History DreamSMP / TropesRToZ

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The series is fairly cynical, not with half of the characters going through their own horrific TraumaCongaLine and all. Wars and conflicts often had to be solved with violence instead of diplomacy, and the [[WideEyedIdealist idealistic]] diplomats and peacemakers are often broken down to don JadeColoredGlasses eventually, and resort to violence they initially opposed using to survive. Though there are still a few idealists on the server, they tend to be in the minority of the server, and characters who undergo the transformation from being idealistic to cynical on-screen are often regarded to be tragic. However, it also has an idealistic lining in that characters who value diplomacy, peace, and recovery are often regarded to be more "heroic" and morally light than those who involve themselves in war and destruction.

* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Techno [[InvokedTrope invokes]] it by name to exchange some ominous words with Tommy at the end of the Green Festival on January 5th, 2021.

** Quackity's character arc goes as far back as Season 1, but most overlooked his experiences in favour of "major players" of the time like Wilbur and Tommy. This was until his trauma and mental health eventually [[DespairEventHorizon boiled over]] and caused him to spiral into the Las Nevadas arc, dragging many others into the fold as well.

** The most infamous one, the Revive-Book, was dropped on the Overworld a millennia before the events of the SMP, until it was later found by Schlatt. Schlatt later traded it to Dream in exchange for his allegiance during the Manburg-Pogtopia War, and we all know [[ChekhovsBoomerang what happens to it from there on out]].

* TraumaCongaLine: Most notably, Season 2 is one to Tommy, with the sheer amount of abuse (both physical and psychological) heaped onto him during his Exile and everything else that happened; but arguably, the events on the entire SMP overall puts most of the cast through the wringer in one way or another, which Ranboo [[Funny/DreamSMPSeasonThree lampshades]] in a moment of BlackComedy.
-->'''<Ranboo>:''' lmao this is [[CrapsackWorld the dreamsmp]]\\
'''<Ranboo>:''' there is no compensation for trauma\\
'''<Ranboo>:''' just more trauma

-->'''<[=FoolishG=]>:''' These cakes will have soooooo many bites taken into them by the end of the week
* TyrantTakesTheHelm: Schlatt becomes this after winning the election.

** Ranboo has really [[ForgetfulJones bad short-term memory]], so he tries to write down what he does in his memory books, but he also has moments where he "blacks out" or possibly sleepwalks and does not remember what he does during those moments at all. If it isn't written down in his memory books, there is a good chance he will legitimately forget about it later on. This leads to things like Ranboo logging onto the server and suddenly having ''several'' unexplained stacks on netherrack and [[InterfaceSpoiler a nearly broken flint and steel]] in his chest the same day that Tommy finds out his house got griefed with a bunch of netherrack, (which he presumes to be Dream's fault.) After Dream was put into prison, Ranboo can also be sometimes seen in the background of other people's streams, wandering around the server while presumably sleepwalking because he has no recollection of the interactions he has with people later on.

** This is generally averted during the Soot administration, as Wilbur's VP, Tommy, helps L'Manburg grow by recruiting newcomers and building new structures, and takes part in several side events alongside his fellow L'Manburgians. During the election, Tommy does lots of campaigning by building signs and talking with members of the SMP, had a major role during the Presidential debate, and also secures endorsements for their party, [=POG2020=].

** Under the Tubbo administration, this is played with. Tommy initially helped rebuild L'Manburg after the Manburg-Pogtopia War, but later started to question Tubbo's leadership and suggest making more political change by banning several things (such as Americans and Australians) in the country, which Tubbo ended up vetoing. However, after Tommy gets exiled from the country under Dream's demands, Quackity takes his place and regains his role as VP, and averts this by wielding a lot more political power than he did in the previous cabinet, being able to [[WarHawk assemble and unofficially lead the Butcher Army]] in an attempt to consolidate national power and eliminate threats to the state.
* VideoGameLives: Clarified at the start of Season 2 (but retroactively applied to Season 1), everyone on the SMP has [[RuleOfThree three lives]] and once all are gone, [[KilledOffForReal you die for good]]. However, only important plot-related deaths actually count as losing a life (like the deaths during the Final Control Room Massacre in L'Manburg's War for Independence) -- any other deaths outside of the plot (fall damage, lava, accidental explosion damage, etc.) fall under DeathIsCheap. The only exceptions to this are Philza (who only ever had one life to begin with), [=BadBoyHalo=] (who has an infinite amount of canon lives as long as [[SoulJar Skeppy]] remains alive), Jack Manifold (who lost all three of his canon lives before [[BackFromTheDead dragging himself out of Hell]] and regaining his lives), and Tommy and Wilbur (who were successfully revived by Dream after losing all three of their lives).

** As cruel as Dream's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Tubbo is, he's not far off when he says that Tubbo had no agency as L'Manburg's president, allowing everyone (from his own citizens to Dream himself) to dictate his every action (not to mention that the one act Tubbo did on his own, exiling Tommy, was perhaps the most disastrous move he could have done).

** Tommy also qualifies to have this relationship with Eryn. The two banter a lot but are still very close.

* WarForFunAndProfit: The Badlands' role in the second Dream SMP war is shaping up to be this. As they don't support either side, their current plan is to pick whichever side is inciting the most chaos at the moment, and then [[DivideAndConquer rush in and seize the power after both sides have been weakened]].

** In spite of the pacifistic values the nation was built on, L'Manburg met the most violent end a nation could have met--and not just war, it was a CurbStompBattle led by the server's equivalent of the 1% that rained explosives on the place until it was nothing more than a gaping hole in the ground. This made most of its (former) members homeless and forced them to scatter and move away, leaving everyone distant from each other, and about half of the primary living population of L'Manburg hit their DespairEventHorizon around the Doomsday War or relatively shortly after, leading them down increasingly dark paths without a support system to better handle their trauma--from attempting to murder teenagers with nuclear missiles to torture.[[note]]Granted, the torture victim was one of the people that destroyed L'Manburg and later murdered a teenager brutally in cold blood, making it more of a case of PayEvilUntoEvil, but still.[[/note]]

** Techno genuinely believes that nothing good will come with authority and any form of government, and sees L'Manburg as nothing but a tyrant-run state (which he's not completely wrong about) that will only tear people apart, seeing how fighting for control over it drives Wilbur insane. Thus, he devotes himself to the ideology of freedom from government entirely. Phil later adopts this same mindset after the death of his son, Wilbur, and Techno's failed execution, though this is led on by Wilbur's [[UnreliableNarrator misinformation about the situation on the server]] before he died.
** Even with his SanitySlippage, Wilbur's primary goal was still to remove Jschlatt from power in Manburg. That said, his method of doing so revolves around blowing up the nation itself simply to [[IfICantHaveYou keep Jschlatt from having it]]. He also speaks of this trope when advising Quackity during the elections, in that one must be willing and able to use violence of any means, including extreme ones, to gain power to help others and truly do good on the server. Quackity also eventually [[DespairEventHorizon gives in]] and embraces Wilbur's mentality after his months-long TraumaCongaLine, but swears to not make the same mistakes Wilbur did.

*** Wilbur pressing the button, followed soon after by an ''enormous'' explosion that completely decimates L'Manburg.

** During the Doomsday War, Quackity calls out Niki in a private conversation for [[WatchingTroyBurn doing "nothing"]] while L'Manburg was being "exploded by Withers". Niki in turn explains that she believed the country to already be dead, and that she was unwilling to fight alongside Tommy, whom she thought of as a liar. This leads to Quackity persuading her to let go of her grudge to fight against Dream, but as seen by her eventual burning of the L'Mantree, it doesn't last.

** In Season 3, the tables turn as Quackity gets called out by Foolish for [[MurderByInaction deliberately letting him die at the Red Banquet]]. Quackity does admit that it was a fucked-up course of action later down the line, though.

** Technoblade makes it immediately clear that he's this. He only joined the SMP because he thought Wilbur and Tommy were outmatched against Jschlatt--however, with [[DefiantStoneThrow Niki and Eret]]; [[FakeDefector Tubbo and Fundy]]; [[TheStarscream a conflicted Quackity]], and even [[EnemyMine Dream]] supporting them, he now sees that it's ''Jschlatt'' that's outnumbered--and has outright considered supporting him simply to make things interesting. He ultimately ends up supporting nobody, helping to kill Jschlatt but immediately turning on Pogtopia when he's gone.
** Dream has confessed that he's only out for himself. Though he sided with Pogtopia upon realizing the threat Jschlatt posed to Dream's own power, he soon defected to join Wilbur in the plot to destroy Manburg rather than reclaim it. And once Wilbur comes to his senses and relents, Dream decides to join Jschlatt instead, having been offered a deal favorable to his own rule[[note]]what exactly the deal was is unknown, but Wilbur theorizes that Jschlatt offered Dream leadership within Manburg[[/note]]. Except he then leaves Jschlatt for the wolves, siding with Pogtopia again. Except he's not on their side either, he's actually helped lead to Manburg's direct destruction and is only siding with Pogtopia to avoid being on the losing side when the war ends. In short, trying to track which side Dream is on is pretty much futile.
** Sapnap also counted in Season 1. Officially he's aligned with the Dream SMP, having followed Dream during the L'Manburg War of Independence. However, he's also [[BloodKnight bloodthirsty]] and power-hungry enough to strike out on his own when he wants to. Notably, he and his former boss clash during the Battle of the Lake, during which he makes a failed attempt at forming another faction to rival the Greater Dream SMP, Manburg, ''and'' Pogtopia. He eventually [[CharacterDevelopment calms down]] a lot more at the end of the season, preferring to be more peaceful and diplomatic in solving problems.

* TheWildWest: The ''Tales From the SMP'' episode "The Wild West" takes place in this setting.

** Wilbur Soot, especially during the Pogtopia arc, where he undergoes some major SanitySlippage and plans to blow Manburg sky-high during the Manburg Festival, destroying everything and killing everyone inside, and eventually succeeds at destroying the country he created during the Manburg-Pogtopia War. At the same time, he also had his idealistic worldview shattered by [[CynicismCatalyst Eret's betrayal]] during the War for Independence, causing him to abandon his mostly-pacifist beliefs, and L'Manburg ends up becoming a casualty in his donning of JadeColoredGlasses as he believes that the values and beliefs he built the country on no longer exists. Oh, and it should probably be noted that the detonation of Manburg was meant to be a suicide attempt.

* XanatosGambit: Dream's final ploy during the L'Manburg Civil War ends up as this, even if it wasn't intended to be. If Manburg manages to defeat Pogtopia? Dream is victorious and he doesn't even need to personally assassinate Jschlatt (who would die of a heart attack soon regardless of which side wins), eliminating two major threats to his rule. If Pogtopia wins instead? No worries, Dream can just feign surrender to [[KarmaHoudini avoid punishment]], sit back as Jschlatt dies anyways, and wait for a mentally-unstable Wilbur into pressing the button to destroy Manburg, accomplishing exactly what he wants anyways. The latter result is what ends up happening, and it works like a charm--the only thing that Dream ''doesn't'' account for is Techno's betrayal of Pogtopia, which arguably works out for Dream ''anyways'' (as it preoccupies L'Manburg with another enemy and [[KarmaHoudini ensures Dream goes untouched through the war's conclusion]]). As a result, Dream is just about the only major player of the war to end it in a better position than he started, with L'Manburg destroyed, two major political threats in Jschlatt and Wilbur KilledOffForReal, and Pogtopia preoccupied with rebuilding L'Manburg.
* YearInsideHourOutside: The afterlife is subject to this -- two days in the real world/Overworld is two months in the afterlife, and three and a half months outside [[https://twitter.com/moobIoom/status/1367601156617342979?s=20 is equivalent to nine years]] inside.

--->'''Tommy:''' You BASTARD, Eret! You- we trusted you!

** Quackity was responsible for setting a meeting between him, Jschlatt, and Wilbur before November 6th, or Wilbur would finally press the [[BigRedButton button]], [[StuffBlowingUp blowing Manburg to kingdom come.]] It ultimately ends with a formal declaration of war, plus TheReveal that Jschlatt had found and removed the TNT under Manburg, rendering the button useless.
** The Doomsday War starts with one, with L'Manburg having 24 hours to prepare before the Anarchists (Dream, Techno, and Phil) come and attack with the intent to [[NukeEm destroy L'Manburg]]. Considering the Anarchists consist of people like [[TheDreaded Dream and Techno]], said 24 hours are completely necessary. Unfortunately for L'Manburg, however, the Anarchists has no intent on actually attacking when planned--they attack fifteen minutes ahead of schedule and catch L'Manburg so off-guard that much of the nation is a giant crater by the time all of the war's participants arrive.

** Tubbo [[BewareTheNiceOnes out of all people]] gives one off to Tommy right after deciding to go along with Dream's request to exile him, after tiring of being bound to Tommy's obsession of his discs, pulling L'Manburg into greater and greater dangers. [[CycleOfRevenge He does so mainly in refusal of yet another plan of establishing another conflict with Dream.]]

** [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] for [=BadBoyHalo=]'s character design, as despite having a mainly red and black colour motif, he's very polite and friendly, yet whether he's good or bad really depends on who you ask. On the flip side, when he's unambiguously antagonistic as the ''de facto'' leader of the Eggpire, he has a GreyscaleOfEvil instead.

** Techno has a habit of pulling outrageous stunts to taunt enemies he doesn't need to take seriously (read: ''everyone'' except maybe Dream). ''And he always wins.'' Justified, as Techno's armor is kitted out with Thorns (causes recoil damage to any attackers), which combined with Netherite armor's natural protection makes him NighInvulnerable (as enemies will hurt themselves more than Techno) and allows Techno much more leeway to toy with foes (as he already knows he's going to win).

*** Techno doesn't even need to be in combat to do this. At the Manburg Festival, Fundy trapped Techno in a dive tank to drown him. Unfortunately for Fundy, Techno had a Respiration III helmet, which meant it'd take a minute for Techno's air to even run out -- and when he finally started taking damage, it took so long that Techno was able to easily regenerate more health than he lost. Techno then ''proceeded to promote his channel while drowning, even stepping away from his computer in real life for a moment to drink a glass of water''. Yes, Techno took a break from drowning ''[[MindScrew to drink water]]''. He even played up a MinorInjuryOverreaction for all its worth, joking that he desperately needed to eat to regenerate once he's at seven hearts (which takes even longer). Needless to say, Fundy was not happy.

** [[BrassBalls Quackity]] also gets in on the action occasionally. A week before the Red Banquet, he fills up Purpled's UFO with TNT to try to get his attention, but gets caught by Purpled before he can [[StuffBlowingUp set off the explosives]]. He then quickly convinces Purpled to help him crash the Banquet after [[OnlyInItForTheMoney promising him payment]] from Las Nevadas. After the Banquet, Purpled collects his money... only for Quackity to blow up his UFO anyway... ''and then try to convince him to join Las Nevadas'', promising him that his legacy would be preserved now that his UFO is gone... ''because of him''. Not only does he live to tell the tale (considering that Purpled is ''very'' good in a fight and would easily annihilate him, a NonActionGuy), but it ''[[GambitRoulette works out]]''.
*** Eventually {{deconstructed|Trope}} as Purpled decides that revenge is a dish BestServedCold.

** When Jack returns to life after being killed by Techno in the Doomsday War, he states that he went to Hell[[note]]Jack doesn't go into much (if any) detail about how Hell ''looks'', but given he identifies it as Hell with such certainty he probably means the traditional FireAndBrimstoneHell[[/note]]. When Tommy returns to life after being killed by Dream in Pandora's Vault, ''he'' describes the Afterlife as an EldritchLocation that he and Dream later determine to have YearInsideHourOutside properties. Unless either Jack or Tommy was wrong/lying about their description, it seems that Jack's account of the Afterlife was retconned.

** One of Quackity's core traits is his hatred of injustice. However, some of his actions--and ''especially'' those taken during his spiral in the ''Las Nevadas'' series--are driven more by revenge then justice, like his torture of Dream and failed attempt to kill Technoblade in the prison. [[DeconstructedTrope In general]], the violent methods he uses to try to get even often just cause more problems, yet [[CycleOfRevenge every loss just makes him all the more desperate to get revenge]]. His character arc ultimately ends with him knowing and acknowledging that RevengeIsNotJustice, and tentatively reaching out to others again.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The Butcher Army tries and fails to execute Technoblade, causing him to leave his TenMinuteRetirement and ''blow L'Manburg into a crater''. If not for a freak resurrection, this also would have resulted in Jack Manifold's death.

* RuleOfThree: Three times has L'Manburg been in the center of climax of various wars within the server, with mass destruction in each, but the third, performed by a three way alliance between Dream, Technoblade and Philza, was what finally ended the nation for good.

** George constantly being missing during huge lore events on the server.[[labelnote:Explanation]]Started when George slept through the most key part of the Election Arc (the actual elections), then continued when he subsequently missed out on most of the ensuing ''war'' because he was off building a house. He's also generally not online while a lot of the major lore events occur.[[/labelnote]]

** People poking fun at Phil for being old, while Phil insists he's not ''that'' old.[[labelnote:Explanation]]Phil is the oldest member of the server, being aged 32 when he joined the SMP.[[/labelnote]]

** The Funny Mic.[[labelnote:Explanation]] Occasionally, someone (as of Season 1, it's Dream, Quackity, and Tommy) will unplug their usual microphone and instead use a really cheap one with the volume cranked up to max, making them sound ''incredibly'' distorted. It's called the Funny Mic because it tends to add [[{{Bathos}} comedy to an intense situation]]. This bit is a carry-over RunningGag from Schlatt, who used to do back when he used to stream.[[/labelnote]]
** Canon deaths.[[labelnote:Explanation]]After the introduction of the three-lives system, the members of the SMP often jokingly label any unscripted, accidental death canon. Anything from Dream accidentally blowing himself up to Punz missing a [[SoftWater water bucket trick]] and dying of fall damage will be commented on in the in-game chat with "CANON DEATH" or the like.[[/labelnote]]
** No one being able to spell 'independence' correctly.[[labelnote:Explanation]]Wilbur wrote both versions of the L'Manburg Declaration of Independence with the "word" 'independance', while Tubbo titled the Snowchester Declaration of Independence 'Independents'.[[/labelnote]]

* RunOrDie: When Schlatt exiles them from L'Manburg, Tommy and Wilbur are suddenly faced with an armed crowd hellbent on killing them, while they're both unarmed and without gear. They immediately use their invisibility potions and bail through Tubbo's bunker. Unfortunately for Wilbur, he was shot in the back by Punz while making his escape, taking his second canon life out of three in the process.
-->'''Wilbur:''' Tommy, run! Tommy- TOMMY, RUN!\\

** Both the power high of being leader of L'Manburg and his constant intake of alcohol and steroids results in Schlatt becoming increasingly erratic and unstable. His increasingly impaired decision making winds up driving away any of his allies who hadn't already jumped ship because of how much of a tyrannical BadBoss he was.

** The Minecraft Mondays tournament is canon to the Dream SMP, or at least, Weeks 1 and 6 are. This is canonized by primarily Quackity (who specifies Week 1), as well as a few throwaway lines by Schlatt at the Manberg Festival (more specifically, he publicly reminiscences the time when he and Techno won MCM, i.e. Week 6), to be part of their backstories prior to joining the SMP. This part in particular holds lore significance in that it's how [[ArchNemesis the Techno-vs-Quackity feud]] started on Quackity's side.
*** Week 14 (the time MCM got hacked) was mentioned in Wilbur and Quackity's first interaction on the Dream SMP, [[https://loudduo.tumblr.com/post/675342538398449664/watching-the-vod-where-wilbur-and-quackity-first in the in-game chat.]]
** The WebVideo/MinecraftChampionship is ambiguously canonical through a few throwaway lines by several content creators, but they are ultimately unimportant to the lore.

** Wilbur's mental health was on the decline even back during the L'Manburg War for Independence, which had [[CynicismCatalyst left him traumatized]]. Wilbur, a man who is (in his own words) "[[NonActionGuy a writer, not a fighter]]", found himself in the role of a general and experienced the infamous betrayal from one of his comrades, Eret, the deaths of himself and his friends, and only won thanks to Tommy giving up his discs. [[StepfordSmiler He hid how badly it affected him in front of others during his presidency.]] His mask slowly chipped away during the election, momentarily dropping it in front of Quackity during their heart-to-heart several days before Election Day, and permanently dropped it a few days into exile as he spiraled to the point of [[DeathSeeker suici]][[SuicideByCop dality]].

* ShortStory: ''The Wilbur Van'', better known as "Hitting on 16", is available on Archive of Our Own, though Wilbur also did a live reading of it on Twitch.

*** Connor wears a ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog''-onesie.

** Some of the people on the server outright have usernames and online aliases that reference other pieces of media. Quackity's originated from his days as a ''VideoGame/ToontownOnline''-based content creator[[note]]The original use of the term was one of three censor phrases for Duck Toons who type non-regulated words in the in-game chat[[/note]], while Antfrost literally uses the FantasticNamingConvention of a Literature/{{Warrior Cat|s}}.
** The entire War for L'Manburg Independence is ''rife'' with ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'' references, going as far as to [[WaxingLyrical quote lines from the musical]] several times throughout the war. Wilbur also makes a parody of ''The Adams Administration'', "The Jschlatt Administration", during the Pogtopia arc.

** There are quite a lot of references to ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': Ranboo often uses songs from the soundtrack during his streams, most notably "Waterfall" in tense moments such as his confrontation with the Egg and a slowed version of "Fallen Down (Reprise)" at the end of lore-heavy streams, and Dream taunting Tommy to call for help when he's locked in the prison is ''eerily'' similar to Flowey taunting the protagonist to call for help during the Photoshop Flowey battle.

** The Red Banquet hosted by the Eggpire is possibly named after [[Series/GameOfThrones the Red Wedding]].

** There's a button on Eret's throne that xe can press to play "Megalovania" from ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' on note-blocks to intimidate others.

'''Sapnap:''' I JUST THINK ME AND YOU ARE JUST SO IN LOVE AND KARL IS LIKE MAYBE 3rD WHEELING A LITTLE\\

* SkewedPriorities: Techno names one of his Withers in the final battle "Subscribe to Technoblade". What qualifies it for this trope is when he calls the name the most important part, ''[[RefugeInAudacity as if he pulled a]] FaceHeelTurn [[RefugeInAudacity just to plug his channel one last time]]''.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The series is fairly cynical, not with half of the characters going through their own horrific TraumaCongaLine and all. Wars and conflicts often had to be solved with violence instead of diplomacy, and the [[WideEyedIdealist idealistic]] diplomats and peacemakers are often broken down to don JadeColoredGlasses eventually, and resort to violence they initially opposed using to survive. Though there are still a few idealists on the server, they tend to be in the minority of the server, and characters who undergo the transformation from being idealistic to cynical on-screen are often regarded to be tragic. However, it also has an idealistic lining in that characters who value diplomacy, peace and recovery are often regarded to be more "heroic" and morally light than those who involve themselves in war and destruction.

* SomewhereAHerpetologistIsCrying: In "The View From the Bottom of the Ladder" in ''The Wilbur Van'', it's noted that a king cobra "almost brought a sour end to the efforts" Wilbur was making towards handling his burger van. Other than a king cobra being [[MisplacedWildlife blatantly out of place where the story is set]], unless Wilbur was accidentally intruding on its nest and it was defending its eggs, the snake should not be bother him at all, as they are typically a very placid and non-aggressive (albeit still venomous) species and tend to avoid humans in general.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: There are about four accepted ways of spelling L'Manburg [=/=] L'Manberg [=/=] L'manburg [=/=] L'manberg, and nobody has settled on one.

*** Despite appearing to be very cheerful and calm, Ghostbur, Wilbur's spectral counterpart, had said that his existence was pain, and he tries to hide his melancholic side as much as possible, repressing his sadness. It's also implied that his dissociative amnesia (selective memory loss) is [[TraumaInducedAmnesia due to the trauma]] he had suffered throughout his life.

* StoryArc: Each Dream SMP Season is typically divided by according to various character arcs and faction-related storylines, while each Arc is usually separated by {{Wham Episode}}s.

*** Arc 1: The pre-L'Manburg era. Things are considerably more lighthearted in nature, and the roleplay hasn't come in full force. At one point in time Tommy joins the server, which sows the first major conflicts incorporated into roleplay.

*** Arc 4: The L'Manburg Election. This arc initially seems like light-hearted filler, but it soon becomes clear that it was building into:

*** Arc 4: The Post-Lockdown Era. After Tommy is found to have been revived and is released from prison, the server reacts to his return to the SMP, and he learns to gradually recover from his trauma. Meanwhile, the Eggpire continues to spread its influence throughout the server, and various characters' moralities begin to shift.

*** Arc 1: The Freefall Era. In the [[WhamEpisode last two days of the Breakout Era]] (27-28 November), Dream is broken out of prison by the Syndicate, Purpled betrays Las Nevadas, and Ranboo and Slimecicle respectively lose canon lives and are rendered perma-dead or catatonic. Following these events, Techno and Tubbo [[EnemyMine team up]] to save MICHAEL and/or avenge Ranboo, Tommy prepares for an onslaught against Dream, Sapnap presumably tries to cope with Karl's memory decline and his EvilFormerFriend's escape from prison, and Quackity is left in mourning to honour Slime/Charlie's legacy. Oh, and on a meta level, the server gets crossed-over to a Minecraft 1.18 world about two days into the season, allowing the Dream SMP to span across two servers with access to items added in the Caves and Cliffs updates.

** Throughout the Las Nevadas story arc, Quackity repeatedly makes enemies out of the other server members, even outright manipulating some into joining his country. As such, when he finally does the grand opening, only three people show up, two of which were already his employees. Essentially, if you want your business to succeed, you have to create good will with your potential customers first.

[[folder:T - Z]]

* TakeOverTheWorld: Whereas Techno's M.O. is anarchy and Wilbur's is peaceful rule over L'Manburg, Jschlatt and Dream have this as their motive. Dream justifies it in a meta sense, claiming that he ''did'' in fact [[DivineRightOfKings own all of the server before L'Manburg's independence]], and that it's not so much him trying to conquer the world as it is him trying to reclaim the parts of it he once owned... though it's InNameOnly and the L'Manburgians were the first actual settlers of the land that would become the country.

*** Arc 1: The Freefall Era. In the [[WhamEpisode last two days of the Breakout Era]] (27-28 November), Dream is broken out of prison by the Syndicate, Purpled betrays Las Nevadas, and Ranboo and Slimecicle respectively lose canon lives and are rendered perma-dead or catatonic. Following these events, Techno and Tubbo [[EnemyMine team up]] to save MICHAEL and/or avenge Ranboo, Tommy prepares for an onslaught against Dream, Sapnap presumably tries to cope with Karl's memory decline and his EvilFormerFriend's escape from prison, and Quackity is left in mourning to honour Slime/Charlie's legacy. [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers Oh, and on a meta level]], the server gets crossed-over to a Minecraft 1.18 world about two days into the season, allowing the Dream SMP to span across two servers with access to items added in the Caves and Cliffs updates.

** The WebOriginal/MinecraftChampionship is ambiguously canonical through a few throwaway lines by several content creators, but they are ultimately unimportant to the lore.

* ReestablishingCharacterMoment: Slimecicle's return following his death and dormancy. He returns very different than he was before, both physically and mentally, brushing off an attempt at manipulation from Purpled and Punz in direct contrast to his earlier appearances being so focused on him being easy to use as a pawn.

* ReestablishingCharacterMoment: Slimecicle's return [[spoiler:following his death and dormancy]]. He returns very different than he was before, both physically and mentally, [[spoiler:brushing off an attempt at manipulation from Purpled and Punz in direct contrast to his earlier appearances being so focused on him being easy to use as a pawn.]]

* {{Troll}}: Unlike some other Minecraft servers with a little more etiquette (e.g. the LetsPlay/HermitcraftServer), people on the Dream SMP have no qualms stealing from, pranking, and annoying their server-mates in any way possible, making them anywhere from TheGadfly to this trope, with several people being more infamous for being trolls than others. For example, when Hannah (who was [[NaiveNewcomer fairly new to the server]] at the time) decorated the area surrounding her house with cakes in preparation for her birthday, Foolish pointed out in the chat that it was practically an invitation for everyone else on the server to eat them, as Quackity had done multiple times already.

** In terms of time periods, Season 1 is mostly more silly with a serious undercurrent, whereas in Season 2, it leans towards the serious end due to CerebusSyndrome, albeit [[{{Bathos}} with the occasional silly moment interspersed in between]]--one of the most serious arcs, Tommy's Exile arc, takes place in Season 2 and contains some of [[StockholmSyndrome the]] [[WouldHurtAChild heaviest]] [[DrivenToSuicide lore]] in the entire history of the roleplay. As lore slows down in Season 3, it becomes more light-hearted, but there remain dedicated lore streams which are definitely on the serious side, most prominently Quackity's "Las Nevadas" series.
** In terms of perspectives, even during Season 2 and onward, Techno's perspective as a reputation for being more silly, even during events like [[NukeEm the Dooms]][[MoodWhiplash day War]]. On the other hand, the perspectives from people like Tommy tend to be more serious, while Quackity's perspective made a drastic switch to halfway-inbetween near the end of Season 2 to mostly dead-serious in the "Las Nevadas" series.

--->'''Foolish:''' You threw away my life for some kind of [[BreakingPointSwearing fucking]] sales pitch?

[[DreamSMP/Tropes0ToG 0-G]] | [[DreamSMP/TropesHToQ H-Q]] | '''R-Z''']]]]

** {{Zigzagged}} for [=BadBoyHalo=]'s character design, as despite having a mainly red and black colour motif, he's very polite and friendly, yet whether he's good or bad really depends on who you ask. On the flip side, when he's unambiguously antagonistic as the ''de facto'' leader of the Eggpire, he has a GreyscaleOfEvil instead.

** Techno has a habit of pulling outrageous stunts to taunt enemies he doesn't need to take seriously (read: ''everyone'' except maybe Dream). ''And he always wins''. Justified, as Techno's armor is kitted out with Thorns (causes recoil damage to any attackers), which combined with Netherite armor's natural protection makes him NighInvulnerable (as enemies will hurt themselves more than Techno) and allows Techno much more leeway to toy with foes (as he already knows he's going to win).

*** Techno has also infiltrated New L'Manberg by standing in front of his own wanted posters to blend in... while wearing a different skin to the one on the poster. Tubbo is too confused to question it and just leaves him be.

* RewatchBonus: Several things about Ranboo's January 30th stream will stand out once you realize none of it was real.

** Tommy speaking to various people's family members on stream. So far he's spoken with Dream's mother and sister, Tubbo's sister, and Phil's wife.

** Before the ''Tales'' episode "The Village That Went Mad", Jack's journals imply that Foolish somehow caused him and Bob to go "mad" and murder the people living in their town. This is only revealed after the episode.

* SickeninglySweethearts: In Season 2, [[{{Polyamory}} Karl, Sapnap, and Quackity]] occasionally crashed other people's livestreams through the in-game chat with very affectionate and lovey-dovey messages towards each other. Of course, this ended after the polycule started to drift apart due to the [[PoorCommunicationKills miscommunication]] between the three.

** After being elected, Schlatt begins downing alcohol by the truckload and indulges in using steroids as well to compensate for how his unhealthy lifestyle is affecting his body. However, his lack of physical fitness is PlayedForLaughs and never seriously impacts the plot… until the first season finale, when the Pogtopians surround him only to find that he's gotten drunk out of his mind. When they confront Schlatt on everything he's done, he goes off on a a self-righteous rant that gets so intense that he suffers a fatal heart attack. As it turns out, his non-stop substance abuse was genuinely harmful and likely would have killed him regardless of whether he won or lost.

* TakeOverTheWorld: Whereas Techno's M.O. is anarchy and Wilbur's is peaceful rule over L'Manburg, Jschlatt and Dream have this as their motive. ''Somewhat'' justified in Dream's case, considering that he ''did'' in fact [[DivineRightOfKings own all of the server before L'Manburg's independence]]--it's not so much him trying to conquer the world as it is him trying to reclaim the parts of it he once owned, though it's InNameOnly and the L'Manburgians were the first actual settlers of the land that would become the country.

--->'''Foolish:''' You threw away my life for some kind of [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] sales pitch?

** LetsPlay/SMPLive is ''also'' canonical to some degree, given Schlatt and Connor's canonical history as business partners.

** Philza's book "Arrival" alludes to "[[WebOriginal/SMPEarth [a]n [icy] empire [he] once helped a friend grow to power and take over the world]]".

** SMP Live is ''also'' canonical to some degree, given Schlatt and Connor's canonical history as business partners.

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* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: After being elected, Schlatt begins downing alcohol by the truckload and indulges in using steroids as well to compensate for how his unhealthy lifestyle is affecting his body. However, his lack of physical fitness is PlayedForLaughs and never seriously impacts the plot… until the first season finale, when the Pogtopians surround him only to find that he's gotten drunk out of his mind. When they confront Schlatt on everything he's done, he goes off on a a self-righteous rant that gets so intense that he suffers a fatal heart attack. As it turns out, his non-stop substance abuse was genuinely harmful and likely would have killed him regardless of whether he won or lost.