Poppy O'Possum

This is a /co/ related article, which we allow because we find it interesting or we can't be bothered to delete it.

A webcomic featuring a universe of anthropomorphic animals. Originally conceived as the plot to a beat-em-up platformer video game (described by its creator as "Mario meets Godhand"), it has become popular on /co/ due to the fact that it combines the look of Skullgirls (rich colors, and a unique world) with a storyline reminiscent of a light-hearted fantasy tale with more going on than is readily apparent.

The creator, known as Morbi, maintains a Tumblr account connected to the comic where he worldbuilds frequently. After gaining popularity on 4chan, Morbi began to utilize a tripcode and post on /co/ Poppy threads as well and answer questions about the setting, often accompanied with images. This has lead fans of the comic to have different pools of knowledge, and in discussion one Anonymous user may suggest a possibility for an upcoming plot, only for another Anonymous user to chime in with old lore published a year prior on Tumblr supporting or disproving the hypothesis. If discussion is heated (or interesting) enough, there is always a chance for Morbi himself to post with either a joke and a noncommittal answer or outright confirmation.

Biology

As one would expect, the first questions of a setting featuring anthropomorphic animals (other than "Is it creepy?") would be about biology.

Animals of the Poppy universe come in tiers of intelligence; there are boar people present, as well as wild boar-like creatures for example. Animals follow some, but not all, of their real life counter parts in biology. Cat people have six nipples/breasts, Possums have pouches (essentially a second womb for extremely undeveloped young on the belly with nipples inside), reptiles lack Lizardtits mammary glands, and so forth. Specifically on the subject of Possums; they are shown in the comic to be similar to real life possums in that they mature fast, but have shortened lifespans (approximately 30 years rather than 3 years however). Needless to say, this is an important plot point.

There are no sapient fish or insects, although there is an Octopus character suggesting there are indeed sapient aquatic creatures.

Animal-people have made up for lacking biology with magic. For example, birds use magic to form a phantasmal glove on their wings to manipulate objects with and the aforementioned Octopus binds her tentacles to function in a more bipedal shape.

Dragons exist in the setting, although rather than assholes who hoard gold and steal princesses or wise ancient intelligent creatures, they are more of the "Nightmare Fuel" variety as a highly feral monster who's biology is rapidly adapting as needed and are almost impossible to actually kill. An example seen thus far is basically a lobotomized ancient dragon who's body is now the site of a monastery/power plant that harvests its corpse for power. Despite being functionally dead, it is still sprouting eyeballs on it's back to track the movement of monks through courtyards.

Races cannot naturally interbreed; however, by using magic at one of the trees which created their race they can produce an artificial hybrid. These hybrids are not OCDONUTSTEAL Mary Sues however, but are actually undesirables within society and subject to public ridicule and shaming at worst, or at best being considered an aberration (not unlike Japan's view on half-Japanese).

The Setting

At this point, the history of the world has only been given in expositional dialogue by the titular character and may be untrue.

A long time ago, a group of animal gods descended upon a world and created life in their own image. They accomplished this by growing trees for each species, which connect them to the magic of the universe with each branch of the tree representing a subspecies with the living animal-people themselves coming from the fruit of each tree. When the time came for the gods to gift their creations with free will and leave the world by relinquishing control of the trees, the gods balked. Unimpressed, the god of the Possums named Didelphi shattered the tree of her race (but not entirely, as the base and lower branches remain) to use the magic to force her siblings from the world. She then pulled the universe into her pouch. Dialogue from a character of a subspecies of Possum (who can use magic) later suggests that other animals see her as a "traitor goddess". The process left Possums not only unable to use magic, but they actively drain it from around them. Use of magic around the main character can be seen to dissipate into her if one pays attention to details, and early in the comic a store owner specializing in magical objects panics when she enters his shop claiming her touching anything will render it inert. Further lore from Morbi states that Possums are used as smugglers for (protected) magic because the equivalent to magical metal detectors wouldn't register anything within a Possum's body.

Possums are seen very poorly in the world; there appears to be some racial tensions, as the region the comic takes place in is an expansion of one race into another's former territory. However, there has been numerous hints that Possums are seen as a pest to be exterminated rather than another race in much of the world with words like "bounties" and "quotas" being dropped referencing the policies of less liberal rulers in the past. Dialogue has confirmed Poppy has had a hard life, with Morbi outright stating that "starting the comic at an earlier point would be way too dark for this story". Considering it begins with a little girl having been shot by an adult man in the eye with a BB gun and that individual prosecuting the main character for retaliation to the point of assault conviction and exile, that's possibly saying quite a bit.

Morbi has not yet mapped the world, although he has given information on it's political structure; there are a number of kingdoms, and most settlements are found around and in especially large trees (think Kashyyyk). The comic takes place in the Canine kingdom, specifically the province ruled by a Fennec Fox princess. Morbi has identified in supplemental lore that the main character, Poppy, grew up in Not-France Trance while being raised by a large adoptive family of Cats who owned a bakery and that Trance has a new political situation that makes it so she cannot return.

The technology level of the setting, and the time period analogue in general, is far-cast. Rabbits have apparently colonized the moon, and now sell rabbit-shaped robots. Old-fashioned looking phones (circa 1930) are used, as well as a magical device allowing one to use their thumb and pinky as a cellphone. A dog, who is indeed named Laika, perished in space while investigating a mysterious celestial body called "Skyhenge" (thought by fans to be the Possum god's nipples until Morbi confirmed it is not, but is somewhat near there). Not-Jazz is the current new musical movement, although a sheep/wolf hybrid pop star who more closely resembles modern artists like Lady Gaga is popular as well. Objects seen in the comic range from an iPod-style futuristic look to Victorian era domestic items. Military forces appear to mix realistic weapons like guns with swords and magic.

The bulk of the important characters are those born under a "Lucky Star" (remember, this was originally the plot to a video game, and such characters would be bosses fought after beating normies). Characters born in such a way have magical powers from birth, and in their eyes a star shape can be seen. These vary in type and usefulness. A boar character who grows or shrinks in size depending on his emotional state uses his to make a living as a professional fighter. Another, the Fennec Fox princess, can see atoms reacting to each other. This makes her functionally blind as we know sight and forced to rely on noisy shoes and servants to get around, but makes her an unbelievably skilled chemist. Another character, mentioned only briefly in-comic and elaborated on by Morbi, was the mother to a member of the primary caste and was a mind-reader...as well as an uptight prude who drove away her loved ones. A bird gangster with fire magic powers from his Lucky Star cannot be healed with magic due to magic igniting in contact with him and after being badly injured by the protagonist must endure a lengthy recuperation process via mundane means.

The only non-creator god religion seen in the comic is the "Mothers of Magic". A trio of Cat sisters, one born with suns as pupils, one born with moons for pupils, and one born with starry pupils, they founded the modern studies of magic then disappeared. One was revealed in the comic to still be alive through sealing herself in a magic bubble to slow her aging and is running a conspiracy/counter-conspiracy of some kind. Another, despite having no record of reproducing, has a descendant who is a member of the main cast, Mary Moonshine (dubbed "Nuncat" by fans for her habit of wearing a...habit). Mary was proven to be a genetic match as a descendant of one of the trio, although the church kept the revelation a secret due to her having no magic skill, and her habit of seducing the priests. While dressed as a nun. To keep her quiet, they gave her an abandoned church in the slums of the Canine Kingdom to live in as well as periodic allowance for her expenses (most of which goes to her various and copious vices). She of course did NOT keep it secret and loudly speaks of telling anyone who will listen, although her reputation may keep most from believing her. Despite living in a poor section rife with gang activity, the local crime boss has a policy of not interfering with the (many) extremely dangerous and unpredictable individuals in the world, and (added by Morbi in worldbuilding on Tumblr) after the first thugs he sent to intimidate her were never seen again he confirmed her heritage and added her to his "Don't Cause Shit" list.

The main character, the 23 year old Possum (remember they only live to about 30) Poppy does not have a Lucky Star due to being a Possum, but is EXTREMELY physically powerful, weighing several tons and is able to compress and decompress her muscle at will to grow or shrink in size. The comparison has been made to both Fist of the North Star and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. These are not unfair comparisons. Poppy is raising a young Possum named Lily, who was confirmed in supplemental material not to be Poppy's daughter but they share a mother/daughter relationship regardless. Lily is extremely smart for her age, demonstrating an interest in both science and magic (much to her disappointment she'll never be able to interact with the latter). After the comic begins, Poppy moves to a town called Eggton in the Canine Kingdom, and becomes the maid to the Mayor (and former murderhobo adventurer, Mr. Quibble, and his daughter Petunia (who is the primary supporting character of the comic).

Morbi

Morbi is a Cloud Cumulonimbus-American who is new to the comic scene. Demonstrating good humor and a humble attitude, Morbi answers many fan questions (including obvious trolls) levied at him both on 4chan and on Tumblr. He has begun utilizing the Patreon service, and is beginning to make enough profit off Poppy to stay on a regular schedule of updates. Morbi is a fan of "shortstack" characters and artwork, and collaborated on the recent "Monster Anthology: Volume 2, Demon Edition" pornographic comic (and is regarded by many to be the only good part of the book). Morbi is also friends online with numerous other artists, including Noill of "donut-butt ogress" fame.

After accidentally skipping a chapter in updates, he felt the need to go back mid-chapter and publish the skipped chapter due to important foreshadowing and plot points. For a time, Morbi considered switching to a paragraph and storybook picture format for parts of the story, but ultimately decided against it for now.

In a past story arc about the aforementioned Sheep/Wolf pop star hybrid, a small group of Tumblr SJW's began to harass Morbi for a crowd of ignorant...well, Sheep, becoming angry when she was revealed to be a hybrid in disguise posing as a full-blooded Sheep using her Lucky Star powers of hypnosis and suggestion for her shows. What many saw as an attack on transexuals was in fact a plot point more in line with racism and discrimination against mixed-race children in highly conservative societies, but people project on anything if they have a persecution complex (ironically in-line with the plot, as Sheep fans believe she was a Wolf mocking their race). Regardless, the anger died down without fuss due to Morbi's masterfully tactful handling of the situation.

/tg/

As the popularity of the comic increases, many fa/tg/uys have become fans of the comic (because who else but /co/ would /tg/ discuss Monstergirls with?).

Numerous attempts have been made at creating an RPG resource for the Poppyverse, but so far none of panned out. As worldbuilding continues and things only hinted at in the background are elaborated on, it's possible this may one day bear fruit.

Gallery

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  Morbi's ungodly dragon abominations explained.

See Also

• The actual comic itself.
• The Wiki.
• Morbi's Poppy-specific Tumblr
• Morbi's own primary Tumblr.
• Morbi's artblog (warning: mixed SFW and NSFW)
• Morbi's Patreon page.
• The Poppy Booru (warning: mixed SFW and NSFW)
• On days with updates, visit the /co/ Catalog to find the Poppy General thread.