Explorers of Souls is a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon fan-comic created by deviantART user honrupi
. It follows the story of a sarcastic human-made-Eevee named Mel. It is in its early stages at the time this page is first under construction, but there is much evidence that there is far more to come from it.
The original Explorers of Souls comic (not this one), created in early 2013, featured honrupi herself as the Eevee-bound protagonist, with her real-life friends as side characters. At first, the comic was updated fairly regularly, with waiting periods becoming slowly longer and longer until Page 9, the final one written, was created 5 months after the previous. A few months later, a reboot was announced, with different, author-made characters. In June of 2014, the prologue was released. The first thing one may notice is that the remake is a good deal more satirical and less generic than the original. It is only on its second chapter, but the impressive artwork (even when compared to the original) and Deadpan Snarker protagonist raises the expectations of many.
However, this comic is currently put on hiatus so the author can make another reboot.
The comic can be read here.
This webcomic has examples of:
- Apologetic Attacker: Renée when attacking Mel, uttering "No hard feelings, right?" and "I'm just doing my job!". She doesn't actually seem very sorry, though.
- Cats Are Snarkers: Mel is prone to lots and lots of sarcastic commentary. Her Establishing Character Moment is the utterance of "Oh, bloody hell." once she sees she has become a Pokemon.
- Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: Mel, when rescued by Aiden, awakens in his arms later and flips out, since she doesn't know him.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Mel, in protest to being detained, lightly slaps Renée in panic. Renée, in turn, slashes her with a powered-up attack, leaving two deep wounds that would become permanent scars and knocking Mel unconscious.
- Curse Cut Short: Mel, who had just been transformed into a quadrupedal, tiny, fuzzy animal and unused to walking on four legs, crashes violently into the ground when she first tries to run. As she is about to fall, the vexed Eevee shouts "SON OF A-". It is left on that note.
- Death Glare: Mel gives one to the Pikachu when he asks if she is okay.
- Energy Ball: Rather unusually for a Riolu, Aiden can use the move Aura Sphere.
- Flat "What":Pikachu: I have no idea what you're going on about. Partners? Adventures? Sounds too tough for me. Plus, I don't even know who you are...
Mel: WAIT, WAT. - Genre Savvy: Back in her human form, Mel played Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (whose world she later found herself in), and knows all the tropes and cliches of the brand of fanfiction she found herself in. See for yourself.
- Hold Your Hippogriffs: Reshidamn from Renée's partner, a Fletchinder.
- Lemony Narrator: A much lighter example, but Honey, the comic's creator, gives clever little quips in the description of each page, sometimes humorously criticizing herself or the characters' actions. They are hilarious.
- Limb-Sensation Fascination: Mel, when checking out her new Eevee body.Mel: Ribbons? Hm, alright...Yup, there's my tail...And this fur is really hot.
- Meaningful Name: "Mel" is "Honey" in Latin. The author, whose first name is Honey, has confirmed that this is no coincidence.
- Mood Whiplash: The comic opens with a lighthearted, humorous tone. Cue Mel being attacked by an insane Knight Templar and severely wounded, screaming in agony as the forest is splattered with her blood.
- Nightmare Face: Renee's face in page 32: link
- Oh, Crap!: Mel explains how she is actually a human who was turned into an Eevee, causing Renée to apprehend her for being crazy. As Mel is carried off, she thinks to herself, "I've made a huge mistake."
- Rainbow Speak:Renée: "So...you want to be DIFFICULT, you little Eevee?"
- Real Men Wear Pink: Aiden, the comic's male deuteragonist, is a reasonably experienced Riolu that wears a pink scarf as his accessory.
- Reference Overdosed: If you look hard enough, Explorers of Souls is full of references and shout-outs to everything from internet memes to turn-of-the-millennium sitcoms.
- Say It with Hearts: Downplayed. Renée draws out vowels and incorporates tildes and music notes into her speech, as if to connote that she is speaking in sing-song.
- Subverted Trope: It is a staple of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, fanfiction, and comics to make the first Mon the protagonist sees upon awakening their partner for life. Despite what Mel assumes, the Pikachu that she first meets has no interest in adventuring or becoming her compadre.
- The Soulless: Played straight with the Pallids.
- Void Between the Worlds: The comic's prologue takes place "somewhere in the void". The Mew silhouette, whilst travelling in it, finds a portal to the human world.
- Witch Hunt: Renée, upon hearing Mel's claim that she used to be human, assumes she is insane. She claims to be "on patrol for any suspicious Pokémon".
- "X" Marks the Hero: Early in the comic, Mel gets a deep gash on her back in the shape of an X from a deadly X-Scissor. The author confirms that this scar is here to stay for the entire comic.
