The Pride of Life
The Pride of Life is an ongoing furry comedy webcomic created by R.F. Tigermode. It is about a teenage vulfpacht named Kedamono who acquires superpowers upon eating the legendary cursed fruit of the World Tree, Yggdrasil, thereby becoming a superbeast. The fruit endows the consumer with superpowers and allows him or her to live for 500 years, but when those 500 years are up, he or she will die a violent death. The story follows Kedamono's adventures and misadventures throughout his lifetime.
The comic first appeared on the internet on June 9th, 2004, updating three times a week. After several hiatuses, the comic has resumed as of October 1st, 2008, with weekly Wednesday updates.
Characters
- Kedamono - A young male vulfpacht, age 16. After trying unsuccessfully for seven years to climb the World Tree, thwarted at every pass by its guardian, Gaur, he is able to finally acquire and eat the fruit after taking advantage of a conflict between Gaur and Adolfo. Although a bit of a coward and occasionally a maker of poorly though-out choices, he can be tenacious and is generally a kind-hearted boy and dislikes seeing people treated unfairly.
- Gaur - A minotaur superbeast of the bison variety and the guardian of the World Tree. Gaur is dedicated to protecting Yggdrasil from those who would try to steal its fruit (including Kedamono). Though sworn to guard the great tree, he himself partook of the fruit in order to become a superbeast. Gaur has a sort-of skewed, father-son/mentor-student relationship with Kedamono, which often ends up more in frustration that anything else. Gaur's attacks (hereby referred to as 'Talents') are earth-based and so far include the "Stampede Fist," in which forced rocky upcroppings appear when punches the ground. This attack was first shown in Episode 02.
- Chieftain Hyde - The unquestionably handsome leader of the Vulfpachts. Hyde became chieftain after the untimely death of his father one season ago (in the Vulfpacht system of government, the chieftain is determined by succession, regardless of gender). His zero-tolerance policy of threats to his village has made him a widely respected man across the Central region of the Forested Continent. He first appears in Episode 03.
Villains
- Adolfo - Despite his appearance, Adolfo is a rodentian superbeast of the bearded squirrel variety and the self-proclaimed strongest of the Forested Continent. Though somewhat forgetful and easily sidetracked, he seems to enjoy making pitiful specimens of his opponents/victims just before killing them. A servant of Othello, his claiming natural monuments, such as Yggdrasil (his current assignment), though his loyalty is tentative, at best. He only allows himself to be used in the hope that Othello will remove his Chaos Hump, an internal strength suppressant for all superbeasts created with Othello's power. Adolfo's Talents are grounded in body modification. His first, "The Deadly Claw", his fingers extend to essentially become knives, which he uses to pierce his opponents. The second, "The Deadly Jack-knife", is an extension of "The Deadly Claw", in which he extends both his toes and fingers to become knives, then executes a jack-knife dive straight into his victim.
- Othello - The self-proclaimed ruler of the Forested Continent. Although he resembles a giant bat, Othello is actually a vampire, but transforms to a bat-like form at night. Othello is the authority over Adolfo and has control over several other superbeasts across the continent. He is able to keep the destructive Adolfo in check with the promise of removing the Chaos Hump from his body, an internal limiter for all superbeasts created with Othello's power. His current aim is to acquire natural monuments such as the World Tree, but the purpose of this has yet to be revealed.
- The Zapatos Gang - The gryphon organized crime association, headed by "Daddy" Valdez, with lesser duties delegated to the night managers, Nickles (customer service), Rin Tin Dennis (loss prevention), Youngsilver (gryphon resources), and Iron Keith (shipping and receiving). The Zapatos' base of operations is behind Gargamel Falls, on which the city of avians, Sasamel, rests. Although primarily a protection racket, they also partake in trapping and poaching, explosives, the slave trade, and strangely, real estate.
Episode Synopses
WARNING: SPOILERS
Episode 01: "Kedamono Emerges" - The episode opens with Adolfo attacking an ox-drawn cart, killing both the beast of burden and his driver. As he settles in for a meal of ox, Othello drops in and berates Adolfo for destroying two of Othello's "belongings", but resolves to forgive him if he successfully captures the World Tree, Yggdrasil. Othello then leaves, promising to return upon nightfall to check on Adolfo's progress. After he departs, Adolfo simply grins, biding his time until the time comes for Othello to remove his Chaos Hump, and at that point, it is revealed that he will kill Othello.
Meanwhile, Kedamono, having eluded Yggdrasil's guardian, Gaur, attempts to climb the world tree and upon gaining access to a high-enough branch, makes an attempt to dive for the fruit hanging from an adjacent branch. The dive fails, and he plummets to the earth, only to land on Gaur's head. After some shouting from Gaur, it is revealed to the audience by Kedamono the special powers the World Tree's fruit can give to the person that eats it. Gaur follows up by reminding him that the eater will also die a violent death. Despite this, Kedamono tries again to climb the tree, only to be scolded once again by Gaur.
Night falls over the forest, and Kedamono, once again having slipped past Gaur, is shown climbing up the tree once again. Below, Gaur is shown injured on the ground, with Adolfo towering over him. Gaur demands the meaning behind the attack, to which Adolfo stakes his claim to the World Tree. Kedamono, upon his descent, overhears the two, and decides to aid Gaur, revealing that he has successfully acquired the fruit. He quickly eats it, then launches an attack against Adolfo, resulting in a few ineffective punches. Kedamono asks Gaur why he doesn't have any superpowers, and Gaur reveals that the fruit takes a full eight hours to digest and won't have any effect until then. A horrified Kedamono realizes his mistake too late, and is run through by Adolfo's Deadly Claw attack. Realizing the graveness of the situation, Gaur surrenders to Adolfo, then makes off into to the wood with the mortally wounded Kedamono. The episode closes with Adolfo alluding to come after the two.
Episode 02: "Protect Yggdrasil! Protect Kedamono! The Gaur VS Adolfo"
Episode 03: "The New Kedamono"
Episode 04: "My People's Pain! The Duty of Chieftain Hyde"
Episode 05: "A Beast Among Pidgeons"
External links
- The Pride of Life website
- Don't feed the animals - The Pride of Life on LiveJournal
- The Pride of Life at onlinecomics.net
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