Mystic Forest Fighters (Comic Series)

Mystic Forest Fighters is an ongoing series of comic books published by IDW Publishing and Mystic Forest Productions, illustrated by Hugh Yearl and Jessica Goodwin. The main series takes place in between the events of season two and season three of the show of the same name, along with many spin-off comics also published. Once the television show concluded, writer Fred Hugo began writing for the comics, which significantly boosted the sales. It is neither confirmed nor denied as to whether or not they are canon, but there are several hints throughout the show that nod toward events that happened in the comics. After the conclusion of the show, a new series that takes place after the show, Mystic Forest Fighters 500, was published and written alongside the currently ongoing series.

Main Heroes

 * Luke
 * Noah the Chameleon
 * Lucille the Werewolf
 * Captain Burns
 * Sapphire
 * Honar the Komodo Dragon
 * Otis the Grasshopper
 * Yul the Elf

Villains

 * Telens
 * Zhajor

Supporting Characters

 * Joey the Kangaroo
 * Anastasia the Werefox
 * Rattigan
 * Jewel the Wallaby
 * Ra the Shark
 * B.I. the Komodo Dragon
 * Darkraer

Main Heroes

 * Lucy
 * Yani
 * Kershwin the Turtle
 * Raphael the Horse

Villains

 * Quion the Half-goblin
 * Cut & Lut
 * Travis Sier
 * Kanoh

Supporting Characters

 * Luke
 * Noah the Chameleon
 * Drake the Viper
 * Beav & Indigo
 * Arnold & Scot
 * Terrance & Zeke
 * Fiona & Rachel
 * Walter & Samantha
 * Ki-Ton
 * Everforn the Mage

Main Series
Returning from Realgon on their ship with the Dragon Key in their possession; Luke, Noah, and the Mystic Forest Fighters X feel on top of the world. Lucille is taking lessons on captaining a ship from Captain Burns, Joey is in a steady relationship with Jewel, Anastasia takes to working out with Ra and Otis, Rattigan now works as the head chef and janitor, Yul dedicates most of his time to studying the human race in his quarters, B.I. begins to train Noah in combat and staying mentally strong, while Sapphire teaches her love interest Luke more techniques for combat with his sword Killfear. Despite Sapphire's love for Luke, Luke refuses to give up on his girlfriend Lucille, who has been very dismissive of him as of late.

Rattigan spends almost an entire week forging upgrades for everyone's weaponry, primarily adjusting Yul's bow to give it a better shot. Yul requests that Luke and Anastasia enchant it to give it even more precision, and they oblige. With Killfear's upgrade, Luke is able to wield his weapon better than ever before. One night, Luke has a dream where a man claiming to be his father speaks to him. He claims to be in Sargoga, and beckons Luke to come to him. Alarmed at his father's message, Luke insists that they sail to Sargoga to meet his father, who neither Luke nor Anastasia can seem to remember anything about for some reason. They oblige, but are visited by a dark spirit that calls himself Zhajor. He tells them not to come to Sargoga, but Captain Burns insists that this is all the more reason for them to go. Without further delay, the Mystic Forest Fighters X head for Sargoga.

Arriving in Sargoga, an eerie atmosphere fills the air. Captain Burns suggests that it has something to do with Zhajor, so they decide to wait a day before entering the land. That night, Anastasia and Joey disappear, as Zhajor appears once again to the Mystic Forest Fighters X to tell them that he has captured the two and is keeping them in Sargoga as punishment for the heroes breaking his demand not to come. Determined to rescue their friends, Luke and Lucille insist on hunting down Zhajor, as they head out with Sapphire and Yul for good measure. Captain Burns tells Rattigan to watch the ship while he goes to search the massive Sargoga as well. Wanting to rescue Joey more than ever, Noah insists that he come with. To ensure maximum safety, Otis goes with the two as well. Rattigan, Ra, Jewel, and B.I. stay on the ship.

On the street, Luke's group is attacked by a team of bandits. When Luke uses magic, the bandits flee, with Lucille reminding Luke that magic is outlawed in Sargoga. This gives Luke the idea to check the castle in Sargoga to find out more about Zhajor. Meanwhile Noah's group spends the night at an inn after searching for so long, where Noah meets a komodo dragon named Honar. The two bond and become good friends quickly. When Luke's group arrives at the castle, the guards refuse to allow outsiders entry, causing Sapphire to orchestrate a break-in. Following her command, the break-in fails as Luke, Lucille, Sapphire, and Yul are captured and brought before the ruler of Sargoga. Before they reach the ruler, the guards are stopped by his right-hand man Telens, who recognizes Luke as his son. This causes Luke and company to be released as Telens and Luke reunite. The ruler then reveals himself to be a creepy man named Darkraer, who allows Luke and his friends to stay in the castle until they find Anastasia and Joey. Lucille, however, leaves the castle to go search more of Sargoga on her own.

Honar leads Noah and Otis away from Captain Burns to search more of Sargoga, but Zhajor appears and sets a building ablaze, with the three at the scene of the crime. They are swiftly arrested and thrown in prison, but Burns notices them being dragged away by the police. As such, he plans a breakout. After Telens and Darkraer do all they can to help Luke find his companions, they are unable to locate them anywhere. Telens reveals to Luke that Zhajor was a Sargogan urban legend about a killer spirit conjured up by an evil man who wanted to legalize magic in Sargoga. The man was never discovered and Zhajor was never found, with many believing it to be just a myth. He warns Luke that Anastasia and Joey may be in grave danger, as well as anyone searching for them. This prompts Luke to return to the ship with Sapphire to check on the others. When the duo arrives, they find only Rattigan, Ra, and Jewel at the ship. Rattigan explains that Captain Burns left with Noah and Otis shortly after Luke left.

While in prison, Honar tells Noah and Otis the same story that Luke was told. At the same time, Burns disguises as a guard to break into the prison, and uses his strength to bust down the walls and allow for Noah, Honar, and Otis to escape. Running from the law, Honar leads Noah in a different direction than Burns and Otis, bringing him to a secret castle that no one else knows about. Honar believes that the castle is where Zhajor lives, but he's never had the guts to go inside. Remembering B.I.'s teachings, Noah musters the strength to lead Honar inside to find and defeat Zhajor. Luke returns to Telens to organize a search party for the missing shipmates, but Telens remarks that it's too late for them. He then reveals that he is the one who created Zhajor, and he wanted to rule the entire Unknown Side by killing the holders of the Dragon Key and taking it for himself. He lied about being Luke's father and wiped his memory of his family clean so he would fall for it. Telens also claims that Noah is about to confront Zhajor himself, who will kill the chameleon. Luke and Telens then prepare to battle, while Lucille and Sapphire meet up in town and quickly run to catch up with Luke.

Luke puts up a great fight against Telens, but begins to lose once Telens disarms him. Before he can be killed, Lucille and Sapphire arrive to join the fight. Being overpowered, Telens flees the scene. However, Yul arrives and uses his enchanted bow to shoot an arrow precisely at Telens' foot, knocking him to the ground. Luke catches up and demands that Telens tell him where Noah is, to which Telens claims he does not know. Having outlived his use, Luke kills Telens with Killfear. Luke then explains the situation to Lucille, Sapphire, and Yul, as the three rush out to find Noah. Along the way, they meet up with Burns and Otis, as they exchange stories. Otis recalls seeing Honar and Noah run westward, so they head that way.

Mystic Forest Fighters 500
Main Article: Mystic Forest Fighters 500

Spin-off Comics

 * The Untold Story of Oswald Aaldenberg
 * Overland Tales
 * Partnership
 * The Early Days of the Guild
 * One Wish

Ties to the Show
In the episode Expeditious Retreat, Lucille makes a direct reference to the comic series when talking about Sargoga. She remarks "I'm pretty sure we've been there (Sargoga) before.", to which Luke comically replies "But was that even canon?". This is an obvious reference to the fact that the comic series takes place primarily in Sargoga.

Another reference to the comic series comes up in the episode A New Threat, during a conversation between Noah and Yul, where Noah acknowledges that he might have spent time in prison before. This may be referring to his arrest in the comic series.

The final reference to the comics is seen in "Only Just Begun", where Luke tells Sapphire that he has little memory of his family. This could be a direct result of Zhajor erasing his and Anastasia's memories of their family in the comic series.

Trivia

 * Despite not being as popular as the television series, the comics continued going after its conclusion.
 * Chronologically, the comics go in this order: The Early Days of the Guild, Overland Tales, Partnership, The Untold Story of Oswald Aaldenberg, the main series, One Wish, Mystic Forest Fighters 500.