History Characters / Digger

%% * DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu
* FanNickname: "[[spoiler:Shadowlescent]]", post-transformation.

* WildChild: Seems to be standard for demons; most either go feral or are taken in by other demons. As far as it can determined, a demon being raised by something ''kind'' just hasn't happened, though [[spoiler:Shadow sets out to rectify this]].

'''Boneclaw Mother:''' He smells nice.\\

[[folder:[[spoiler:He-Is]]]]

[[folder:[[spoiler:Sweetgrass Voice]]]]

* TheWoobie: He had no family and no friends for a long time until Digger stumbled across him.

[[WMG: Digger-of-Unnecessarily-Convoluted-Tunnels of Clan Quartzclaw ([[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname Digger]]) ]]

The title character, a wombat who got lost, well, digging one day and finds herself in a strange world.

Tropes associated with Digger:

* HeroicBSOD: Digger seems to currently be going through a version of this [[spoiler: after Ed's death]]; she's reacting to other people, but just barely enough to get by.
* TheHeroine: Of the webcomic. In-story, she's TheLancer with a hint of TheSmartGirl.

--> '''Ed:''' Ed is hoping Digger-mousie knows what is doing! \\

* IHaveManyNames: Digger, [[OverlyLongName Digger-of-Unnecessarily-Convoluted-Tunnels Of Clan Quartzclaw]], Burrower, Honored Digger, Digger-Mousie, Earth-Rat, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Little Mother Of Earthquakes]].
* IShouldHaveBeenBetter: She beats herself up over not having been a little better [[spoiler:to prevent Ed's Death]].

* OnlySaneWoman: Often her reaction to the extravagantly weird events she's involved in is some variation on the tune of "Oh, no, what is it ''now''?"
* OnlySaneEmployee: Somebody's got to keep the little group of dubiously-sane, questionably-competent weirdos in line, and as the only ''fully'' sane and ''completely'' competent person around who's actually ambulatory, Digger's drafted.

* ShutUpHannibal: Given that sarcasm is [[DeadpanSnarker Digger's standard response]] to most things, this is quite common. "Do you have any idea how long ''twelve thousand'' years is?" "I know it's not long enough to make a good rock."

* TheUnchosenOne: As a descendent of Helix, Digger simply ''can't'' be TheChosenOne. Thanks to a loophole and unfortunately being a possessor of common courtesy, Digger is roped into helping out anyway.

[[WMG:Ed]]

A male hyena that Digger happens across one night who promptly tries to eat her. [[DefeatEqualsFriendship They become friends.]] One of the comic's more [[TearJerker tragic figures.]]

Tropes associated with Ed:

%% * BadassAdorable

%% * HeroicSacrifice

* PapaWolf: Even after years of accepting being abused, the knowledge that his daughter was being hurt drives him to [[spoiler: tear out the throat of his mate.]]

* PhraseCatcher: A meta version, in that it's the ''fans'' who say it: "Oh, ''[[TheWoobie Ed]]''." It is said precisely once in the comic proper, [[spoiler:right after Ed's death]].
%% * SacrificialLion

%% * TheSmartGuy
* SpotOfTea: Or whatever it is he serves.

[[WMG:The Shadowchild]]

Tropes associated with the Shadowchild:

* AmbiguousInnocence: Innocent to the point of no morality. Fortunately, it seems to trust Digger and want to learn. Less fortunately for Digger, it's not easy to present a working moral system off the top of one's head. [[spoiler:It does figure out morality well enough to refuse to kill its companions and (correctly) identify another demon as evil, even when the other demon states that demons are above such petty "rules" - though it still mostly argues the point in terms Digger has told it.]]
* BadassAdorable

%% * TheBigGuy[=/=]CuteBruiser
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Digger is left having to teach Shadowchild the many nuances of what's right and wrong, and Shadowchild has difficulty understanding the concepts. [[spoiler:Sweetgrass Voice]] explains the moralities of demons, and how consuming shadows of living speaking creatures is wrong only by the creatures rules, and not demons. [[spoiler:After eating Sweetgrass Voice's projection, Shadowchild seems to grow and]] become wiser to the way things are. It states that while morality is still hard to grasp, it understands Digger's dilemma and the varying nature of good and evil, afterwards [[spoiler:it leaves to find other demons to teach]].

%% * ConstantlyCurious
* DarkIsNotEvil: It's not quite good either, [[spoiler:[[GrowingUpSucks (though it's definitely trying)]]]] but calling it evil would be a big stretch.

* GrowingUpSucks: After [[spoiler:absorbing a projection of Sweetgrass Voice and becoming smarter and more demon like]] it states this almost word for word to Digger, who agrees with it.

* LivingShadow: exact appearance.

* WildChild: Digger at one point suggests that Shadowchild is more or less the demon version of this. But then, all Demons are, until and unless they get taken in by an older demon. [[spoiler:Shadowlescent is setting out to change this.]]
* YourSoulIsMine: If Shadowchild eats the shadow of a living creature, it drops dead. Eventually. First they go into a coma.

[[WMG:The Statue of Ganesh]]

Tropes associated with the Statue of Ganesh:

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He ''is'' the statue of Ganesh. Ganesh is merciful.

[[WMG:Murai]]

A former member of the Veiled and a worshipper of Ganesh. Has occasional bouts of madness. [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits So, of course, she fits right in.]]

Tropes associated with Murai:

* TheChick: In-story, she's both this and TheHeroine.

* GoMadFromTheRevelation: The source of her madness is from looking upon the [[GodOfEvil Black Mother.]]
* HandicappedBadass: Adding to an occasionally paralyzing bout of madness, she broke her arm on a quest, which simply increases her determination.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Bits and pieces of her story creep in, like the prophecy business, but ultimately, this quest isn't about her. [[spoiler:It's implied that one day, "when she stands astride the fulcrum of the world," her experiences during ''Digger'' will turn out to be vital.]]
* HoldingTheFloor: She knows enough about Jhalm to know he will at least hesitate to attack [[spoiler:a lone, injured, if armed girl.]]

* MoralityPet: To Jhalm. [[spoiler:At the end she says she needs to follow him to make sure he makes the right decisions, despite him coming very close to ordering her arrest in the climax.]]

* SanitySlippage: Every now and then.

* WaifFu: All the Veiled are trained in combat, and Murai has the added help/hindrance in murderous, madness-fuelled fits of rage.

[[WMG: Boneclaw Mother]]

Senior female member of the hyena tribe that adopted Digger.

Tropes associated with Boneclaw Mother:

* BadassNormal: [[http://www.diggercomic.com/?p=541 "I may be old, but if you think I can't still rip you up one side and down the other, cub, even if I am blind and five times your age..."]] (as quoted by Grim Eyes).
* BlindSeer: Digger does not initially realize she is blind: "I keep meeting people wearing strange masks, you see."
** "Perhaps it is a sign, then. Perhaps ''you'' ought to be wearing one."

* DirtyOldWoman: [[http://www.diggercomic.com/?p=430 "You're a vile old woman."]]
* DisabilitySuperpower:
** Played with. "These stones I wear. Perhaps I can see you through them. Do you believe that?"
** "Do the thing!"\\
"What thing?"\\
"The thing where you tell people what they're thinking and freak 'em out!"
** Shamelessly taken advantage of when telling Grim Eyes to go with Digger on her initial quest. Whether Grim Eyes won or lost the fight threatened in the BadassNormal entry, she would still lose face with the tribe. By losing, she's lost to an elderly woman. By winning, she's won...against an elderly woman.

* NeverMessWithGranny: [[http://www.diggercomic.com/?p=542 "Frankly, I'm more scared of Boneclaw Mother than the gods. She-Is-Fiercer isn't known for her left hook."]]

[[WMG:Grim Eyes]]

A young, female hyena from Ed's tribe. Digger meets her when Grim Eyes is trying to capture and eat her. They also eventually become comrades. [[spoiler:And since Boneclaw Mother technically adopted Digger, they're now relatives.]]

Tropes associated with Grim Eyes:

* TheLancer: Digger's. Otherwise, she's TheBigGirl.
* LukeIAmYourFather: Later in the strip the parents of Grim Eyes are revealed: [[spoiler:Ed and Blood Eyes.]]
* MortonsFork: Boneclaw mother makes an AppealToForce against her to make her help Digger. Grim Eyes points out that not obeying her is a lose-lose proposition: If she calls her out and they fight, Grim Eyes will either ''lose'' against a crippled blind old lady three times her age, or she will ''beat up'' a crippled blind old lady three times her age. There is really no way she gets out of it honour intact.

* WeaknessTurnsHerOn: She tells Digger as much after some conventional-gender-role-reversal antics with their Deer-headed guide.

[[WMG:Bloodtail]]

Tropes associated with Blood Tail:

[[WMG:Blood Eyes]]

Tropes associated with Blood Eyes:

* HeroicBSOD: A very understandable one. Things went bad when Blood-Tail started screwing with her head.

[[WMG:Captain Jhalm]]

Tropes associated with Captain Jhalm:

* YouHaveFailedMe: Averted. When Murai was sent to investigate the Black mother god that was gaining power from the beliefs of children, she comes back with her mind in shambles. Murai was surprised that instead of blaming her, Jhalm blamed himself for sending a child out into such a dangerous situation.

[[WMG:The Oracular Slug]]

An oracle who is a slug. Pretty much the only creature who can keep a tab on Digger's future.

* DrowningMySorrows: What lead to his family becoming oracles. He even points out how weird it is.

* {{Hermaphrodite}}: Slug, remember?
* ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest: Tries his best to get his prophecies to Digger.
* LoopholeAbuse: [[spoiler:Helix's contract prevented any gods from interfering with his descendants' destinies. Unfortunately, he forgot to include any such clause about prophetic slugs...]]

[[WMG:The Hag]]

[[WMG:Surka]]

%% * AllTrollsAreDifferent

[[folder:SPOILER WARNING]]

[[WMG: He-Is]]

Tropes associated with He-Is:

[[WMG:Sweetgrass Voice]]

* IronicNickname: Real-life sweetgrass is a ''sacred'' plant in many indigenous traditions, said to repel evil through its sweet smell. Sweetgrass Voice is the BigBad.

* TheUnpronounceable: Its true name, like that of all demons, cannot even be ''heard'' by most creatures, much less pronounced. In-story, it is represented by a series of dashes because of this.
* WalkingWasteland: Never confirmed, but forty-thousand years before the story, there was a creature called Famine that fit the trope, and it certainly bears a resemblance.

* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Arguably, he becomes less of a [[GoodIsNotNice well meaning jerk]] and more of a spiteful KnightTemplar as the story goes on. Judging from what we've heard now that Digger's group has returned to Ganesh's temple, it seems that he's gotten worse in their absence.

%% * WellIntentionedExtremist

%% * EasterEgg

%% * LivingShadow

* MorallyAmbiguousDucktorate: Digger has an [[ShoutOut irrational]] [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/uvernon/irrationalfears/series.php?view=archive&chapter=787&mpe=1&step=1 fear]] of ducks. It's not plot important, but still worth mentioning. [[IncrediblyLamePun Maybe she should see a quack.]]

[[WMG:Shadowchild]]

Tropes associated with Shadowchild:

->'''''Jhalm''': If you attempt to harm one of my Veiled, it will go badly for you.\\
'''The Cold Ones''': [...] [[AC:A--soldier--of--too many--gods. We--do not--fear--you.]]\\
'''Jhalm''': I need no gods to deal with '''you'''.''

* RunningJoke: "Am I a--" "No, Shadowchild, you are ''not'' a trope."

%% * IronicNickname: Real-life sweetgrass is a ''sacred'' plant in many indigenous traditions, said to repel evil. Sweetgrass Voice is the BigBad.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Digger is left having to teach Shadowchild the many nuances of what's right and wrong, and Shadowchild has difficulty understanding the concepts. [[spoiler:Sweetgrass Voice]] explains the moralities of demons, and how consuming shadows of living speaking creatures is wrong only by the creatures rules, and not demons. [[spoiler:After eating Sweetgrass Voice's projection, Shadowchild seems to grow and]] become wiser to the way things are. He states that while morality is still hard to grasp, he understands Digger's dilemma and the varying nature of good and evil, afterwards [[spoiler:he leaves to find other demons to teach]].

%% * GrowingUpSucks

%% * LivingStatue

* TheBeastMaster: When she met Digger, she was the master of a bunch of trolls guarding a bridgge.

* ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest: Tries his best to get his prophesies to Digger.

* [[OnlySaneWoman Only Sane Wombat]]: Often her reaction to the extravagantly weird events she's involved in is some variation on the tune of "Oh, no, what is it ''now''?"

* FanNickname: [[spoiler: Shadolescent/Shadowlescent]], after [[spoiler:its encounter with Sweetgrass Voice.]]

* OnlySaneWoman: Often her reaction to the extravagantly weird events she's involved in is some variation on the tune of "Oh, no, what is it ''now''?"

* PowerfulPick: Her WeaponOfChoice.

* RunningJoke: No, Shadowchild, you are ''not'' a trope.

* MortonsFork: Boneclaw mother makes an AppealToForce against her to make her help Digger. Grim Eyes points out it's a lose-lose proposition: If she calls her out and they fight, Grim Eyes will either ''lose'' against a crippled blind old lady three times her age, or she will ''beat up'' a crippled blind old lady three times her age. There is really no way she gets out of it honour intact.