Priest (manhwa)

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Priest is a Manhwa written and illustrated by Min-Woo Hyung. Featuring a strikingly angular art style and a complex story spanning three time periods - the Crusades, the Old West (the primary setting) and the near future - the series follows the immortal priest Ivan Isaacs as he wanders the American frontier seeking revenge on a band of fallen angels after the death of his beloved. Initially a fast-paced, violent horror western, the series has evolved into a complicated and critically acclaimed apocalyptic tale.

A film serving as a sequel to the manhwa came out in May 2011, with its own comic spinoff. It takes place 150 years after the end of the manhwa (whenever that may be - see below), and the remnant "feral" vampires (similar to those in 30 Days Of Night) are the main antagonists. The Order of St. Vertinez remains to stop them, their chosen warriors branded in tribute to Ivan.

Publication has stopped at Volume 16, with no new issues being printed. Nobody knows why, and the author hasn't mentioned anything relating to it.

Dream Theater (yes, that Dream Theater) has confirmed this manhwa to be the basis for the song In The Presence of Enemies from their album Systematic Chaos.

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This comic provides examples of:

• Actual Pacifist: Nera
• Anachronism Stew: Ivan Isaacs wields a Tommy gun in the Old West. The Tommy gun was not invented until the 20th century. Not to mention the bandits who appeared to have banana-clip sub-machineguns.
• The Antichrist: Newly-released Temozarela
• Anti Hero: Ivan Isaacs, who often comes across as a Heroic Sociopath.
• Anti Villain: Kinda strange that Nera would be on Temozarela's side, eh?
• As the Good Book Says: Ivan has a habit of doing this as he is slaughtering the army of mooks.
• Author Tract: Though the series hardly presents the Church in a favorable light and most of its protagonists are atheist or otherwise faithless, the author does keep his own feelings on the subject confined to a small bonus comic in the back of Vol. 9.
• Badass: So, so many.
• Badass Longcoat: Ivan's coat.
• Badass Native: Cairo and his family.
• Badass Preacher: Ivan Isaacs, in spades.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Nera
• Big Badass Wolf: Bendo, Nera's wolf.
• Better to Die Than Be Killed: Lizzie (attempted, but saved from A Fate Worse Than Death by other means).
• Big Bad: Temozarela.
• Bishonen: Armand.
• Body Horror
• Body Surf: Jarbilong's ability
• Break the Cutie --> Kill the Cutie
• Brother Sister Incest: Ivan and Gena. Technically they're unrelated, but Mr. Isaacs still disapproves.
• Burn the Witch
• Chainsaw Good: One of the mooks comes up with this against Ivan, which doesn't work too well.
• Church Militant: Father Joshua and the rest of the Order of St. Vertinez.
• Circus Brat: Nera's band
• The Coats Are Off: Uh oh
• Corrupt Church: Some of the measures taken to "enhance" certain members of the Order of St. Vertinez are fairly monstrous. Not to mention what they did to Ivan and poor Gena.
• Crapsack World
• Crucified Hero Shot
• Deader Than Dead: Raul Piestro.
• Dead Little Sister: Vascar de Guillon's wife and daughter, Betheal Gavarre's adopted son, Ivan's girlfriend (who, it is later revealed, was killed again by Ivan himself when she became a zombie).
• Deal With the Devil: Ivan's deal with Betheal qualifies since it involves Ivan's giving up (half of) his soul.
• Demonic Possession: Happens a lot - most notably Temozarela's possession of Vascar de Guillon and Belial's possession of Ivan.
• The Determinator: Ivan
• Dissonant Serenity: Matthew, after he had killed and mutilated a servant girl for Temozarela. He sincerely believed that Temozarela's voice was God and that he was doing God's work. Apparently if Betheal is your mentor figure you wouldn't be bothered at all if God asks for such gruesome things.
• The Dragon: Armand.
• Eviler Than Thou
• Evil Is Not a Toy
• Eye Scream: Jarbilong's true form had his eyes plucked out at some point in the past.
• Fan Disservice: Priest almost rivals Berserk with this and that's really saying something.
• Flashback Twist: Quite a few of these.
• Friend to All Living Things: Nera.
• Future Me Scares Me: A very young Ivan is plagued by nightmares of his terrifying future self.
• Gonk: Most of Nera's band of outcasts, Baba especially.
• Gorn: To say the least.
• Gatling Good: Novic.
• God Is Evil: Arguably more of a Jerkass, though we haven't seen him ourselves and the only firsthand descriptions of his actions come from the fallen angels who have turned their backs on him. Several characters have lost faith as a result of God's lack of intervention during various horrific events.
• Good Thing You Can Heal: Several characters, most notably Ivan himself.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Definitely Betheal and Ivan.
• High Pressure Blood: Rivers of it.
• History Repeats: A central theme. Currently we know of three characters who have sought revenge against Temozarela for very similar reasons: Vascar de Guillon (during the Crusades), Betheal Gavarre (during the Inquisition) and Ivan Isaacs. Upon seeing an odd rock formation atop a cliffside, a young Ivan is told that it holds a Native American chieftan locked in an eternal battle of wills with an ancient demon - a fate which mirrors that of Betheal/Belial and, eventually, Ivan himself.
• Holding Back the Phlebotinum: Justified. The reason why Betheal cannot use his full power of darkness is that Ivan refuses to give up all of his soul even in the most urgent situations.
• Hollywood Voodoo: Ivan uses this when he fights Jarbilong.
• Human Sacrifice: Seen in Temozarela's flashback and in Betheal/Belial's flashback, and how Gena dies.
• Humans Are Bastards
• I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Gena
• Impaled With Extreme Prejudice: Used heavily in Ivan's fight with Jarbilong.
• Important Haircut: Lizzie.
• The Juggernaut: The fallen angels.
• Knife Nut: Cairo, though more emphasis on "knife" than "nut."
• Knight Templar: Vascar de Guillon is literally a Knight Templar, and the Order of St. Vertinez is the epitome of this trope.
• Loads and Loads of Characters: Oh yeah. Held in check by loads and loads of character deaths.
• Love Martyr: Nera/Netraphim
• Mad Artist: Achmode considers himself an artist, but may be closer to a Mad Scientist.
• The Messiah: Nera
• Monochromatic Eyes: Ivan and several other characters have completely white eyes.
• Mummies At the Dinner Table: Briefly after Gena is killed.
• My God What Have I Done/Oh Crap: Father Piestro in his final moments.
• My Name Is Inigo Montoya: Played very straight with Coburn and Joshua after the Order of St. Vertinez kills Cairo.
• My Sibling Will Live Through Me
• Non Human Sidekick: Bendo, Nera's wolf companion.
• Off With His Head: Ivan tears off Jarbilong's head with his bare hands.
• One Winged Angel: The fallen angels show their true form before they die.
• Only a Flesh Wound: Coburn is stabbed in the chest. He shrugs it off like it's nothing, saying that his opponent missed his heart.
• Our Angels Are Different: Very different.
• Our Zombies Are Different: They're only vulnerable to silver, fire and dismemberment. Just a headshot from a lead bullet won't do the trick.
• Outlaw: Lizzie.
• Out of the Inferno: Ivan, after defeating Jarbilong and burning down St. Baldlas.
• Overdrawn At the Blood Bank
• Pet the Dog/Morality Chain: Betheal's relationship with Matthew. Of course it doesn't end well.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Mr. Dudley does not like foreigners.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: Cairo's family.
• The Quiet One: Novic.
• Rage Against the Heavens: Temozarela and the other fallen.
• Red Right Hand: Ivan gets one of these after his battle with Achmode.
• Religious Horror
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Betheal and Ivan against all the fallen angels.
• Sacrificial Lamb: Several but most prominently Betheal's adopted son and Ivan's girlfriend Gena, whose deaths prompted Betheal and Ivan to go on the Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
• Scary Black Man: Novic.
• Sealed Evil in A Can: The Domas Porada.
• Shout Out: Min-Woo Hyung stated in an interview in Vol. 3 that Priest was inspired by the PC game Blood, and the protagonists of both are similar in design. Father Antoine, the regenerating priest with Scary Shiny Glasses, may also be a Shout Out to Father Anderson of Hellsing.
  • At one point Ivan pursues three bandits named Sentenza, Blondie, and Tuco.
• Silly Rabbit Idealism Is for Kids: O'Neill towards Ashley.
• Silver Bullet: Ivan's favored weapon against the fallen angels and their henchmen along with his silver knife.
• Sinister Scythe: Ivan is often depicted with one in full-page art spreads, but only actually uses it once, during a flashback.
• Taken for Granite: Temozarela and the fallen angels are imprisoned this way, until Vascar releases them.
• Technical Pacifist: Father Lucian.
• That Man Is Dead: To say that Betheal and Ivan are no longer who they used to be is putting it mildy.
• Token Good Teammate: Nera
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Nera
• Tragic Monster: Gaston.
• Train Job: In the first volume.
• True Companions: Coburn, Novic, Cairo and Father Lucian. Lizzie's band seemed to be this as well, but they were all killed in the first volume.
• Tsundere: Young Gena.
• Unstoppable Rage: Ivan's supernatural abilities are literally fueled by his rage.
• US Marshal: Coburn.
• The Virus: The Dark Doctrine.
• Waistcoat of Style: Armand
• Walking the Earth: Ivan, and by extension Lizzie, as she's following him.
• Weird West: Except for the flashbacks and flashforwards.
• Whip It Good: Coburn.
• Whole Episode Flashback: Volume 4 deals with Ivan's backstory, Volume 5 and 6 with Vascar de Guillon and Belial's. The latter two are actually flashbacks within Ivan's flashback.
• Wicked Cultured: Armand.
• Wound That Will Not Heal: Armand gives Isaac one around the start of Nera's arc, which is why he's mostly absent from it as he's hiding in a cave, recuperating. It finally heals in Volume 15.
• Your Head Asplode: Temozarela does this to most of the researchers at St. Vertinez, though it's merciful compared to what he does to Father Piestro.
• Zombie Apocalypse: What happens to pretty much every town infiltrated by Temozarela's agents.