Star Trip
is a science fiction webcomic written and drawn by Gisele Weaver, following the adventures of Jas, a human from modern Earth traveling around the galaxy with Khut, a powerful shapeshifting alien who agreed to ferry her after she released them from an attempted capture. The story is divided into chapters focusing on a particular planet during Jas and Khut’s travels, as a trio of Taikese commandos- Vron, Ajo, and Malik- follows in pursuit, forcing the pair to join other travelers for safety in their tour of the universe.
Star Trip contains examples of:
- Alien Abduction: Jas leaving with Khut is technically a form of this, though she was willing to leave the planet. Abducting beings from “hick” planets in this manner is illegal throughout the galaxy.
- All There in the Manual: Certain details of characters' backstories are included in the comic's character page, particularly with regards to the Taikese team.
- Agri World: Losm, which is primarily farmland.
- Apocalypse How:
- An entire continent of Taikos was destroyed in an act that permanently altered the planet's climate into a frozen wasteland. Exactly why or how Khut did this is unknown.
- Earth is hit by a freak solar flare that destroyed human civilization. It's unlikely any humans or any other life survived.
- Art Evolution: The art quality ramps up over the course of the story, with more color, lighting effects, smoother lines, and more detailed backgrounds showing off the alien words. The characters, especially Jas, become rounder and cartoony over time.
- Benevolent A.I.: The droid civilization of Yd is among the most advanced and amicable in the galaxy.
- Casual Interstellar Travel: Moving between planets in the galactic community is fairly easy, and Khut takes it to the extreme, being able to travel between planets without need for a ship.
- City Planet: Yd, the focus of Chapter 11, is one populated by droids.
- Confronting Your Imposter: This happens when Khut impersonates a pop star, Abrak Yuun, to make money from autographs only for the real one to show up. Though Khut claims to be the real one, the con breaks down fast.
- Drama Queen: From what’s been shown, Rashi society is dominated by them.
- Empathic Weapon: The armor Kese created alters its appearance based on what the wearer considers a powerful appearance.
- The Empire: The Taikese attempted to form one, conquering other planets before being driven back by the rest of the galaxy.
- Exact Words: Khut recommends Jas choose the terms of her request carefully, causing her to amend her wish to visit every planet in the galaxy to visiting every habitable planet.
- Evil Is Bigger: The three Taikese antagonists are huge, with Malik, by far the shortest, towering over Jas, while Ajo is almost ten feet tall. Their species in general is feared, partly because of how intimidating they are compared to the many small, cute species of the galaxy.
- Fantastic Racism: Among the inhabited planets, different species and local cultures often have unfavorable opinions of each other. In particular, Kese isn’t respected for her intelligence despite her inventions due to her species, the Gak, a species primarily associated with mining and manufacturing.
- Humans Are Warriors: This is how Jas’s use of Kese’s armor develops, with her proving quite adept at combat challenges in the Golden Chalice despite having no training in combat.
- Insignificant Little Blue Planet: Earth is not held in high regard by the rest of the galaxy, being classified as a “hick” planet out of contact with other species.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: Though “dehumanizing” isn’t all that applicable to Khut, the Taikese refer to them as “it”.
- Noodle Incident: Something happened with the team hunting Khut that prevented their success on Earth, which was implicitly Malik’s fault somehow.
- Non-Human Non-Binary: Many characters in the story are referred to by multiple or neutral pronouns, particularly Khut, who is featured in the trope's page image. Sanna and Ajo are both non-binary. It's specifically noted in the setting that beings refer to each other as "they" until told otherwise.
- No-Sell: The Terror-3 drone’s design is meant to be a psychological weapon against the Taikese, built in the image of the “Terror of Taikos” which devastated their world. When actual Taikese soldiers see it, they remark that it looks ridiculous and they’ve seen much more intimidating enemies.
- Plant Person: The entire Styzid species, which resemble large animate flowers.
- Sand Worm: Zren is populated by a species of them.
- Shout-Out:
- Earth is considered to be “mostly harmless” by the rest of the galaxy.
- When viewing an alien jungle, Jas indirectly mentions Avatar as one of her favorite movies and a motive for seeing the jungle. An author’s note calls Jas’s taste in movies bad. Later, on Roshin, Jas is ecstatic to find the local cities are built around enormous trees.
- After discussing the holidays of different species, Jas asks Khut if their kind spend their holidays together in a giant puddle, alluding to the Great Link.
- Space "X": In an arcade on Styzem, Jas and Khut play Space DDR.
- Starfish Aliens: Many of the species are completely inhuman in form.
- Star Scraper: “The Needle”, a laboratory/factory, extends beyond its planet’s atmosphere.
- Translator Microbes: A detached piece of Khut serves to translate alien speech for Jas. Later, a universal translator in her ear serves this purpose.
