History DreamSMP / TropesHToQ

** ''The Wilbur Van'' is presented on Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn as a short story, though this is {{enforced|Trope}} due to the content creators involved having issues in (presumably) scheduling for lore streams.

--->'''Wilbur:''' I'm... genuinely, did you not- I went speechless! That is the first time, I was live in front of 30,000 people, completely speechless. That's the first time that's EVER happened.
** Although Dream is a ManipulativeBastard and a liar, one thing that remains sure is that he doesn't want to irreversibly harm Tommy, given it's too fun for him to continue toying with Tommy to outright kill him off--it's to the point that he ends up surrendering in the finale of Season 2 when Tommy tries to make a HeroicSacrifice. So when he goes back on this in Pandora's Vault and outright ''murders'' Tommy over [[DisproportionateRetribution something as trivial as the existence of a book]], it means that Dream has likely snapped during his time in the Vault -- and that, either way, something is ''very'' different about Dream. This is eventually {{subverted|Trope}} by Dream bringing Tommy back to life, and revealing that he did this to prove the revival book's existence... which later turns out to be a lie as well.

* OnePersonBirthdayParty: During the Exile-arc, Tommy held a beach party in Logstedshire, and invited practically everyone on the server. However, only Dream showed up, and when he did, it was twenty minutes late. Not even Ghostbur, the one in charge of delivering the invitations, showed up. Later, this turns out to be {{invoked|Trope}}; [[StalkerWithoutACrush Dre]][[ManipulativeBastard am]] took the invitations from Ghostbur, sent him off to go for a walk in the snow ([[KillTheCutie Ghostbur melts]] [[KillItWithWater when he touches water]], though he thankfully survived that ordeal), and [[{{Gaslighting}} played dumb]] when Tommy asked if anything happened to the invitations.

** Some player-characters have in-universe surnames, {{subvert|edTrope}}ing this Trope, e.g. Philza Minecraft, Tubbo Underscore, and Ranboo (My) Beloved.
** Some go by their real life names as well as their [=IGNs=], e.g. Niki (Nihachu) and (Alex) Quackity.

** Despite all this, there are still exceptions, such as Antfrost, Callahan, Eret, Fundy[[labelnote:*]]Many fan-works default to giving him the surname 'Soot', being Wilbur's son in-universe[[/labelnote]], Punz, and Technoblade.
* OpenMouthInsertFoot: During his first campaign speech, Wilbur passionately begins a speech about keeping the "filthy Americans" out of L'Manburg, before cutting himself off, stammering something generic about upholding the nation and leaving the stage. It only gets funnier with TheReveal in Wilbur's lore finale that [[BoomerangBigot he himself was born and raised in the U.S.]]

'''Wilbur:''' I realized that half-way through the word "Americans"...
* OrWasItADream: When Ranboo visits the prison the first time around, he finds Dream acting... peculiar, treating him like an old friend. Then Ranboo finds out that his chest is full of copies Ranboo's memory book, before Dream tells him he's not real and the prison collapses around him, implying that it wasn't real. Ranboo dismisses it all as [[AllJustADream just a nightmare.]] But in a later stream, when Ranboo visits the prison for real, Awesamdude tells him he had already visited...

* OrphanedEtymology: ''Possibly.'' Since the Dream SMP takes place in what is presumably another universe or reality to our own (e.g. the existence of the undead, as per Minecraft), many references to ''our'' real life might not have existed in ''that'' universe due to it evolving differently--for instance, the prevalence of religions based on video-sharing and/or livestreaming platforms instead of Abrahamic religions. On the flip side, many plot points or conversations may have basis in real-life elements, creating paradoxes: the L'Manburg War for Independence featuring direct quotations from ''Hamilton'' songs, Technoblade and his passing references to Greek mythology (e.g. "Theseus" and the Syndicate code names), various Trump jokes, etc. What further muddles things is Wilbur's backstory alleging him to be from Utah, as in the US state, and it's never quite confirmed whether he genuinely sailed there or teleported, due to a flash cut of him suddenly appearing in the Utahn desert at the end of his final lore stream.

* OutsideContextProblem: The Blood Vines and Crimson Egg that [=BadBoyHalo=] found shows up while most of the SMP plot at the time had been focused on the political intrigue. Whilst paranormal elements (like Ghostbur and the Dreamon slaying) have existed before, they were small scale and ultimately don't have much of a threat to the server's status quo. In comparison, the Egg is a [[BotanicalAbomination flowering]] red horror that is brainwashing everyone it can and could pose a large-scale threat to the entire server if not stopped soon.

* PaperThinDisguise: In Season 2, Technoblade briefly stands in front of a wanted poster in L'Manburg. It's even thinner as the clothing skin Techno's wearing is distinctly different than the one on the poster.

** The appearance of the [[BotanicalAbomination Blood Vines and the Crimson Egg]] during the Exile arc, which involve other characters that are not involved in Tommy's exile getting into a conflict involving said botanical horror, with some being brainwashed to spread it, others trying to stop its spread, and one sacrificing themselves to the egg in an attempt to save the others lives. This becomes a crucial plot point in Season 3, where much of the conflict revolves around the Crimson, which serves as a BigBadEnsemble with Dream throughout the season.

* PleaseSelectNewCityName: After [[TyrantTakesTheHelm being taken over by Jschlatt]], the nation of L'Manberg (or L'Manburg, both are correct spellings) gets renamed to "Manberg/Manburg" to signify that the country would "no longer take Ls". Characters sympathetic to the original L'Manberg administration, most prominently [[DefiantStoneThrow Niki]], have been told by Manberg-side characters to refer to the nation by its new name, but they often refuse to comply to this, to the point calling the nation by its original name was often a signifier of the character's allegiance. However, once the country was taken back after the CivilWar, it gets renamed back to its original L'Manberg/L'Manburg, though some people call it [[NewNeoCity New L'Manberg/L'Manburg]] to distinguish it from the original administration (by Wilbur).

* {{Polyamory}}: Karl, Sapnap and Quackity are currently all engaged to each other, though the relationship itself is currently ''[[SecondActBreakup very]]'' strained due to a variety of complications.

'''Tommy:''' What the fu- okay, Dream, don't swear, please.\\

** During the negotiation to attempt to scam Schlatt out of his presidency, Quackity [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxL-_fNS2vY&t=3190s claims]] that he was [[HomosexualReproduction pregnant with]] [[MisterSeahorse (possibly) Schlatt's child]]. Later in the series, he also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc0w9uSbqIc&t=108s claims]] to have ''given birth'' to his then-newly formed country, El Rapids; but none of this is ever explained in canon, such as how Mpreg works in the context of the Dream SMP, or how it is possible to give birth to ''a chunk of land''. However, since the livestream where this was initially announced would be considered a "lore stream" in later seasons, it can be inferred that this is ''somehow canonical'', in a similar vein to Wilbur and Quackity's "borderline romantic" relationship as seen during Niki's birthday party (once again, a proto-lore stream).

* MickeyMousing: Used during the opening montage of Quackity's April 12th stream as he's torturing Dream over the course of an entire month, ''a la'' ''Film/AClockworkOrange''.

* MisplacedWildlife: Wilbur's... ahem, lore document[[labelnote:*]](read: very canonical [=AO3=] fic)[[/labelnote]] mentions that he almost got attacked by scorpions and a king cobra while working in his burger van next to Las Nevadas. While this is presumably playing on the idea that Las Nevadas is a desert, in reality, the place is an ''artificial'' desert built in what used to be a mountainous biome, to the point it blatantly ''snows'' there on livestreams. The fact that king cobras are native to ''jungles'' in South and Southeast Asia doesn't help either.
** The part about the scorpions in relation to the artificial desert environment was later confirmed by Wilbur to be {{invoked|Trope}} by Quackity during the construction of the country. Still no news on the king cobras, however.

** The day after the Manburg Festival, Tommy, Wilbur, and a recently-[[HeelFaceTurn defected]] Quackity grief Manburg together by building a giant cobblestone cock right in front of the flag. The three of them are cracking jokes and having fun, Wilbur in particular almost seems like he's his old self again... and then he leads Tommy and Quackity to the [[RoomFullOfCrazy button room]]. Tommy's reaction says it all.
--->'''Tommy:''' Holy- HOOOOOOLY SHIT!
** This happens ''again'' during Nihachu's birthday stream. For the most part, it's all fun and laughs and celebration, with Quackity and Wilbur playing the guitar (though Wilbur seems fairly out of it)... until at the very end of the stream, where Wilbur jumps right back to his plot to blow up Manburg, giving Quackity an ultimatum to schedule a meeting with Jschlatt before Friday before it explodes.
** Phil's perspective provided a pretty heartbreaking one. He wanted to listen to Tubbo's speech, so he turned on Wilbur's stream and listened to it live. He spent a little while expressing his pride in Tubbo while laughing at the fact that he doesn't know what a president is supposed to do... But then Wilbur excuses himself and leaves the voice chat.

'''Wilbur:''' I've... I'll be honest with you, chat. [[WhamLine I've been wondering this whole time if it still works.]]\\

** During the final battle for Manburg, Technoblade gives a fairly long and terrifying speech to Tommy, comparing him to Theseus and warning Tommy that good things don't happen to heroes. After yelling a terrifying line, he turns to summon two withers and make good on his threat...only to struggle to summon them after misplacing a wither skull.

** When Ghostbur makes his dramatic entrance to tell Tommy he wants to be brought back to life, Tommy just mumbles "What?" in shock... Then immediately gets ''struck by lightning'', an event so unexpected and out of the blue that ''everyone'' starts {{corpsing}} for several minutes. [[invoked]]

** In the Las Nevadas storyline, Slimecicle is a {{downplayed|Trope}} one for Quackity. As usual, there is an element of manipulation to Quackity's kindness, and he did only keep him alive in the first place to use him as an asset, but despite that, Quackity does seem to be warming up to him and does try to look out for him, such as being concerned for him developing a gambling addiction and stopping him from recklessly jumping off a skyscraper. Eventually, it gets to the point that Quackity starts showing protective tendencies to Slime after learning that Tommy 'kidnapped' Slime as a hostage in exchange for Linda, his shovel, causing this trope to gradually be played more and more straight.

** During the Disc War Finale, Dream took Tubbo hostage and gave Tommy a choice: either give Dream [[NumberOneDime the Mellohi-disc]], or Dream would kill Tubbo. Tommy ultimately chose to hand over the disc, only for Dream to reveal that the disc was a fake, force them both to drop their armor, and after taking them to the Vault of Attachments, revealing that his ultimate plan was to kill Tubbo and lock Tommy up in prison forever. Even if Tommy had chosen the disc over Tubbo, the outcome would've been the same, with him being ForcedToWatch Tubbo die, before being locked up in Pandora's Vault for the rest of his life. [[TakeAThirdOption That is,]] [[BigDamnHeroes if Punz and the others hadn't stepped in]].
** Tommy encounters another one when he goes to the Egg, deliberating whether or not to break it. If he breaks it, he will have the entire Eggpire after his life (although they, Niki and Jack were already hunting him down [[DramaticIrony without his knowledge]]), and if he ''doesn't'' break it, then he will get blamed once again for not stopping a problem before it gets worse when it's really not fully his responsibility. He decides against destroying the Egg, instead taking a piece of it to the hotel in hopes of finding a way to control it.

** In "Arrival", Phil mentions that the ice reminds him of an empire, and how he helped a friend take over the world. This is a reference to WebVideo/SMPEarth, specifically when the Antarctic Empire -- led by Phil and Techno -- took over the entire map.
*** Their former faction, the Arctic Anarchist Commune, is even named in honor of the Empire.

** Dream really dislikes iron doors and fears being trapped behind one. This is a reference to when Dream got stuck in an iron door trap for almost the entirety of the Sands of Time minigame during the ninth WebVideo/MinecraftChampionship tournament.

* NiceMeanAndInBetween: Between Ranboo, Tommy and Tubbo, Ranboo is the mild-mannered and polite NiceGuy, Tommy is the abrasive and hot-headed JerkWithAHeartOfGold, and Tubbo is the friendly yet chaotic In-Between.

** In the last Exile/Logstedshire stream, Dream finding out about Tommy's secret stash leads into a dramatic moment... but as he's destroying the stash with TNT, he accidentally blows himself up as well, which causes Tommy to [[{{Corpsing}} uncontrollably laugh]] for a full minute while Dream [[MotorMouth quickly]] tries to clarify that it was a blooper and was ''not'' in the script.
** When Ghostbur makes his dramatic entrance to tell Tommy he wants to be brought back to life, Tommy just mumbles "What?" in shock... Then immediately gets ''struck by lightning'', an event so unexpected and out of the blue that ''everyone'' starts {{corpsing}} for several minutes.

[[folder:N - P]]

[-[[DreamSMP/Tropes0ToG 0-G]] ([[FamousLastWords/DreamSMP Famous Last Words]] | [[Foil/DreamSMP Foil]]) | '''H-Q''' ([[OneSteveLimit/DreamSMP One Steve Limit]]) | [[DreamSMP/TropesRToZ R-Z]] ([[WhamEpisode/DreamSMP Wham Episode]] | [[WhamLine/DreamSMP Wham Line]])-]]]]]

* {{Hammerspace}}: The dead are able to materialize items from the afterlife, such as Schlatt summoning [[TheAlcoholic alcohol]] and [[DrugsAreBad drugs]] to experiment with, and Wilbur summoning a set of playing cards to play Solitaire.

** Eret, who had betrayed Wilbur and Tommy during the L'Manburg War for Independence, begins to have second thoughts after Jschlatt takes over L'Manburg and ultimately voices full support for the duo despite knowing the dangers of denouncing Jschlatt.
** ''Triple'' subverted with Dream, the arguable BigBad of the Dream SMP War. He winds up providing secret support to Wilbur and Tommy during the L'Manburg Civil War, making it seem like this, but he betrays them near the end because Jschlatt has promised him something special. He then defects back to their side because Jschlatt is an idiot and Dream doesn't want to go down fighting a losing battle... except he later reveals that he made a deal with Wilbur to destroy Manburg. Dream is stated to still be an enemy by Tommy when the war is done, but Dream and Tommy (as well as Tubbo) all manage to enjoy a friendly moment together before they go back to being foes.

* HijackedByGanon: With Jschlatt being a DiscOneFinalBoss for the L'Manburg Civil War's final battle, the role of BigBad is fought over by many, including [[FallenHero Wilbur]] and [[WildCard Techno]][[BloodKnight blade]]. However, the true BigBad is revealed to be ''Dream'', the previous BigBad of the L'Manburg War of Independence, having played both sides for fools and having manipulated so many of the events in his favor that the only spanners in the works (Jschlatt's drunken stupor and Techno's FaceHeelTurn) end up working out for him anyways (as the former results in the death of his biggest threat and the latter draws the Pogtopians' attention away from him, allowing him to blatantly confess how he manipulated the war and ''still get away with it'').

* HonorBeforeReason: PlayedWith. While the Pro-Omelette attendees of the Red Banquet are renowned for being some of the more moral members of the server, Foolish and Puffy [[SubvertedTrope still]] smuggled diamond weapons and armour and shields into the place where the Banquet would be held beforehand, as a back-up plan. Unfortunately for them, [[TheMole Hannah]] was there when they made the plans, and tipped off the Eggpire before the Banquet began, and no one thought to bring ''extra'' weapons and armour in case both Puffy and [[StuffBlowingUp Sam's]] backup plans for the Banquet [[OutGambitted failed]].

** During the Season 2 finale, after Tommy finally gets the upper hand on Dream, the man who exiled him from his home, trapped him alone on a deserted beach, physically and psychologically abused him for weeks, and [[ForcedToWatch nearly murdered his best friend in front of him]], Dream tells Tommy that he ''knows'' he won't kill him, since they're such good friends. Tommy is having absolutely ''none'' of this, and forces Dream to hand over all of his gear ([[IronicEcho using the same line Dream would use when forcing Tommy to give up his armor and tools every day during exile]]), backs him into a corner, and proceeds to take ''two'' of his three lives, and would have [[KilledOffForReal killed him off for real]] if Dream hadn't told him about his ability to bring people back from the dead.

** Wilbur had multiple moments where he appeared to give up on his plan to blow up L'Manburg, to the point where, before the war-stream, he said -- out of character -- that he wasn't going to blow it up because he wanted people to be able to download the world. Even when he was about to press the button, Philza appeared and intervened, and seemed to be getting through to him... but then Wilbur pressed the button anyway.
** Tommy finally gained some leverage over Dream, as he has the leather of Dream's old horse, Spirit, in his possession. Tommy threatens to burn the leather if Dream does not take down the walls around L'Manburg and it appears to work, as Dream seems sullen and angry, and listens to Tommy's demands to take down the obsidian walls around L'Manburg. Tommy and the other L'Manburgians celebrate, laughing and mocking Dream… until Dream goes eerily quiet, and starts to build the walls around L'Manburg even higher. Dream then drops from the wall and states that he ''never really cared about Spirit's leather'', and now plans to completely seal L'Manburg off from the outside world if Tubbo does not exile Tommy.

** Tommy is quick to accuse Techno of betraying him and L'Manburg during the Doomsday War. Except throughout both Seasons 1 and 2, Techno has been nothing short of completely honest about his motivations, meaning that any blindsiding is on Tommy for failing to see that Techno's goals clearly don't align with his. The hypocrisy comes in when Techno promptly points out that it's actually ''Tommy'' who turned against ''Techno'', having led him to believe they were allies only to suddenly switch sides on a whim and leave Techno to stand alone against a dozen people that had previously tried to execute him (and who currently seek to finish the job).

'''Wilbur:''' They can't, 'cause it's literally- that's not how servers- Dream, you're supposed to be smart, man, that's not how servers work. You can't just take over another person's server.

[[folder:I - L]]

** Dream's arrow-loaded crossbow [[PhallicWeapon "DEFINITELY NOT PENIS"]], and his enchanted netherite sword, Nightmare.
** Techno's sword, [[CrossesTheLineTwice/DreamSMP "Orphan Obliterator"]], and his firework-loaded crossbow, formerly named [[PleaseSubscribeToOurChannel "Subscribe to Technoblade"]].

** Inverted and subverted in the L'Manburg Civil War. Fundy claims that Wilbur is not his father after the latter refuses to support Jschlatt's rule. However, this is just a ploy by Fundy to make Jschlatt think he's really on his side--in actuality, Fundy is a mole siding with Wilbur.

* ILied: The Anarchists warn L'Manburg that they would attack the next day at 3pm. Turns out they were actually attacking 15 minutes early, catching L'Manburg ''completely'' off guard.

* IfICantHaveYou: Wilbur's ''supposed'' reasoning for wanting to blow up Manburg. He knows that even if he kicks out Schlatt and becomes president again, he'd be an illegitimate president, no longer allied with the Dream SMP because there'd no longer be an EnemyMine, and going back to the way things were would be pretty much impossible, as many major landmarks have been destroyed and relations have changed drastically. Wilbur decides that, if he can't have his country back, Schlatt can't have it either.
** This turns out to [[SubvertedTrope all be a front]] for him, as he has also stated in private that his reasoning for doing so is that the beliefs and ideals that he built the nation for no longer existed. These [[UnreliableNarrator polarizing claims]] have, as a result, caused many to develop conflicting views on him, to put it lightly.
* InCaseOfXBreakGlass: In the "Las Nevadas" finale, after noticing fireworks being set off over Las Nevadas, Foolish presses an Emergencies-only button behind a sheet of glass. Its purpose is to call Quackity's slime army which he spent the previous months creating and training in case he got cornered in an attack on the country--and in that case, he ''is'', by Dream and Purpled teaming up to get their revenge.

* InternalReveal: During the one year anniversary of L'Manburg's founding, Tubbo tells Wilbur that Technoblade and Philza were the ones who reduced L'Manburg to bedrock and not himself like Wilbur had thought.

** During Tommy's exile, Dream frequently orders him to "put [his] armour in the hole" that he dug to destroy his items. Tommy [[CallBack echoes this]] in the Disc Confrontation after TheCavalry arrives, borrowing Sapnap's pickaxe to dig a hole in the floor of the vault and tell Dream to place all his armour and weapons in it as an act of surrender, showing for once that Tommy has the upper hand over his abuser.
** When Tommy got inadvertently trapped in prison with Dream, he continuously screamed at Sam to let him out, to which Dream semi-tauntingly replied that he could scream as much as he wanted, as Sam wouldn't come. Weeks later, Quackity managed to convince Sam to let him bring weapons into Dream's cell, which he proceeded to use to [[ColdBloodedTorture torture the method to reviving people out of him]]. As soon as Quackity pulled out the weapons, Dream started screaming for Sam to come help him... to which Quackity replied that he could scream for Sam as much as he wanted.
** After surviving and escaping his execution, Techno declared that he would put a pickaxe through Quackity's teeth in their duel, which he proceeded to do. Almost nine months of real time later, when Quackity dropped by Pandora's Vault to visit Dream and Techno, he attempts to kill Techno in revenge for taking his canon life, screaming that he would put a pickaxe through Techno's teeth... [[NegatedMomentOfAwesome only for Techno to be teleported out of the prison by Phil using the Ender Pearl Stasis Chamber right before Quackity could enact his revenge]].

-->'''Dream:''' I want to see ''white flags!'' White flags outside your base, by tomorrow, at dawn, or you are ''dead''!

** Not a single member of the Arctic Anarchist Commune is punished for their destruction of L'Manburg in the Doomsday War. The few setbacks they ''do'' suffer (Techno losing a vast majority of his hound army, Phil being angrily called out by his son Ghostbur, and Dream being forced to go into hiding for a while) are minor at best.

* KilledOffForReal: The Dream SMP isn't a hardcore server, so even events like Tubbo's execution [[DeathIsCheap avert this]]. That is, until the final battle of the L'Manburg Civil War, where Jschlatt dies of a heart attack and Wilbur has Philza kill him to complete his destiny... and neither of them come back. Wilbur's final death is even coupled with him ending his stream. This is explained with the addition of the 3 lives system to the SMP canon from the end of the L'Manburg Civil War and onwards.

** [[PresidentEvil Jschlatt's]] [[TheFunInFuneral funeral]] was taken seriously by literally no one in attendance other than [=BadBoyHalo=]. It involved having pictures of the man being shot off the walls around the cemetery or defaced with penises, people [[GraveRobbing stealing his body parts]] (renamed items placed in a chest, as Minecraft corpses disappear upon death), and Tommy and Tubbo playing with his bones. But most egregiously of all, Quackity sang a horribly [[AutoTune autotuned]] song while playing his untuned guitar about how Schlatt is burning in hell, and [[BlackComedyCannibalism ate his heart]] (no, we're not kidding about either, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf9iYXqR5gg&t=2775s here's the]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf9iYXqR5gg&t=2370s footage]]).
*** Many months ''after'' the funeral was held, Eryn reportedly pissed on his grave.

** Five months after the SMP's end, Aimsey's character finale introduces minor appearances from Gravel, Michela, and [[TheVoice indirectly]], Scott.

** Sam and Ponk were valentines and dated briefly, but saying that their relationship didn't end well is an understatement -- Sam flirting with [[SmallRoleBigImpact Andrea Botez]] during her date with Jack prompted Ponk to join [[ReligionOfEvil the Eggpire]], blaming Sam for breaking his heart; and later in the series, Ponk was caught stealing a key card to Pandora's Vault, which was SeriousBusiness to Sam... who proceeded to canonically kill him in retaliation, [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]] him to get the key cards back, and ''[[AnArmAndALeg cut Ponk's arm off]]''. Ouch.

*** Quackity in general seems to be the victim of this trope, as many of his past relationships have utterly [[LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces failed to work out]], or ended badly. Most notably, his past [[DomesticAbuse toxic relationship]] with Schlatt still traumatizes him to this day, and when he finally got into a somewhat stable relationship (for once) with Karl and Sapnap, their unintentional abandonment is [[TraumaCongaLine the last straw]] that [[DespairEventHorizon finally pushed him over the edge]] to follow in [[WellIntentionedExtremist Wilbur's]] footsteps.

** In late Season 1, we have Karl, Quackity, and Sapnap with Karl at the center of it. Karl and Quackity definitely had some romantic tension even when Karl was engaged to just Sapnap. Eventually, Sapnap decided to get together with Quackity to get back at Karl, which eventually led to the issue being resolved by the three of them deciding to [[{{Polyamory}} all get engaged with each other]].

** In seeking revenge for the destruction of his UFO, Purpled tells Quackity and Slime about a strange chest that he found, which none of the Las Nevadas members placed. As Slime opens the chest in question with its contents undisclosed, Purpled pulls a nearby lever that causes the sand beneath them to drop into a platform suspended over lava. Purpled proceeds to confront Quackity over this and demands the knowledge of the revive-book, and when Quackity tells him that he doesn't have the book and wouldn't give its contents to Purpled even if he had it, Purpled knocks Slime into the lava below. [[KillTheCutie This doesn't end well.]]

* MacGuffin: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] with the discs, especially in Season 2. Materially speaking, they're worthless, and indistinguishable from any other copy of Cat or Mellohi on the server. However, Tommy ascribes a lot of sentimental value to them, and both Tommy and Dream give them more and more symbolic value as the struggle between them progresses, becoming representations of the power Dream has over Tommy and L'Manburg. Over the course of the Vengeance Arc, Tommy starts to believe that getting the discs back will remove the power Dream has over him and thereby end all conflict (which is wrong, but not an unreasonable conclusion to come to), and with Techno egging him on, goes to greater and greater lengths to get them back. His HeelRealization at the Green Festival happens when he realizes he'd been wrong to put the discs over his friends and country, and while he doesn't stop chasing them, he keeps his priorities in check from that point onward. However, Dream has no such realization and continues to treat them as all-important to the point of [[LiteralMetaphor putting them on literal pedestals]], and sabotages himself at multiple points to get them, and his taunting Tommy with the discs is what ultimately leads to his downfall. Tommy and Dream both experience the consequences of giving the discs ultimate importance, but while Tommy uses those consequences to learn and grow into a better and wiser person, Dream refuses to confront any realistic flaws, and that's why Tommy wins.

* {{Mundanger}}: In a world where gods and supernatural creatures exist[[labelnote:*]]The latter in Minecraft mobs[[/labelnote]], the most heinous acts in the majority of the series are committed by player-characters, in scenarios that can be easily transplanted to real life--most notably abusers ([[BadBoss in the workplace]], [[DomesticAbuse in the home]], and [[WouldHurtAChild of children]]) and corrupt figures in power[[labelnote:*]]Power in terms of political and economic power alike[[/labelnote]].

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: '''''Heavily''''' [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] and [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]]. Tommy and Tubbo are very aware of the looming possibility of them falling into Wilbur and Schlatt's footsteps respectively, and try their hardest to avoid it and preserve their friendship. However, [[TheChessmaster Dream]] is their biggest obstacle, as he continually sows the seeds of conflict to break them apart, and even though they're aware of it they don't have a way to stop it from happening.
-->'''Tommy:''' Tubbo, you ''can't'' turn into what you hate. You can't be the next Schlatt. If you exile me, you're following in that man's footsteps.\\
'''Tubbo:''' ... Okay. Well, as long as I can't be the next Schlatt, you can't be the next Wilbur.

* PleaseSelectNewCityName: After [[TyrantTakesTheHelm being taken over by Jschlatt]], the nation of L'Manberg (or L'Manburg, [[SpellMyNameWithAnS both are correct spellings]]) gets renamed to "Manberg/Manburg" to signify that the country would "no longer take Ls". Characters sympathetic to the original L'Manberg administration, most prominently [[DefiantStoneThrow Niki]], have been told by Manberg-side characters to refer to the nation by its new name, but they often refuse to comply to this, to the point calling the nation by its original name was often a signifier of the character's allegiance. However, once the country was taken back after the CivilWar, it gets renamed back to its original L'Manberg/L'Manburg, though some people call it [[NewNeoCity New L'Manberg/L'Manburg]] to distinguish it from the original administration (by Wilbur).
-->'''Niki:''' He tore down L- the walls of L'Manberg, he wants to call L'Manberg "Manberg" now, but obviously I'm not going to go with ''that''.

* HarmfulToMinors: So far, there have been five members of the server who have been minors during the narrative -- Tommy, Tubbo, Ranboo, Purpled, and Eryn -- and much of the first three's narratives revolve around them [[TraumaCongaLine being exposed to various traumatic events on the server]]. It's telling that Tommy and Tubbo (and lesser so, Ranboo) are sometimes considered the most traumatized people on the SMP due to the events they have witnessed and experienced. However, Purpled and Eryn are let off the hook a little more, the former because he [[TeamSwitzerland rarely participates in conflict]] when he logs on, and the latter for being relatively new, only joining in late Season 3.