Dark Air
Dark Air (다크에어) is a fantasy/adventure Manhwa written by Park Min-seo. It follows the adventures of a young boy mage named Melrose Silvringtinker and his companions, a musician/buffer named Mustain, a swordswoman named Shenandoah and a forest being named Forest Freelander.
One day, all of the Blue Air in the world disappeared, consumed and replaced by a pillar of Dark Air. It sapped mages worldwide of mana, draining them of their powers. All of them but one man: Vincent Zapa, the hero of Peynia, the "Master Lord." Except he's isn't the only mage remaining, for Melrose is also still a mage. Though he won't be much longer, not if Zapa and the many, many teams he's sending after him have any say in it. Meanwhile, Mustain wonders where all of the Blue Air went in the first place...
Tropes used in Dark Air include:
- Action Girl: Shenandoah and Katie.
- All-Encompassing Mantle: Shenandoah wears one.
- Amplifier Artifact: Jewels. Melrose is notable in that he has no need for such things.
- Animal Motifs: Melrose puts one in the mind of a bunny.
- Anti-Magic: The Dark Air, it seems.
- The Archer: Most scouts such as Forest and Misty Bell.
- The Archmage: Vincent Zapa. Possibly Melrose too.
- Archnemesis Uncle: As far as we know, Zapa to Melrose.
- An Axe to Grind: Hoivic Hayden. Viveke Stin carries this and a shield.
- Badass: Shenandoah, Mustain and Forest.
- Badass Adorable: Melrose, when his magic works correctly. Forest also has some elements of this.
- Badass Beard/Badass Mustache: Zapa and Hayden.
- Badass Cape/Badass Long Robe: Shenandoah.
- Badass Longcoat: Mustain.
- Badass Long Hair: Mustain.
- Badass Normal: Shenandoah and Forest.
- Handicapped Badass: The appropriately named "One-Eyed Jack."
- BFS: Shenandoah again.
- Big Eater: Shenandoah.
- Through His Stomach: Mustain bribes her to join him and Melrose with food and info on her sister.
- Big Brother Mentor: Mustain for Melrose, Jack for Shenandoah.
- Boobs of Steel: Most female melee fighters and there's quite a few.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Occasionally.
- Catfolk: Misty Bell and Forest Freelander, a pair of "Beings of the Forest."
- Cheshire Cat Grin: Mustain's default expression.
- Child Mage: Melrose.
- Constantly Curious: Whenever any of the humans do something unusual, Forest tends to wonder out loud if it's normal for them to do so.
- Cool Big Sis: Shenandoah quickly takes this role for Melrose, becoming very protective of him when he's in danger.
- Cool Old Guy: Mustain, as far as Melrose is concerned, though he's probably not that old. Shenandoah's friend, Jack.
- Cool Shades/Sunglasses at Night: Mustain.
- Curb Stomp Battle: The alliance of 11 kingdoms vs the kingdom of Faynia and Vincent Jaffar. Faynia wins.
- Dark Action Girl: Viveke Stin of Team Norman and Misty Bell of Sonic Boom.
- Darkskinned Blonde: Shenandoah.
- Deflector Shields: Buffers can do this. It's difficult to do this and offensive buffs at the same time. But Mustain CAN.
- Does Not Like Shoes: Forest.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Melrose. Mustain takes advantage of this and has him dress like a girl sometimes to throw off their enemies. Forest beings aren't fooled though.
- Elemental Powers: So far, Melrose can cast Fireball, Aquaball, Windy and Plantae.
- Eye Scream: One-Eyed Jack. Tore it out to leave the Feinian Thief Guild and be with Katie.
- Eyes of Gold: Forest.
- For Science!: The arch-priest of Feinia proposes dissecting Melrose to figure out why he can still cast spells. Shenandoah proposes stabbing the arch-priest.
- Friend to All Living Things: Melrose, since it's said that while Forest Beings are curious of humans, they still tend to avoid them.
- Friendly Enemy: Jack and Katie are also after Melrose.
- Genre Savvy: Mustain frequently takes Refuge in Audacity by wearing ridiculous disguises in public and dressing Melrose up in women's clothes. The unsuspecting public won't find them this way and Shenandoah and Forest can pick off the stragglers that have figured the trick out much more easily.
- Giant Hands of Doom: Made of water, courtesy of Melrose.
- God Save Us From the Queen: Implied of the Queen of Feinia. She is a huge jerkass at least.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Jack's eye.
- Hair of Gold: Melrose.
- Handsome Lech: Mustain. Enough that most people are shocked that Melrose and Shenandoah are still hanging around with him.
- Hot Chick with a Sword: You will be seeing Shenandoah's name A LOT. Feinia is known for these.
- In the Hood: Forest, being a catboy usually wears a hood when out around humans.
- Kid Hero: Melrose.
- Kill It with Fire: The fate of Melrose's parents.
- Knife Nut: Katie.
- Lady of War: Shenandoah.
- Lightning Bruiser: Shenandoah.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Mustain.
- MacGuffin Girl: Zapa sends team after team after Melrose, the series' only other mage.
- The Magic Goes Away: And the plot is to figure out where it went.
- Magic Music: Buffers in general.
- Magnetic Hero: Melrose. Mustain finds him one day and decides to take care of him and Shenandoah and Forest both decide to hang around for his sake.
- Male Gaze: Lots of it.
- Mama Bear: Look at Melrose wrong and Shenandoah will hurt you.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Shenandoah and Melrose, especially when Melrose dolls up.
- Mr. Exposition: Mustain.
- Mr. Fanservice: Mustain is quite good-looking under those sunglasses.
- Ms. Fanservice: Women don't like loose clothes in this world, do they?
- Nice Hat: Hoivic wears a helmet that would make a Viking proud. Jack's hat usually covers his scarred over eye.
- One-Man Army: Jack takes down several members of the Thief Guild with minimal help from Katie and Forest.
- Our Giants Are Bigger: Slaughters, who do pretty much what one thinks they do.
- Panthera Awesome: Forest is a leopard type of forest being called 'Baobab.'
- Power Floats: Melrose.
- Rebellious Princess: The second princess of Faynia. A.K.A Shenandoah.
- Red Baron: 'Sword Master' Shenandoah. Mustain probably has one too.
- Rhino Rampage: Team Choppers' Rider has a Rhino as a mount. Tricked out like a Harley. Named Harley.
- Rule of Cool: Why does Team Chopper have a Rhino for a mount? Why does Mustain act and play like a rock musician in a High Fantasy setting? Because it's cool!
- Scarf of Asskicking: Forest Freelander.
- Scarily Competent Tracker: The rangers' job. Forest beings are well known for being good at this.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: The second princess of Faynia didn't want to be queen and took off like a thief in the night before the coronation.
- Squishy Wizard: When it does work, Melrose's magic tends to leave him very tired and he's rarely aware of how long it will leave him knocked out.
- Status Buff: Mustain's main job on the team. He's strong enough to be a grandmaster.
- Stripperiffic: Nearly every lady. You reading the series? Good, count 'em on your own time.
- Supporting Leader: Melrose is the protagonist but Mustain leads the team and decides their next move.
- Theme Naming: The Big Bad is named after Frank Vincent Zappa, the leader of the main characters is named after Dave Mustaine and the local cat boy is named after a Range Rover.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Melrose from time to time.
- Worthy Opponent: Viveke finds Shenandoah to be this, enough to be annoyed when her teammate tries to taunt her.
- You Killed My Father: Melrose wants to take out Zapa for killing his parents, specifically burning them alive.