Jared

Jared is a webcomic written and drawn by Harriet Rants. The main character is Jared A. Updale, a perpetually miserable and bitterly sarcastic Serial Killer. The story really starts when Jared meets Lilac Adams, a nineteen year old who first berates him for killing her boyfriend, and then asks him to train her to be a serial killer as well. However, it’s not all as simple as that. With constant mention of a mysterious League of Killers, the hint of an opposing faction and only brief snippets of Jared’s past, the comic takes a vicious glee in teasing about things yet to come, near constantly. The story is heavily character based, with a lot of dialogue and pages spent on just exploring their views and personalities. Despite the four most important characters being serial killers, there’s surprisingly little scenes of them actually killing.

On September 15, 2011 the creator officialy announced the end of the comic after months of struggling to continue it. A new comic with most of the same characters but a bigger focus on the Ensemble Darkhorse Lilac has been announced.

The main characters are:

Jared A. Updale: The title character. Dark, moody, and very philosophical. Also somewhat of a nerd.
Mary Updale-Moore: Jared’s "sister" and best friend. A lot more friendly and gentle than her brother. The two are not actually related, but pretend to be.
Lilac Adams: The tiny and adorable serial killer in training.
Shia: An old friend of Jared and Mary’s, who dated both of them. Apparently an Otaku.
Carl Shan: Jared’s other good friend, a corrupt police officer.
Sarah Landy: Jared’s girlfriend, who both he and Mary despise.
DCI Blake: The only police officer left not corrupted. A Hero Antagonist.
Hat Cat: The imaginary cat in Jared’s head, normally accompanied by four miniature cats called “Button Eyed Cats”.

Can be read on the writer's Deviant Art^{[dead link]} or on the website. Needs More Love.

Tropes used in Jared include:

Abusive Parents: Jared’s. He got his own back.
Art Evolution: Despite running for less than a year, the art changes and develops at a rapid pace. Compare the original first page: https://web.archive.org/web/20081021030537/http://larten-roolz.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2pepl6 to the most recent: http://harrietrants.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d3looov^{[dead link]}
Artist Disillusionment: The author prefers her other webcomic, Nameless, to Jared, and has no problem letting everyone know it.
- This is what eventually led to the end of the comic.
Author Appeal: Jared is shirtless quite a lot.
Badass: Jared.
Badass Longcoat: While it not actually being a longcoat, Jared nearly always wears a very cool leather jacket. It actually exists.
Bi the Way: Carl and Shia. Carl’s bisexuality was only mentioned on the Christmas page, and not in actual canon yet.
Brother-Sister Incest: Averted? Jared and Mary are not actually related; not even adopted or step siblings, they’re just pretending, but treat each other as such. But there are several scenes where Mary is practically sitting on Jared’s lap, riding on his back or just has her arms around his waist, and it really gives off an air of incest.
Cerebus Syndrome: Though you wouldn’t realise it, the comic was originally intended as a comedy and only became a drama later on.
Crapsack World: Jared lives in a world almost entirely run by The League, where serial killers freely roam the streets (provided it’s their territory) and everyone is corrupted.
Dead Little Sister: Or rather, dead girlfriend. Jared’s old girlfriend Cleo has been mentioned, and Jared is reluctant to talk about her, despite Lilac digging for information.
Deadpan Snarker: Jared and Mary.
Deliberately Monochrome: The comic is all black and white, except for the colour red.
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Jared’s skin, as seen in coloured pictures such as here: http://harrietrants.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d36ve32^{[dead link]} is literally white.
Cute Kitten: The Button Eyed Cats are ridiculously adorable.
Evil-Detecting Dog: Lilac’s puppy is scared of Jared.
Fangs Are Evil: When Jared smiles, he clearly has fangs. Could be Cute Little Fangs, YMMV.
Foreshadowing: All over the place.
Flash Back: Two, one to when Jared killed his father and one to when Mary and Jared first met.
Friendless Background: Mary was Jared’s only friend as a child.
Genius Bruiser: Jared is 6’4” and ripped, but very intelligent.
Hero Antagonist: DCI Blake
Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Jared is 6'4", Lilac is 5'3".
Humans Are the Real Monsters: Jared seems to have this opinion.
Lipstick Lesbian: Mary and her girlfriend Lizzie.
Mood Whiplash: A lot.
Nerd: Jared, Mary and Shia, with the three fighting over an NES at one point.
- Lilac is described as an “un-nerd”. She doesn’t even know what an NES is.
Nice Hat: Lilac always wears a bear hat.
Only Six Faces
Otaku: Shia, apparently.
Out of Focus: Sarah and Carl in arc 3. DCI Blake as well, though deliberately.
Perpetual Frowner: Jared
Psychopathic Manchild: Jared is type C. He is a real Badass, but is selfish and childishly obsessive.
Self-Made Orphan: Jared killed his father. The fate of his mother hasn’t been mentioned, but she was most likely also killed by Jared. Payback for years of abuse.
Serial Killer: The four main characters.
Ship Tease: Jared and Lilac, despite Jared being in a relationship.
Sympathetic Murderer: The writer tries to not portray Jared as this. He really is the bad guy.
Teasing Creator: The writer is actually quite mean when it comes to this, comments begging for more information towards future events are generally replied with “HAHAHAHA” or something along those lines.
Villain Protagonist