One Great Panel: Delicious in Dungeon

Oh, Laios.

Delicious in Dungeon’s hilarity is hard to capture in a single panel because so much of the humor is between panels. It’s what happens between a ridiculous notion by Laios and the accompanying reaction from Marcille or Chilchuck. But we’re going to look at a panel that, while not monumental to the story, it still packs perhaps the most satisfying punch of any single panel in this wonderful series.

The panel is Chapter 16, page 58, the last panel of the chapter.

Context: Laios and crew have just defeated a kraken and are eager to eat it, naturally. Laios, in his eagerness, decides to eat the giant parasite that was infecting the kraken, only to find out that the parasite had its own, smaller parasite that finds a happy haven in Laios.

Nothing captures Laios’ character more than this whole ordeal, compressed into this singular panel. It’s also the second and last time he makes such a mistake.

There is a moment at the start of their journey when Laios eats a scorpion tail and gets himself sick. Senshi, the monster-eating master of the party, tells him then that all dungeon food must be properly cooked. From that moment on, Laios is essentially a culinary masterclass alongside Senshi. He never makes a mistake, he never gets haughty, even though he is awfully prone to haughtiness in every other walk of life.

You may well accuse me of reading too much into this panel, but seeing Laios again slip-up and get a little over-excited in trying new foods, only for it to land him ill, is indicative of his character as a whole. He is a goober. A valiant one, but a goober nonetheless, and that’s why this panel hits so well. All this time, we’ve been under the expectation that Laios is in the clear in the literal and metaphorical kitchen. Senshi is in charge to temper Laios’s excitement, and that scorpion tail moment was his slip-up before he rose stronger and seemingly invincible….. in the kitchen.

This is hilarious in its hearkening back to the beginning of their adventure, but it’s also a weakness in Laios’ food armor, which has been remarkably impenetrable for chapters on chapters. It re-humanizes him, you could say. It’s is a reminder that he is not, in fact, invincible……. in the kitchen.