Crystal Fighters is a 2016 webcomic by Jen and Tyler Bartel set in a world where young people are growing up immersed in virtual reality games. One of these young people is Stella Kim who, by her own admission, "enjoys a little carnage." However, her parents refuse to buy her the Fighting Game she wants and instead buy her a family friendly game called Crystal Fighters, in which the player takes on the role of a Magical Girl whose duty is to convert her enemies into friends.
When Stella (reluctantly) agrees to give the game a try, the first player she encounters is her Cousin Jessica, who gives her a brief tutorial. But Stella quickly loses patience with the saccharine world of Crystal Fighters and causes the game to glitch. This leads to her stumbling upon the Chaos Arena, a secret magical girl fight club in which players battle each other using the special abilities the game gives them. Before long, Stella is drawn into these battles and, despite her lack of experience, is invited to compete in a series of tournaments. However, there is a sinister side to these tournaments - if Stella loses, she can never come back.
The comic has been described as "Sailor Moon meets Street Fighter." The digital version is available for download on the Stela mobile app
and a print version containing the first five chapters was published in 2018.
Has nothing to do with the Anglo-Spanish electronic music band Crystal Fighters.
Crystal Fighters contains example of:
- Alliterative Name: One of the characters in the story is called Penelope Patel.
- Befriending the Enemy: The official objective of the game is for players to "convert anyone that looks unpleasant into a friend" in order to charge their Crystal Brooches and increase their powers. Stella thinks this is "stupid" and uses her wand to attack the creature Jessica tells her to befriend.
- Character Customization: When Stella first enters the world of Crystal Fighters, she's wearing the default outfit which all new players receive. This outfit resembles those traditionally worn by magical girls and is not at all to her liking, so it's unlikely the outfits in the in-game Gift Shop which Jessica mentions would appeal to her. However, when she finds her way into the Chaos Arena, she's able to create an outfit which is more to her taste.
- Deep-Immersion Gaming: Once the players put on their headsets, they enter the virtual world where they interact as their in-game avatars. These avatars resemble the players at least as far as skin tone is concerned, but almost always have unnatural hair and eye colours.
- Emotional Powers: If Stella gets angry while playing Crystal Fighters, she causes the game to glitch. This is what leads to her discovering the Chaos Arena in the first place and later comes in handy when she and Olivia are battling Elektra and Seraphina. Olivia has defeated Elektra, causing Seraphina to target her, at which point a furious Stella charges towards Seraphina, trips over her own feet and headbutts Seraphina, defeating her. However, she doesn't realise it was her ability to glitch the game with the power of her anger that enabled her to win and, when she tries to take on Bit and Digit (Penelope's bodyguards) without Olivia's help, she is quickly defeated. Olivia later teaches her how to channel her anger in order to deliberately trigger the glitches.
- Genki Girl: Jessica. She has a very bubbly personality and is particularly excited when she learns that Stella has started playing Crystal Fighters, thinking the game will enable them to become friends. Stella just finds her annoying.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: When Olivia asks her which weapon she plans to use in her first battle, Stella replies that she will be fighting with her fists. However, Stella has no experience of hand-to-hand combat, so Olivia donates some of her Crystal Points to enable Stella to boost her stats. Stella promptly does so, but puts all the Crystal Points Olivia gave her into her Strength; to help balance things out, Olivia gives her a pair of gauntlets which boost the wearer's stats by 20% of the highest stat value.
- The Grim Reaper: Penelope's "The Inevitable End" attack enables her to call up a representation of death, complete with Sinister Scythe.
- Heart Symbol: The Crystal Brooches which the players' in-game avatars wear are shaped like hearts. They are also the source of their magic and, as such, are incorporated into the outfits worn by all the players, including those who take part in the battles in the Chaos Arena.
- Imagine Spot: Near the beginning, Stella has a moment where she imagines herself standing atop a pile of dead Viking warriors.
- Inside a Computer System: Most of the story takes place in the virtual world of Crystal Fighters, though there are glimpses of the players' lives outside the game.
- Pink Heroine: Averted. Though Stella is the protagonist, her in-game outfits are predominantly purple, reflecting her tomboyish nature and her dislike of anything stereotypically feminine.
- The Reveal: It turns out that Olivia is working for the Council which is behind the fight club and was sent to test Stella in order to find out if she can be taught to control her powers.
- Sinister Scythe: Penelope, the magical girl in charge of the Chaos Arena, wields a scythe, the blade of which is red to match her outfit.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Lampshaded by Stella who, when told the game she wanted "isn't for girls", asks her parents why they didn't just get her a game which revolves around being a good wife and homemaker.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Stella and Jessica. Stella is a tomboy who likes fighting games and is delighted when she discovers that the supposedly cute, family friendly game her parents have given her has a hidden side to it in the form of an underground fight club. Jessica, on the other hand, is very girly and is content to play Crystal Fighters in the way its creators intended.
- Wingding Eyes: Stella's eyes turn into stars when she first learns about the underground fight club.
- World of Technicolor Hair: Most of the characters' in-game avatars have unusual hair colours. These include purple (Stella), pink (Jessica and Bit), pale blue (Seraphina), white (Penelope and Egypt), mint green (Digit), navy blue (Doc) and aquamarine (Olivia).
