History Videogame / VVVVVV

* NoticeThis: During your climb in the Tower, at one point you'll be stuck on a ledge wondering when the next safe footing to flip to will appear; a large arrow shape in the background will help show you where (but you won't make it without a leap of faith).
* NoPronunciationGuide: WordOfGod is that there is no official pronunciation for the title (Cavanagh and Pålsson call it "V," LetsPlay/{{Raocow}} calls it quite literally "[=VvVvVv=]," other people say "V-V-V-V-V-V," "Six Vs," [[http://thelettervsixtim.es/ "The Letter V Six Times,"]] etc.).

* SpeedRun: The time trials.

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: But of course. Every crewmember's name starts with "V", as do a few level names ("Veni", "Vidi", and "Vici" come to mind). In addition, the game's soundtrack is called "PPPPPP" and has its own pattern: each song name starts with, of course, P. [[note]]"'''P'''redestined Fate", "'''P'''otential for Anything", "'''P'''opular '''P'''otpourri", etc.[[/note]]

** After beating the game, you can go back into the open world and search for any missing logs and trinkets, [[spoiler: which get you the good ending.]] However, you never have to complete already beaten levels again- at any time, going into the main menu allows you to warp back to the ship. This is also useful if some levels are too hard for you, and you want to try them later.

* BossWarningSiren: The game has a screen named "The Warning". One tunnel, no spikes, ''eleven checkpoints in a row.'' It leads into one of the hardest (but thankfully optional) sections of the game.

** In the Final Level, you come to a room titled "Please Enjoy These Repeats" (Which later becomes "In The Margins" after [[spoiler:disabling the Dimensional Stability Generator]]), which contains the "Yes Men" from the level... er... "Yes Men".

** One of the trinkets (Prize for the Reckless), which the player has to die to get in normal mode, is made obtainable without having to die in no death mode and time attack mode. The name of said level changes to "I Can't Believe You Got This Far" and "Imagine Spikes There If You Like", respectively.

** For the 3DS and Switch versions, because it's on a Nintendo console, the room "Whee Sports" had the name changed to "Copyright Infringement". All other versions remain the same.

* GravityScrew: Your primary ability. Note that you can't flip your gravity in midair -- once you hit the Flip button, you can't flip back until you hit solid ground again (or [[SpikesOfDoom die trying]]); the developer has noted that this is what keeps it from becoming "a jump button".

* LampshadeHanging: In the room "Doing Things the Hard Way", which contains [[ThatOnePuzzle the infamous Veni Vidi Vici trinket]], there's a computer terminal which states, "Hah! No one will ever get this one."

* NoPronunciationGuide: WordOfGod is that there is no official pronunciation for the title (Cavanagh and Pålsson call it "V", LetsPlay/{{Raocow}} calls it quite literally "[=VvVvVv=]", other people say "V-V-V-V-V-V", "Six Vs," [[http://thelettervsixtim.es/ "The Letter V Six Times,"]] etc.).

* SuspiciousVideogameGenerosity: "[[LampshadeHanging The Warning]]", a room filled with checkpoints lined up on a conveyor belt (so it sounds like an alarm when you run through them). It comes directly before [[ThatOneLevel Veni Vidi Vici.]]

* ThemeNaming: All the rooms at the first half of the final level are named after old TV programs, most including V puns in the title. Such titles include "Series/{{Bewitched}}", "Series/{{Gunsmoke}}" and "[[Film/TheThreeStooges The V Stooges]]".

* TriumphantReprise: "Positive Force" to "Pushing Onwards".

* PlotCoupon: You need to rescue your crew members. And if you want OneHundredPercentCompletion, you'd better pick up those Shiny Trinkets while you're at it.

[[DescribeTopicHere ˙sdooɥʍ ˙˙˙ǝɹǝɥ ʌʌʌʌʌʌ ǝqı̣ɹɔsǝp]]

[[DescribeTopicHere Describe VVVVVV here]].

* FiveManBand: Talking with each member at unique times reveals information about their status (although Chief Verdigris is sort of hard to place):
** TheHero: Captain Viridian, of course.
** TheLancer: Doctor Violet, as Captain Viridian works with her occasionally to navigate the dimension.
** TheSmartGuy: Professor Vitellary. He is the first to deduce the situation between the anomalies of the VVVVVV dimension before the others had any idea as to what was going on.
** TheBigGuy: Officer Vermilion. He isn't afraid of going out to explore and charge into the unknown. If he's rescued early enough, he randomly pops up throughout the game and gives commentary to his surroundings. If taken to the second intermission stage, he admits to having fun on the Gravitron.
** TheChick: Doctor Victoria. As seen in the first intermission, she is afraid that something strange happened, casting her and Captain Viridian into the polar dimension. She continues to doubt that the two of them will ever get home, so she needs Captain Viridian's guidance to continue on.

** Commit suicide using the "r" button on the keyboard when everyone is being teleported around in the intro if you press it right as you land into the room you normally teleport into. That will {{sequence break}} out of Space Station 1 and all you to rescue the rest of the crew, though Violet won't be at the ship. If you decide to complete Space Station 1 normally, Violet will be back, but any crew members you've rescued beforehand will disappear, although you will keep your trinkets.

** If you have Invincibility on (available in the options menu), you can {{sequence break|ing}} out of Space Station 1 and rescue the rest of the crew, though Violet won't be at the ship. If you decide to complete Space Station 1 normally, Violet will be back, but any crew members you've rescued beforehand will disappear, although you will keep your trinkets. A bit more literally, turning Invincibility on can result in Viridian getting caught with moving platforms stuck in the player - while the game ordinarily would have them either push Viridian out by the movement pattern or into spikes, you'll just get stuck in the latter case, forcing a return to the main menu.
** Commit suicide using the "r" button on the keyboard when everyone is being teleported around in the intro if you press it right as you land into the room you normally teleport into. Instead of respawning in the same room, you'll spawn in the ship, free to explore the game normally. Completing Space Station I when in this state will also mysteriously cause any rescued members to go missing.
** Using Invincibility to reach a room exit that you otherwise can't and there being a wall on the other side will cause Viridian to float until expelled, which could be never if there's a continuous wall on that side (avoided in the main game, but possible in some player-created levels).

* AscendedFanfic: The 3DS version includes 18 fan-made levels.

** For the 3DS version, because it's on a Nintendo console, the room "Whee Sports" had the name changed to "Copyright Infringement". All other versions remain the same.

* ElephantInTheLivingRoom: ''Literally''. There is a giant neon crying elephant that takes up four rooms that will make Captain Viridian sad if he stays with it for a while.

* NintendoHard: Despite frequent checkpoints, there is nothing unusual about dying hundreds (if not thousands) of times before completing the game.

* UpdatedRerelease: The game got one as part of the Humble Indie Bundle III, where it was completely re-written in code from Flash to C++, two new tracks were added, and a level editor was included. Additionally, a port to the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS' [=eShop=] adds new levels and 3D visuals.

[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vvvvvv_pic_7301.png]]

* AmbiguousGender: Captain Viridian's gender is never revealed throughout the game. (Appropriately, that's the player character ["That's you!"], and the game doesn't know what gender you are.)

* FinalBossNewDimension: Not a final boss, per se, but after you disable the Dimension Stabilizer, the dimension, uh, [[ShapedLikeItself destabilizes]], transforming the area from drab gray Screenwrap Hell to a disco-colorful, screenwrap-free batch of ''fun''.

** Spikes. Lots and lots of spikes...

* TeleportersAndTransporters: There are numerous teleporters scattered around the VVVVVV dimension, and when you finish the game, you can teleport back to the ship at any time.

* LevelEditor: Included in Version 2.0 of the game.

** The individually-named screens themselves are an homage to ''VideoGame/JetSetWilly''.

''VVVVVV'' is an indie game created by Creator/TerryCavanagh. It stars the crew of a little space ship: player character Captain Viridian, Doctor Violet, Officer Vermilion, Professor Vitellary, Doctor Victoria, and Chief Verdigris. Their ship crashes and is sent into a strange, unfamiliar dimension, and scatters Viridian's crew across the land. The Captain needs to find them and make sure that they're safe! And that's where you come in.

----

** In Flip Mode, the Tower's music plays backwards (as it's scrolling the other direction visually), and the credits are right-side-up but scroll down from the top.

* FollowTheLeader: After ''VVVVVV'''s success, other games based on {{Retraux}} graphics, gravity flipping, and monoalphabetic names sprouted.

* NonIndicativeName: The actual color of the crew members generally do not correspond to their names. For example, Chief Verdigris is something close to emerald green, instead of well, verdigris.

** In a visual shout out, the monsters in the room "Sweeney's Maze" (named for EpicGames' CEO Tim Sweeney) are ripped straight from the ASCII game ''ZZT'' (made by, well, guess).

''VVVVVV'' is a 2D platformer with exploration elements and, in place of a jump button, a "Flip" button to reverse your character's (personal) gravity. Mastering this is essential to finishing the game. Other than that, there are no methods of attack, [[VideoGameItemsAndInventory power-ups]], [[VideoGameEffectsAndSpells abilities]], keys, locked doors, or any of that jazz -- the only thing standing between you and sweet victory are the challenges put before you (and 7,612 [[SpikesOfDoom spikes]].)

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: But of course. Every crewmember's name starts with "V", as do a few level names ("Veni", "Vidi", and "Vici" come to mind). In addition, the game's soundtrack is called "PPPPPP" and has its own pattern: each song name starts with, of course, P. [[note]]"'''P'''redestined Fate", "'''P'''otential for Anything", "'''P'''opular '''P'''otpourri", etc.[[/note]]
* AdvancingWallOfDoom: In all three auto scrolling levels (The Tower, Panic Room, and The Final Challenge) if the bottom or top of the screen gets close to you, a wall of [[SpikesOfDoom spikes]] appear - and if you actually touch them, well, the same thing happens as if you touch ANY spike in the game. Note that this applies to both the top and bottom, so there's an Advancing Wall of Doom... but also a [[InvertedTrope Retreating Wall of Doom]].

** All the songs in the soundtrack, titled "PPPPPP," start with "P."
* {{Antepiece}}: The game is famously very hard with lots of intricate platforming challenges. But occasionally the game will help you out by preceding a setpiece with an antepiece, a simplified version of the challenge that coaches you for the real thing. It has at least two antepieces. [[http://postimg.org/image/pby5vy35d/ Here]] is the easier example: the player moves from left to right here. When they go through one of those lines, the direction of gravity is reversed. To get through the red room they just hold right, the next room is much trickier but the player has a pattern in mind to help them.

** After beating the game, you can go back into the open world and search for any missing logs and trinkets, [[spoiler: which get you the good ending.]] However, you never have to complete already beaten levels again- at any time, going into the main menu allows you to warp back to the ship. This is also useful if some levels are too hard for you, and you want to try them later.
** The game has an invincibility mode for people who simply do not have the skill to beat the game, especially disabled gamers.
** The Gravitron, despite its "Survive for 60 seconds" billing, only requires you to clear those 60 seconds in five second increments.
* AmbiguousGender: Captain Viridian's gender is never revealed throughout the game. (Appropriately, that's the player character ["That's you!"], and the game doesn't know what gender you are.)

''VVVVVV'' is a 2D platformer with exploration elements and, in place of a jump button, a "Flip" button to reverse your character's (personal) gravity. Mastering this is essential to finishing the game. Other than that, there are no other methods of attack, [[VideoGameItemsAndInventory power-ups]], [[VideoGameEffectsAndSpells abilities]], keys, locked doors, or any of that jazz -- the only thing standing between you and sweet victory are the challenges put before you (and 7,612 [[SpikesOfDoom spikes]].)

* AlphabeticalThemeNaming: Go on, guess what letter it is.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: After beating the game, you can go back into the open world and search for any missing logs and trinkets, [[spoiler: which get you the good ending.]] However, you never have to complete already beaten levels again- at any time, going into the main menu allows you to warp back to the ship. This is also useful if some levels are too hard for you, and you want to try them later.

* BrutalBonusLevel: The v2.0 and Nintendo3DS versions of the game come with, not one, but ''eighteen'' full size player-made levels that are more or less harder than the main game.

* CheckPoint

* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything:

* GottaCatchThemAll: Three versions: Crew members, Shiny Trinkets, and the [[http://distractionware.com/games/flash/vvvvvvproto/ beta-only]] coins.

* InsurmountableWaistHighFence: Veni, Vidi, Vici. See Last Lousy Point below.

** JustIgnoreIt: Vitellary's curiosity about the check point seems to make Viridian [[MediumAwareness uncomfortable]] and perhaps [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall worried about the fourth wall's integrity]]. He urges the professor to move on without thinking too hard about it.

** Spikes, as mentioned below. Lots and lots of spikes...

* MiniGame: The Super Graviton, a harder version of the Graviton segment during the main game, where you are timed for how long you can dodge obstacles while bouncing between gravity-flipping lines.

* PlotConvenience: Should the player replay an intermission level, [[InUniverse a short cutscene shows that the characters have entered the level by complete accident]].

* UpdatedRerelease: The game got one as part of the Humble Indie Bundle III, where it was completely re-written in code from Flash to C++, two new tracks were added, and a level editor was included. Additionally, a port to the Nintendo3DS' [=eShop=] adds new levels and 3D visuals.