''Lanfeust of Troy'' is a long-running

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

comic series This page provides lists of best-selling comic book series to date. It includes Japanese manga, American comic books, and European comics. This list includes comic books that have sold at least 100million copies. There are three separate lists, ...

written by

Christophe Arleston Christophe Arleston (born Christophe Pelinq, 14 August 1963) is a French comics writer and editor. He has also worked as Scotch Arleston. Biography In his early childhood, Christophe Arleston lived in Madagascar, Macon and Paris before returni ...

, drawn by

Didier Tarquin Didier Tarquin (born 20 January 1967, Toulon) is a French cartoonist and comic book writer. He spent the first ten years of his life in Touggourt (Algeria) in the Sahara desert. He chose to become a cartoonist during a cartoon summer camp. His p ...

, and published by

Soleil Productions Soleil Productions is a French publisher of both original and imported comic books. History Soleil was founded in 1989 in Toulouse. Soleil quickly became known as a publisher of cartoons and parodies such as Rahan, Blek le Roc et Tarzan. It so ...

Synopsis

On the world of Troy, most humans have a single magic power. Each power is unique to the person and includes such diverse feats as walking on water, personal

teleportation Teleportation is the hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. It is a common subject in science fiction literature and in other popular culture. Teleportation is oft ...

, and causing thirst in others. However, none can use their power unless in the close or remote presence of a sage of Eckmül, Troy's version of a studied

magician Magician or The Magician may refer to: Performers * A practitioner of magic (supernatural) * A practitioner of magic (illusion) * Magician (fantasy), a character in a fictional fantasy context Entertainment Books * ''The Magician'', an 18th-ce ...

Lanfeust ''Lanfeust of Troy'' is a long-running French language comic series written by Christophe Arleston, drawn by Didier Tarquin, and published by Soleil Productions. Synopsis On the world of Troy, most humans have a single magic power. Each power is ...

is an orphan and an apprentice blacksmith who can heat metal at will. His adventure begins when he is asked to mend the sword of a passing aristocrat. When handling the sword's pommel, which was made of

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...

from the Magohamoth—a legendary magical beast—Lanfeust gains the power to use ''any'' power known in Troy, more so without the presence of a sage. Nicolede, both the local sage and Lanfeust's future father-in-law, persuades Lanfeust to accompany him and his daughters C'ian and Cixi to the University of Magic in Eckmül in order to learn more about this phenomenon. Among the many perils faced during their journey, they are ultimately confronted by Thanos, a pirate with the same potential as Lanfeust who will do whatever it takes to steal the ivory of the Magohamoth.

Presentation

''Lanfeust of Troy'' fits primarily within the

high fantasy High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot.Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Press, Pl ...

genre but is clearly meant for older audiences. Despite high fantasy's classic trappings, the series also incorporates copious humor through numerous methods, including

word play Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phonet ...

hidden messages A hidden message is information that is not immediately noticeable, and that must be discovered or uncovered and interpreted before it can be known. Hidden messages include backwards audio messages, hidden visual messages and symbolic or crypti ...

innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...

, and

bawdy Ribaldry or blue comedy is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to indecency. Blue comedy is also referred to as "bawdiness" or being "bawdy". Sex is presented in ribald material more for the purpose of poking fun at ...

dialogue.

Main characters

Lanfeust

, the eponymous hero, is a young villager and apprentice blacksmith. He was planning on settling down with his

fiancée An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

, C'ian, and leading a quiet, peaceful life until he discovered the power that the Magohamoth's ivory bestowed upon him. Though brave enough from the beginning to face extreme danger, Lanfeust remains happy-go-lucky and demonstrates naïveté in many matters of life and love. His original power allows him to heat and even melt metal at will, a handy trick that led him into blacksmithing. However, his true power arises when he possesses the Magohamoth's ivory. It technically allows him to use any magic power that has ever existed, but in practice it allows Lanfeust to accomplish almost any magical feat he can imagine. Lanfeust's name comes from the common

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

place name Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Often ...

Thanos

A renegade sage from Eckmül's University of Magic,

Thanos Thanos is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was created by writer-artist Jim Starlin, and first appeared in '' The Invincible Iron Man'' #55 ( cover date February 1973). An Eternal– Deviant w ...

is also an accomplished pirate and, unknown to many, the tyrannical baron Averroës. Like Lanfeust, when possessing Magohamoth ivory, Thanos becomes almost omnipotent, though he would use these powers to conquer Eckmül and probably the whole world. Intelligent, opportunistic, and ruthless, Thanos commands the respect and fear of his followers even without his absolute magical power. As a former sage of Eckmül, Thanos knows many useful spells and rituals. Unlike other sages, Thanos never gave up his original magic power, which allows him to teleport anywhere he's ever been. However, teleporting strips him of all his possessions, even his clothes. Thanos's name is a shortened form of the root word ''thanatos'', the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

word for death. Prepending an ''a'' turns the word into its opposite, ''athanatos'', which would mean ''immortal''. Both forms have been used as given names.

Nicolède

Nicolède serves as the village of Glinin's sage. Like Thanos, Nicolede knows many spells and allows his fellow villagers to use their powers through his mere presence. He's also the village's main source of knowledge on the greater world. Kind and wise, Nicolède serves as a mentor for Lanfeust, his future son-in-law, as well as his daughters C'ian and Cixi. He has little patience for weak morals, which constantly puts him at odds with Cixi. Nicolede's name refers to

Nicolas Flamel Nicolas Flamel (; 1330 – 22 March 1418) was a French scribe and manuscript-seller. After his death, Flamel developed a reputation as an alchemist believed to have created and discovered the philosopher's stone and to have thereby achieved im ...

(an

alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...

) and

Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse (;; ) was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse in Sicily. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists ...

(the ancient

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

C'ian

Nicolede's elder daughter, C'ian is Lanfeust's fiancée and Glinin's resident healer. Though extremely beautiful, C'ian is modest, romantic, and wants nothing more than a quiet life with a husband and many children. C'ian's power only functions at night, but it allows her to instantly heal almost any injury or illness imaginable. C'ian's name refers to the

Empress Dowager Ci'an Empress Xiaozhenxian (12 August 1837 – 8 April 1881), of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Niohuru clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the wife and empress consort of Yizhu, the Xianfeng Emperor. She was Empress consort of Qing from 1 ...

, who was regarded as quiet and respectable unlike her co-ruler, Cixi. C'ian also refers to the color

cyan Cyan () is the color between green and blue on the visible spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength between 490 and 520 nm, between the wavelengths of green and blue. In the subtractive color system, or CMYK color ...

, easily the most used color in her usual garb.

Cixi

Nicolede's younger daughter,

Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese noblewoman, concubine and later regent who effectively controlled ...

is very beautiful like her sister, but major similarities end there. She is rebellious against father, society, and decency. She dresses and talks provocatively for her time and place. Infatuated with Lanfeust, she attempts to seduce him whenever she can despite reprovals and scoldings from her father and sister. Of all Troy's beings, Lanfeust seems to fear only Cixi and her advances. Cixi can change the

phase Phase or phases may refer to: Science *State of matter, or phase, one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist *Phase (matter), a region of space throughout which all physical properties are essentially uniform * Phase space, a mathematic ...

of water at will. The difficulty of this feat increases greatly as the purity of the water decreases. Cixi's name refers to the

Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu people, Manchu Nara (clan)#Yehe Nara, Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese nob ...

, co-regent of China and infamous for her shameless acts.

Hébus

Just like most of his troll species, Hébus was an almost mindless menace to any living thing in his path until he fell under Nicolede's spell. Throughout Lanfeust's adventures, he serves as an excellent bodyguard for his companions/captors. When enchanted, Hébus demonstrates that he's fairly intelligent, witty, and friendly, though he's rowdy and retains many of a troll's rude behaviors. However, if Nicolede's enchantment lapses, Hébus instantly becomes as savage and murderous as he was originally. The name Hébus is a pun when combined with the word troll (troll Hébus, which in French sounds like

trolley bus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

The universe of Troy

The naming of planet Troy

The French-speaking discoverers of

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

's planetary system decided on a whim to officially name each planet after its numeric position from its

sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

. One, two, and three in French are ''un, deux,'' and ''trois'' respectively. In French, Troy looks and sounds similar to ''trois'', and so Troy gained its name because it was the third planet in its system. This pun is referred to in "Un, Deux, Troy", the title of volume 1 of ''Lanfeust of the Stars''.

Fauna

Troy supports a rich diversity of life. Though humans generally thrive there, Troy's fauna pose an especially lethal threat to them. A few animals of particular interest: * Petaure - A

mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, ...

-like

beast of burden A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks instead of being slaughtered to harvest animal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for tr ...

and transport. The rider directs a petaure through song.

Sentient beings

* Humans - Similar to

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

earthlings, though most Troyans have one magical power. * Trolls - Massive hairy humanoids, trolls live in bloodthirsty savagery unless tamed by the power of a sage. When under a sage's spell, trolls are actually quite intelligent and social, though they remain somewhat impulsive and assertive. * Darshanide Gods - Only arguably a species but clearly sentient and mortal, they are the materialization of collective beliefs in Darshan. * Magohamoth - This possibly unique creature is said to be the source of magic on Troy and is the source of Lanfeust and Thanos' power.

Regions

Souardy

Along with its capital, Eckmül, Souardy resembles a fantastical version of medieval

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Virtually all its citizens have one magical talent which, more often than not, will determine the profession of the person. For example, Lanfeust's talent to heat metal without a forge naturally steered him towards the life of a blacksmith.

Darshan

Darshan resembles

imperial China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...

and

feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to Japanese Paleolithic, prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millenni ...

. It lies across the sea from Souardy. Darshanides do not have any magical talents, though their hypothetical latent power instead may give form to their collective gods.

The Baronies

The Baronies also resemble medieval Europe. Its fractious barons forever compete with each other for land and power. The people of the Baronies resent magic and forego its practice while focusing on martial talent instead.

Publication history

''Lanfeust of Troy'' was originally published in a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

format in eight volumes, though it has been republished in other formats. # Ivory of the Magohamoth (FR: ''L'Ivoire du Magohamoth'') () (1994) # Thanos the Discordant (FR: ''Thanos l'incongru'') () (June 1995) # Castle Or-Azur (FR: ''Castel Or-Azur'') () (April 1996) # The Paladin from Eckmül (FR: ''Le Paladin d'Eckmül'') () (November 1996) # The Tremor of the Haruspex (FR: ''Le Frisson de l'Haruspice'') () (October 1997) # Empress Cixi (FR: ''Cixi Impératrice'') () (October 1998) # Petaures Hide in Order to Die (FR: ''Les Pétaures Se Cachent pour Mourir'') () (October 1999) # The Fabulous Beast (FR: ''La Bête Fabuleuse'') () (December 2000) # Unknown title (2008). The story will be a filler arc set during the eight weeks unfolding between volume 8 of ''Lanfeust de Troy'' and volume 1 of the sequel series '' Lanfeust of the Stars''.

Spin-offs, prequels and sequels

Successful in the

francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

world from which it arose, ''Lanfeust of Troy'' has spawned one sequel and several spin-offs and prequels.

Lanfeust of the Stars

The follow-up to ''Lanfeust of Troy'', this series recounts the adventures of Lanfeust, Cixi, Hébus, and Thanos beyond the world of Troy. (8 issues) * Lanfeust of the Stars #1 - One, Two, Troy (2001) * Lanfeust of the Stars #2 - The Towers of Meirrion (2003) * Lanfeust of the Stars #3 - The Sands of Abraxar (2004) * Lanfeust of the Stars #4 - The Drinkers of Worlds (2004) * Lanfeust of the Stars #5 - The Ride of the Bacteria (2005) * Lanfeust of the Stars #6 - The Pirate's Cry (2006) * Lanfeust of the Stars #7 - The Secret of the Dolphantes (2007) * Lanfeust of the Stars #8 - The Blood of Comets (2008)

Lanfeust Odyssey

The next sequel of Lanfeust's adventures. 9 issues have been published between 2009 and 2017. Lanfeust Odyssey #1 - The Enigma of Gold Azure Part I (2009) Lanfeust Odyssey #2 - The Enigma of Gold Azure Part II (2010) Lanfeust Odyssey #3 - The Banished of Eckmül (2011) Lanfeust Odyssey #4 - The Great Hunt (2012) Lanfeust Odyssey #5 - The Sand Trap (2013) Lanfeust Odyssey #6 - The Bilious Delta (2014) Lanfeust Odyssey #7 - The Mephitic Armada (2015) Lanfeust Odyssey #8 - Tseu-Hi The Guardian (2016) Lanfeust Odyssey #9 - The Ingenious Strategist (2017)

Cixi of Troy

A 3-part spinoff focusing on the adventures of Cixi. The story continues with Lanfeust of Troy #7. Cixi of Troy 01 - The Secret of Cixi (2010) Cixi of Troy 02 - The Dark Shadow (2010) Cixi of Troy 03 - Drop Dead Cixi (2011)

Lanfeust Quest ''Lanfeust Quest'' is a French comics series version of the adventures of Lanfeust. Written in Japanese reading direction, small format, black and white and a lot more distinctive style, this revised version of Lanfeust of Troy is illustrated by ...

The remake of the first saga into

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

format.(3 issues)

Trolls of Troy Trolls of Troy is a French comic series published by Soleil Productions. It is a spin-off series of ''Lanfeust of Troy'' and is created by author Scotch Arleston and writer Jean-Louis Mourier. Since 1997, 24 volumes have been published in French ...

The first spin-off series, it only shares its setting with ''Lanfeust of Troy''; it tells a distinct story with different characters.(16 issues)

External links

Ubizaar le grand bazar
Resources for the ''Lanfeust de Troy'' RPG. {{Authority control French comics