes and makeup work.
 * screws up her impersonation of, and Mab catches it.
 * Invoked by Destania
 * Good Angel, Bad Angel
 * Parodied here.
 * And then... well, I don't know what this would be, but it does make Mab rather sexy.
 * Gory Discretion Shot
 * in Abel's Story. The carnage is far more heavily implied than shown.
 * This scene is repeated (in a dream) here.
 * It wasn't exactly discrete. the comic here It was shown, but it was a silhouette.
 * Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress
 * This is a problem when the scientific-minded Jyrras ends up in an Alternate Dimension that runs on Clap Your Hands If You Believe. As soon as he thinks that he should by all rights fall, he does.
 * Averted—briefly—by Dan, only to have the levitating Fi "discover" gravity here.
 * Great Gazoo: The Fae are an entire race of them.
 * Groin Attack
 * Narrowly averted, several times, here..
 * Inverted (thankfully off-panel) by a SAIA combat student. Judging by the instructor's reaction, this isn't even the first time it's happened.
 * Hair Wings: 'Cubi have miniature “headwings” (as well as a regular pair) in their default form. discovered he was one by having them grow in. Instantaneously.

"Mink: They were the most delicious pies ever created..."
 * Hand in the Hole
 * Hannibal Lecture
 * Abel receives one here, from.
 * And again in his side-story here, from.
 * Hard Head: Dan; just as well, really.
 * Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Pip, and, to a slightly lesser degree, Wildy.
 * Hidden Agenda Villain: Fa'Lina's agenda is so well hidden we can't even be sure if she's a good guy or not. Of course, that all depends of whether you consider her actually evil or not.
 * Horny Devils: Largely averted with the Cubi race despite the name—they're not really demons, and while they feed on emotions their (clan-dependent) affinities for specific ones range all over the map. It's explained that the clan Nact'larn, who fit the trope much better, have a tendency to hog the spotlight. Kria Soulstealer on the other hand definitely plays with the trope every now and again, though mostly for laughs. Aaryana, who was introduced before the rules for Cubi were really developed, also plays it more-or-less straight.
 * Hot Amazon: Dan's favorite type of person. Gets a bit disturbing in light of his half-sister being one.
 * Humanity Ensues: Dan's brief stint with one of Jyrras's patches.
 * Hyperspace Arsenal: Dan can hide BFS in his clothes. Alexis hides a giant mallet in hers. Though somewhat justified by their preferences for loose, baggy clothing (though usually a robe in Dan's case).
 * Hyperspace Mallet: Alexi has one, she sometimes uses it on patrons who try to skip out on their bill.
 * I Am a Monster
 * Dan is afraid  may turn him into one.
 * Interestingly, it's that same fear that keeps  going.
 * Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: The title of each strip is a humorous commentary on its events, of the type that certain other webcomics reserve for Alt Text punchlines.
 * Idiot Hero: Dan, so very much.
 * If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Before leaving for SAIA, Dan makes it clear that if anything happens to Alexsi, Pyroduck and Abel will die; he's not worried that they will do anything to Alexsi—Pyroduck and her are already dating—it's that Dan is very protective of his sister, and with him gone for a month, is passing responsibility for her safety to them.
 * I'm a Humanitarian
 * One of the reasons Beings and Creatures don't get on so well is that Creatures are often quite willing to eat Beings. Lorenda and Kria Soulstealer both eat a number of Beings in the series. At least, during the early strips.
 * The last time someone killed a member of Piflak's clan, she killed them, turned their bones into a pipe organ that to this day hasn't needed tuning, and the rest were baked into pies.

"Dan: At least I don't have four stomachs, little cow! Lorenda: I'm not little!"
 * Immortality Begins At Twenty
 * They're not actually immortal, but pretty much every species of creature seems to stop aging in their mid to late twenties.
 * Fa'Lina seems to be a bit older.
 * Cubi can shapeshift. Cyra explicitly shapeshifted to fit Dan's expectation of his grandmother, even though she first appeared around Fa'Lina's age and hundreds of feet tall.
 * Immortal Procreation Clause
 * Cubi Clan leaders, while not truly immortal, are unable to have children of their own.
 * The Fae have their own version: no Fae can have children unless auctioned/given the soul of a voluntarily deceased Fae to "recycle" for their own child, keeping their population at a constant number at all times. It's not that the Fae can't have children without the donation of another Fae's soul. It's that they choose not to, since without said donation, the kid is... well... soul-less. The result is not pretty.
 * Impossible Shadow Puppets: Is it cheating to use Cubi wings?
 * I Need a Freaking Drink: Seen here.
 * Informed Ability: Dan's badassery. (Well, he did take out Dark Pegasus on-page once.)
 * Ironic Echo: A favorite of Fa'Lina who enhances her performance with puppets.
 * Ironic Echo Cut: Lampshaded and parodied.
 * I Take Offense to That Last One: A good example from Wildy-San's book:

"Dan: If it isn't too bold of me, perhaps I can suggest you three make your plans include you three getting off my spine?"
 * I Taste Delicious: Played with or parodied in that Lorenda (a half-demonic carnivorous cow) loves eating hamburgers.
 * It Makes Sense in Context: Sometimes even in-universe!
 * It's All About Me: Regina
 * It Seemed Like a Good Idea At the Time: Abel explicitly discusses this with Dan at one point.
 * I Want Grandkids
 * is very excited about Pyroduck's relationship with for this reason. She just wants to hear the pitter-patter of little feet.
 * Cyra may be this, though in her case it's great grandkids. Seeing her only family left alive are Destina and Dan, this isn't surprising.
 * May, Abel's mother, apparently desires them as well.
 * I Will Tear Your Arms Off: The reason why Matilda was exiled. That's a bit of Disproportionate Retribution, considering her species can grow back limbs.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Abel, and possibly Devin.
 * Believe it or not,.
 * Kids Prefer Boxes: So do Warp Aci.
 * If You Know What I Mean: "Most likely because all adventurers are known for their impressive swords! Now... I have not seen his sword in action myself... but I can assure you that it is most likely of fine quality".
 * "You two like to get a little 'yiffy'! Don't ya? Eh? Yiff yiff!"
 * Large and In Charge: Fa'lina to a considerable extent. Then we have Cyra. Full Stop.
 * Last of Her Kind
 * Fa'Lina is the last of her clan—and due to the Immortal Procreation Clause, that's not changing any time soon.
 * When attaining Tri-Wing clan leadership status, a Cubi loses the ability to bear children or change other Cubi to make them part of their clan. Lacking a regular Cubi to create more clan-affiliated Cubi usually drives clanless leaders insane, though Fa'Lina seems to have staved off madness by taking care of the SAIA students as her own clan and loving Pyroduck as her own son.
 * Late Arrival Spoiler: It's difficult to talk about almost anything in later chapters—including the existence of three or four major characters—without giving away a major twist in Chapter 14. In fact, seeing pretty much any single strip since that so much as features will give it away.
 * Let's Get Dangerous: Dan got called out of retirement to vanquish Dark Pegasus, again.
 * Likes Older Women: Dan, even if it is only Kria.
 * Locked Out of the Loop: Everyone seemed to know who and what Destania was, except Dan. Though, Dan being Dan may have just not being paying attention.
 * Loners Are Freaks: Abel, Abel, Abel.
 * Luke, I Am Your Father: Subverted in Abel's Story #1.
 * Karma Houdini: The second cornerstone of the setting. An example: A female cubi for thousands of years had systematically raped, mutilated, slaughtered entire families and untold inoccents left and right without a single shred of empathy. Then she got in to teaching and she had to be forcefully restrained from torturing children's to death by the Headmistress as a form of education. Who is this demon that makes Mr. Rictus look decent? . OH DEAR MORALITY.
 * Killer Rabbit: The Mows can digest any non living matter, though they usually stick to fabrics and such...
 * Mad Scientist: Jyrras. Who has created, among other things: the aformentioned Deathbringer, a Griffin-shaped Humongous Mecha, and the Mows. (Well, it was in his lab, though he wasn't there at the time...)
 * Man, I Feel Like a Woman: Referenced and averted.
 * Marshmallow Dream: Abel manages to play this one perfectly straight.
 * Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds: Cyra accidentally, starting a millenia-long war.
 * Mismatched Eyes
 * Abel.
 * According to the relevant Clan Leader page, all Cubi belonging to Clan Quoar also have these as a common trait, though none of them have been seen in a major role yet and it can occur outside the clan. (Abel himself is an example.)
 * Having either the eyes or the feather/bat combo wings are considered a good omen, and any Cubi born with both are rare and highly idealized.
 * Mood Whiplash: The dark, grim and moody Fae arc is immediately followed by the general wackiness the cast is known for.
 * Mood Swinger
 * Fa'Lina. Or, as the Alt Text puts it, "watch out for those bi-polar right hooks".
 * Albanion as well.
 * Also Kria. Even in mid-press conference.
 * Moral Myopia
 * Kria cares about her family and immediate acquaintances, but tends to randomly kill other people on a whim. She's also extremely protective of Lorenda. Most other demons apparently consider her to be applying the correct morals to the random strangers she kills, and to have a moral lapse for the people she knows, but in practice, it's a common lapse.
 * Aaryanna, likewise, goes around killing Beings for fun, and knows that Destania at least has no moral qualms with torturing children, but still accuses Destania's alleged killer of Van Helsing Hate Crimes. Unlike Demons, most Cubi aren't like this, although they do tolerate it.
 * Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate: Dr. Ink is this on a good day. On a bad one, he's an "egotistical, calculating, raving lunatic."
 * Motor Mouth: Mink, frequent purveyor of panel-filling monologues. Also Cyra, in her first opportunity to talk with her grandson. While the former is canonically androgynous, the latter is undeniably female: the author gets in some Self Deprecating Humor with the caption.
 * Mundane Utility: Cubi Combat Tentacles and Voluntary Shapeshifting are useful as extra hands and disguises, respectively, and apparently a clan with a fear affinity makes horror movies. More understandably, so does the lust-affinity clan. Their clan symbol is prominently featured on Lorenda's Cubi porn DVD.
 * My Eyes Are Up Here
 * Inverted Trope by SAIA's female head combat instructor who's taken a liking to a much shorter male student, when she catches him not wearing a shirt.
 * Played straight and lampshaded in this strip.
 * Nice Hat
 * Quoar
 * Don´t forget the fortune teller
 * Ninja Looting: Mab gets in on the fun here.
 * No Bisexuals: After coming to terms with his crush on Dan, Jyrras immediately becomes convinced his attraction to Lorenda was just a mechanism of denial. For what it's worth, Abel's choice of language suggests he doesn't entirely believe him.
 * Noble Demon: Abel, almost certainly.
 * No Fourth Wall
 * No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Sort of. When the gang sneaks into SAIA, there's a panel of Mab and Pip having tea with Dr. Ink. A similar thing happens in a later arc, with.
 * Noodle Implement: Mab's Brownies.
 * Noodle Incident
 * Azlan saying "And that was the first and last time I took Neni to [place]!" It has become a Running Gag.
 * Also, Abel's banishment from the SAIA library.
 * It's never explained how Dan defeated a roomful of Deathknights with a spork.
 * ...and to this day, Mab can't order potato skins.
 * ... and that's the story of how Dan got this hat!
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: Same goes for.
 * Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Fa'Lina breaks into an unseen musical dance number between this strip and this one. Dan thinks it was an impressive number.
 * Offscreen Teleportation: Fa'Lina pulls one off in Abel's Story part 2. When Abel wakes up in SAIA's infirmary with Fa'Lina on the bed next to him, he tries to slip away while she's ranting about her Gag Boobs; he makes it as far as the door, and finds Fa'Lina already on the other side.
 * Oh Crap: Regina realizing that Dan got a whole lot stronger since their last fight. Comes with Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises as a bonus.
 * Older Than They Look: Lots, including Dan's mother (7026), Fa'Lina (9288), and Mab (considered young for a Fae )
 * The Omniscient Council of Vagueness: Lampshaded. And subverted: the phoenix is grouchy because her flaming head ruins the ominous lighting.
 * Omniscient Morality License: Fa'Lina comments that being nigh-omniscient has the side-effect of turning you into a sociopathic Jerkass. With what little we know of Fa'Lina, though, she could easily just have been that way before she became so powerful. Considering her signature emotion is hope, she may very well just be putting on an act.
 * One Degree of Separation: The entire cast seems to be connected through Fa'lina, Kria, and/or Destania.
 * One-Gender Race
 * Succubi of the clan Nact'larn, the closest to the familiar Horny Devils, although it's suggested they're in the habit of turning themselves male when... the situation warrants it. That comes from one of the classic legends about succubi/incubi.
 * Also Phoenixes, seeing as they don't really need to reproduce.
 * Our Souls Are Different: The Fae. As such, eating a fae's soul is impossible.
 * Our Zombies Are Different: For the most part the undead are pretty much the same as the were before they died. Except with detachable limbs.
 * Ow, My Body Part: Presumably, Amber's squeedily spooch is located somewhere in her neck.
 * Perpetual Frowner: Abel. Be worried if he smiles. Be terrified if he laughs.
 * Pet the Dog: Kria gets quite a few in Abel's Story. She also gets one in the main comic... sorta..
 * Please Get Off Me: Happened to Dan during his first adventure.

"Abel: What. Did. You. Call. Me?"
 * Prophecy Twist: Although it's not technically a prophecy.
 * Psychic Static: This should really be the page picture.
 * Punctuated! For! Emphasis!
 * This comic.

"Abel: You! Beeped! My! Nose!"
 * And this one.

"Amber: I will not rest until I kill a diabetic with this website."
 * Punctuation Shaker
 * Puppy Dog Eyes: Deebs uses this in a non-canon arc to get Jyrras to... well, just see Saving Christmas below.
 * Speaking of Jyrras, his status as the absurdly cute thing means he gets them whenever he's the slightest bit disappointed.
 * Even Abel can put on a decent pair if he has a good enough reason.
 * Put on a Bus: Merlitz.
 * Pyrrhic Victory: Mab discovers that winning tastes like dirt.
 * Rage Quit: Abel vs. Jyrras
 * Random Drop: After rescuing Alexsi from Biggs, Mab calls dibs on the dropped loot as if it were an MMORPG quest, and wins a voulge. This is Mab we're talking about.
 * Reason You Suck Speech: In Abel's Story, delivered by  to Abel.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning
 * Retired Badass: Dan, who is a retired adventurer. Because of the humor, readers tend to lose sight of this.
 * Retired Monster: Destania
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Mows, most of the time...
 * Jyrras, if he gives Puppy Eyes.
 * Deebs, especially if she gives aforementioned Puppy Eyes.
 * Chibi Abel. And deliberately so.

"Macy: Initiating response three. But Daaaaaaad!"
 * Retool: Chapter 16, building on The Reveal in Chapter 14, makes Cubi almost as central to the strip as adventurers, introducing such central characters as Abel and Fa'lina.
 * Robo Speak: Macy, Jyrras' robot daughter, who also acts like a TV Teen.

"Dan: I don't think I can kill him... or want to anymore..."
 * Rooting for the Empire: In-Universe—Undead and Demons tend to do this when watching horror movies.
 * Rouge Angles of Satin: As show in the above image, the author appears simply incapable of using "have" after an auxiliary.
 * Running Gag
 * Abel would like you to know that he is most "definitely" not touchingyou.
 * Adding that someone has a cute butt when describing what one likes about somebody.
 * Sarcasm Mode: Abel's switch is fused in the "on" position.
 * Saving Christmas: Referenced in a non-canon bonus arc. Rather hilariously, Deebs wants to save Christmas so much that she gets Jyrras to kill Santa (again) just so she can do it. Given her name, it could be considered sinister...
 * Right Behind Me: a comedic example happens here, and the page after.
 * Scary Librarian: Well, she sorta IS the Library...
 * Scenery Censor
 * Happens in this strip.
 * Happens earlier here, too.
 * Happens even earlier here.
 * Which is a Continuity Nod to the even earlier strip here
 * Schedule Slip: The Author is frequently sick. Doesn't seem to matter as her viewers are addicted to the comic, but it's noticeable. Amber also suffers frequent obnoxious computer breakdowns preventing her from working on the strip. Recently, she started posting rough colored strips that lack fine shading and background details to give the fans their fix of updates sooner than her production schedule would otherwise allow, posting the finished page once completed. The community reaction has been positive to this initiative.
 * Schizo-Tech: According to the background, Furrae has widely varying technology levels, where modern cities and medieval towns can be a short walk away from each other. Then there's Jyrras and his Humongous Mecha and Magitek, but he's been advised by some to not release his best technology too soon...
 * Serious Business
 * Hungry Hungry Hippos is a wild, wild race.
 * The Dark Pegasus shirts for no one!
 * Sexy Backless Outfit: Expect any winged Creature to wear one of these at least once, though the purpose for wearing is generally not for Fan Service. Fa'Lina may be a more traditional example, however.
 * Shout-Out: Many.
 * Pip. Pip's appearance, general personality and temperament pretty much make him Mab's answer to Flinx's minidrag.
 * Also, look carefully at what is exposed of the Clan Mink page. Can't see it?
 * This comic contains a shout out to a certain song.
 * Las Lindas: the horror movie!
 * The next page has Code Name: Hunter.
 * The entire wardrobe montage. With bonus allusion to tentacle rape and several Wholesome Crossdressers.
 * Show Within a Show: Wildy's... interesting book.
 * Shrinking Violet: Jyrras.
 * Slap Slap Kiss: Apparently, what Aaryaana wants with Abel.
 * Squee
 * Dan's reaction when Abel shows him that magic could let him wield eight swords at once.
 * Fa'Lina at the thought of having grandchildren.
 * Spikes of Doom: While Kria does believe in placing spikes in her pit trap, she finds that placing them on the floor lacks originality.
 * Start of Darkness: The second half of Abel's Story has 's, as told by Fa'Lina.
 * Statuesque Stunner: Quill towers over everyone, especially Jacob who bemoans being the target of her affection.
 * Stealth Pun: Lorenda's starsign is Taurus, and she's part cow.
 * Stripperiffic
 * Have you looked at Albanion's outfit?
 * Azlan is forced to wear one by Neni at one point. He's also forced to wear one by Wildy, in exchange for the return of his lost wedding ring. He got it from Neni, though.
 * Mab gets put in one in an earlier arc.
 * Ahem. Mink trumps all of them with nothing but a loincloth on.
 * Abel gets pretty close with his miniskirt and boots.
 * Stupid Sexy Flanders
 * "...maybe you should go to a restroom to change..."
 * Kria gets a taste of this aswell
 * Sufficiently Analyzed Magic: Jyrras's inquiries in magical contaminants in materials have found some highly consistent properties that may lead him eventually to create a theoretical all-natural material with no contaminants whatsoever.
 * Superhero Trophy Shelf: The walls of Dan's room are covered with weapons displays. No telling how many of these are souvenirs, since it's been shown that Dan appreciates swords.
 * Super Window Jump: Dan did one off panel.
 * Tastes Like Purple: Lorenda eats an unseen overly cute mascot and hears magenta.
 * The Talk + Too Much Information = Brain Bleach (a Running Gag)
 * Telepathy: Cubi can hear thoughts. YES they can!
 * This Banana Is Armed: Subverted here.
 * Three-Point Landing: Here.
 * Time for Plan B: "Plan B? Isn't that the one you waste time eating muffins?"
 * Timmy in a Well: Referenced several times, and subverted here.
 * Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Jyrras' parents.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Dan, from Regina's perspective.
 * Toplessness From the Back: Mab gets this a lot, as do many other girls.
 * Transparent Closet
 * Trademark Favorite Food
 * Fa'lina and muffins.
 * Also, Cubi don't actually need to eat physical food, so most only eat a couple of favourite foods for pleasure. This appears to be the case with.
 * Aaryanna loves toast.
 * Two Scenes, One Dialogue: Possibly in the last two panels.
 * The Unintelligible: Pip.
 * Unsettling Gender Reveal: Dan pulled one off on Biggs early on; apparently it wasn't the first time that happened to him.
 * Van Helsing Hate Crimes
 * In theory, adventurers like Dan et al. are a necessity of a broken judiciary; in practice, it's not uncommon for them to consider Creatures Exclusively Evil, although Creatures' perception of this is exaggerated somewhat by their own Moral Myopia toward Beings. At the very least, SAIA, run by the relatively upright Fa'lina, openly has an adventurer-slaying department, and Mink's mother's death seems to be a legitimate example.
 * Verbal Tic: Fi's "Ch-ya!" Apparently it's a racial tic among the Warp Aci.
 * Victoria's Secret Compartment: Mink is terrified of what Piflak is going to do when one of her clan was murdered. First s/he hides in Jakob's shirt, then s/he hides in Fa'Lina. Fridge Brilliance when you consider that squids (Mink's tail and "ears" have suction cups) possess an affinity for squeezing into tight spaces when scared. Many underwater divers have reported smaller ones slipping inside their masks!
 * Villains Out Shopping: Or playing poker.
 * Villainy Discretion Shot: Most 'Cubi and demons.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Dan and Wildy-San.
 * Voluntary Shapeshifting: Several races in Furrae have two forms, but 'Cubi are the masters of this. And the Fae are the Grand Masters, but we don't see them using it so much, while Cubi use it for combat and to disguise their nature.
 * The medal goes to SAIA's shapeshifting class teacher Change who keeps changing forms not only in every single frame she is in, but is in constant flux within several of those.
 * Walking Shirtless Scene: Several. Helloooooooooo, Dark Pegasus...
 * Walls of Text (lampshaded)
 * We Could Have Avoided All This: At several points, major relationship problems crop up which could have been avoided with a little honesty when they first became relevant..
 * Wham! Episode
 * The Fae arc.
 * Even earlier than that, in the Queen Mab arc:
 * More recently -- these strips, despite the fact that
 * Chapter 14. The revelation that is so central to what comes after that it's hard to even talk about later arcs without giving it away.
 * Wham! Line
 * More accurately, wham text, but still, Abel's father, Aniz Siar, is pronounced deceased for twenty-seven years, In other words,.
 * Earlier, "Destania must be so proud to have an incubus like you for a son!"
 * "Jyrras... known Dan since childhood... came to rescue him...  since..."
 * What Does This Button Do?: Always idiot-proof your lab!.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Abel calling out Dan on
 * And he just gave Dan another one over how he plans to
 * Whip It Good: Quill loves to see the little volf run.
 * Wiki Walk: In universe example.
 * Writer Revolt: This strip. It's played for laughs, but Amber is definitely making a (valid) point.
 * Yaoi Fangirl: Wildy, originator of the idea of "Death by Shonen-ai."
 * Whip It Good: Quill loves to see the little volf run.
 * Wiki Walk: In universe example.
 * Writer Revolt: This strip. It's played for laughs, but Amber is definitely making a (valid) point.
 * Yaoi Fangirl: Wildy, originator of the idea of "Death by Shonen-ai."
 * Wiki Walk: In universe example.
 * Writer Revolt: This strip. It's played for laughs, but Amber is definitely making a (valid) point.
 * Yaoi Fangirl: Wildy, originator of the idea of "Death by Shonen-ai."


 * You Never Asked: During the all All Hail Queen Mab story arc, it is revealed . When questioned about it by Jyrras, she simply responds "No one ever asked."
 * Your Soul Is Mine: Cubi have a reputation for killing people and eating their souls. It's somewhat deserved.
 * Your Vampires Suck: ...As this strip illustrates. And There Was Much Rejoicing.
 * Zombie Apocalypse: The Big Bad Dark Pegasus tried to trigger one in the Backstory, but the zombies turned out to be just too nice to work for him. Even the method of transmission is Lighter and Softer: bites and scratches infect you with The Virus, but it stays in remission unless you die before it wears off, which it does quickly, and the bites and scratches aren't any more likely to be fatal than any other injury. The zombies show up once in a while, although they mostly keep to themselves. They do have a representative on the Creature council though. And nonetheless there's Fantastic Racism towards them for fear of this, and from the aforementioned Big Bad, for the exact opposite reason. Plus they keep trying to turn him into an undead to take his place as their leader. He's not too thrilled at the idea, unsurprisingly.