Homestuck

Homestuck is an Internet fiction series created by American author and artist Andrew Hussie. The fourth and best-known of Hussie's four MS Paint Adventures, it originally ran from April 13, 2009, to April 13, 2016. Though normally described as a webcomic, and partly constituted by a series of single panel pages, Homestuck also relied heavily on Flash animations and instant message logs to convey its story, along with the occasional use of browser games.

Its plot centers on a group of teens who trigger the inevitable destruction of Earth by installing the beta version of an upcoming PC game, Sburb. The teens soon come into contact with a group of Internet trolls who are revealed to be horned aliens, and these trolls work with the kids to create a new universe by completing the game. It has been noted for its complex and nonlinear plot, considerable length at over 8,000 pages and 800,000 words, and intensely devoted fan community.

The success of Homestuck has resulted in numerous related projects and sequels, including the Hiveswap series of adventure games.

Storyline

In 2009, on John Egbert's thirteenth birthday, he receives a beta copy of a mysterious computer game called Sburb, which he can use to manipulate the real world through a sandbox game style interface. John's friends, Rose Lalonde, Dave Strider, and Jade Harley join him in the game, which causes massive meteor storms to appear which target each of their homes. They only escape by completing tasks in the game until they are able to travel to a place called "the Medium", and they learn that installing Sburb has somehow triggered the destruction of Earth and that they must beat the game to create a new universe.

While exploring the Medium, John and his friends are attacked by a ruthless villain known as Jack Noir. John and his friends are also harassed by a group of twelve Internet trolls whose own session of Sburb ended in failure, for which they blame the kids. Among the trolls, Karkat Vantas, Kanaya Maryam, Terezi Pyrope, and Vriska Serket each develop a relationship with the four humans, and the trolls are revealed to be an actual species of troll-like aliens. The narrative shifts to a side story arc about the trolls and the specific sequence of events that led this group to play their own session of the game. The trolls manipulated by the enigmatic Doc Scratch, who serves an even more mysterious master. The trolls eventually win their session and a new universe – the universe the kids inhabit – is created. Before they can claim their prize, they are attacked by Jack Noir and forced into hiding, where they begin to troll the kids via a chat program.

Returning to the present, the two species cooperate to salvage the kids' game session. However, Vriska sabotages key events, resulting in the kids accidentally transforming Jack Noir into seemingly invincible monster. Rising tensions among the trolls eventually boil over, and some begin to attack and kill the others; almost half the group (including Vriska) dies before Karkat manages to restore order. From Doc Scratch, the kids learn about a game mechanism called the "Scratch" that allows the humans to reset their session to escape Jack but will also inadvertently summon Lord English, Doc Scratch's master who seeks dominion over all of reality.

Executing the Scratch resets the kids' universe, and versions of themselves become guardians to a new group of players, who are versions of their own ancestors. As a result, John's late grandmother, Jane Crocker, is fifteen years old and the protagonist of the new arc. She leads her three friends Roxy Lalonde, Dirk Strider, and Jake English – the mother, brother, and grandfather of Rose, Dave, and Jade, respectively – through their own session of the game, while the original humans and surviving trolls journey through dimensions to the new post-Scratch session over the course of three years.

The post-Scratch version of Earth quickly becomes dominated by the Condesce, the sinister former troll empress now in service to Lord English. In lieu of trolls, the four post-Scratch kids interact online with two alien cherubs, the siblings Calliope and Caliborn. While Calliope becomes a fast friend of the group, Caliborn resents their camaraderie, and is highly antagonistic towards them. After the post-Scratch kids enter their session, the two cherubs play their own version of Sburb in a session that sees Caliborn having his sister assassinated so that he may be the sole winner of the game.

When finally uniting in the new session, the kids and trolls enact a plan to create a new universe and to defeat Lord English, the Condesce, and Jack Noir; the latter of whom escaped from the original doomed session. John Egbert develops new powers allowing him to retcon previous events within the Homestuck narrative. In the ensuing conflict, only John, Roxy, Dirk, and one of the trolls, Terezi, survive. With Terezi's guidance, John retcons key events in the narrative, most notably Vriska's death, setting up a timeline with a clear path to victory. In the retconned narrative, the kids and trolls defeat their enemies in a giant battle and successfully create the new universe. The comic ends with Lord English fighting an army led by Vriska, Caliborn becoming Lord English after gaining unconditional immortality as a reward for beating Sburb alone, and the remaining living heroes about to enter their newly created universe.

Homestuck

Contents

Storyline

Also See

Sound Effects Used

Image Gallery

Audio Samples

External Links