Khaos Komix

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The cast

Khaos Komix isa Slice of Life Web Comic about eight English teenagers (at most one completely straight) coming of age. They are:

• Steve Madi, a Gentle Giant who narrates the beginning.
• Mark Sheffield, Camp Gay best friend and love interest of Steve, whose parents kicked out his brother.
• Amber Jury, briefly Mark's girlfriend, Lonely Rich Kid coming to terms with her crush on Nay.
• Nanase "Nay" Oten, a semi-openly bisexual friend of Amber with a healthy dose of Will They or Won't They?.
• Alex "Murfs" Murphy, a rock-loving friend of Nay deep in the Transparent Closet.
• Tom Blake, another friend of Nay, a fantastically handsome female-to-male Transsexualism who captures the attention of Murfs and almost Nay. Likes guys, but in a gay way.
• Charlie Trueman, Tom's best friend, a vegan male-to-female Transsexualism with a gluten allergy.
• Jamie Davies, Steve's homophobic Jerkass of a friend who ends up dating Charlie not knowing her secret. Or so it seems, at first.

Also:

• Kelly, Alex's promiscuous Cool Big Sis, who doesn't get her own story, but is a major player in the plot.
• STEVE'S DAD!

Each Arc tells the story from the current narrator's viewpoint. The comic ran from 2009-2012 and is now being released in book form.

Tropes used in Khaos Komix include:

• Abusive Parents -- Jamie's parents. His dad is shown to be curt in Jamie's story, but nice and apologetic (or at least good at dealing with kids) in Alex's story. But then, he divorces Jamie's mom and more or less cuts Jamie out of his life when he leaves home. Oh and speaking of Jamie's mom....
• Alpha Bitch -- Amber's "friends".
  • Natalie Geln, too.
• Ambiguously Bi: Steve, who refers to himself as bi but only because it sounds "less gay". Also, Jamie, who is in love with Charlie, a transwoman, but also shows signs of being attracted to men as of recently, much to his own chagrin.
• Anything That Moves -- Kelly, speaking above. "Optimus Prime says no to promiscuous sex."
  • This applies to a rather large amount of Khaos' forum members as well.
• Art Shift / Art Evolution / Retcon -- the artist has expressed dissatisfaction with the original versions, so the story has been re-written and redrawn from scratch chronologically from the beginning to the end of the current version.
• Armoured Closet Gay/YouAreWhatYouHate: Jamie. Further muddled by the fact that he's in love with a trans girl.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: When Charlie gets her own computer, her mother warns her to beware of pedophiles, never give out personal information, and avoid misogynistic websites.
• Attractive Bent Gender -- Charlie and Tom.
• Bigger Is Better in Bed -- Mark limps for two days after trying sex with Steve without lube. Steve is a bit embarrassed when Mark mentions it, taking it to Gag Penis levels.
• Bi the Way -- Definitely Nay and Charlie, possibly Steve (who's admitted he only calls himself bi because it sounds "less gay") and Murfs (who's so far only professed an attraction to Tom, and not most men - or at least not Jamie - but he's quite young and doesn't really seem to favor men over women).
• Bilingual Bonus -- Also counts as a Stealth Pun. Tom's birth name is "Maria" and "marimacho" is a Spanish equivalent of "tomboy". The "mari-" in it comes from "Maria".
• Black and Nerdy -- Steve, especially younger-Steve.
• Cluster F-Bomb -- Jamie.
• Camp Gay -- Mark, very much. Alex also picks up some mannerisms as he becomes interested in Tom; that part of him is "Inner Alex", who shouts inappropriate stuff in regular!Alex's ear.
• Cast Full of Gay -- Just look at that list above! The author can get a wee bit defensive about this at times, with the front page at one point saying "this comic contains an equal amount of straight and gay people, but... I only really write about the queer ones."
  • Specifically, Steve, Mark and Tom are gay, Amber is a lesbian, Nay and Charlie are bisexual, Alex has Single-Target Sexuality, and Jamie is straight.
• Closet Key -- A lot of the characters end up being this for each other.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience -- Sort of. Every major character has their own colour theming (yellow, blue, red, purple, orange, brown, green, and cyan, respectively by chapter order), and it's evident on the title pages for their respective chapters, as well on other page elements for all strips within each chapter. As the comic itself is black and white though, it's rather less evident during the story.
• Coming Out Story -- Steve, Mark, Amber.
• Cool Big Sis -- Kelly
• Cuddle Bug: MARK, as this page clearly demonstrates.
• A Date with Rosie Palms -- Alex, a lot.
  • And Tom and Steve...
• Depraved Bisexual: Averted with Charlie.
• Did Not Do the Research -- The author readily admits to this (and even links to the Tv Tropes page for it) as the reason why Tom and Charlie pass so easily without hormones. Possibly justified in that passing's not as difficult for teenagers as it is for adults, for a number of reasons relating to physical development.
• Did They or Didn't They? -- Steve and Mark the morning after they got drunk and slept naked in the same bed; Steve freaks out and has no memory of what happened, while Mark (who limps around for the next two days) both claims that they did have sex and that he doesn't remember anything. A clearer picture is painted in Mark's story: they tried, but failed because they were drunk and inexperienced--Mark remembered everything, but lied about it because Steve freaked out.
• Dreadlock Rasta -- Steve
• Dropped a Bridget On Him -- Murfs just had one dropped on him.
  • His natural reaction is to ask if Tom's a Transformer.
• Easy Sex Change -- Averted, as it just doesn't work that way. The two Transsexual characters have considered the operation, but they known it's a long, painful process, and the author also points this out in the FAQ.
  • Meanwhile, the non-surgical transition happens quite easily, which Tab admits to being a mistake due to not doing the full research while writing the script, and being unwilling to Retcon it out.
• Elegant Gothic Lolita -- Charlie.
• Embarrassing Middle Name / Full Name Ultimatum -- "CHARLIE MOONBEAM TRUEMAN!"
  • Discriminate and Switch -- Charlies mother wasn't actually fazed by her wearing girl's clothes, but getting her ears pierced. Also wearing a dress.
• Erotic Dream / Homoerotic Dream -- Amber had one of Nay, which made her realise her feelings. Steve also had several of Mark, but tried to fight them off with cold showers.
• Fan Service -- The "side stories", first featuring Mark and Steve having sex for the first (successful) time, the second detailing an intimate encounter between Nay and Amber, third dealing with an encounter between Tom and Murfs, also adressing the complications of transgender sexuality. The FAQ adresses this:

Why do your characters all fuck each other? Because I am a fan pandering whore who likes money. [1]

• • And then there's this. Helloooo goth!Jamie.
• Freudian Excuse -- This may end up being why Jamie is such a homophobe, if Alex's Story is anything to judge.
  • Confirmed towards the end of Charlie's story.
• Gayngst
• Halfway Plot Switch -- The first three chapters are all about cissexuals struggling with their sexuality, but in the third, two Transsexuals are introduced, and by the end of the fourth chapter the Gayngst of the first three has come to seem downright petty, with Amber's threat to out Charlie to her boyfriend if Charlie outs her to Nay treated as an extreme Kick the Dog moment. Tellingly, it's not even the outing she objects to, but the fact that she doesn't expect Nay to reciprocate her feelings fully.
• How We Got Here: How each story starts.
• If It's You, It's Okay: While Murfs finds himself strongly attracted to Tom, he still decides he doesn't like men due to not fancying Jamie. Of course, he's not too keen on women, either.
• I Know Karate: Subverted: Tom is shown to be good at martial arts, but gets taken out with a rock and is unconscious when Natalie Geln attacks Charlie.
• Important Haircut -- Tom getting a boy hair-cut and Alex getting one emulating his sister, to get confidence.
• The Internet Is for Porn -- How Steve finds out he likes guys, and what Alex does after he gets mesmerized by Tom.
• Karma Houdini -- So far, Natalie and her friends, who look to be in the clear without ever receiving their come-uppance. There's also Jamie's mom who practices some seriously questionable parenting but hasn't received any retribution -- yet.
• Kissing Under the Influence -- Yeah, And then some...
• Knight Templar Parent -- Amber's mother. Jamie's mother, who could also be considered an Evil Matriarch.
• Lipstick Lesbian -- Amber.
• Men Don't Cry: After Tom's mother give him his name-changing forms.

What followed was several minutes of me crying like a kid. But I am not showing you it because this is my story, and I tell it like I want to tell it.

• My Greatest Failure: Tom is a wee bit protective of Charlie, after not being able to save her during the bully attack.
• Open-Minded Parent -- Charlie's mother, and Tom's mother. Upon seeing Tom bring Alex back she tells Tom in Spanish to use condoms since he can still get pregnant. Parents in general seem to be this in the series.
  • In the forum thread "Ask the characters stuff" Steve's Dad is shown to be a bit embarrassingly openminded.
• Pair the Spares -- When Mark and Amber were dating, they tried to set up Nay and Steve at a double date. Backfired, and resulted with both pairing up with their respective "spares".
• Queer Romance
• The Rashomon -- Every chapter is from a new character's view point, explaining the events so far, and (except for Tom's) continuing from there.
• Reasonable Authority Figure -- Steve's Dad! Also his mother, the Murphy adults, and Tom's mother.
• Sassy Black Woman: Steve's mum.
• Schoolgirl Lesbians -- Amber's mother regards Amber's relationship with Nay as a youthful experiment.
• Shout-Out -- Murfs's sister Kelly has the same technique with computers as Largo from Megatokyo.
  • If the above is referring to her practice of handling circuitry while naked, to prevent static electricity buildup from clothing, that is in fact Truth in Television for some hardware enthusiasts.
  • Also, doesn't the plushie in the first panel here look a bit familiar?
• "Shut Up" Kiss: Jamie and Charlie
• Single-Target Sexuality -- Alex/Murfs was not really attracted to anyone before meeting Tom. He does not consider himself Gay, but Tom-o-Sexual.
• Slasher Smile: One more reason to be freaking terrified of Natalie Geln.
  • Which doesn't even hold a candle to the guy who abused Jamie. The distortion as if from a child's point of view makes it all the more terribly realistic.
• Invisible to Gaydar -- Steve, who's only intersection with any stereotype is an enthusiasm for baking; granted, he claims to be bi, but even admitted to the audience that that was only because it "sounded less gay."
• The Bad Guy Wins: Natalie and her gang successfully assault and hospitalize both Tom and Charlie. Natalie then threatens to attack Charlie again, possibly at her own home, if she doesn't leave town. Not only does she opt to flee but Tom follows her shortly thereafter.
• This Is My Story, Book Ends: Each story starts and ends with this phrase.
• Transparent Closet -- Alex/Murfs.
  • Subverted when the comic finally gets around to his perspective--he's actually the most confident and self-aware in his sexual identity of the main cast. He objected to being called "gay" simply because he'd never met anyone--male or female--that he was particularly interested in, so it wasn't accurate.
  • Mark would have been a classic example except that no one except Steve and Alex seems to notice his typical campy mannerisms.
• Transsexualism -- Tom and Charlie. Also the author.
• Traumatic Haircut -- Charlie's hair got forcibly cut. In a seriously frightening way.
• Twofer Token Minority: Quite a few. Steve is bisexual and black, Nay is bisexual and part Japanese, Tom is transgender and gay, Charlie is transgender and bisexual.
• Unfortunate Implications -- (In-Universe) Tom is the only man (or, in fact, person) Murfs has ever been attracted to. Realizing the implications of this prompts Tom to break up with him.
• Webcomic Time -- References to current events, or more likely, current pop culture pop up in story in anachronistic order. Word of God says it's intentional; the timeline is fluid and happening "now".
• What Did I Do Last Night? -- Steve and Mark here, and Tom/Maria and some guy here.
• What Happened to the Mouse? -- What do Mark's parents - who were not happy about his brother being gay - think about him coming out?
  • For that matter, the brother was supposed to call Mark when he got situated after being kicked out of his house. At least 3 months elapses between him getting kicked out and the present in the comic. Did he end up homeless, dead or worse -- retconned?
• What the Hell, Hero? -- Mark calls out Steve for punching Jamie after they both come out to to him and he doesn't take it well. Everyone else that doesn't like Jamie even seems to agree it wasn't a good idea to come out to him in public.
• Xtreme Kool Letterz.
• Yaoi Fangirl: Word of God says that Charlie "likes gay porn".
  • And in Jamie's story, she is actually shown reading badly-written Snape/Harry slashfic.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Charlie and Tom dye their hair dark green and hot orange after their attack. Charlie complains they'll clash.