Dungeon Crawler Carl as LitRPG
The Dungeon Crawler Carl is, perhaps inarguably, the biggest success story in the LitRPG genre, an emerging genre that integrates the modern cultural zeitgeist in compelling ways, some of which show interesting overlaps with comics history. #dungeoncrawlercarl 1/9
LitRPGs have a complex and multifaceted origin story, but they are fairly easily defined as literary works that integrate role-playing mechanics, usually in the form of stories about a character leveling their way through a world in which video game rules have somehow manifest in reality. 2/9
It is appropriate then that ensuring interest is necessary to the survival of Carl in DCC, which, as discussed in a previous thread, becomes a major metatextual theme that manifests throughout the series. 4/9
In “Multiplayer Online Become Reality: A New Literary Genre,” Daria Bylieva argues that the LitRPG genre doesn’t just depict a ‘game world;’ it collapses the boundary between the real and game world until the game becomes ( or maybe even reveals itself as) the true, controlling layer of reality. 5/9
In such stories game structures can become the actual structure of the reality within the story. Characters may live in worlds governed by levels, skills, quests etc. As theses stories develop, the distinction between physical and virtual world get slimmer. 6/9
One of the great strengths of LitRPGs is the way in which character progression (expressed both through reaching new levels and through cultivating greater power) can sustain audience interest, presenting a world and characters that are always in flux and (ideally) always improving. 7/9
As such, they function as power fantasy (like superhero comics) and typically portray a hero’s journey from mild-mannered dupe to overpowered, god-like being. In humanizing this journey, many, including DCC, focus a lot on the challenge of maintaining humanity amidst such power creep. 8/9
As a result, it is interesting to now see a graphic narrative adaptation of a LitRPG topping the comics sales charts and thus how the LitRPG genre can function so fluidly and effectively within a comics framework. 9/9
This thread was co-composed with Sequential Scholars’ undergraduate research assistant, Maeve Riley McKay.