Darkchylde

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Darkchylde was a comic book series written and drawn by Randy Queen, and published through a variety of publishers, including Image Comics through Wildstorm.

Darkchylde focused on the life of Ariel Chylde, who, thanks to a contract with the devil made by her mother, has been cursed with the ability to transform into the creatures of her nightmares.

Not to be confused with Magik from X-Men and her demon persona.


Tropes used in Darkchylde include:
  • Attempted Rape: By Ariel's "father". It triggers her first transformation, and results in his immediate barbequing.
  • Beauty to Beast: What happens as a result of the curse.
  • Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted hard with Ariel's transformations.
  • Body Horror: Ariel's transformations aren't pretty, and they hurt immensely.
  • Clothing Damage: Taken to Up to Eleven after her transformation into Fang, a huge dragon. When she reverts, she's still wearing her jeans, which, though tattered, have still mostly survived the transformation.
  • Healing Factor: When a demon rips one of Ariel's arms off, she learns that she can regrow it by shifting into one of her nightmare forms and then reverting to human.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The demon Piece, who, while acerbic and hot tempered, does genuinely like to see Ariel happy.
  • Missing Mom: Ariel's mother died when Ariel was 4 years old. Mother is still around as Sage, though.
  • Painful Transformation: Ariel describes her transformations in terms of bones snapping, breaking and re-forming.

Ariel: It isn't like dying and being reborn...it IS dying and being reborn.