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As Season 1 of The Witch’s Throne is coming to an end, we wanted to take this opportunity to chat with creator WhatAHero before the season finale happening on March 24th. Here are some of the things he shared with Brooke, one of the editors here at Tapas and editor of The Witch’s Throne.

Brooke: How is everything going with the finale, and how have you been doing?

WhatAHero: I’ve been feeling great recently. I finally got around to fixing up my sleep schedule for the comic. As for the finale, it’s coming along pretty smoothly. I’m excited for people to see it, we end things off on a pretty big cliffhanger.

Brooke: I can't wait for people to read it either! I can't believe we're right at the end of Season 1 already--it feels like we've been working together forever, but at the same time it also feels like we were discussing fonts for the prologue just yesterday. In reality, it's been nearly two years, hasn't it?

WhatAHero: Yeah it feels sort of jarring thinking back on how long it's been since the first episode was released. I remember getting my first email from you asking if I wanted to join the Premium Program and how I freaked out once I read it. Even though it was mostly through email and Discord, I was really nervous talking to you and Michael. Then over time, I realized you both were pretty chill people and that both me and my comic were in good hands. Now that the first season is wrapping up, looking at the prologue gives me feelings of nostalgia. Time really flew by working with the coolest editor at Tapas.

WhatAHero: I do remember that call and fumbling over my words a bit. I had never spoken to any of the staff members of Tapas before that and the pressure of making a good first impression got to me. I didn't really understand the importance of what it meant for The Witch's Throne to be called a Tapas Original at the time, but after that talk with you, it made things pretty clear.





Brooke: Hey, well now you know that we don't bite! One of the exciting things that we were able to do after signing The Witch's Throne as an original is introduce you to Dojo and bring him on board as a colorist for the project. What's it been like working with him?

WhatAHero: It was rough at first since we were still trying to figure out how to divvy up the coloring work, but eventually we got into a good groove. Dojo's done an amazing job handling the comic's coloring so far, and I can't really imagine working on The Witch's Throne without him now. I'm really looking forward to what we can create for Season 2.

Brooke: I think it's definitely clear to anyone who reads The Witch's Throne that you really put a lot of time and thought into everything, especially the worldbuilding and character designs. I remember reading one comment by a reader on Flora's sword Dainslef, and how it takes its name from a legendary Norse blade that couldn't be sheathed until it had taken a life. I think there are lots of really interesting inspirations you've incorporated--many of Mico's abilities are named after Buddhist terms, right? 

WhatAHero: Yes, Flora and Mico's abilities are each centered around different mythology. I plan to have certain fighting styles and magic be developed around unique themes and aesthetics. It's really fun coming up with attack/skill names for characters, something that I've always been a fan of in comics and manga. I particularly enjoy the names I made up for Mico's abilities, with each of her base moves being named after The Four Noble Truths in Buddhism. All the names of Grom's weapons directly translate to something in Nordic as well, if you hadn't noticed already. Out of all the move lists I have planned though, Agni's is my favorite since they all revolve around dumb puns like "Ice Breaker" and "Jelly Shot."

Brooke: I'm guessing your username "WhatAHero" was also inspired by your tastes in video games and manga?

WhatAHero: Actually the name "WhatAHero" came from an expression I heard from one of my favorite YouTubers named Matt McMuscles. He would occasionally say "what a hero" whenever someone was doing something blatantly evil or malicious. I thought it was hilarious and adopted it into a pen name. It stuck, and now I can't think of a better one.

Brooke: How long ago did you start using that penname?

WhatAHero: I think around 2015? When I first started uploading World at Strife on Tapas I remember already having a penname. If I had a different one before, it's lost to history now.

Brooke: World at Strife is actually how we discovered you, haha. That was your first comic, right?

WhatAHero: Yeah, World at Strife was the first comic I dedicated actual time into. I was a big fan of digital art in middle school and started to regularly put out computer drawings once I got into high school, with one of the character designs I made eventually becoming Sam from World at Strife. Creating World at Strife is my oldest memory of being on Tapas, and probably one of my fondest.

Brooke: Since you put World at Strife on hiatus to focus on The Witch's Throne, a lot of your readers have been wondering about if or when it'll come back from hiatus. What are your current thoughts on that?

WhatAHero: I'd love to come back to World at Strife, but honestly if I do I would want to restart the entire series from the beginning. I had no idea where the story was going when I first started making it, and when I did manage to get an idea of where to go the plot had progressed to a point where I couldn't address any of the writing's glaring flaws. I even struggled to pin down a good art style part way through, and that was only 16 pages in. That comic was a labor of love, but most of that love went into visuals. Maybe after The Witch's Throne ends or I find enough time to make room for another comic I'll get back to making more World at Strife if enough people want it.

Brooke: Haha I'm sure there's plenty of people that want it, but you plan on continuing The Witch's Throne for quite a while so I guess we'll just have to sit tight. What kinds of things should readers expect from Season 2?

WhatAHero: A lot of fights and new characters. Most of the action in the series will be shown in Seasons 2 and 3, with the Witch Hunt Tournaments acting as the medium for a ton of one-on-one battles. There will also be more insight into the backstories of our main four characters and more lore regarding Witches in general, something that I've been hinting at in not so subtle ways in Season 1. It's going to be a real departure from the isolated journey Agni and her friends have been going through so far, and I'm excited to show what happens next.

Brooke: Can't wait! I'm especially excited for all the Witch lore to be revealed... heheh. Stay tuned, readers! And congrats again on Season 1!

WhatAHero: Thank you for the opportunity to talk about my work, Brooke. Making this story has been a blast, and I couldn't have gotten this far without you, Dojo, and all the awesome people who follow it! I hope to see all of you readers again in Season 2 of The Witch's Throne!

Thank you for reading our chat with the wonderful WhatAHero! We hope to see you all in the season finale happening this Sunday, March 24th.