History Roleplay / RubyQuest

[[redirect: Webcomic/RubyQuest]]

[[quoteright:188:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/180px-RubyQuest.gif]]

->''And what became of cat and hare?''
->''Did they break free to purer air?''
--> -- '''[[http://tindeck.com/listen/wnhv The Metal Glen]]''', William Murdoch [[spoiler:Actually, by Weaver in the style of William Murdoch]]

An imageboard-based RPG styled as a [[ChooseYourOwnAdventure text adventure]], created and DM'ed by a certain person nicknamed Creator/{{Weaver}} on the /tg/ board of Website/FourChan. It's now concluded.

It begins when a rabbit named Ruby wakes up in a cell/locker. Together with a cat named Tom she soon meets, they perform puzzles, fight horrible abominations, and try to escape the massive underwater complex they're in. They also meet Red, a creepy but helpful enough fox with a truly awful EvilLaugh; Ace, a giant bird and servant to an unknown master; Filbert, the former head doctor turned delusional; and several unnatural abominations, all of whom used to be normal and innocent.

You can get more info on the plot, characters and also participate in discussions, making theories and guesses on possible plot developments [[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Ruby_Quest here]]. For the story itself, look [[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/ruby.html here]]. WARNING: Some of the threads there contain very {{NSFW}} [[RuleThirtyFour fan art]], as does the 1d4chan-article. There has also been both a Website/{{Facebook}} [[http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ruby-Quest/151103551619091 fan-page]] and Website/{{Tumblr}} [[http://fyeahrubyandnanquest.tumblr.com/ site]] created for discussing, posting news, ect. for ''Roleplay/RubyQuest'' and also its SpiritualSequel, ''Roleplay/NanQuest''. Weaver's own /tg/ Website/{{Tumblr}} blog can be found [[http://tgweaver.tumblr.com/ here]].

A Flash retelling of the whole story, cutting out most of the discussion, fan-art, and additional jokes/threads/clues (but leaving in choice comments) can be seen on [=FurAffinity=] right [[http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2635526 here]] with a [=FurAffinity=] account (disabled Mature Content Filter), or on [=InkBunny right=] [[http://inkbunny.net/submissionview.php?id=10470 here]], no account required if you meddle with the Allowed Ratings. The [=InkBunny=] version can also be read [[http://nepeta.mozai.com/Ruby_Quest/ here]], with no settings-fiddling required. You can also read the full story on [[http://evilcorporation.com.br/rubyquest evilcorporation]] in three versions: a slideshow-like sequence, a scene selection screen, and a long single page. And finally, there's the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJkc_LUbmwA&list=PLHO1rc05qiGvvKw4wi9VePXQvTVEatX-H Let's Read]][[note]][[https://youtu.be/PsfKizji9wk bonus video]][[/note]] version by Creator/CoLabHQ, complete with full individual character voice acting when applicable.

A music album [[FanWork based on]] Ruby Quest has been made. It can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4B639222C746AF92&feature=plcp here]] or downloaded [[http://tindeck.com/album/uvsin here]] In addition, the artist has made an [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCA51AF37A8AC5523 8-bit version]]. High quality version of both albums can be purchased [[http://nitrosparxx.bandcamp.com/ here]]. All the money made off of this album will go to Weaver.

Now has a [[Characters/RubyQuest character sheet.]] For additional details and those not directly related to the plot, see [[Trivia/RubyQuest Trivia]]. For a list of quotations relating to the game, see [[Quotes/RubyQuest Quotes]]. For a series of relevant images, see [[ImageLinks/RubyQuest Image Links]].

Compare to ''VideoGame/TheWhiteChamber'', a PointAndClickGame with several thematic overlaps (and which Weaver has acknowledged as an inspiration).

Weaver has started a "Behind the scenes" series on his tumblr.

----
!Tropes provided by the entire campaign:
!!Main Ruby Quest presentation:

->''"Time to begin.\\
[[RecurringElement It is very dark here. Hardly anything can be seen.]]\\
\\
Please recommend an action."''
-->--[[OpeningNarration As Weaver first begins Ruby Quest]] on /tg/

%%* AbandonedHospital[=/=][[spoiler:[[AbandonedHospital Medical Research Facility]]]]
* ACupAngst: /tg/ suggests that Ruby flash Tom to get him to help her. Weaver's response? "Oh no! Unfortunately for all parties involved, Ruby is flat as a board! That probably wouldn't work."
* AirVentPassageway: More like [[spoiler:Pipeline escape, but it still counts.]]
* AlienGeometries: The Metal Glen, sometimes. First there's the metal shutter in Ruby's room, which sometimes opens to a window and sometimes to a room. [[spoiler:Then half of the Brig turns upside-down, gravity and all. Then it gets worse.]]
* AlienLunch: The--{{Squick}}--"[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Godawful Smoothie]]". Though Red was not actually seen eating it, it was shown that he did ''want'' it.
* AlreadyUndoneForYou:
** It seems most everyone else [[spoiler:can get around the facility just fine without solving all the elaborate, extensive puzzles like Ruby and Tom]], apparently.
** [[spoiler:Probably [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] with Filbert, who as head doctor would likely have a High-Clearance Access Card.]]
* AmnesiacDissonance: [[spoiler:Both Tom and Ruby were each [[TheCorruption murderously violent]] at some point before the story starts.]]
* AndroclesLion: [[spoiler:Since Ruby and Tom decide not to kill Stitches (again) and to leave the photo with him, he's able to break out of the locker and distract Ace just long enough to allow Tom to escape with the others.]]
* AnyoneCanDie: WordOfGod said no one in the story was destined to live or die.
** According to Weaver in the questions forum, [[spoiler:Stitches and Jay were never meant to survive, Stitches was meant to be trapped in the locker and Jay was meant to be mercy killed, however when the players chose to give Stitches the photo and save Jay, Weaver had to do some quick rewriting for the "Good" ending.]]
** Also according to Weaver, if the readers chose for [[spoiler:Tom to smash open a certain secured case instead of unlocking it, it would have killed him immediately.]]
* ArtifactOfDoom: The eye disc; the Dummy; the Green Statuette; the fleshy, red growth; and possibly the the green staves.
* ArcSymbol: Multiple occurrences of this trope in the story.[[note]]including Ace's ♠ and especially the [[http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/1458/p6o.gif "Barbed Wheel" symbol]][[/note]]
* ArtShift: Weaver's works are very distinctive in such occurrences as when he shifts from simple, low color, MS Paint-ish sketches to [[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/3252815/images/1230389234421.gif highly-detailed]], [[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/3252815/images/1230388717628.gif other-worldly]], and amazing illustrations.
* AstralProjection: Apparently, the [[spoiler:white-eyed black bird]] was this; created by [[spoiler:Jay's infected blood running through the facility's water systems]].
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Darn near everyone, [[KilledOffForReal although a few]] [[GroundhogDayLoop were]] [[FateWorseThanDeath luckier]].]]
* BearsAreBadNews: [[spoiler:Stitches. Subverted in his BigDamnHeroes moment]]
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Stitches, near the very end]].
* TheBigGuy: Tom is known for his MANLY PHYSIQUE.
* BiggerOnTheInside: Ace's staff accommodations.
* BilingualBonus: The plaque underneath the trauma picture[[note]](where Ruby meets Stitches for the second time)[[/note]] reads "Ancient Wish, Eternal Sleep" in Latin.
* BlackBeadEyes: The eyes are just black lines, due to the simplistic art style.
* BodyHorror: Many, increasingly horrible, and of just about every type. The simplistic drawing style actually makes it ''scarier'' in some cases.
* BookEnds: The final scene of the quest is [[spoiler:Daisy]] waking up in a locker and turning on the lights, like Ruby at the beginning of the quest.
* BottomlessBladder: Lampshaded, [[spoiler:and justified by the "cure".]]
* BottomlessPits: [[spoiler:The chasm that forms as the Brig begins to separate.]]
* BrickJoke: The severed hand in the pneumatic tube makes an unexpected return.
* ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes: In the beginning, the only things visible in the black screen are Ruby's eyes (drawn in white) and a red dot.
* CameBackWrong: Everyone... whether they wanted to or not. On the other hand, it's also [[InvertedTrope inverted]], as [[spoiler:dying and being reanimated sets back the mutations]].
* CargoCult: The small fetus statuette.[[note]](Presumably)[[/note]]
* CatSmile: Both Tom and Ruby once each. Bonus points for Tom actually being a cat.
%%* CharacterTitle
* ChaoticStupid: Mostly averted, as Weaver usually does not act upon /tg/'s sillier suggestions, but he does comply a few times, giving both Ruby and Tom their moments. Ruby has done stuff like put a severed hand up a pneumatic tube and lick an organic electrical wire (it tasted bad). Tom has smashed things up for no reason several times, and once grabbed a 'DO NOT OPEN' sticker for no apparent reason, and then wore it over his eyepatch on the chance it would prevent people from opening him.
* ChekhovsGun:
** A few. One of the most obvious is the double-duty condom, which serves as both a solution to a puzzle, and [[spoiler:implications that Tom was involved with sexual relations, possibly with Ruby.]]
** Also the picture of the patients standing together happily, which she later uses [[spoiler:To get Stitches to help them]]. Though it wasn't supposed to be used for that.
** Ruby finds a severed hand at the beginning, and far later uses it [[spoiler:to see videos of Ruby's AxCrazy behavior before the facility was abandoned]]. Although it probably wasn't supposed to take that long- Ruby prolonged it by putting the hand up a pneumatic chute, which removed it from the game for a while.
* ChekhovsGunman: Filbert and Bella both have brief introductions long before they become important. Filbert is seen in the Dummy Room when Ruby first enters the Maintenance Room, and Bella is first seen in the monitor in the Holding Cell [[spoiler:after Red's suicide]]. Jay, the [[spoiler:[[EleventhHourRanger Eleventh Hour Party Member]]]] is first seen in the group picture, and his existence is hinted at by [[spoiler:the blood in the facility's water]].
* ClosedCircle: [[spoiler:As long as Bella is alive, she is going to maintain the lockdown of the facility. Tom and Ruby have been in the facility for a year, and have gotten to Bella three times before, but never farther.]]
* ClusterFBomb: The players tended to swear a lot when confronted with the more horrifying things (like the Bear Zombie).
* {{Crossover}}:
** ''[Warning: Somewhat Spoilers!]'' The [[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/3899167/images/1236379539932.png symbols]] from Weaver's World Eater campaign also play big role in Ruby Quest.
** ''Roleplay/JohnQuest'' also makes a surprise appearance near the end, when Tom turns on the intercom and gets obscenities shouted at him, after John shouted obscenities into his intercom.
* ContinuityNod: When the connection between the poem and the facility the events are taking place in is established.
%%* CoolKey: Ace has one.
* TheCorruption:
** [[spoiler:More than likely: DO NOT USE THE EYE.]]
** [[spoiler:This is what the "cure" did to everyone in the facility.]]
%%* CosmicHorrorStory
* CurseThatCures: The Cure is implied to be a cure for blindness, as the room with [[spoiler:Bella]] displays a sign that says the Metal Glen is a medical institute for the blind. Side effects may include [[spoiler:[[AxeCrazy murderous rages]], [[MultiArmedAndDangerous growing additional limbs]], psychic abilities such as AstralProjection, {{Immortality}}, {{Lovecraftian Superpower}}s, and summoning an EldritchAbomination through the process of dying and coming back to life.]]
* TheDarknessGazesBack: This happens during Ruby's first meeting with Subject #6, before Tom finds the light switch and reveals [[spoiler:all the eyes are part of fleshy growths covering the whole room.]]
* DarkWorld: [[spoiler:The alternate world Ruby sees when using her third eye.]]
* DaylightHorror: Well, not ''daylight'', as Ruby is indoors for the whole quest, but things like the Bear Zombie, the Plant Zombie, and Ace are usually seen in good light.
* DeadlyGas: [[spoiler:Averted once with Ruby's efforts, and another with Bella's.]]
* DeadlyRotaryFan: One room has a catwalk crossing over a pair of giant fans. They're proven deadly [[spoiler:in a flashback, when Ruby shoves Stitches into them]].
%%* DissonantLaughter: "Red begins to laugh".
* DramaticDeadpan:
-->"Tom and Ruby pass through the door.
-->[[spoiler:Into the mouth of madness.]]"
**
-->"Moments later,
-->[[spoiler:Bella passes away.]]"
* DugTooDeep: The Metal Glen did so in excavating the Brig, which led them to discover the Cure, which in turn sent the facility to Hell in a handbasket.
%%* DungeonBypass: Twice - Lampshaded.
* EarlyBirdCameo:
** Bella gained the fan nicknames 'Monitorface' and 'Monitorhead' because she had a couple of cameos consisting of her face appearing on the monitors scattered throughout the building.
** Filbert appears for one panel in the background when Ruby first enters the Maintenance Room (he's in the Dummy Room and visible through the window that Ruby was looking away from at that point).
** Tom Nook and Jay both appear in the Group Portrait long before they show up in person.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:There are not very many CosmicHorror stories that feature a genuinely happy ending, but Ruby Quest is one of them.]] And it's all because the players did things that ''weren't supposed to happen.''
* EleventhHourRanger: [[spoiler:Jay joins Ruby and Tom in the final thread.]]
* EldritchAbomination: Its name has never been given, and an eye chart implies that it is "[[spoiler:Cjopaze]]"[[note]](it comes right before "Fhtagn", which is a reference to Franchise/CthulhuMythos "Cthulhu fhtagn")[[/note]]. It's sometimes also called "[[spoiler:Perogra]]"[[note]](a reference to a campaign known as "World Eater", also DM'd by Weaver; the association is a result of similar symbols and mutagenic effects)[[/note]] or "[[spoiler:[[ArcSymbol The Barbed Wheel]]]]".
** [[spoiler:...Ace]]. He has a face that looks like it's ''made of worms''.
** [[spoiler:Tom Nook/Subject 6. Shriveled, eyeless, handless... but all those fleshy growths are ''him'']]
* EldritchLocation: The whole facility to some degree, but especially Cold Storage. The brig also starts going this way ''hard'' towards the end.
* EscapeFromTheCrazyPlace: The entire premise[[note]](Though, it was more like "Escape from the Weird Place" until Stitches showed up...)[[/note]].
* EvilFeelsGood [[spoiler:Ruby feels this way when she sees the red glow with her third eye in the Dummy Room:]]
-->[[spoiler:A second echo suddenly comes through, piercingly.]]
-->[[spoiler:It's small, and it's just an echo, but it's still incredibly focused, overpoweringly potent.]]
-->[[spoiler:It hurts so badly, and yet...]]
-->[[spoiler:...and yet it feels strangely good.]]
-->[[spoiler:It's like a feeling that deep down, Ruby wants to feel forever.]]
* EvilIsNotWellLit: Usually averted, but played straight with [[spoiler:Cold Storage]] and most of Ruby's encounters with Subject #6 (although [[EldritchAbomination he doesn't get any better when the lights are on]]).
* ExtraEyes: [[spoiler:Ruby has one. It allows her to see things differently, and keeps trying to kill her. And let's not even start about Subject 6...]]
%%* EyelessFace: [[spoiler:Subject 6, again.]]
* EyeMotifs: All over the place. Ruby's [[spoiler:Third Eye]], Tom losing an eye, Subject 6's dozens of eyes, [[spoiler:the squishy eye of the dummy, the eye chart, and the Metal Glen itself is a medical institute for the blind, allegedly. It's implied that the Cure that caused all this is a cure for blindness.]]
* EyeScream: Tom loses an eye early on.
* EyeTake: A recurring event in the game[[note]](Often when one of the characters experience something very alarming)[[/note]].
* TheFaceless: Subjects 2 and 3 are mentioned and named but never seen. [[spoiler:Subject 2 likely never will be, since it's a major plot point that she ''didn't'' come back from being killed like the others.]]
** Ace. [[spoiler:[[NoFaceUnderTheMask this is because he doesn't have a face]], he has a ''writhing mass of tentacles''.]]
** [[spoiler:Also, the top men who had retreated the facility and left Bella in charge of a lockdown.]]
* FacelessGoons: Ace. [[spoiler:Ace is seen [[TheReveal without his mask]] later on. All of /tg/ shits their pants.]]
* FaceRevealingTurn: Oh, it wasn't Tom after all.
%%* FadeToBlack
* FatalFamilyPhoto: [[spoiler:[[InvertedTrope Inverted]] when giving Stitches the group photo after subduing him causes him to save Tom at the end.]]
%%* FlashBack
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Early in the game, Red called a "survivor", though it was still not clear that there was any sort of ''major'' disaster.
** Also pretty early on, Ruby has what looks like a hallucination of Tom with [[spoiler:four arms. It's later revealed that Tom did indeed have four arms, although his second set were smaller than his first]].
** Later, Bella refers to 'The patient in Upper Lab B' instead of 'Subject #6' (who was the one imprisoned in Upper Lab B. [[spoiler:Because Subject #6 was ''not'' imprisoned in Upper Lab B, and Bella knew this. The patient in Upper Lab B was Subject #5.]]
%%* ForScience: [[spoiler:Filbert, especially with Subject #2.]]
* FriendOrIdolDecision: There was going to be one wherein either they escaped or Filbert told them about their past; however, by that point [[spoiler:Filbert was dead]].
* FurryLens: WordOfGod is that the characters aren't intended to be specifically anthropomorphic animals; he just drew Ruby, Tom, et cetera because he was familiar with drawing them from his series of VideoGame/AnimalCrossing comics.
* GenreShift: The story quickly departs from its original relatively cheerful puzzle solving into the realms of unimaginable horrors, and doesn't turn back.
* GoneHorriblyRight: [[spoiler:The "cure". Totally worked, but it also turned everyone who took it AxCrazy and mutated them whenever they were injured.]]
* GroundhogDayLoop: [[spoiler:Heavily implied by Bella and of course the ending, though somewhat nonstandard as it appears to relate more to death/resurrection with manual resets than an actual looping timeline.]]
* {{Hammerspace}}: Ruby and Tom's Inventories can store a maximum of 8 items so that they're invisible on the normal screen.
* HarmfulHealing: The all-purpose 'Miracle Cure' has some... [[TheCorruption unfortunate side effects.]] Essentially, it's [[spoiler:some sort of EldritchAbomination that can heal any injury or illness or even revive the dead, but the longer it's applied the more horribly mutated the subject will become]]. Mild cases may result in an extra pair of hands, MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily, or a third eye; a ''severe'' case turns the afflicted into... well... [[spoiler:[[http://evilcorporation.com.br/rubyquest/images/3223688/79.gif this]] or [[http://evilcorporation.com.br/rubyquest/images/3494380/73.gif this.]]]]

* HatePlague: The Cure drove everyone who took it to murderous violence.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Subverted when Tom attempted it, only to be rescued by Stitches instead. Then played straight with Stitches immediately afterwards.]]
* HeWasRightThereAllAlong: A large part of the horror depends on the art style. Since everything is black and white, with little shading, things may happen during the adventure in the background which take a moment to notice.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: [[spoiler:Filbert is going to cut the bad out of you.]]
* HollywoodCB: At one point, /tg/ tells Ruby and Tom to split up, but leave their radios on so that each can always hear the other. Two handheld radios broadcasting simultaneously would just mean that neither would hear the other.
* HonestyIsTheBestPolicy: Ruby for a long time keeps her ([[spoiler:third eye]]) a [[DarkSecret secret]] from Tom, deadly scared of his reaction. Players at one point demanded that she reveals her secret.
* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: As revealed by Bella near the ending, [[spoiler:the last day of the game is October 31]].
* HumanoidAbomination: [[spoiler:Everyone in the facility is heading towards this, and Ace is already there. And then there's [[OneWingedAngel Filbert]] and [[BodyHorror Tom Nook]]...]]
* ImprovisedWeapon: The barbed wire glove, Ace's harpoon, and the '''BLUDGEONY CANESHOVEL'''.
** Also, the [[ImpossiblyCoolWeapon JUNKOTRON MISSILE LAUNCHER]], although it was only a short jest at another one of /tg/'s ridiculous ideas.
* InstantSedation: Subverted; when tranquilizer is administered to [[spoiler:Stitches]], it takes about a minute of struggling before it takes effect.
* InterfaceScrew: "Red is TWO COINS fishtank."[[note]](Since Weaver's text is the closest this game has to an interface, it counts)[[/note]]
** Also this part:
--->>Ask him what he has been up to.\\
[[spoiler:Ruby shoves Stitches over the railing.]]
* InterspeciesRomance: Ruby and Tom are a rabbit and a cat, respectively. Their relationship takes a backseat to all the action and horror, but it's still there. There was also, apparently, a romance between [[spoiler:a raccoon and a pig, but the latter is now either escaped or dead.]]
* ImplacableMan: [[spoiler:Ace qualifies:He seemed to survive an explosion, wasn't even slowed down by a crowbar in his thigh, and walked away after getting impaled by a giant hook[[note]](Although, this part was not actually seen)[[/note]].]]
* JigsawPuzzlePlot
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Bella, Maddie, and Red--in the end. Red [[BackFromTheDead came back once]] before figuring out how to make it permanent.]]
* LastMinuteHookup: [[spoiler:Ruby and Tom, just before the latter's (subverted) HeroicSacrifice.]]
** RuleOfRomantic: [[spoiler:Tom could have had enough time to save himself too, but his heroic last stand invoked a very nice and romantic kissing scene, so everyone pretty much ignored it.]]
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: [[spoiler:Near the climax, /tg/ finally got stuck and asked Weaver for a hint. An adventure UI popped up, hint button included, and he gave them one]]
* LateArrivalSpoiler: [[spoiler:Ruby eventually gets a ThirdEye]]. But if you looked at most of the fanart involving her, you probably already know that.
* LittleBitBeastly: [[WordOfGod Weaver has stated]] that the characters' appearance as VideoGame/AnimalCrossing characters was meant only to be a way of identifying who is who despite the aforementioned simple art style and that they are very specifically never referred to by their animal representations.
* LoadBearingBoss: [[spoiler:"It would seem Bella's death has also caused a minor systems/power shutdown."]]
* LovecraftianSuperpower: The Cure mutates those who've taken it whenever they get hurt, eventually turning them into horrific monstrosities like Stitches and Daisy. Death sets the mutations back, though. A list:
** Red, [[spoiler:who got a GlasgowGrin courtesy of Ruby]], has the [[FanNickname Elemental Plane]] [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily of Teeth]].
** [[spoiler:Ruby, after being scratched on the head by Daisy, gains a ThirdEye.]]
** [[spoiler:Tom, who has [[MultiArmedAndDangerous two small extra arms on his abdomen]].]]
** [[spoiler:Filbert, who cut his own hand off and was hit in the face by Ruby's barbed wire covered glove, has a giant arm with fleshy spikes, a giant mouth, and teeth stronger than steel.]]
** Stitches remained alive even when reduced to a head, a spine, and a puddle of blood, and was able to be stitched back together again.
** Daisy, along with legs fused together, an emanciated figure, and her spine poking out, had a mouth where one of her eyes should be and one arm turned into a giant claw.
* MadnessMantra: A written version: [[spoiler:NEVER CATCH ME NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER]]
* MadDoctor: [[spoiler:Filbert. [[IRejectYourReality He's not infected. You're all infected, but he isn't.]] [[BlatantLies It's okay though.]] [[HeWhoFightsMonsters He's going to cut the bad out of you.]]]]
* MacGuffin: The cross-peg, for a time. Ruby eventually uses it to [[spoiler:access Red's Room]].
* MatureAnimalStory: Cute anthropomorphic animals right out of ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing''... in a setting that's basically Creator/HPLovecraft meets ''Franchise/SilentHill''.
* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent:
** Several: both [[spoiler:Filbert and Bella]] are first shown like this, for instance. In either case, when the players tried to prompt Ruby in looking at them, they would be gone by the time she did.
** [[spoiler:Whenever past events are shown though some mannor, there are a few minor differences that have a big meaning; such as the horrific area of wall that Stitches body was bound to showed[[note]](or what looked like)[[/note]] a beautiful landscape painting[[note]](strikingly similar to that of the High Roller from ''Roleplay/DiveQuest'')[[/note]].]]
* MeatMoss: [[spoiler:The Metal Glen's builders find a lost room covered in this [[DugTooDeep buried under the ocean]]. Guess what the [[PsychoSerum "cure"]] was made from?]]
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Almost averted: [[spoiler:When it came for one sacrificing his or her life to save the other, a lot of players wished for ''Ruby'' [[ContractualImmortality to stay behind instead of Tom.]] Fortunately they were both saved.]]
* MercyKill:
** [[spoiler:Bella. After three opportunities for Ruby and Tom to end her life, and failing to do so, she finally snaps and gives them no other choice.]]
** [[spoiler:Subverted with Stitches. The players were ''supposed'' to kill him and get the key he had, but by then they'd bashed open the cabinet that the key unlocked. The cabinet had tranquilizer inside, allowing them to subdue him nonlethally and stick him in a locker. And ''then'' Ruby decided to give him the picture of the Metal Glen's patients together and happy, motivating him to come back and attack Ace to save Tom.]]
** [[spoiler:Also subverted with Jay, A.K.A. Emobird. By Weaver's own words: "His role was never originally going to be as an ally. He was in torturous pain and asked to die. I figured you'd kill him or leave him, but then like a billion people were like SAVE HIM, and I'm like "Well... I... OKAY!". I honestly couldn't think of any reasonable excuse not to let you save him: I mean, he wasn't locked up or anything."]]
* MindScrew: The story's entire premise.[[note]](i.e. if one does not pay close attention to the details/rules of the story)[[/note]]
* MoodWhiplash: Despite being mostly rather horrific, the story has its occasional comedic moments: Often, when the players suggest something silly, Weaver is more than willing to comply.[[note]](Which sometimes tends to downplay the horror somewhat, when this is done at the wrong moment)[[/note]]
* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: The facility in which the entire story takes place in--known as The Metal Glen--was, in a nutshell, built out of an odd, isolated, geological-formation from out in the middle of a secluded loch [[spoiler:for the specific purpose of doctors and medical researchers practicing/ testing treatments[[note]](treatments that would likely be deemed as "unconventional" by most)[[/note]] without the need of the proper permits, license, or the possibility of criminal prosecution.]]
%%* MultiArmedAndDangerous: [[spoiler:Tom.]]
* MundaneSolution:
-->[[spoiler:'''Ruby/ Tom''': But, if we just open the doors and leave everything gets out, too.\\
'''Bella''': You could just close it behind you.]]
* NightmareFace: Red.
** Also, many of the patients at one point or another.
** Ace in particular is shown to be this with his mask off.
* NoOSHACompliance:
** Narrow catwalk over huge fans... in a medical research institute for the blind. Granted, there are handrails, but still.
** Also, the often deadly capabilities of the [[spoiler:"Z-Hatch"]].
* NoteToSelf: [[spoiler:DO NOT TRUST #7]]. Also, [[spoiler:Filbert's note that he has recurring amnesia and is still clean.]]
* OfficialCouple: [[spoiler:Ruby and Tom, by the very end]].
* OffModel: There are moments where characters and settings are sometimes disproportionate/ off-scale due to "poor erasure".
* OffTheRails:
** [[spoiler:[[PlayingWithATrope Played with.]] There was only a happy ending because the players, in essence, [[SequenceBreaking broke sequence]].]]
** Early in the game, the players sent a severed hand through a pneumatic mail chute, removing it from the game until ''much'' [[BrickJoke later on]]. The hand was meant to be used on a fingerprint scanner in the next room over.
** At one point protagonists escape Ace by crawling through a pipe they'd previously made a hole in. Weaver [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading suspended the game]] for about an hour, drawing the new location at the exit of the pipe, which he didn't expect the players to reach this early.
** When the players were confronted with a locked medicine cabinet, [[CuttingTheKnot they had Tom bash it open with a crowbar]]. [[spoiler:This gave them the Tranquilizer, allowing them to sedate Stitches (whom they otherwise would have needed to kill, as he had the key for the cabinet) and give him the picture of the facility's patients standing around happily. This leads to him pulling a BigDamnHeroes and saving Tom from a HeroicSacrifice.]]
* OhCrap: Numerous times, but especially:
-->[[spoiler:Filbert bites the crowbar in half.]]
** Also, every single time Ace shows up.
* OneSteveLimit: [[spoiler:Subverted with Tom.]]
%%* OntologicalMystery
* OutrunTheFireball: Tom grabs Ruby and runs out of Red's room just before the bomb goes off.
* PowerOfTrust: As said in the poem: "The flock that could not work together are sure still trapped in hell". It can be pretty safe to assume that unless Ruby and Tom trust each other and work together, they will stay down there.
** Or the line could have possibly been a [[StealthInsult hidden joke]] by Weaver in reference to /tg/'s normally chaotic, uncompromising nature.
* PsychoSerum: [[spoiler:Red discovered too late his "cures" had a few side-effects.]]
* QuestForIdentity:
** Neither of the characters know very much of their past.
** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in that [[spoiler:they never actually find too much answers, either.]]
** [[spoiler:Weaver originally intended to have Filbert try to use the information about the characters' pasts to keep them from getting on the tram. When the time came this was impossible, for obvious reasons.]]
* {{Railroading}}: A common accusation by the trolls.
** [[spoiler:Used later literally (and [[JustifiedTrope justifiably]]) in a flashback, when Ruby completely ignored the players when they wanted to have a pleasant chat with Stitches and instead threw him into some deadly fans.]] Lampshaded at the end sequence, when Weaver describes [[spoiler:the automated tram, including the phrase "CHOO CHOO"]].
** For a long time, Ruby firmly refused to reveal her [[spoiler:third eye]] to Tom, but under strong pressure from the players, she reveals her secret, which probably saves a lot of grief later.
** Also, WordOfGod says that Red [[spoiler:had rigged his riddle so that even if they ''had'' answered right, he would still not let them in.]]
* RealityBreakingParadox: [[spoiler:Someone--it's hinted to be Red--had done this somewhere along the line using one of the Cjopaze's artifacts to break the space within the Brig.]]
* RevealShot: Ruby opens a door: the camera shows a close picture of her and a face of a bear, looking at each other. When it pans out, it is revealed that [[spoiler:the head is the ''only'' good part of him, while the rest is just bloody chunks.]]
* RoomFullOfCrazy: [[spoiler:Red's room]], which was revealed to be almost normal when compared to [[spoiler:Cold Storage]].
* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:Everyone, EVERYONE[[note]](well, almost)[[/note]] during the "outbreak of violence" before the events of the game.]]
* SceneryGorn: Weaver's incredibly high-detailed illustrations of [[spoiler:"The Barbed Wheel"]] and such.
* SceneryPorn: The beautifully painted, [[spoiler:colored sunset seen at the end of the game.]]
* SealedEvilInACan: The 'can' in this case was a room buried under the ocean, which was [[NiceJobBreakingItHero discovered when the Brig was excavated]]. In the room, they found several artifacts, like a leatherbound dummy on a rotating pivot, a small green statue of a fetus-like creature, a dial with a picture of an eye on it, and several weird staves made out of green-stained wood, along with a red, filmy substance. Using that substance as a medicine resulted in the sealed evil being released into the Metal Glen.
* SealedWithAKiss: Not the best possible example, as [[spoiler:there was still some action after it,[[note]](no, not that kind of action; there is story action after the kiss)[[/note]]]] but counts.
* SequenceBreaking: Instead of searching for a key to a particular medicine cabinet, Tom smashes it open. [[spoiler:This gave players the tranquilizer ahead of time, allowing them to incapacitate Stitches instead of killing him.]] In a similar vein, [[spoiler:Tom kills Filbert in a CurbStompBattle, preventing him from potentially halting Ruby and Tom's escape later in the campaign.]]
** Also when the thread has them go up a pipe.
--> "Give me a while to draw the next part. You guys weren't suppose to get here yet."
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: The [[spoiler:cure to Tom's arsenic poisoning]] appears to be something called "[[spoiler:Dimercaptosuccinic Acid]]" later called "[[spoiler:Succimer]]".
* SinisterScrapingSound: Happens when Ace pulls apart the Z-Hatch.
* ShoutOut:
** All characters are based upon VideoGame/AnimalCrossing characters.
*** This fact was directly referenced by Red while using one of his AC counterpart's famous lines.[[note]]\\
''"HOLD ON NOW, FRIENDS.\\
RED CAN'T LET JUST ANYONE THROUGH THIS DOOR.\\
YOU HAVE TO PROVE YOU'RE FAMILY.\\
PART OF RED'S SPECIAL FAMILY."''[[/note]]
** [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/ChzoMythos It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts]]]]
** Weaver has admitted that ''VideoGame/TheWhiteChamber'' was one of the main inspirations for Ruby Quest. Several scenes, in particular the [[spoiler:fan scene]], are taken directly from it.
** An early command suggests carving a [[Webcomic/MSPaintAdventures pumpkin]] into the shape of a keycard to solve a puzzle; Ruby, however, is stated not to be [[Webcomic/ProblemSleuth sleuthy]] enough to do so.[[note]](Given the similarity of the two projects, this reference was probably inevitable)[[/note]]
** There is also a couple of VideoGame/SystemShock references [[spoiler:with a BodyHorror shouting "Please kill me!]] and another [[spoiler:inserting 0645 into a keypad.]] This was also probably inevitable.
** Weaver references two William Murdochs in the game; as both the engineer[[note]](creator of the pneumatic tube)[[/note]] and the poet[[note]](to which he accurately mimicked the style of while writing his poem, ''The Metal Glen'' -- Possibly a LiteraryAllusionTitle)[[/note]].
** "[[VideoGame/DwarfFortress He menaces with spikes of]] [[BodyHorror flesh]] at Tom."
** '''''[[Franchise/CthulhuMythos IA IA]] [[spoiler:CJOPAZE]] [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos FHTAGN]]'''''
** At one point, Ruby reassures Tom that "There's nothing wrong with her, and if there was, she's better now," a direct quote from ''Film/TheThing1982''.
** Tom's "[[Fanfic/DoomRepercussionsOfEvil radio crackers]]" at one point when Ruby calls the walkie-talkie.
** [[spoiler:Bella remarks how there is no infection; the only disease is the one the doctors made. This has a similarity to Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheStand''.]]
* ShovelStrike: The Bludgeony Caneshovel, made by wedging a shovel head onto the end of Red's Cane.
* ShutUpHannibal: since Filbert caused so many problems, the players imput prompted Tom to pull this before the lecture even ''started''.
* SlasherSmile:
** Red has pretty much perfected this.
*** [[spoiler:Ruby [[GlasgowGrin helped]].]]
** And also #6.
* SplashOfColor: Most of Ruby Quest is drawn in black and white, but a few things are in color, like the buttons in Ruby's coffin, splashes of blood, and [[spoiler:the sunset seen at the end of the game.]]
* SpiritualSuccessor: One of Weaver's more recent quests, ''Roleplay/NanQuest'', functions as this to Ruby Quest.
* StuffedIntoTheFridge: [[spoiler:What is presumed to be Dr. S/Sven's remains.]]
* SuperLoser: [[spoiler:Tom and Ruby apparently had a possibility of escaping by breaking through a outside leading window; but unfortunately, neither of them knew how to swim.]]
* SurprisinglyHappyEnding: It sure surprised Weaver, who [[OffTheRails hadn't expected]] the players to make the decisions leading to it.
* TakeThat: Remember all those people calling "Railroading!"? [[spoiler:The end has Ruby and Tom ride a tram to safety. Weaver even threw in a "CHOO CHOO".]]
* TechnicallyLivingZombie: The horribly mutated patients of the Metal Glen were called zombies before /tg/ learned what they really were, although they were actually alive.
* TechnologyPorn: Many of the gadgets and workings of the facility give a big feeling of [[ScienceFiction science/]][[OrganicTechnology organic-tech]] fiction into the storyline.
* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler:Red]].
* ThemeNaming: All of the characters are named after ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' characters.
* TheseHandsHaveKilled: [[spoiler:Subverted: Tom actually thought it was pretty cool.]]
* TomatoInTheMirror: Multiple times. In chronological order:
** [[spoiler:Ruby was once murderously violent, and killed Tom and Stitches.]]
** [[spoiler:Ruby and Tom are infected with the Cure, the substance that created the zombies. Also, every creature in the Metal Glen WasOnceAMan.]]
** Finally (although this is only revealed to the players), [[spoiler:Tom Nook is not the 'extremely dangerous' Subject #6. Ruby's companion Tom is Subject #6, instead of Subject #5 as he believed. Tom Nook is the real Subject #5]].
* TomTheDarkLord: Filbert the MadDoctor, and Tom Nook the insane borderline EldritchAbomination. [[spoiler:Oh, and Tom (Ruby's companion), the AxCrazy 'highest priority hazard'.]]
* TragicMonster: Mostly everyone, except for Ruby and Tom, who aren't monstrous enough, and Ace, who's not tragic enough[[note]]though he presumably [[spoiler:WasOnceAMan]][[/note]].
* TheUnsolvedMystery: [[spoiler:Everyone is still clueless of much of the stuff.]]
** [[spoiler:Creator/{{Weaver}} has answered most of the questions anyone cared to ask, however. Indirectly, of course.]]
* UnusualEars: The only way most of the characters can be told apart, due to the simplistic art style.
* TheUnpronounceable: [[spoiler:"Cjopaze Fhtagn" (Apparently, most accurate pronunciation is Syo-pah-zay Ff-ha-tay-gen)]]
* ViewersAreGeniuses: Much of the controversy about the TwistEnding revolves around the fact that [[spoiler:many readers [[MistakenIdentity mistook Daisy in the coffin for Ruby]].]]
* WhamLine: "Isn't it obvious? [[spoiler:[[DeadAllAlong You're dead.]]]]"
* WhamShot:
** Early on, the person in the closet is a head, a skeleton, and a mass of blood.
** The players enter the Holding Cell and discover [[spoiler:Red has committed suicide by shoving sharpened stakes through his head. The wall behind him is covered with graffiti saying 'NEVER CATCH ME NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER']]
** Finally, the second-to-last shot reveals [[spoiler:Tom Nook, who players thought was Subject #6, was actually Subject #''5'', meaning that Tom, who players ''thought'' was Subject #5, was actually the 'incredibly dangerous' Subject #6.]]
* WhiteMaskOfDoom: Ace's mask.
* WhiteVoidRoom: The setting of one of Ruby's hallucinations. Red cuts it apart with what looks to be the Eye Disk.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: [[spoiler:A ''bad'' side effect of the "cure".]]
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: [[spoiler:As things are, everyone still inside the facility is being promised an eternal life as unholy mutants. Hopefully this can be averted.]]
** [[spoiler:WordOfGod (Weaver) states that Red's death was indeed a permanent one.]]
* YouAllMeetInACell: Well, Ruby meets Tom while he's in a cell.
* YouAreNumberSix: Each of the Metal Glen's patients had a number. In order, they were:
** Stitches, #1
** Maddie, #2
** Lucy, #3
** Jay, #4
** Tom, #5 [[spoiler:Actually #6. Tom Nook is the real #5.]]
** Tom Nook, #6 [[spoiler:Actually #5. Tom is the real #6.]]
** Ruby, #7
** Daisy, #8

!!Ruby Quest [[AlternateContinuity Discontinuity]]/ Additional Quests/ Jokes by Weaver

Along with the feature presentation, The Weaver also DM'd several other [[GaidenGame small adventures]] within the same campaign as [[SelfParody Self Parodies]] and additional reference.

The archives to both ''God Quest'' and ''Daisy Quest'' can be found [[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Weaver here]].

%%* GagSeries: Considerably.
%%* [[GaidenGame Gaiden Games]]
* HappyEnding: Weaver's alternate ''"Good End"'' to ''Roleplay/RubyQuest''.
* PoesLaw: Many of Weaver's discontinuity gags and jokes appear to be actually half-canon to the story.
%%* SomethingCompletelyDifferent

!!!''The Metal Glen''

The poem to which ''Roleplay/RubyQuest'' was based on. In it, a young hare is taken away from her home in a glen to an underwater facility. All the rest of the animals there have lost hope, except for the cat, who's trying to break his bonds. In the end, the hare frees herself and the cat, and they both attempt to escape the facility.

* AlternateContinuity: Humans were the antagonists of the story, instead of just more animals.
* AnAesop: The only way to escape from the {{Hell}} you are trapped in is by trusting one another and working together.
%%* BreakingTheBonds
%%* HumansAreCthulhu

!!!''John Quest''

Has its [[Roleplay/JohnQuest own page]].

!!!''Thursday Quest''

Kid whines about Ruby Quest; raging, madness, absence of the fourth-wall, Thursday, and Orkz ensue.

%%* AnachronicOrder
* CharacterTitle: ''???''[[note]]''(Averted... Subverted... Inverted. Hard to tell...)''[[/note]]
* EasterEgg:
** [=NotWeaver=]'s blank image file is labeled "invisibleporn.png".
** In addition, he uses .png as the extension of his image files instead of the usual .gif.
%%* FourthWallMailSlot
* IdentityImpersonator: It was hinted that not only was Daisy impersonating Maddie, [[spoiler:but also Lucy and Ruby, as well.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: Most of /tg/ are all bullying, taunting, swearing, and giving "Maddie" a vicious tongue-lashing [[JerkJustifications by the fact that]] she is neither Ruby nor ''"Thursday?"''.
** PetTheDog: At least a few Anonymous treated her to a few nice words, and [[NiceGuy one]] was nice enough to comment:
-->''"Hey, don't listen to that guy! You're doing great, Maddie!"\\
\\
Keep your chin up, man, things are going to be great for you. You'll see."''
** KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Even after the "Maddie" confesses that [[spoiler:Filbert had been sexually abusing her, as well as the rest of the patients]]; most of /tg/ are unsympathetic and ''still'' continue to taunt and harass her.
-->[[spoiler:''[[JerkassHasAPoint "That's no cure.]]\\
\\
[[{{Jerkass}} Enjoy your children by a homosexual faggot."]]'']]
* TemptingFate/ SarcasmMode: One Anonymous makes a remark referencing Maddie's monster-mouth mutation which had appeared in her right eye during ''Roleplay/RubyQuest''.
-->''"Nice pair of eyes. I sure hope nothing happens to ruin their symmetry."''


!!!''Mushroom Forest''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/april_fools_day_ruby_quest_characters.gif]]
[[caption-width-right:350: From left to right: Tom/Rover, Ace, Ruby (with the Lovecraftian Blunderbuss)]]

A baffling continuation of Ruby Quest?

* AdaptationalHeroism: Ace is Ruby's companion, and is perfectly loyal (if a bit perverted).
%%* AprilFoolsDay
* BigCreepyCrawlies: The "Thing That Should Not Be" looks like a giant, slimy, freakish-looking beetle.
* {{Brofist}}: Ruby to some odd web-creature.
* CargoCult: The totem of the local ''"Goddess of Pleasure"''.
%%* ChasedByAngryNatives
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Weaver has Ruby insert a set of stinkhorn mushrooms into a totem of the local ''Goddess of Pleasure,'' mistaking /tg/'s suggestions of "giving the idol what it wants" by having Ace... [[DontExplainTheJoke Well, you kinda get the idea...]]
* CoolGuns: The [[Creator/HPLovecraft LOVECRAFTIAN]] BLUNDERBUSS.
* EldritchAbomination: The "Thing That Should Not Be".
* FanService: Contained in liberal amounts, insomuch as anything in Weaver's style can be fanservice.
* ItsPersonal:
-->''"This one's for Stitches."''
%%* NightmareFace: The web-creature.
* NoodleIncident: Many of them -- {{Lampshaded}}
* SaveThePrincess: Gender-swapped version with Ruby's boyfriend Rover.


!!!''Déjà Vu Ruby Quest''

Stitcher[[note]](a /tg/ user)[[/note]] reposts the opening picture of Ruby Quest.

However, strange things happen as Weaver interferes with fate.

* TheCameo: [[spoiler:Muschio[[note]](Or at least another volto)[[/note]] from Weaver's own ''Roleplay/DiveQuest'', and a few other character from his other quests [that has yet to become identified].]]
%%* TheEnd
* FandomNod: [[spoiler:Weaver ends the gag with him suddenly integrating/re-illustrating the Angry Marine's [[FanFic/AngryMarinesRubyQuest retelling of Ruby Quest]] into it[[note]](much to the audience's [[TrollingCreator bewilderment]], [[RuleOfFunny amusement]], and delight).[[/note]]]]
%%* FanSequel: [[spoiler:Averted.]]
* UsefulNotes/FurryFandom: Hordes of them[[note]](along with another few, odd anthro-creatures)[[/note]] are seen invading, scattering, and dispersing into the otherside of Tom's cell [[spoiler:until Angry Marine Ruby punches through the floor and rescues Tom.]]
%%* {{Gonk}}: The [[spoiler:Furries are portrayed as such.]]
* MadDoctor: [[spoiler:Filbert is seen standing over Ruby while holding his signature bone-saw and the scalpel, uttering the classic "Trust me, I'm a doctor" line.]]
* {{Prequel}}: Sort of...[[note]](Apparently, the events are taking place sometime around November 1st)[[/note]]
* {{Slogan}}: ''Ruby dimly remembers some faint slogan'':
-->''"Auto-electrocution is never the solution."''

!!!''Daisy Quest''

The long-awaited sequel to Ruby Quest!

%%* AprilFoolsDay
%%* CharacterTitle
* CrackPairing: See FanDisservice.
* FanDisservice: ''"Daisy makes out with [[spoiler:the... RED GROWTH creature?"'']]
* FlippingTheBird: Hard to tell with those scrawny little appendages, but it's presumably what she is doing in the last image.
* MindScrew: At one point, water begins to quickly seep in Daisy's cell through the small air-holes. [[spoiler:Once she makes outside, there is not any water visibly seen near the locker for there to be seeping through.]]
* TakeThatAudience: "''[[spoiler:Happy April Fools Day]]''" *[[FlippingTheBird bam!]]* ♥~Yatta~♥

----
-> ''Incense sweet, and cradled warm\\
Like lovers coddled, arm in arm\\
Two souls, nomadic, fleeing harm:\\
That wicked, metal glen.\\
Now coming morn drives off the curse\\
Too startled still to dare converse\\
Both praying they have seen the worst\\
So ends their tale --\\
Amen.''\\

* FanRemake: ''[[http://rpgmaker.net/games/6935/ Ruby Quest: Undertow]]'', said to follow the same general plot, but will deviate from it in some respects.

* AnimalTesting: Technically, "PettingZooPeople Testing".

* PettingZooPeople:
** The cast of ''Ruby Quest'' appear to resemble these, although the simple art style means that it's mostly limited to UnusualEars.
** [[WordOfGod Weaver has stated]] that the characters' appearance as VideoGame/AnimalCrossing characters was meant only to be a way of identifying who is who despite the aforementioned simple art style and that they are very specifically never referred to by their animal representations.

* FurryLens: WordOfGod is that the characters aren't intended to be specifically anthropomorphic animals; he just drew Ruby, Tom, et cetera because he was familiar with drawing them from his series of AnimalCrossing comics.

** [[WordOfGod Weaver has stated]] that the characters' appearance as AnimalCrossing characters was meant only to be a way of identifying who is who despite the aforementioned simple art style and that they are very specifically never referred to by their animal representations.

* HonestyIsTheBestPolicy: Ruby for a long time keeps her ([[spoiler:third eye]]) a [[DarkSecret secret]] from Tom, deadly scared of his reaction. Players at one point demanded that she reveals her secret, resulting in a [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]].

* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler:Red,]] which also serves as his CrowningMomentOfAwesome.

** '''''[[CthulhuMythos IA IA]] [[spoiler:CJOPAZE]] [[CthulhuMythos FHTAGN]]'''''

* EldritchAbomination: Its name has never been given, and an eye chart implies that it is "[[spoiler:Cjopaze]]"[[note]](it comes right before "Fhtagn", which is a reference to CthulhuMythos "Cthulhu fhtagn")[[/note]]. It's sometimes also called "[[spoiler:Perogra]]"[[note]](a reference to a campaign known as "World Eater", also DM'd by Weaver; the association is a result of similar symbols and mutagenic effects)[[/note]] or "[[spoiler:[[ArcSymbol The Barbed Wheel]]]]".

* HarmfulHealing: The all-purpose 'Miracle Cure' has some... [[TheCorruption unfortunate side effects.]]
** Essentially, it's [[spoiler:some sort of EldritchAbomination that can heal any injury or illness or even revive the dead, but the longer it's applied the more horribly mutated the subject will become]]. Mild cases may result in an extra pair of hands, MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily, or a third eye; a ''severe'' case turns the afflicted into... well... [[spoiler:[[http://evilcorporation.com.br/rubyquest/images/3223688/79.gif this]] or [[http://evilcorporation.com.br/rubyquest/images/3494380/73.gif this.]]]]

** Weaver has admitted that TheWhiteChamber was one of the main inspirations for Ruby Quest. Several scenes, in particular the [[spoiler:fan scene]], are taken directly from it.

* SpiritualSuccessor: One of Weaver's more recent quests, NanQuest, functions as this to Ruby Quest.

--> -- '''[[http://tindeck.com/listen/wnhv The Metal Glen]]''', William Murdoch [[spoiler: Actually, by Weaver in the style of William Murdoch]]

* AbandonedHospital[=/=][[spoiler:[[AbandonedHospital Medical Research Facility]]]]

* AlreadyUndoneForYou: It seems most everyone else [[spoiler:can get around the facility just fine without solving all the elaborate, extensive puzzles like Ruby and Tom]], apparently.
** [[spoiler: Probably [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] with Filbert, who as head doctor would likely have a High-Clearance Access Card.]]
* AmnesiacDissonance: [[spoiler:Both Tom and Ruby were each [[TheCorruption murderously violent]] at some point before the story starts. ]]

* ArtShift/ SplashOfColor: Weaver's works are very distinctive in such occurrences as when he shifts from simple, low color, MS Paint-ish sketches to [[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/3252815/images/1230389234421.gif highly-detailed]], [[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/3252815/images/1230388717628.gif other-worldly]], and amazing illustrations.

* BookEnds: The final scene of the quest is [[spoiler: Daisy]] waking up in a locker and turning on the lights, like Ruby at the beginning of the quest.
* BottomlessBladder: Lampshaded, [[spoiler: and justified by the "cure".]]

* CharacterTitle

* ChekhovsGun: A few. One of the most obvious is the double-duty condom, which serves as both a solution to a puzzle, and [[spoiler: implications that Tom was involved with sexual relations, possibly with Ruby.]]
** Also the picture of the patients standing together happily, which she later uses [[spoiler: To get Stitches to help them]]. Though it wasn't supposed to be used for that.
** Ruby finds a severed hand at the beginning, and far later uses it [[spoiler: to see videos of Ruby's AxCrazy behavior before the facility was abandoned]]. Although it probably wasn't supposed to take that long- Ruby prolonged it by putting the hand up a pneumatic chute, which removed it from the game for a while.
* ChekhovsGunman: Filbert and Bella both have brief introductions long before they become important. Filbert is seen in the Dummy Room when Ruby first enters the Maintenance Room, and Bella is first seen in the monitor in the Holding Cell [[spoiler: after Red's suicide]]. Jay, the [[spoiler: [[EleventhHourRanger Eleventh Hour Party Member]]]] is first seen in the group picture, and his existence is hinted at by [[spoiler: the blood in the facility's water]].

* {{Crossover}} : ''[Warning: Somewhat Spoilers!]'' The [[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/3899167/images/1236379539932.png symbols]] from Weaver's World Eater campaign also play big role in Ruby Quest.

* CoolKey: Ace has one.
* TheCorruption: [[spoiler:More than likely: DO NOT USE THE EYE.]]

* CosmicHorrorStory
* CurseThatCures: The Cure is implied to be a cure for blindness, as the room with [[spoiler: Bella]] displays a sign that says the Metal Glen is a medical institute for the blind. Side effects may include [[spoiler: [[AxeCrazy murderous rages]], [[MultiArmedAndDangerous growing additional limbs]], psychic abilities such as AstralProjection, {{Immortality}}, {{Lovecraftian Superpower}}s, and summoning an EldritchAbomination through the process of dying and coming back to life.]]
* TheDarknessGazesBack: This happens during Ruby's first meeting with Subject #6, before Tom finds the light switch and reveals [[spoiler: all the eyes are part of fleshy growths covering the whole room.]]

* DissonantLaughter: "Red begins to laugh".

* DungeonBypass: Twice - Lampshaded.

* EleventhHourRanger: [[spoiler: Jay joins Ruby and Tom in the final thread.]]

** [[spoiler: ...Ace]]. He has a face that looks like it's ''made of worms''.
** [[spoiler: Tom Nook/Subject 6. Shriveled, eyeless, handless... but all those fleshy growths are ''him'']]

-->[[spoiler: A second echo suddenly comes through, piercingly.]]

* EvilIsNotWellLit: Usually averted, but played straight with [[spoiler: Cold Storage]] and most of Ruby's encounters with Subject #6 (although [[EldritchAbomination he doesn't get any better when the lights are on]]).

* EyelessFace: [[spoiler:Subject 6, again.]]
* EyeMotifs: All over the place. Ruby's [[spoiler: Third Eye]], Tom losing an eye, Subject 6's dozens of eyes, [[spoiler: the squishy eye of the dummy, the eye chart, and the Metal Glen itself is a medical institute for the blind, allegedly. It's implied that the Cure that caused all this is a cure for blindness.]]

** Ace. [[spoiler: [[NoFaceUnderTheMask this is because he doesn't have a face]], he has a ''writhing mass of tentacles''.]]

* FadeToBlack
* FatalFamilyPhoto: [[spoiler: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] when giving Stitches the group photo after subduing him causes him to save Tom at the end.]]

* FlashBack

** Also pretty early on, Ruby has what looks like a hallucination of Tom with [[spoiler: four arms. It's later revealed that Tom did indeed have four arms, although his second set were smaller than his first]].
** Later, Bella refers to 'The patient in Upper Lab B' instead of 'Subject #6' (who was the one imprisoned in Upper Lab B. [[spoiler: Because Subject #6 was ''not'' imprisoned in Upper Lab B, and Bella knew this. The patient in Upper Lab B was Subject #5.]]
* ForScience: [[spoiler:Filbert, especially with Subject #2.]]

* HonestyIsTheBestPolicy: Ruby for a long time keeps her ([[spoiler: third eye]]) a [[DarkSecret secret]] from Tom, deadly scared of his reaction. Players at one point demanded that she reveals her secret, resulting in a [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]].

* LateArrivalSpoiler: [[spoiler: Ruby eventually gets a ThirdEye]]. But if you looked at most of the fanart involving her, you probably already know that.

** Red, [[spoiler: who got a GlasgowGrin courtesy of Ruby]], has the [[FanNickname Elemental Plane]] [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily of Teeth]].
** [[spoiler: Ruby, after being scratched on the head by Daisy, gains a ThirdEye.]]
** [[spoiler: Tom, who has [[MultiArmedAndDangerous two small extra arms on his abdomen]].]]
** [[spoiler: Filbert, who cut his own hand off and was hit in the face by Ruby's barbed wire covered glove, has a giant arm with fleshy spikes, a giant mouth, and teeth stronger than steel.]]

* MacGuffin: The cross-peg, for a time. Ruby eventually uses it to [[spoiler: access Red's Room]].
* MatureAnimalStory / SugarApocalypse: Cute anthropomorphic animals right out of ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing''... in a setting that's basically Creator/HPLovecraft meets ''Franchise/SilentHill''.
* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: Several: both [[spoiler:Filbert and Bella]] are first shown like this, for instance. In either case, when the players tried to prompt Ruby in looking at them, they would be gone by the time she did.

* MeatMoss: [[spoiler: The Metal Glen's builders find a lost room covered in this [[DugTooDeep buried under the ocean]]. Guess what the [[PsychoSerum "cure"]] was made from?]]

* MercyKill: [[spoiler:Bella. After three opportunities for Ruby and Tom to end her life, and failing to do so, she finally snaps and gives them no other choice.]]

* MoodWhiplash/ MoodDissonance: Despite being mostly rather horrific, the story has its occasional comedic moments: Often, when the players suggest something silly, Weaver is more than willing to comply.[[note]](Which sometimes tends to downplay the horror somewhat, when this is done at the wrong moment)[[/note]]

* MultiArmedAndDangerous: [[spoiler:Tom.]]

* NoOSHACompliance/ MalevolentArchitecture:

** [[spoiler: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with.]] There was only a happy ending because the players, in essence, [[SequenceBreaking broke sequence]].]]

** When the players were confronted with a locked medicine cabinet, [[CuttingTheKnot they had Tom bash it open with a crowbar]]. [[spoiler: This gave them the Tranquilizer, allowing them to sedate Stitches (whom they otherwise would have needed to kill, as he had the key for the cabinet) and give him the picture of the facility's patients standing around happily. This leads to him pulling a BigDamnHeroes and saving Tom from a HeroicSacrifice.]]

* OneSteveLimit: [[spoiler: Subverted with Tom.]]
* OntologicalMystery

* PettingZooPeople: The cast of ''Ruby Quest'' appear to resemble these, although the simple art style means that it's mostly limited to UnusualEars.

* QuestForIdentity: Neither of the characters know very much of their past.

* RoomFullOfCrazy: [[spoiler:Red's room]], which was revealed to be almost normal when compared to [[spoiler: Cold Storage]].

** [[spoiler: [[VideoGame/ChzoMythos It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts]]]]

* SplashOfColor: Most of Ruby Quest is drawn in black and white, but a few things are in color, like the buttons in Ruby's coffin, splashes of blood, and [[spoiler: the sunset seen at the end of the game.]]

* TakeThat: Remember all those people calling "Railroading!"? [[spoiler: The end has Ruby and Tom ride a tram to safety. Weaver even threw in a "CHOO CHOO".]]

** [[spoiler: Ruby was once murderously violent, and killed Tom and Stitches.]]
** [[spoiler: Ruby and Tom are infected with the Cure, the substance that created the zombies. Also, every creature in the Metal Glen WasOnceAMan.]]
** Finally (although this is only revealed to the players), [[spoiler: Tom Nook is not the 'extremely dangerous' Subject #6. Ruby's companion Tom is Subject #6, instead of Subject #5 as he believed. Tom Nook is the real Subject #5]].
* TomTheDarkLord: Filbert the MadDoctor, and Tom Nook the insane borderline EldritchAbomination. [[spoiler: Oh, and Tom (Ruby's companion), the AxCrazy 'highest priority hazard'.]]

** The players enter the Holding Cell and discover [[spoiler: Red has committed suicide by shoving sharpened stakes through his head. The wall behind him is covered with graffiti saying 'NEVER CATCH ME NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER']]
** Finally, the second-to-last shot reveals [[spoiler: Tom Nook, who players thought was Subject #6, was actually Subject #''5'', meaning that Tom, who players ''thought'' was Subject #5, was actually the 'incredibly dangerous' Subject #6.]]

** Tom, #5 [[spoiler: Actually #6. Tom Nook is the real #5.]]
** Tom Nook, #6 [[spoiler: Actually #5. Tom is the real #6.]]

* GagSeries: Considerably.
* [[GaidenGame Gaiden Games]]

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent

* BreakingTheBonds
* HumansAreCthulhu

* AnachronicOrder

* EasterEgg: [=NotWeaver=]'s blank image file is labeled "invisibleporn.png".

* FourthWallMailSlot

* AprilFoolsDay

* ChasedByAngryNatives

* NightmareFace: The web-creature.

* FanSequel: [[spoiler:Averted.]]

* {{Gonk}}: The [[spoiler:Furries are portrayed as such.]]

* AprilFoolsDay
* CharacterTitle

* XMeetsY: ''Roleplay/RubyQuest'' is often described as VideoGame/AnimalCrossing meets Franchise/SilentHill.
** Alternatively, Creator/HPLovecraft meets ''Webcomic/MSPaintAdventures''.

You can get more info on the plot, characters and also participate in discussions, making theories and guesses on possible plot developments [[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Ruby_Quest here]]. For the story itself, look [[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/ruby.html here]]. WARNING: Some of the threads there contain very {{NSFW}} [[RuleThirtyFour fan art]], as does the 1d4chan-article. There has also been both a Website/{{Facebook}} [[http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ruby-Quest/151103551619091 fan-page]] and {{Tumblr}} [[http://fyeahrubyandnanquest.tumblr.com/ site]] created for discussing, posting news, ect. for ''Roleplay/RubyQuest'' and also its SpiritualSequel, ''Roleplay/NanQuest''. Weaver's own /tg/ Website/{{Tumblr}} blog can be found [[http://tgweaver.tumblr.com/ here]].

* EarlyBirdCameo: Both Filbert and Bella are revealed with one-panel cameos long before their official debut. Bella gained the fan nicknames 'Monitorface' and 'Monitorhead' because her cameos consisted of her face appearing on the monitors scattered throughout the building.

* WhamLine: [[spoiler:[[DeadAllAlong "You're dead."]]]]
* WhamShot: The second-to-last shot reveals [[spoiler: Tom Nook, who players thought was Subject #6, was actually Subject #''5'', meaning that Tom, who players ''thought'' was Subject #5, was actually the 'incredibly dangerous' Subject #6.]]

* WhiteVoidRoom: The setting in one of Ruby's hallucinations.

** [[spoiler:Whenever past events are shown though some mannor, there are a few minor differences that have a big meaning; such as the horrific area of wall that Stitches body was bound to showed[[note]](or what looked like)[[/note]] a beautiful landscape painting[[note]](strikingly similar to that of the High Roller from DiveQuest)[[/note]].]]

* TheCameo: [[spoiler:Muschio[[note]](Or at least another volto)[[/note]] from Weaver's own DiveQuest, and a few other character from his other quests [that has yet to become identified].]]

* MatureAnimalStory / SugarApocalypse: Cute anthropomorphic animals right out of ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing''... in a setting that's basically Creator/HPLovecraft meets ''SilentHill''.

* XMeetsY: ''Roleplay/RubyQuest'' is often described as VideoGame/AnimalCrossing meets SilentHill.

** Ace. [[spoiler: [[NoFaceUnderTheMask this is because he doesn't have a face, he has a ''writhing mass of tentacles''.]]

A Flash retelling of the whole story, cutting out most of the discussion, fan-art, and additional jokes/threads/clues (but leaving in choice comments) can be seen on [=FurAffinity=] right [[http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2635526 here]] with a [=FurAffinity=] account (disabled Mature Content Filter), or on [=InkBunny right=] [[http://inkbunny.net/submissionview.php?id=10470 here]], no account required if you meddle with the Allowed Ratings. The [=InkBunny=] version can also be read [[http://nepeta.mozai.com/Ruby_Quest/ here]], with no settings-fiddling required. You can also read the full story on [[http://evilcorporation.com.br/rubyquest evilcorporation]] in three versions: a slideshow-like sequence, a scene selection screen, and a long single page. And finally, there's the [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ7JOidKp_xyhLaOhUCOMjB0v_jmP-czF Let's Read]][[note]][[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6qkL1IoFb0 bonus video]][[/note]] version by Creator/CoLabHQ, complete with full individual character voice acting when applicable.

* SealedWithAKiss: Not the best possible example, as [[spoiler:there was still some action after it,]] but counts.

* TomatoSurprise: [[spoiler:Tom was the (allegedly) incredibly dangerous Subject 6 all along. The only thing even vaguely hinting to it was how he felt good smashing inanimate objects, and the notes from later in the adventure mention that Subject 6 was transferred to the brig at some point due to the extreme danger he posed. Which is where Ruby first meets Tom...]]