Way of the Beetle

Way of the Beetle is an American action-fantasy comic book series published by Yellowstone Comics since October 3rd, 2009.
== Synopsis ==
Set in a giant world inhabited by humanoid bugs, a beetle mercenary known as Hiro explores the Six Kingdoms (The Ant Hill, The Hive, The Swarm Empire, The Termite Kingdom, The Bagu Empire and the Evergreen Kingdom) as he befriends a young aspiring ladybug mercenary as they travel across the kingdoms, dealing with monsters, treacherous bugs and other threats.
== Characters ==
=== Main ===
* Hiro - a slightly cynical and sarcastic Horned Beetle mercenary who left the Bagu Empire after refusing to kneel to the Shogun as he travels all of the kingdoms, dealing with threats for cash as he has a heart of gold, encountering Viola and deciding to try and train her.
* Viola - a giddy and energetic ladybug who has idolized mercenaries as she learns of Hiro and begs him to become her mentor as she tries her best to prove herself to Hiro. It's revealed that her father was a legendary mercenary and hero who disappeared as she wants to become a mercenary to be like her father.
* Beast - a friendly and somewhat playful unintelligent badger who Hiro had tamed during his time as a samurai of the Bagu Empire and made his steed as he quite enjoys riding around and giving Hiro and Viola transportation.
=== Supporting ===
* Akrin - a wise praying mantis sensei who trained both Hiro and Ryuzo when they both worked for the Bagu Empire as he is known for his kind heart, sometimes reuniting with Hiro and even helping him and Viola train to become stronger heroes.
* Mira - a friendly yet aging spider who lives in the Evergreen Kingdom as she ran the orphanage that Viola was raised in as she gives Viola her blessing to become a mercenary as she can sometimes bicker with Hiro whenever he crosses paths with her.
* Niko - a explorative yet somewhat strange and bizarre salesman butterfly who loves to sell his wares across all six kingdoms as he often encounters Hiro and Viola, being willing to sell them his wares, with some of them being actually quite useful.
* King Patrick - the jovial and shockingly friendly slug King of the Evergreen Kingdom who cares solely about the protection of his kingdom alongside celebration and parties as he trusts both Hiro and Viola to defend his kingdom when the kingdom truly needs it.
** Renart - a cowardly but shockingly loyal ground worm who is King Patrick's informant who updates him on current events as he is surprisingly cowardly, being afraid of being harmed by anything.
* Queen Helena - the Queen of the Hive who is wise and compassionate but surprisingly young for her age as she tries her best to build an alliance of the kingdoms, encountering Hiro and Viola as she sometimes trusts them on dangerous missions, caring about the safety of her kingdom before anything else.
** Bumin - a noble bumblebee knight who works directly under the Queen of the Hive as he travels through the Hive helping those he thinks are in need, often crossing paths with Hiro and Viola. He is extremely loyal to the Queen to the point he would be willing to die for the Queen.
*Queen Moira - the lazy and snotty Queen of the Ant Hill who has no idea what to do with her daughter as she also tries her best to rule over the Ant Hill, although she is somewhat skeptical of outsiders to the Ant Hill, although she slowly starts to mellow out.
**Princess Anne - the young yet shy Princess of the Ant Hill who is quite afraid of almost anything but soon begins to learn how to be less shy and even authoritative by Viola, starting to like both her and Hiro, sometimes trusting them on missions for the Ant Hill.
**Cindy and Sandy - two maids who are loyal to the Queen and Princess as all they care about is the prosperity of the Ant Hill and if the Queen and Princess are happy, as they often speak in tandem, weirding almost everyone else out due to this.
*Shogun Yusuke - a wise but aggressive praying mantis who is the Shogun of the Bagu Empire as he cares about honor above anything else, as despite slightly disliking Hiro for leaving the Empire, trusts him enough to help when he knows that the Bagu Empire needs help.
**Raya - a young and skilled mantis who is Yusuke's somewhat rebellious daughter as despite her rebellious nature, she truly cares for her father and is willing to fight for him, as she believes that the empire might need to change, thinking honor can't go far enough in defending the kingdom.
*King Anson - one of the two leaders of the Termite Kingdom who is somewhat greedy, loving everything that shines and shimmers but also has a heart of gold, caring deeply for his citizens as he can sometimes be aggressive to Hiro and Viola but also knows they might be important.
**Queen Calliope - one of the two leaders of the Termite Kingdom who is a massive socialite, enjoying talking to residents of her kingdom as she is far more sensical than her husband but sometimes goes along with what he deems right but can also sometimes argue with him.
**General Achilles - the militaristic leader of the Termine Kingdom's royal army who is initially doubtful of Hiro and Violet, soon learning of their potential, believing that they might be useful although he is quite a stickler for the rules, being obsessed with them.
*Elene - a Dragonfly who is a farmer working at a somewhat large farming village that supplies the Evergreen Kingdom with food as she is somewhat friendly but also traditionalist, occasionally crossing paths with Hiro and Viola, often whenever she needs help or is in danger.
*Mayor Dickens - a moth who is the mayor of a town in the desert which often lacks water known as Allgreen as he often tries to keep peace in the town but has to deal with forces out of his control while trying to keep things under control.
*Pillar - a caterpillar who claims to be a traveling worker, claiming he is a jack of all trades, being found in numerous places and locations, being somewhat friendly to Hiro and Viola despite also being quite weird and offputting.
*TBD
=== Antagonists ===
* Benjamin - Viola's father who is a legendary mercenary and hero who disappeared while investigating a strange mushroom as he soon remerges later on in the series, fully corrupted by the mushrooms and turned into a terrifying and intimidating rising warlord, intending to use the mushrooms to make a seventh kingdom. He soon learns that his daughter has become a hero like he once was and plots on infecting Viola to turn her into his heir, gaining a dangerous rivalry against her and Hiro.
** The Rotted - an army of bugs consumed by the parasitic mushroom as they work under Benjamin, having no will of their own and being terrifying and horrific monsters.
* Empress Caligula - the sadistic and terrifying Empress of the Swarm Empire and a massive wasp who wants to destroy and take over all of the other kingdoms, plotting an invasion in the shadows, being one of the series' big overarching antagonists. She rarely fights but when she does, she uses her stinger as a sword.
** Wyatt - a brutal and violent Wasp who is a commander of Empress Caligula's forces as he helps lead the invasion force of wasps, being willing to do dirty and cheap tactics just to make sure that the Swarm Empire ends up on top and victorious.
*** Tofo - a giant and somewhat terrifying crow that Wyatt had tamed to be his steed as he is loyal to his master and only does what he is commanded, being insanely loyal to his owner.
** Sallie - a crazy and insane wasp who is part of Empress Caligula's forces, but instead of going along with the rest of the army, she would rather go solo as she has been roaming around trying to take down whoever plans to defeat Caligula, being somewhat of an insane lone wolf.
* Ryuzo - a cold and emotionless mantis who is Hiro's old rival for when he worked in Bagu as he also went rogue for harming innocents as he becomes a mercenary only caring about money as he often clashes with Hiro, having a dangerous rivalry with him.
* Tiamat - an ancient deity known as the Colossus by Fajun and his cult from Mornindew who worship him, believing that he would bring peace to the Six Kingdoms. His true form is unknown although he is confirmed to real, speaking to Fajun and other cultists through visions, wanting to break free from his banishment.
** Fajun - a zealous and manipulative firefly who is the mayor of Mornindew and is also a cult leader, worshipping a mysterious entity he dubs the Colossus as he sacrifices those he thinks that would bring back the Colossus, believing what he is doing is morally right and that the Colossus would bring peace to the Six Kingdoms.
** Gug - an aggressive Goliath Beetle who is Fajun's second-in-command as he is loyal to his master and willing to harm anyone that he sees as an enemy to the Cult of the Colossus as he wields a gigantic hammer as a weapon.
* Leopold - a cocky and egotistical but aggressive fire ant who is a bandit lord as he has been robbing from the poor and innocent from all six kingdoms as he soon begins to clash with Hiro and Viola, as he initially sees them as wastes of his time before being beaten by both of them.
**Willow - a seductive and ruthless black widow spider who is Leopold's second-in-command as she uses her agility and seduction to rob from the poor and innocent as she is somewhat fascinated by Viola, wanting to capture her and train her as her protegee.
**Scar - a vicious and destructive yet flamboyant and surprisingly incompetent centipede who is also working for Leopold's bandit group as he quite loves violence and wields hundreds of swords, although he can be easily defeated as well.
*Silas - a charismatic and somewhat insane crime lord cockroach who considers himself the most powerful criminal around, having operations in all six kingdoms as he prefers not to fight, believing that he is too sophisticated to fight, often sending henchmen to fight for him.
**Digger - a giant and somewhat dangerous antlion known for his brutal strength and hatred of ants as he works under Silas, often doing numerous tasks for him although he refuses to operate in the Ant Hill due to him despising ants.
**Volio and Dimbo - a pair of incompetent yet narcissistic and skilled in knife play mosquitos who are sent on missions by Silas, being trusted only in killing and hurting and quite nothing else, being somewhat easily defeated when the two are by themselves.
*Hanzo - an aggressive scorpion who is a wandering warrior with no allegiances and isn't even a mercenary as he has only one goal, to find and fight strong opponents, learning of Hiro and deciding that he is his perfect next fight, wanting to destroy him.
*Ezekiel - an aging yet treacherous ant who was exiled by the Queen for his treachery as he began to spread rumors of the Queen and Princess, being the figurehead of the Rebellion as he wants to reform the Ant Hill to make it so he can be the king. Despite his old age, he is surprisingly skilled in combat, wielding a staff to fight.
**Albert - a cocky and egotistical ant who is loyal to the cause of the rebellion as he believes all the Queen cares about is herself, being quite skilled at a bow and arrow, claiming to be the best shot in all of the Ant Hill, believing he can never miss a shot, often throwing fits and blaming it on random things whenever he does miss.
*The Lizard Riders, a clan of desert bandits who ride lizards as they quite enjoy causing chaos and robbing from the innocents. They consist of:
**Dusk - a vicious yet somewhat hammy dung beetle who leads the Lizard Riders as he just wants to cause chaos and rob from innocents, riding on a gigantic Komodo dragon as he is surprisingly very weak outside of his Komodo Dragon.
**Shadow - a silent but deadly black ant who claims to be the Lizard Riders' stealth operative as he rides on a chameleon and tries his best to convince Dusk to be smarter and more logical with his attacks, although he often fails in attempting that.
**Crosshair - a crazy and insane horsefly who is a loose cannon as she just wants to cause chaos, riding a Gila Beast and claiming to never miss although she often misses.
**Brock - a muscular yet dimwitted Tarantula who is Dusk's muscles as he often tries to just beat people up, riding a giant salamander while trying to beat people up.
*TBD
== Issues ==
# When the Beetle Strikes - A group of bandits invade a village in the Evergreen Kingdom known as the Jezebelle Village as soon a somewhat well-known mercenary known as Hiro and his badger steed known as Beast stops the bandits' attack on the village. Unfortunately for him, he learns a young ladybug wants to join him as he has to decide if he should have a protege.
# Partners - After seeing her potential as a fighter, Hiro accepts Violet as his protegee as he decides to start training her although Viola begins to learn how somewhat aggressive Hiro's training could be as soon Viola gains a mission to complete her training, beat Hiro in a fight.
# TBD
# Land of the Divided - Hiro and Viola arrive to the Ant Hill Kingdom and learn that some ants are rebelling against the royal family as Hiro and Viola attempt to discover why this rebellion has begun and a way to stop this rebellion and bring peace back to the Ant Hill Kingdom.
# TBD
# No Bug's Land - Hiro and Viola work to help a group of villagers find water in the desert their town was built at as their only obstacle are the Lizard Riders, who will stop at nothing to take the water for themselves as Hiro and Viola begin to clash against the Lizard Riders so they can protect this village from harm.
# TBD
# TBD
#The City that Worships - Hiro and Viola arrive to a seemingly calm and friendly city that is inviting to them as soon they learn that the city is in actuality a cult that worships a mysterious entity they dub, the Colossus, as they begin to believe that sacrifice is the only way to summon the Colossus as Hiro and Viola now have to fight their way out, learning they are meant to be the next sacrifice.
#Termite Gold - Hiro and Viola enter a kingdom full of termites as, after learning that all of the gold of the king has been stolen, the two decide to retrieve their gold back, while attempting to uncover who the thief is before they get framed for the robbery.
# TBD
# TBD
# TBD
=== Annuals ===
# Tales From the Six Kingdoms - A collection of five smaller stories about characters in the book that is not Hiro and Viola, consisting of:
## The Meeting - Queen Moira and Princess Anne have to prepare for an important meeting of advisors for the Ant Hill as soon antics ensue when Moira realizes that Anne had forgot to cook a meal for the advisors as they scramble to find a suitable meal before it is too late.
## TBD
## TBD
## TBD
## TBD
# TBD
== Other Media ==
=== Video Games ===
* Way of the Beetle: The Lost Kingdom (2012)
* Way of the Beetle: Kingdom Calamity (2012)
* TBD
=== Films ===
== Trivia ==
Category:Coolot's ideas
Category:Yellowstone Comics
Category:Comics
Category:Way of the Beetle