Failed to Load

From Comixpedia

Failed to Load is a color webcomic revolving around two teenaged roommates with a penchant for video games. The series takes place in conjunction to the real world. The major plot has the two roommates, Jae and Phuc, defend themselves and their house against video game characters and reliving video game scenarios. In contrast to real life, however, video game characters and popular culture are real.

[edit] Story Attributes

As with most gaming and humor-based webcomics, the individual comics themselves are very loose in terms of story. Most comics revolve around main characters Jae and Phuc faced in an everyday life setbacjs adapted into exaggerated and humorous situations. However, there are several story arcs, several comics succeeding each other to tell a plot-based tale, that occur. Several references to the creator's personal lives make up a large amount of the comic archives.

[edit] Characters

The characters in Failed to Load, although originally based upon real-life people that were close to Jason Wu or Alex Nguyen, develops their own original personality as the comic continues. Also, none of the character's last names are ever mentioned and the males have a tendency to have one-syllable first names.

• Jae: Jae was originally based upon creator, Jason Wu. He is the younger roommate of Phuc at age fifteen. He is proven to be quite cynical, assumes the worst, and has a defiance towards those who request to borrow his money. The character profiling for him states that his real name is Jonathan Lance Irving and that his birthday is May 20, 1993. The concept for his design was based upon Train Heartnet from the manga Black Cat and his profile information is based upon martial artist Jonathan Phan. He had originally worn a black t-shirt adorned with the Triforce over a white long-sleeved shirt but in recent comis, he has given it up for a long-sleeved white shirt with a Poke'ball. His signature item on him is his necklace, which is based upon the one worn by Sora in Kingdom Hearts, though depending on the artist, it can either be golden or silver. Recent comics of Wu have shown him resembling how he is drawn by Nguyen. His Final Smash is called "Jae's Creed" and it is presumed to be a transformation into his alter ego, Altair, from Assassin's Creed.

• Phuc: Phuc was originally based upon creator, Alex Nguyen. He is the older roommate of Phuc at age seventeen. He is said to be arrogant and power-hungry, acting as if he was the leader of the household. The character profiling for him states that his real name is Philip Lionheart and that his birthday is December 28, 1991. The concept for his design is based upon Gabe from Penny Arcade and Elvis Presley and his profile information is based upon Alex Nguyen. He wears a zip-up sweatshirt though it can has been blue or brown, interchangeably, although in recent comics (since the apperance of Anti-Phuc) it has been blue. In recent comics, his hair, which had resembled Gabe's now resembles Elvis's pompadour with the explanation that it had occurred overnight. He dates Jae's sister, Crystal. He is revealed to have an adversary named Anti-Phuc who resembles him completely save for that Anti-Phuc's jacket is red. His Final Smash is called "Phuc Gaiden" and, although never shown, it is presumed to be a transformation into his alter ego, Ryu Hayabusa, from Ninja Gaiden.

• Crystal: Crystal is based off of a friend of both Jason and Alex's, Crystal, who the character was originally named for. She is Jae's older sister at age sixteen and the girlfriend of Phuc, although she does not live with them. The character profiling for her states that her real name is Crystal Naomi Irving and that her birthday is June 12, 1992. The concept of her design was based upon Shiki from the DS game, "The World Ends with You" and that her profile information is based upon Crystal Wu. She had originally worn a hooded jacket over blue shirt but in recent comics she has replaced it with black shirt over what is presumed to be her bra or a pink camisole. She dates Phuc. She is said to like weird things that she finds cute, such as a piranha plant. Her final smash is called "PMS" which stands for pre-menstrual syndrome and is shared with other girls as their Final Smashes.

• Heidi: Heidi is based off a friend of Jason who had qualities that made her hamster-like. Heidi is a Jae's pet hamster, who he found injured in the wild. He took her home and nursed her back to health and since then, she has been his pet. Despite her size and lack of opposable thumbs, she is shown to be an elite player of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, using Pikachu to defeat her opponent within seconds. She is also acquainted with Totoro. She once dressed up in a tiny outfit similar to Altair's garb during Jae's revival as an assassin, soundly defeating both Jae and Phuc unnoticed. Also, she played the role of Jedi Master during the "Surgery" arc (where it is presumed that she was cosplaying as Yoda).

• Choo: Choo is based off a friend of both Jason and Alex. Choo is a built teen who is a PC Gamer. His debut in the comic started when he was shanked to a critical condition by Jae during his debut as an assassin. The reason for this was discovered when he believed it to be appropriate for him to borrow Jae's money. Jae took the statement in the wrong way and claimed it to be bullying, triggering his transformation. The concept of his design was based upon Roxas from Kingdom Hearts II. He wears a blue polo shirt and is always seen with a watch. He also introduces the company to an MMORPG called Exodus Online, which is fictitious in real life. There he plays a Dragon Knight that leads the party through two boss characters.

• Steve" Steve is based upon a friend of Alex. Steve is a relatively new character, being introduced quite recently. He is an avid womanizer and is said to be all over anything that moves as shown in his first appearance when he claims to have canceled 4,957,349,857 dates so that he could hang out with Jae. The concept of his design was based upon Zell from Final Fantasy VIII. He wears a bright orange shirt and is known for his spikey bangs. The concept for his creation was to act as a foil to both Jae and Phuc and be the third wheel to Phuc and Kaye' relationship. He also supports Phuc's role in pranking Jae as shown in the comic "Super Mario 64" where he commands Jae to jump into the Mona Lisa World.

• Chicken Bombs: The chicken bomb is a pet invention of Jae. First shown in the first comic, "Typicality and the Chicken Bomb", it was depicted as a papier mache chicken, which, when thrown, would have exploded in a burst of feathers. It's second appearance in the comic was during the "MMORPG" story arc where, due to a hack created by Phuc, was created as an in-game throwing item with the same effect as the initial chicken bomb. It's next and last appearance so far was during the "Comic Numero 100: Chicken Bomb Mark 2" where it was an upgraded version based upon the walking Bombchu bombs in the Legend of Zelda series. It was able to walk and eventually learned how to talk and a squad of experimental chicken bombs tie and beat up the Failed to Load characters. However, it was not depicted to be capable to be detonated. It was destroyed when the "Homo Wii" sang the "Yes Dance" (more specifically the section of the "Fork in the Garbage Disposal".

• Homo Wii: The Homo Wii is a character first introduced in the comic, "New Wii". It was bought to replace the old Wii, which was making Crystal perform suggestive poses in the comic, "Watch Your Wii Fit". The Homo Wii is suggested to be a male homosexual and was the last Wii left in the California region (suggesting that the Failed to Load characters live in California). It's only other appearance was in the comic "Comic Numero 101: Chicken Bomb Mark 2" in which it defeats the chicken bombs by singing the "Yes Dance".

• Captain Falcon: Captain Falcon appears frequently in the comic, acting as both an ally and enemy. He first appeared as the hacker that conned Phuc into a scam in Maple Story. In his next appearance, he used his signature move, Falcon Punch, in Brawl to KO Mario only to be attacked by Jae with a variation of his Forward Aerial move. He is next shown aiding Jae and the party in the MMORPG Exodus Online when they encounter a Level 100 boss monster they are unable to defeat. His last appearance in Failed to Load is when he is shown to have given tickets to Hawaii in attempt to see Kaye in a bathing suit. He makes a cameo in Sugar Rush, an old comic series done by Alex that acts as a prequel to Failed to Load.

[edit] Trivia

• The characters as well as the authors are Asian.
• The comic is drawn in two different styles as both Jason and Alex draw seperately.
• The current Wii in Jae and Phuc's house is a male homosexual Wii bought after a fiasco with their first Wii.
• In the comic titled New Wii, the characters' home is revealed to be in California.
• Some color differences are constantly made in the art.
• Since the beginning of the comic series, Wu had used mechanical pencil and printer paper for the comic, then the addition of a .5 black pen, then switching to a graphics tablet and Photoshop, then penci, pen, paper, and Photoshop to finally pencil, pen, paper, Photoshop and Illustrator.
• The longest comic to date is the 100th comic and 101th comic, respectively. Initially planned to be released as one comic, the inability for it to be uploaded (due to the bandwith), it was split into two comics. Wu has claimed that the comics had taken up six pages of printer paper.
• Although the characters' nationalities are confirmed to be Asian, their last names are European.
• The comic started out as black and white but after Jason uploaded a color comic, the comic has been in color since.

[edit] External links

• Failed to Load at SmackJeeves