History VideoGame / Awesomenauts

** A crystalline alien protesting against pollution.

* AprilFools: On April 1st, 2016, Awesomenauts got a retro update; complete with chiptunes and a pixel filter. The pixellation can be switched on and of by pressing ctrl+P.

In December 2015, Ronimo announced an expansion titled, ''[[https://www.awesomenauts.com/overdrive/ Awesomenauts: Overdrive]]'', which will include three new characters and several free additions like revamped matchmaking and redesigns for old characters. Overdrive is slated for March 2016.

** A psionic alien surfer [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe chick]]

** Averted with Jotunn Skolldir and Jimmy and the [=LUX5000=]. Jotunn has a fire/ice theme and Jimmy is swapped out for his sister Amy (although in both cases, the sprites still look pretty similar).

** A religious gluttonous humanoid caterpillar

** A grizzled, bird ex-cop archer
** A hair dresser turned assassin
** An AbsentMindedProfessor who summons holographic dino-bots
** A bucktoothed, hoverbike driving BountyHunter

* AreaOfEffect: Examples include Clunk's self-destruct, Lonestar's dynamite, Yuri's time bubble, Derpl's nuke, Voltar's healbot, and Coco's lightning ball. Furthermore, Lonestar's Bull can be upgraded to explode on any nearby targets once it expires and Voltar's drones can be manually self-destructed to deal damage. In fact, the only one who doesn't have some kind of AOE move is Ksenia.

* CripplingOverspecialization: Voltar, a floating brain in a jar who focuses mainly upon healing, is this. Unable to purposefully do any damage at all to the enemy without upgrades, he instead relies upon AI drones that follow him around to inflict damage.
** Gnaw's reliance on [=DoT=] for his damage leaves him very weak to healers and passive regeneration upgrades like Med-i-Can.
** Any character that uses large amounts of crowd control have their effectiveness halved by [[WeaksauceWeakness Baby Kuri Mammoth]], a utility item available to almost everyone. If they built too heavy into [=CC=], most of their power is gone.

** Mostly averted with the 'Nauts, but all of them experience a slight slowing effect while firing and moving simultaneously, and activating most skills causes a short cessation of movement. Played straight with Raelynn, who becomes completely still during the charge up of her 'Snipe' skill. Also played straight with Yuri, who cannot move at all while firing his laser.
** Played somewhat straight with Coco, Chucho (while on his bike), and Ted [=McPain=], who can't walk backwards while firing. None of the 'Nauts can walk backwards while shooting, but in their case, their basic attacks fire so rapidly that there's no time for them to move before another shot is fired.

[[caption-width-right:350:Use your powers, shine your might!]]

** Combat - Lonestar, Clunk, Froggy G, Leon, Coco Nebulon, Derpl Zork, Skølldir, Vinnie and Spike, Ayla, Admiral Swiggins, Ted [=McPain=], Penny Fox, Scoop, Nibbs, Rocco, Ksenia, Chucho Krokk, Jimmy and the [=LUX5000=]
** Support - Voltar, Yuri, Gnaw, Raelynn, Genji, Sentry X-58, Professor Yoolip

** Any character that uses large amounts of crowd control have their effectiveness halved by [[WeaksauceWeakness Baby Kuri Mammoth]], a utility item available to almost everyone. If they built too heavy into [=CC=], most of their effectiveness is gone.

** Combat - Lonestar, Clunk, Froggy G, Leon, Coco Nebulon, Derpl Zork, Skølldir, Vinnie and Spike, Ayla, Admiral Swiggins, Ted [=McPain=], Penny Fox, Scoop, Nibbs, Rocco, Ksenia, Chucho Krokk

** Played somewhat straight with Coco and Ted [=McPain=], who can't walk backwards while firing. None of the 'Nauts can walk backwards while shooting, but in Ted and Coco's case, their basic attacks fire so rapidly (Ted has a machine gun and Coco channels electricity out of her hands) that there's no time for them to move before another shot is fired.
* DoubleJump: Some characters perform this by using a JetPack.

* FollowtheMoney: Silver and gold solar blocks hover above the ground, to be collected via contact. Most noticeable in the DropPod sequence.

** The guys who play this straight are Leon, Skølldir, Admiral Swiggins, and Scoop (and arguably Froggy G and Clunk, as their normal attacks are ranged but their specials are melee/close range). The rest subvert it.
** For the girls, Raelynn plays this straight. Coco (her main attack is close range, but her most damaging special is a long-range lightning bal) and Ksenia (melee attack with one stealth skill and one ammo restricted ranged attack) are borderline. Slightly inverted with Ayla (a melee basic attack, an AOE skill that damages enemies that get too close to her, even her projectile nuke skill is mid-range), Penny Fox (starts out subverting it but has a few upgrades that give her ranged capability) and Nibbs (built more for teleporting into and out of fights to deal damage at close range).
* HitboxDissonance: Happens quite often, especially with attacks with [=AoE=]. Clunk's explosion, for example, shows a circular mark around him, but the actual explosion's hitbox is square-shaped, often leading to people who are in the corner of Clunk's explosion getting hit by it even if it looks like they shouldn't be. Since the game is Peer to Peer, lag can also exacerbate the issue.
** Lately, Ronimo has announced that actual circular hitboxes will finally be implemented in the 2.12 patch. This was met with much rejoicing from the players.

* HomingBoulders: Clunk's rockets, Derpl's nuke, Voltar's drones' and Gnaw's Weedling's shots.
** The turrets' bullets home in sharply if anything gets too close to them.

* InASingleBound: All of the characters in the game excluding Clunk, Voltar, Vinnie & Spike, Derpl, and Ted [=McPain=], have super-human jumps which are essential to make getaways, Leon and Froggy G. moreso than the rest.
** And even then, Clunk, Derpl, and [=McPain=] have jet-packs, Voltar can hover, and Yuri and Spike can fly (Vinnie rides on his back).

* JetPack: Lonestar and Skølldir use these to DoubleJump while Derpl, Clunk, and [=McPain=] use them to hover upward.

* NewSeasonNewName: The Starstorm expansion has shades of this, with a {{Retool}} as darker-looking 'nauts are released, along with a new plot for the titular Starstorm station.
* NoExperiencePointsForMedic: Voltar averts this by gaining solar every time he heals an ally, and being able to upgrade it for even more solar.
* OverlyLongTongue: Leon has one of these, which can be made even longer with an upgrade.

* PaletteSwap: The red and blue sides; their turrets, bots, and the 'Nauts themselves...

* RegeneratingHealth: Any character besides Vinnie & Spike can buy an upgrade that gives them this effect. Furthermore, Leon has an upgrade that restores his health when he is cloaked.
** In patch 2.3, all characters were given a 1 hp/second regen.

* SceneryPorn: The backgrounds have all kinds of small details, such as jumping sandworms, other planets, and moving transport lifts. On Ribbit IV, the bottom of the map is filled with water that reflects everything near it.

* TechnoBabble: "Techno-synaptic wave modulator at optimum frequence."
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: An A.I.-controlled Raelynn's Snipe can lock on to you with perfect accuracy while you're just barely in range (which for a player would usually mean you're off-screen), even if you're invisible. This makes her significantly more [[FakeDifficulty dangerous]] than other bots.

* TornadoMove: One of Froggy G's special moves is a tornado made of water. It can damage enemies and, with the right upgrades, block or reflect enemy fire.
* TwoGirlsToATeam: As of now, there are only 6 female characters to 14 male characters. 7 if you count Derpl's AI secretary.

** A grizzled, bird hitman archer

* OfficialFanSubmittedContent:
** Admiral Swiggins' design and abilities were chosen in a "Design Your 'Naut" competition.
** Loading screens for matches often have fan art on display.

* VideoGameFlight: Vinnie and Spike have a Franchise/{{Kirby}}-esque floating ability; however, most maps are claustrophobic and he has a ranged attack. Yuri and Ayla can fly freely, but the latter can only do it when using Rage.

** Combat - Lonestar, Clunk, Froggy G, Leon, Coco Nebulon, Derpl Zork, Skølldir, Vinnie and Spike, Ayla, Admiral Swiggins, Ted [=McPain=], Penny Fox, Scoop, Nibbs, Rocco, Ksenia

In December 2015, Ronimo announced an expansion titled, ''[[https://www.awesomenauts.com/overdrive/ Awesomenauts: Overdrive]]'', which will include three new characters and several free additions like revamped matchmaking and redesigns for old characters.

** An AbsentMindedProfessor who summons holographic dino-bots.

** A baby in a MiniMecha

** An AbsentMindedProfessor with a small army of holographic dino-bots.

* AreaOfEffect: Examples include Clunk's self-destruct, Lonestar's dynamite, Yuri's time bubble, Derpl's nuke, Voltar's healbot, and Coco's lightning ball. Furthermore, Lonestar's Bull can be upgraded to explode on any nearby targets once it expires and Voltar's drones can be manually self-destructed to deal damage.

** With the "Overdrive" expansion, the earlier nauts will be redesigned with more detail to match the newer nauts. [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/awesomenauts_overdrive_sheriff_lonestar_graphical_update.jpg Here's comparision between old Lonestar and new Lonestar]].

** And even then, Clunk, Derpl, and [=McPain=] have jet-packs, Voltar can hover, and Spike can fly (Vinnie rides on his back).

* VideoGameFlight: Vinnie and Spike have a Franchise/{{Kirby}}-esque floating ability; however, most maps are claustrophobic and he has a ranged attack. The same goes for Yuri. Ayla can fly freely when using Rage.

* TwoGirlsToATeam: As of now, there are only 6 female characters to 13 male characters. 7 if you count Derpl's AI secretary.

** Support - Voltar, Yuri, Gnaw, Raelynn, Genji, Sentry X-58

** With the "Overdrive" expansion, the earlier nauts will be redesigned with more detail to match the newer nauts.

In December 2015, Ronimo announced an expansion titled, ''https://www.awesomenauts.com/overdrive/ Awesomenauts: Overdrive]]'', which will include three new characters and several free additions like revamped matchmaking and redesigns for old characters.

* ArtEvolution: All the later characters/DLC costumes are noticeably more detailed than the nauts that were in the initial release. As an indie title, this is perhaps not surprising.

[[ExcusePlot Right, with the plot out of the way]], the game is what takes centre stage from here. Think of the structure of a typical {{MOBA}} game (lanes with creeps going down them, turrets at periodic moments, and a base you have to destroy at the end), but recontextualised as a 2D platformer. This naturally opens up some slightly different skill sets to what you'd expect from something like ''LeagueOfLegends'', ''DefenseOfTheAncientsAllStars'' and the like.

** Combat - Lonestar, Clunk, Froggy G, Leon, Coco Nebulon, Derpl Zork, Skølldir, Vinnie and Spike, Ayla, Admiral Swiggins, Ted [=McPain=], Penny Fox, Scoop

** For the girls, Raelynn plays this straight, Coco is borderline (her main attack is close range, but her most damaging special is a long-range lightning ball), Slightly inverted with Ayla (a melee basic attack, an AOE skill that damages enemies that get too close to her, even her projectile nuke skill is mid-range), Penny Fox (starts out subverting it but has a few upgrades that give her ranged capability) and Nibbs (built more for teleporting into and out of fights to deal damage at close range).

* TwoGirlsToATeam: As of now, there are only 5 female characters to 13 male characters. 6 if you count Derpl's AI secretary.

** A grizzled, bird hitman archer.