Invincea
Invincea and the Warriors From Hell
is a webcomic centering on the eponymous Invincea. Orphaned and mute from infancy, Invincea has never had an easy life. But when what little she still has in a world that rejects her is violently torn away, she sets out to find justice.
Lost and wounded, she soon meets the mysterious bard Lon Quillow, and together they are catapulted into a cross-country string of adventures bringing them closer together as they learn about humanity, empathy, and the deep desire of all people to be understood and accepted.
What has been lost can be found again...
The webcomic has the following examples of:
- After-Action Healing Drama: Invincea does not get to really meet Lon Quillow until after she is saved on the road from a pack of wolves, already faint from blood loss and shock. If he was not there, it would not have turned out very well for her.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Invincea is believed by most to be a witchling, the cursed offspring of witches and demon lords, and her inability to speak makes it a difficult claim to argue with. As a result she experienced a very lonely childhood, and even as she grew up she only met one friend, Merris. In spite of all of the harassment, bullying, and unfair treatment, Invincea strives to stay above it, putting up with the ridiculous treatment of others in her mission to prove she is deserving of respect and admiration.
- Berserk Button: Invincea loves her adoptive father, Torvin, very much. Saying anything to disparage him in her presence is a bad idea.
- Donna is very self-conscious about her size, and referring to her as a child is a good way to start a fight on the spot.
- Blood Knight: Galavant is a powerful warrior, constantly seeking out a fair fight and though he is often disappointed by the opponents presented to him he always remains optimistic that he will find a worthy foe. Well, aside from Hadinn.
- Braids of Action: Invincea has a long braid as one of the defining traits of her character design.
- Casually Powerful Giant: Galavant is an enormous man and capable of incredible feats of strength. He often dispatches much larger groups of enemies or more powerful foes with great ease, and seeks out any opponents who can challenge him appropriately.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Invincea is very hard to deter from springing headlong into whatever adventure or possibility to prove herself arises. This is often to the annoyance of her friends, who are preoccupied with not getting caught by bounty hunters and royal guards.
- Cultured Warrior: While he is illiterate, Hadinn favors the finer things and is an enthusiastic player of chess, even taking up wood carving to make his own set.
- Doomed Hometown: Invincea’s hometown of Hillsnest is quite pleasant, aside from the way many of its inhabitants treat her. Enjoy it while it lasts.
- Everyone Chasing You: Frequently the story arcs culminate in some form of this as Invincea or her friends wind up drawing the attention of several groups of enemies.
- Female Fighter, Male Handler: Lon is hastily appointed as Invincea’s squire so that she can participate in a tournament, and in spite of his many protestations he seems to have accepted the mantle, if only to make Invincea happy.
- Friendly Enemy: Galavant and Hadinn are sworn enemies, having fought one another for years to the point of it becoming a deep-seated personal grudge. They have put their battle on pause for now, as something more important came up.
- Hair Memento: Ursa-Dra entrusts Hadinn with a lock of her hair as he leaves Natanahal.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: Invincea’s sword is a gift from her best friend, and even has her name on it.
- Karmic Death: The three traitors from Invincea's hometown. They repeatedly fail to make anything useful for Taurog, and one of his lieutenants decides You Have Failed Me. Which is when he reveals their executioner: Invincea's Evil Twin, who has a psychic bond to Invincea and had to put up with the same childhood abuse that Invincea suffered her whole life from those three - except she has a far shorter temper. She punches holes through them in seconds.
- Knight, Knave, and Squire: The three mercenaries Invincea befriends at the tournament fit into these roles; Galavant is the burly and noble knight, Hadinn is the sardonic and pragmatic knave, and Donna is the youthful but irritable squire.
- Malicious Slander: Invincea’s debated status as a witchling leads to a lot of malicious rumors of her misdeeds, and of course there are plenty who are readily willing to believe them.
- Mighty Lumberjack: Torvin, the man who rescues and adopts the infant Invincea, is a rural woodsman and embodies the ultimate lumberjack.
- Normally, I Would Be Dead Now: Invincea is struck with a pitchfork at the outset of her adventuring career in a place that for most would be the end of said career.
- Torvin may have lost an arm, but he still had the strength to seek out and untrap Invincea before he let himself pass over.
- Plucky Girl: Invincea keeps a chipper attitude in spite of all her suffering. She has a very optimistic view of the world, and pursues every adventure like it’s her first.
- Poor Communication Kills: Invincea and her friends frequently get into trouble because of her inability to speak, and while a quick explanation might cool things down, it is much more common for the situation to snowball into a disaster. This has culminated in Invincea and her friends being suspected of attempted regicide, among other crimes.
- Rambunctious Italian: While there is no nation of Italy in the world of Invincea, Donna exhibits certain signs.
- Secret Path: The underground city of Natanahal has several of these, most of them ancient but some new ones discovered or engineered by Ursa-Dra, who has counted all of them.
- Silly Rabbit, Cynicism Is for Losers!: One of the core themes of the comic.
- Sole Survivor: In spite of the reputation for the Warriors from Hell to never leave behind any survivors, Invincea is spared from the devastation of Hillsnest.
- The child Marnie is the last survivor of her family, attacked on the road by bandits. Invincea naturally takes a liking to her.
- Solo Mission Becomes Group Mission: Often characters, typically Invincea or Lon, set out to do something on their own but quickly wind up drawing other members of their friend group into the escapade.
- The Napoleon: Donna is the smallest character in the main cast, and also the bossiest. She frequently is pushing around Hadinn, a grown man, and Galavant, a towering behemoth who is capable of punching through solid stone walls. Naturally, they don’t argue with her. Most of the time.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Galavant and Hadinn’s rivalry has escalated to the point where they consider themselves the only ones who have the right to kill the other. Trying to cut ahead in the line is a good way to find out just how serious they are about this.
- The Speechless: Invincea’s voice was stolen from her in her infancy, and she cannot make any sounds with her mouth whatsoever, even blowing a whistle is impossible for her.
- Galavant had his tongue cut out by Hadinn, and so he has also been rendered incapable of speech. Naturally, he and Invincea get along well.
- True Blue Femininity: Invincea has a strong blue theming.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Invincea's father saved her from a priestess of Taurog, only to sacrifice her tools to Taurog as a consolation prize, not realizing half of Invincea's soul was in it. Taurog reshaped that partial soul into his champion, who has a complex and wants to absorb Invincea to be complete.
- Voice for the Voiceless: While Invincea is incapable of speaking, Lon is incapable of shutting up. As a result, he often does the talking whether she wants him to or not.
- Watching Troy Burn: Invincea’s efforts to save her town of Hillsnest from the Warriors from Hell very quickly becomes a horrible, traumatic nightmare where she is ambushed, pinned, and forced to watch its destruction while writhing in agony and helpless to stop it.
- With Catlike Tread: Invincea has been cursed, and some may say blessed, with absolute silence. The same cannot be said for most of her friends.
