History Main / PVP

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* The webcomic ''Webcomic/{{PvP}}''.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pvp42.jpg

''Not to be confused with the term PlayerVersusPlayer. Or {{PWP}} for that matter.''

''[[http://www.pvponline.com/ PvP]]'' is a gaming webcomic started in 1998 by cartoonist Scott Kurtz. It takes place around the office of a small magazine production company that produces the gaming magazine "[=PvP=]", focusing mostly on the office antics of a straitlaced boss, his snobby best friend, their bratty sixteen year old intern, a naive, careless troll, and two frat boys. Over time, the cast gained a female counterpart to the intern, a love interest for the snob in the form of a feminist gamer, and some other characters. It originally started as a pastiche AffectionateParody of video games and geek culture in general, moving away from that towards just being a slice of life comedy about its characters and an AffectionateParody of every 80s sitcom ever made.

!!This webcomic provides examples of:

* ActionSanta - Whenever Kringus shows up
* AllTrollsAreDifferent
* AmbiguouslyGay - Max Powers
** [[http://www.pvponline.com/2008/11/21/old-wounds/ Not so ambiguous, anymore.]]
*** [[http://www.pvponline.com/2008/12/03/good-night/ Or not.]]
* ArtifactTitle - When was the last time the magazine itself meant anything?
** Lampshaded in a guest strip, where the characters find themselves looking at the magazine for the first time.
* ArtEvolution - compare [[http://www.pvponline.com/1998/05/ the first strip]] with [[http://www.pvponline.com/2010/05/31/the-king-and-aiiieeee/ this more recent one.]]
* AuthorAvatar - Scratch is actually Kurtz's cat. As of Sept 16th, 2008, he can talk, has cool goggles, and a ray gun.
** Also, there is a dog in the strip, which was, and originally appeared as, Kurtz's dog. He later became Cole's. When the dog died in real life, the comic dog continued to appear.
** And Kurtz himself used to appear to speak directly to the readers. He hasn't done this in a while, probably because he keeps a blog now.
*** While we're on the topic, Kurtz writes in his father's actual comments from time to time, and Reggie is based on a real friend of Kurtz.
** Nowadays, Kurtz frequently uses Skull to reflect himself, but in a much less indirect manner. (His birthday reflected Scott's, etc.)
* BlindWithoutEm - In a somewhat unusual example, Brent, because [[FridgeBrilliance he wears sunglasses so often that his eyes can't handle the sunlight.]]
* TheButlerDidIt - Not murder-related, but [[spoiler:Butler is the LOLBAT.]]
* ButWeUsedACondom - Jade's pregnancy scare
* CerebusSyndrome - The strip toys with this to some extent. It never goes full-over into drama, but for most of its run now it's alternated between GagPerDay format, {{dramedy}}, and [[RuleOfDrama downright serious drama]]. Some people felt the strip fell full into CerebusSyndrome during the Brent/Jade wedding arc, which happened to overlap with a surprisingly serious turn for Skull, Cole's marriage falling apart, and a story about Robbie and Jase falling out. YourMileageMayVary, of course, as CerebusSyndrome [[TropesAreNotBad is not universally bad]] and the strip quickly went back to comedic arcs after a few months, just as it always had done before.
* CheatedAngle - Before Brent revealed his face (well, [[NegativeContinuity again]]), he would always be drawn so that you could never see his eyes behind his sunglasses. Now, when seen from the side, [[ArtEvolution you can clearly see his eyes]].
** Also Jase's eyes were always covered by his hat until he started dating Robbie's gardener and temporarily stopped wearing it. He got his hat back but now his eyes are clearly visible (and he's lost a lot of weight).
* ColorfulThemeNaming - Brent Sienna is a pun off of burnt sienna. Note that he's also pretty [[DeadpanSnarker dry]]...
** And his wife is named "Jade".
** In Max Powers' office, Brent's counterpart is named "Hunter Greene".
* ContinuityNod - [[http://www.pvponline.com/2000/01/24/mon-jan-24/ Brent made a prediction about when]] Francis would lose his virginity. [[http://www.pvponline.com/2008/05/23/falling-down/ and as]] [[http://www.pvponline.com/2008/05/27/innocence-lost/ predicted]]
* DeadpanSnarker - Brent and Jade
* DealWithTheDevil - [[http://www.pvponline.com/2010/07/05/brent-and-the-devil-pt-1/ One soul for a cup of coffee.]] Then again 1) Brent didn't really think the barista was the Devil, and 2) it was a really good cup of coffee. The Devil(?), rather than taking Brent to Hell as is the usual way these deals turn out, uses his ownership of Brent's soul to make him his errand boy.
** [[spoiler:Also, [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot he's not really the devil]]. He's a computer security expert, and he's using the terror and humiliation he's engendering by pretending to be the devil to soften up Brent and Cole to the notion of hiring him to redo their security.]]
* {{Deconstruction}}: Ladies and Gentlemen, [[http://www.pvponline.com/2009/12/07/high-pitched-pitch/ Gordy and the Prarie Dogs]] "[[AlvinAndTheChipmunks Hula Hoops!]]".
* DidNotDoTheResearch: The brewing company arc. In real life making beer on that scale is a months-long process that requires careful monitoring at every stage of the game; Robbie should have had ample warning at how his beer was going to turn out way before brewing was finished.
* EverythingsWorseWithBears: the RunningGag where Brent gets mauled by a panda
** Subverted in one comic where a [[FourthWallMailSlot fan letter]] points out that pandas are actually raccoons. I can't vouch for the validity of that statement, but the comic ends with Brent being mauled by a raccoon.
*** In this case, [[ScienceMarchesOn Science marched onward]]. While biologists used to be divided on whether the Giant Panda was more closely related to raccoons or to bears, genetic testing has rather firmly placed them in the Ursidae family. They are, in fact, bears.
** Brent and the Panda recently made peace with each other not long after the PVP offices were officially designated the Panda's natural habitat. They became FireForgedFriends after some crazy activist tried to kidnap the panda.
* ExpressiveMask: Scratch Fury as Kringus.
* ExternalCombustion: The "Bulldog and Cooch" strips.
* TheFaceless - Jase's girlfriend, Bonnie
* FantasticRacism: Skull occasionally expresses some disdain over the usual portrayal of trolls.
** And apparently [[http://www.pvponline.com/2004/11/14/sun-nov-14/ dark elves are bastards]].
** Skull has actually gone so far as to go on strike and protest against the unfair treatment of fantasy creatures.
* ForgottenAnniversary: The author admitted when Brent and Jade's anniversary came that he'd forgotten it...so he followed up with a strip with both of them forgetting it.
* GagSeries
* GamerChick - Marcy is a cookie cutter example (right down to the {{Tsundere}} girlfriend aspects). Averted with Jade.
* {{GIRL}} - Francis's ''CityOfHeroes'' character, Catfight.
** Also how Jade and Brent started dating. Francis played the GIRL for Brent and out of pity, Jade tried to bring Brent down gracefully.
* GirlOnGirlIsHot - Brent initially thinks Miranda is there to fulfill his fantasy of watching Jade get it on with another girl.
* GratuitousGerman - [[http://www.pvponline.com/2009/09/28/schaden-fraud/ Here]]. Made even more hilarious by the comic notes.
* HollywoodNerd: To a certain extent, Brent is this. He pretends he's not a nerd, but his interests are very nerd-oriented. Furthermore, as in this trope, he's good-looking and socially adept (in other words, "normal"). The twist is that Brent is the ''only'' HollywoodNerd in the main cast (except maybe Max Powers and Jade), since Francis and Cole are closer to popular perceptions of nerdom.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo - Max [[spoiler: broke into Cole's office to search for bank statements]] because [[spoiler: Cole was ignoring Max's concerns about the magazine's finances even though Cole ''knew'' they were pretty much screwed.]]
* IHaveBoobsYouMustObey - Miranda.
* IntercontinuityCrossover - PVP has crossed over with Kurtz's other creations Captain Amazing and Samwise.
* IntoxicationEnsues- Skull gets stoned on a bad orange julius and takes a job as a MallSanta while high.
* TheJeeves - Butler (Seriously, that's his name)
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold - Brent. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in [[http://www.pvponline.com/2010/04/07/family-matters-2/ this strip.]]
* [[JugglingLoadedGuns Juggling Loaded Rayguns]] - [[http://www.pvponline.com/2008/09/15/count-of-two/ 2008/09/15]], when Scratch tries to threaten someone with his [[ShurFineGuns ray gun]].
* KlatchianCoffee - Francis' twitch gamer 'power drink'.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: [[http://www.pvponline.com/2010/04/07/family-matters-2/ This strip]] starts out as this, but moves on to straight-up [[BreakingTheFourthWall breaking it.]]
* LevelUpAtIntimacy5 - Francis and Marcy. Literally. Came free with complimentary [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]].
** And [[http://www.pvponline.com/2011/01/13/all-grown-1up/ it happened again]], only through ThePowerOfFriendship.
* LesYay - Brent mistakes Jade and Miranda for this at Miranda's introduction to the comic.
** Also occurs when Jade creates her own women's only magazine. See ThanksForTheMammary.
* LolSpeak - Lolbat and Retweet, nacht.
* MallSanta - Skull becomes one while stoned on a bad orange julius.
* MoodWhiplash - Brent and Jade's wedding
* NotSoImaginaryFriend - Skull's super-intelligent cat.
** Inverted with Skull. Everyone in the comic can see Skull with the exception of Max powers.
*** [[http://www.pvponline.com/2010/04/09/deja-view/ Not anymore.]]
* ObliviousAdmirer - Ricky "Turtle" Tuttle is this to Francis.
* OlderThanYouThink - It's one of the few gaming comics that predates PennyArcade.
* PaintballEpisode - a paintball storyline gets most of the rules right, then turns around and intentionally gets them wrong.
* [[{{ptitleaphjtlth}} Panda-ing To The Audience]] The Office Panda
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything - Very rarely does the plot involve the cast actually having to produce a magazine. The rest of the time the office is just a setting for hijinks.
** Lampshaded in a guest strip:
--->'''Brent:''' You know, this is the first time I've actually seen our magazine.
* PutOnABus - Marcy went to college in a recent arc.
* ProductPlacement - Not necessarily in the comic itself, but several of the site designs have been lousy with it, almost to the point that clicking anywhere outside the comic accidentally would take you to a sponsor site.
* ProudToBeAGeek - with the exception of Jade, the whole cast.
** I am not sure she counts as an exception, just in a different style.
** Brent, actually is an aversion, and while he admits to "interests that coincide with nerdity" he denies being an actual nerd, which Francis (a straight example of this trope) calls him out on it.
*** To be more specific, he's an avowed Apple geek who will buy ''any'' product they make, a D&D player, a gamer, he plays ''WorldOfWarcraft'' with his wife (who's in many ways geekier than him), quotes movies constantly, has declared JossWhedon his master, almost dropped out of college because he was hooked on Sega games, and consistently gets into arguments about genre fiction or gaming with Francis and Cole. [[BlatantLies But he's not a nerd. Definitely not a nerd.]]
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality - Particularly obvious with the treatment of Max Powers. He is, by all appearances, a friendly guy who's happy to help, whose worst crimes are being successful and pulling bad jokes [[http://www.websnark.com/archives/2004/10/because_i_keep.html no worse than the protagonists would pull]]. Yet every time he stopped by the [=PvP=] office he was received like he was some sort of colossal dick dead set on destroying everything the staff held dear, for no discernible reason. This was confronted and deconstructed during the [[http://www.pvponline.com/2008/11/19/excuses-excuses/ Thanksgiving 2008 arc]].
** The trope is now moot, as Max is now [[http://www.pvponline.com/2010/04/06/now-hire-zing/ an accepted member of the staff.]]
* RalphWiggum - Skull.
* RunningGag: Several;
** The Giant Panda savaging Brent.
** A strip ending with an ambulance speeding away after a character gets AmusingInjuries.
** Cole and Brent racing to an appointment by blasting off in the General Lee from ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' (after wishing for it from a genie)
* SeventiesHair - Bulldog and Cooch. [[LolSpeak They haz it]].
* SexAsRiteOfPassage - Combined with a PlotRelevantAgeUp with Francis and Marcy.
-->"LEVEL UP! You gain: +3 Years Maturity!....Community College Courses!
* SitcomArchnemesis - Max Powers.
** In RealLife, Gabe and Tycho from PennyArcade, their good-natured cruelty to each other popping up in a strip every once in a while. Scott's foreword to one of their print collections ended with "Fuck them, and fuck you for buying this book and not PVP," and Gabe and Tycho refer to Scott as "Steve Kuntz" on the regular. Now that Scott is living in Seattle and working in the Penny Arcade offices, one only assumes that the hijinks will continue.
*** Also, the old WoW guilds (Panda Attack for PVP, the Knights of Arcadia for Penny Arcade) were pretty much an online, massively-multiplayer extension of the real-life relationship between the two. [[CtrlAltDel B^Uckley]] tried to get in on it with his own guild, but when Kurtz, Krahulik, and Holkins would have none of it, he ended things on a predictable note (ie massive hostility for all).
* SkywardScream
* StraightMan - Cole
* SunglassesAtNight - Brent: He wore them under his bandages when he was blinded, and when he took them off, he was BlindWithoutEm.
* SuperHero - Kurtz's earlier character Captain Amazing made an early appearance and earned a spinoff. More recently, we've seen Jingle Force Five (a Christmas-themed parody of the original {{X-Men}} lineup) and The Lolbat, a combination of {{Batman}} and the internet lolcat phenomena, whose RoguesGallery is made up of {{Grammar Nazi}}s.
** He also has a sidekick named [[{{Twitter}} ReTweet]].
*** True, but he [[http://www.pvponline.com/2010/03/05/tweet-titan/ does not want]].
*** He's reluctantly accepted ReTweet as his sidekick, and has also obtained two allies, the Double Rainbow.
* TakeThat - Kurtz inserts plenty of these, aimed at a wide range of targets.
* TedBaxter - Subverted with Max Powers. The audience is initially warned that he's one, but upon closer scrutiny, it turns out that Max is actually a pretty decent guy (if a bit of a dork).
** Prior to his Great American Journey sanding off the obnoxious edges of his personality, he was routinely treated as one even though he didn't really deserve it. Cole hated him with a passion; none of the others felt quite so strongly, but they found his dorkiness so incredibly grating that it overshadowed his numerous redeeming qualities.
* ThanksForTheMammary - Francis honks Jade's boob when he thinks that he's in the future and therefore his actions have no consequences (ItMakesSenseInContext). This leads to Jade leaving [=PvP=] to start her her own magazine.
** Part of the reason she returns to [=PvP=] is because one of her (female) coworkers in the new magazine does the [+exact same thing+].
* TwoGamersOnACouch - Robbie and Jase were very nearly a parody of this as a B side story.
* WhatTheHellHero:Done twice in a row recently. [[spoiler:Max breaks into Cole's office and figures out PvP is going under and Cole calls him out on it and promptly fires him... But then Brent, after finding out Max is indeed right and that Cole had been ignoring Max, gives Cole an epic slap to the face.]]
* YouCantWin - Averted by Robbie's lottery win.
* YourMom - [[http://www.pvponline.com/2009/06/16/old-the-phone/ Expertly delivered by Francis.]]
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