Small Life

Small Life is an American action-adventure fantasy comic book series published by Moonlake Comics since 2012. The series is set in a world populated by anthropomorphic insects and other adjacent creatures, with them currently being in a time when prejudice is high and the various groups of insects all despise each other for one reason or another. Primarily, the series is set in the kingdom of Allpoda, which was formed in direct opposition to this mindset and has all kinds of people living together.

Main

 * Anton - a dinergate (soldier) carpenter ant who fled his colony after discovering that they were the invaders in the war they were fighting. He now lives in the kingdom of Allpoda and dedicates himself to helping others while also getting involved in various adventures with his friends. He is kindhearted and brave, though he is shy and has a tendency to overthink things. Early in the series, he becomes Enspored, which infects him with a spore-based virus that corrupts his mind and is kept at bay via druidic magic.
 * Beatrice - a worker honeybee whose hive was destroyed by invading wasps. This has put her on-edge and transformed her into Anton's opposite, as she is abrasive, rash, and even selfish in some areas, though she does have a very strong moral compass. She usually uses a spear as her weapon though she can summon a magical sword known as a Stinger, but using it will kill her.

Supporting

 * Priestess Matilda - the local druid of Allpoda who is a very old and wise ladybug with incredible mystical knowledge. She is in charge of the local druidism church and has the personality of a kind old grandmother, contrasted by her arcane wisdom.
 * Zoe and Zachary - a pair of mantis twins who are Matilda's adopted children and bodyguards. They are both incredibly intimidating but also polite and regal, with them both being able to use their arms as blades, cutting through anything. They are known for constantly completing each other's sentences.
 * Sven - Allpoda's only blacksmith and, supposedly, the greatest in the land. He is a centipede who uses his many arms to create weapons for the people of the city. While possessing a great passion for his work, he is an eccentric who has a recurring gag of both hugging people with his multiple arms and insisting on greeting them with multple handshakes.
 * God-King - the current ruler of Allpoda. Only a small council of the kingdom's most important people are able to make frequent contact with him, as well as those he deems "worthy". Only mentioned for a good chunk of the series, he later deems Anton worthy and meets with him, revealing him to be a non-anthropomorphic and 60-foot long worm living inside of a mountain. He is incredibly old, wise, and enjoys speaking about and debating philosophy.

Antagonists

 * The Red Ant Army - the overarching antagonistic force throughout the series. The Red Ant Army is made up entirely of fire ants who plunder and pillage their way through the lands out of a sense of spiritual superiority, believing that they were the first species created and thus greater than all others. All of their members are able to summon Stingers, though they are able to use them multiple times and they leave the victim poisoned.
 * The Scarlet Queen - the leader of the Red Ant Army, she is a woman in a regal red dress with a porcelain mask covering her face. She herself rarely appears in the series, preferring to operate through her troops, and is instead shown through silhouettes, statues, and paintings. When she does show up, she prefers to whisper her words to a subordinate, who then repeats them.
 * Betelgeuse - a traveling assassin bug who hunts ants for sport and claims their body parts as trophies, wearing them as accessories. After their first encounter, he quickly becomes obsessed with Anton, as he is the only ant he has faced that managed to defeat him. He also has a strange morality, as acts fairly normal to non-ants and has saved Anton multiple times, believing he is the only person worthy of killing him.
 * Meredith, Demon Queen of Wasps - an infamous warlord and head of a violent hive of wasps, who operate more like bandits, forcing people to pay illegal tolls and running protection rackets on entire villages. She is haughty, believing herself to be the most beautiful creature in existence, and prone to anger. She is also the one who destroyed Beatrice's home and is her arch-nemesis.
 * The Gold Ant Army - the ant colony which Anton originally belonged to. At the start of the series, they are an empire attempting to expand its reach via brute force. They are a regime mainly made up of blindly loyal followers and brainwashed servants, who have gone through a process called "Bleigh". Their ranks are also made up of zombie-like Enspored ants that were infected as a form of punishment.
 * The Gilded Empress - the ruler of the Gold Ant Army who is a maniacal narcissist that wishes to conquer the known world and turn it into a monument to her own glory. She serves as the first main antagonist of the series, looming over its early years, and she is also eventually revealed to be the biological mother of Anton, which gives Anton a claim to the throne should she and her son die.
 * Prince Jason - the first born son of the Gilded Empress, who he refers to as simply "mother". He has been raised to believe that he is superior to all other creatures just by being royalty, which causes him to often abuse and mistreat those he views as below him. Following Anton cutting his face in their first battle, he swears revenge on him, viewing this as a total humiliation.