Webcomic / Guardian Ghost

"You bein' alive right now? I did that!"

— Dave, Chapter 1 Page 6

Max is lucky to be alive. Well… okay, maybe lucky isn't the right word for it....

After surviving a Near-Death Experience a few months back, all he wanted was for things to return to normal once he got past recovering. But when a chance encounter with a ghost turns his whole view on the world upside down, it makes Max question if he really wants this second chance at life.

This comic follows the adventures of Max after getting revived by a wayward ghost, and all the chaos that comes with it.

Check out the Character Page!

And check out the comic itself

(I keep finding tropes for this comic goodness gracious, give me a heads up if I'm doing them right or not)

---

Tropes used in this series

• Alliterative Title: A general term, used to refer to a ghost that saved a person.
• Art Evolution: Just look at the difference between Chapter 1 and Chapter 7
• Berserk Button: Do not hurt Clara in any manner around Clarence
  • Or Max around Dave.
  • And calling Max a weakling or pointing out his anxiety is a big no-no
• Beware the Quiet Ones: Max, later in the comic.
• Big Brother Instinct Clarence with Clara, and later Dave with Max
• Butt-Monkey: Well, Max IS the protagonist...
  • George could count for this too
• Can't Live Without You: All the Spirits (Max, Clarence) are stuck with their Ghosts (Dave, Clara) and if the Ghost breaks the link in any manner then the Spirit dies (due to their soul getting erased)
  • If the Spirit dies then the Ghost is stuck in limbo forever
• Casual Danger Dialogue: Dave, all the time during serious situations. Except when he isn’t. That’s when you know something’s seriously wrong
• Chained Heat: Max and Dave
• Code Name: Everyone has general code names, related to various ghost types and other ghost terms.
  • Salvaged Spirit- Person revived by a ghost
  • Guardian Ghost- The ghost that saved the person
  • Enforcers- The monsters (Eldion Fiends) that attack Spirits/Ghosts
• Color-Coded Characters: Everyone has a specific Ghost Color they're associated with. Some color wheel/theory mechanics are applied.
  • Max is a bright blue, Dave a fire-like orange, Clarence is indigo/deep blue, Clara magenta/pink. The ghosts are more on the Monochrome Apparition: side color-scheme wise.
    • Dave and Max’s colors are complements/opposites of each other, which works with their polar opposite personalities.
    • Clarence and Clara are analogous, with their blue and pink both referencing from purple a bit.
    • The closer their colors are to red, the better they are at actually fighting the Enforcers, which is why the Ghosts are generally warmer colors while the Spirits stick to colors in the blue/green side
• Cute Bruiser: Clara. She can take down 16 Enforcers an hour, and enjoys every minute of it.
  • She uses her cute appearance to her advantage sometimes.
• Dead to Begin With: The ghost half of the cast
  • The living half were just dead (for a short time) before their revivals
• Defense Mechanism Superpower: Max with his Ghost Energy surge, at least when he used it the first time.
  • Now it just seems to happen during a panic attack or during any negative emotional highs.
• Eye Color Change: Spirits get an eye color change when they get revived, usually a brighter and more vibrant version of their original eye color. This becomes a permanent thing for them Post-Revival.
  • Also happens with possession, like when Dave possessed Max, changing his normally green eyes to pupil-less bright blue irises.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Max can get this in the middle of a power burst.
  • Most Spirits have this ability, but his is just more intense
• Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: Enforcers have this, as well as anything associated with them
• Hates Being Alone: Dave. Being almost completely socially isolated for two years can do that to people.
• Invisible to Normals: All the ghosts, even the monster ones.
  • The medallions around the Spirit's necks count for this too
• Jacob Marley Apparel: All ghosts get this. They also look like they would be at their physical best once they make the transition from spirit to ghost, with undamaged versions of whatever clothes they were wearing.
  • Anything they have on them during their time of death gets brought along with them.
  • They do lose their legs, though.
• Look Both Ways: Max died by getting hit by a car, but he got better.
• Near-Death Experience: All the Spirits experience this… although remembering the event depends on their mindset and cause of death.
  • Then again, why would you want to remember floating over your dead body?
• Nervous Wreck: It's impossible for Max to NOT be at some level of anxiety at any given point in time.
  • And then there’s George's constant paranoia which makes Max look calm in comparison
  • Weirdly enough, Dave can also fall into this sometimes
• Our Ghosts Are Different: The ghosts are all brightly colored, rather than the classic blue/purple/white tones they're usually drawn in. And that's only the tip of the iceberg
• Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Clarence and Clara, Ghost Color wise.
  • Dave's nicknames for them (Pink Twin/Blue Twin) references this
• Power Levels: Ghost Energy works like this in Spirits, starting at a baseline that builds up throughout the year.
  • Max's baseline just happened to be absurdly high to begin with, a rarity for Spirits.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Dave and Max respectively, their associated colors are actually pretty close to red and blue (orange and bright blue)
  • Actually a lot of the Ghost/Spirit pairs seem to follow this pattern, with the Spirit more on the blue side and Ghosts more on the red side, and their personalities matching the Red/Blue sides (mostly)
• Technicolor Eyes: Anyone revived gets bright and vibrant variations of their original (and normal) eye colors. They have a slight glow.
  • Ghosts have the same thing, it just covers the entire eye
• The Nicknamer: Dave never uses people's real names, unless he's genuinely concerned for them.
• Triple Shifter: All of the Spirits fall under this, since sleeping at night while monsters are attacking is basically a deathwish, and sleeping at school is generally frowned upon.
  • This actually explains some of Max and Clarence's more irrational decisions in the series
• You Can See Me?: Dave, when he meets Max for the first (technically second) time
  • Reversed during Max's revival, when Max was the one asking the question.