Read more about Richard (Looking For Group) at: Wikipedia Official Site: Ryan Sohmer and Lar deSouza Looking for Group is a fantasy-themed Canadian webcomic written by Ryan Sohmer and drawn by Lar DeSouza. The Comic follows the adventures of Cale'Anon (an elven hunter) and Richard (an undead warlock), as well as their companions. Since its launch on November 26, 2006, it has received positive attention at Stratics and the World of Warcraft community. Looking for Group's Ryan Sohmer (the author of Least I Could Do) and Lar deSouza (the artist of Least I Could Do) draw the themes of Looking for Group from many influences, such as Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series,"Dungeons and Dragons", Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series, George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (with several acknowledged news posts of this), and Blizzard Entertainment's popular MMORPG video game World of Warcraft. The art style and the title imply that it was originally intended as a parody of World of Warcraft - the four main characters resemble four of the five Horde races in World of Warcraft. Though the comic began as purely humorous in tone, it soon shifted to a more serious (albeit complicated) adventure, with most of the remaining comedy carried by Richard the warlock. A recurring gag in the comic features characters resembling famous fantasy characters such as Frodo Baggins, Obi Wan Kenobi and a Smurf appearing and then immediately being killed. Dialogue from The Lord of the Rings is often parodied, and pop culture references in medieval guise abound. The comic is currently updated twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. Cale'Anon Vatay, or Cale to his friends, is an elven hunter and central figure of the group. Cale was a student in a place called "The Beacon of Hope" where elves like Cale learn how to protect innocents. While his people have never been seen (at least not in "modern" times) they have been described on several occasions as notoriously evil while Cale himself is seen as noble and virtuous to the point of naivete. After an accidental meeting with the less morally upstanding Richard (and additional company) he has since personally killed one innocent (accidentally) and at least two 'protectors of the people' along with many others. He lost a measure of his innocence when he released Kethenecia from its anchor, as it required that he kill a small boy (the boy in fact was not a boy at all but the Archmage of Kethenecia nor was he actually killed by Cale, though to date Cale is still unaware of that fact) and has grown more emotionally as he has found himself organizing and leading the Northern Tribes into a war against the Legaran Empire. Cale has proven an excellent fighter, skilled with both his twin swords and archery, as well as extremely fit- he is able to run without stopping for two days. He has also proven fast enough to snatch a crossbow bolt out of the air and strong enough to hurl it back at the attacker with deadly accuracy and force. Cale can, when needed, be an assertive leader. As the series has progressed Cale has begun to gain more depth and grow used to Richard's gruesome sense of humor. He is fiercely loyal, breaking laws and risking death to protect his friends and allies. In many ways, Cale is very similar to a D&D hero Drizzt Do'Urden, though Ryan Sohmer has stated that when Cale was created he did not know who Drizzt Do'Urden was and the parody was unintentional. Cale has also been referred to as female by others on more than one occasion. In one of the story arcs, it has been strongly suggested that Cale's troubles and trials in this story are in preparation for his becoming "King", specifically of Kethenecia. |