Home– Kargo: Ruining a Character From Beyond the Grave

After a bit of an intended hiatus, I’ve returned to posting. I’m still trying to figure out a posting schedule that works best for me. My time is currently split between writing for my gaming blog, streaming on Twitch, and a very tiring full-time job. That said, I’m thinking about updates here on Saturdays or Sundays with a minimum post being once a month. In the meantime, I am a bit more active on Tumblr as it’s a much easier platform to blog on than WordPress with its recent changes. Small updates will go there (including reblogs that are comic or animal related), but longer articles will remain here.

In early 2020 I complained about how badly Kargo was treated in Home. Not only did he die a meaningless death, but his death was quickly swept under the rug. Kargo was one of Kique’s strongest characters in terms of being well-written and developed. It turns out he was also a favorite among fans and many former fans. It seemed like the only meaningful impact he would have on the story going forward would be Ferah running from his death and Roamer taking his death to heart. In terms of potentially interesting plot points, Kargo’s demise seemed like it was causing strife in Roamer and Rogio’s relationship, and a push for Roamer to take revenge against Ranach could have happened.

Instead we received the biggest cop-out I’ve seen in a story in quite some time. How we got there was just weird.

Roamer came close to breaking up with Rogio because the latter was distant in their relationship. Turns out the reason for Rogio’s coldness was because his ghoul nightmares returned. Instead of being open and telling Roamer about them, he tried to sneak away in the dead of night. That lead to some actual story continuity (a rare event in Home) where Rogio set out to find the Sapphire Elk to gain a piece of her antler.

Given how long this comic is, I don’t blame you if you forgot Kargo mentioned this particular spirit in chapter 4. It felt like Rogio would seek this spirit out when his nightmares first started after escaping the Meteor Tribe. Miraculously, his nightmares seemed to be cured when he hooked up with Roamer, only for them to come back when the author needed Rogio to have an internal conflict. Anyway, Roamer actually brings up the spirit which kicks off Rogio’s overdue journey.

Rogio travels to Mount Aregh and the Sapphire Elk (which isn’t even sapphire colored) gives him a trial to complete. Honestly, this event deserves its own write-up, but I don’t want to get further off point. Rogio begins to fight his ghoul– the manifestation of his own guilt and sorrow in a spirit realm. Of the many events that have caused this selfish dog to feel guilt is Kargo actually calling him out about Roamer, and his choosing Ranach over freeing the sex slaves in the first Meteor Tribe rebellion. During an anti-climatic fight with the ghoul, Rogio sees Kargo’s body. Once the ghoul is taken down, he realizes Kargo is actually alive. He’s allowed to leave the realm with Kargo in tow.

In an instant Kargo’s death is entirely erased. This is one of Kique’s biggest cop-outs as a writer. There is no reason for Kargo to be alive, especially after this author went through so much trouble to ruin his reputation in-story, and dumbed him down specifically for the fight against Ranach. This was just after Kargo learned that his mother had blessed him with the fighting spirit and strength of a bear. Fans even complained Kargo was killed before that aspect of him could be explored. Kique adamantly explained why Kargo lost and in-story it was stated Kargo died protecting others and found his purpose before his death. The author’s bias against Kargo was clear, and fans and former fans still following Home simply had to move on.

Apparently, the author himself didn’t move on, even after he effectively told fans to “take it or leave it” regarding the death. Kargo was used to promote Home on other websites. Furthermore, new NSFW artwork of him was created. In the weeks and months after Kargo’s demise, it was clear a story with a plot stuck in a quagmire lost one of its best characters. Clearly Kique missed one of his most well-written characters. Thus, the cop-out was born. Not only would Kargo be revived, but he would owe his life to Rogio for saving him from the spirit realm. The bear spirit that gave him his strength and anger would also be removed. The explanation is pretty bad and no foreshadowing whatsoever was given to the audience.

Rogio speculates that when Kargo died and his body was burned, the spirit of the bear is what was actually set free. For some yet-to-be explained reason, Kargo’s body was trapped in the spirit realm, just waiting for someone to free him. It has been said that one spirit can bring the dead back to life, but that usually comes at a cost of exchanging one life for another. This spirit is Eigfeigr, not the Sapphire Elk.

Additionally, nowhere in Home has it been established that when blessed by a spirit, a spirit also inhabits the body of the person receiving the blessing. On page 537, Vandi revealed to Kargo that he was given a bear’s “fighting spirit” not the actual spirit of a bear. Fighting spirit is defined as a “courage and determination” expressed in a willingness to fight or struggle— which defines Kargo’s character fairly well. Among spiritual representation in animals, bears are known for their strength and grounded nature. An actual spirit is defined in a variety of ways, but in this case it means “the incorporeal part of humans.” For Kargo to be given the actual spirit of a bear Vandi should have said “Your mother Rippa, asked for you to be given a bear’s strength and spirit.” In this way Rogio’s explanation would make way more sense. We’d also have some indication that characters can house multiple spirits within their bodies.

Let’s take a look at a comic that touches upon this topic in a similar way, but is better executed. In Arven92’s Chakra: Battle of the Titans, the possibility of two souls inhabiting one body was hinted at long before it was revealed in the story. Kobura, a new member of the Chakra heroes revealed that his bother, Ryu had begun acting strangely one night after a bad nightmare. Soon his personality completely changed and he became power-hungry and joined the Zodiac Demons. Later it was officially revealed that Ryu was spirit possessed by the soul of the series’ first antagonist, Steel. Later, the concept of soul possession and two spirits in one body would return when the heroes learned that one of their own was possessed by a powerful demon. This reveal works because the concept had been established earlier with another character and doesn’t come out of thin air. None of this groundwork is laid in Home.

Anyway, Kargo’s revival by the Sapphire Elk makes about as much sense as the two spirit explanation from Rogio. At this point I’m not even sure if Kargo was actually revived by this particular spirit, or if Rogio was just taken to his unconscious body in the spirit realm. Again, Eigfeigr is the only established spirit that has dominion over death and even then, we never saw his powers in action. Does this mean all spirits on Aedra are capable of reviving mortals? Is this an unexplained, unknown power the Sapphire Elk possesses?

As for other questions that currently do not have answers, would Kargo have laid there unconscious until someone found him? Why weren’t his wounds healed? The very stab wounds that caused his death are still present and freshly bleeding. Also, if his physical body was burned and he slept for months in a spirit realm, why does he even have the wounds to begin with? Someone or something had to recreate his body. Why would they not heal his wounds? The more you think about his revival, the less sense it makes.

The worst part about Kargo’s death and revival is how his character just feels off. Considering the animosity he held toward Rogio before his death, I don’t see why he feels like he would owe the dog who betrayed him twice anything. Kargo had no say in his revival. Furthermore, he was brought back in almost the same state he died in, coughing up blood no less. Just as he’s coming to terms with being alive again, he and Rogio are kidnapped by Forngrym, aka large saber-toothed cats. Seeing how the bear spirit died and he was revived in a pitiful state, he’s unable to fight the cats. Even tied up and left to starve to death by these cats, Kargo laments being robbed of an honorable death instead of trying to figure out a way to escape. Rogio does most of the talking and the once proud warrior has very little to say. I’ve heard from future pages, Kargo’s personality becomes even softer after their escape. Yes, he always had a soft side, but he shouldn’t have died and been revived for it to become a focus. Better writing could have solved that problem.

All and all, Kargo’s character has been ruined in so many ways throughout the entirety of Home. His break up with Roamer, his killing of the merchant dogs due to PTSD, his banishment from Midnightgarde, and his utterly stupid death at Ranach’s paws. If his character had been handled by a writer with a better vision for his comic, I imagine Kargo would have either moved on after Roamer’s death and discovered himself in a positive way. Or if he were to die, he would have done so heroically, saving the Meteor Tribe from Avanti and possibly taking Ranach with him. Instead, we get a dog who dies and is revived because this comic’s author realized he made a mistake in killing off a beloved character too soon.