Lancer: The Knights of Fenris
(or just Lancer for short) is a Space Opera webcomic created by Tim H. Nielsen. It's set in a galaxy populated by a variety of anthropomorphic animals.
Twenty years ago, the reptilian Drogahri and their empire were just barely beaten back by an alliance of mammalian Houses, and tensions have been rising between the Houses in the years since. Commander Rolf Garret, a wolf of House Fenris and a veteran of the last war, takes a squadron of three young knights under his wing: Jake Marshall, a mixed-breed dog and Garret's former squire; Mika Fadeneir, a lynx of House Bastet; and Bosco Mattrick, a bull of House Taurus.
While on patrol, these four Knights run into a Drogahri advance force around a black hole. A battle between Space Fighters ensues, in which Commander Garret goes missing, and the three other pilots barely escape the black hole with their lives… only to find that over a year has now passed in the rest of the galaxy, and that the Drogahri are winning the new war.
Not to be confused with the Mecha-based RPG Lancer, the 1968-70 Western Series Lancer, or Fenris, the homeworld of the Space Wolves in Warhammer 40,000.
Lancer: The Tropes of Fenris:
- The Alliance: The Houses formed one to fight the Drogahri Horde, with the Banner Sentinels as the more visible face.
- The Atoner: Mika hopes to redeem House Bastet, which somehow betrayed the other houses during a past war. We haven't been given the details yet.
- Brutish Bulls: Between his Brutal Honesty and Hair-Trigger Temper, Bosco fits the profile.
- Carnivore Confusion: When the three young Knights are stranded behind enemy lines, Bosco asks Jake and Mika what they'll eat once they run out of rations, since they're carnivores and there don't seem to be any chickens on the planet.
- Decoy Protagonist: The early chapters feature Rolf as the main character, complete with a lengthy, scene-setting Flashback showing his near-fatal battle with the feared Drogahri leader General Yuta. But then Rolf disappears, and the three young pilots he commanded become the protagonists.
- Deface of the Moon: When the Drogahri conquer Edenia IV, they carve a giant dragon figure into the planet's surface.
- Enemy Mine: While the mammalian species haven't gotten along in the past, they're forced to unite in self-defense against the Drogahri.
- Fantastic Racism: All over the place. Not only is there mutual hatred between the Drogahri and the mammals, but the different mammalian species sometimes distrust each other, and Jake the mixed-breed canine faces discrimination for being a "mutt" within Fenris.Carlos: A mutt, a Bastetian, and a Taurican board a cruiser... sounds like the start of a joke.
- Fantastic Slur: "Scalies" for the Drogahri.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: House Fenris (canines) seems vaguely European while House Bastet (felines) is somewhat Egyptian. House Taurus (presumably bovines) has so far been represented only by one knight.
- Feudal Future: The mammal species seem governed by noble houses while the reptiles have a more centralized empire. There's also the "knight" motif among the pilots on both sides, all of whom wear uniforms that resemble futuristic suits of armor.
- Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Every character we've seen so far sports a military uniform with boots except Duchess Ivanna Morozov of House Bastet, a Barefoot Cartoon Animal who wears a flowing white robe.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars:
- Rolf has a scar on his snout, a souvenir of his fight with General Yuta.
- Likewise, Admiral Trikorn has a set of three scars over his left eye.
- Guilt-Induced Nightmare: Some days after the trio's first battle (from their perspective), Jake has a nightmare of the Drogahri pilot he shot down floating dead in space. He confides in Bosco about the weight of his first kill, though Bosco can only tell him not to dwell on it.
- Jerkass: When Jake, Mika and Bosco are rescued, some crew members on the cruiser that picks them up treat them badly because they're suspicious of their black hole story. This especially includes Grant the logistics specialist, who purposely gives the pilots the worst accommodations he can find.
- Mixed Animal Species Team: The four main characters are a wolf, a dog, a lynx and a bull.
- Noble Wolf: Rolf Garret, the brave, heroic mentor to the three young pilots from the Banner Sentinels.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: Inverted with Mika. Her uniform is primarily red and black, but she's one of the heroes.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: The Drogahri we've met so far are Always Chaotic Evil creatures dedicated to war and conquest. While some are more abhorrent than others (one is shown being visibly apprehensive towards the idea of sacrificing their own), we still haven't seen any "good" ones yet.
- Shout-Out:
- Anthropomorphic animals piloting Space Fighters in a sci-fi setting? Sounds familiar.
- From this page where the three heroes' distress signal is found: "It's an older code, but it checks out!"
- Space Fighter: Knights fly Ace Custom fighters called "Lancers".
- Street Urchin: Jake was one in his Backstory until Rolf chose him as a squire, causing Jake to treat him as a Parental Substitute.
- Time Dilation: A close scrape with a black hole causes Jake, Mika and Bosco to miss out on more than a year of the war.
- Uncertain Doom: After the encounter with the black hole, Rolf goes missing and no one is sure if he's still alive, or what's happened to him.
- World of Funny Animals: In this case, the characters are closer to "anthro" than "funny".
- Wrench Wench: Tawny Fenner, the ace mechanic aboard the Fenris cruiser. She's very thorough at her job, although Mika isn't happy with the way Tawny treats her ship.
