History WebVideo / DontHugMeImScared

* AIIsACrapshoot: [[spoiler: Colin, the computer in episode 4, continues the trend of sociopathic, unhelpful teachers.]]

** On the Kickstarter for Don't Hug Me I'm Scared: The Series, the yellow guy and red guy are indeed simply referred to as "Yellow Guy" and "Red Guy".

** In "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 2," the picture on the wall reads 19/06/55. Also, every date during the time travel sequence is June 19th. Additionally, during the Victorian Time scene, you can see that there is a wanted poster for Yellow Guy. His price, dead or alive? £1,906... 19/06, also known as ''June 19th'' (since Europeans put day first then month).

** Episode 3 begins with a scrolling shot of a poster of the three protagonists on a tree, stating they went missing on 19/6. Also, Mr. and Mrs. Dead died in 1906 - 19/06.

** [[http://38.media.tumblr.com/0a455c33e4a453353e93d563d24a7ae3/tumblr_n6ohafAiiy1qc30roo1_1280.png Joseph Pelling has confirmed]] that the meaning behind this date will be confirmed at the end of the series.
** The fridge in the fifth video has a note on it saying "ROY: 011'''1906'''7482". Near the end, one of the cans being microwaved can also be very briefly seen to have "EXPIRES 19/06" written on its label.
** There's a chart with a seemingly random assortment of numbers on it in the fourth and fifth videos. The observant viewer will notice that 19 and 06 are next to each other on the chart.

** "I wonder what will happen..."

** "Get creative" for the first video.
** "What happened after the olden days?" Red Guy poses this question to Tony in the second video, and in the interview with It's Nice That, it appears to have become Duck Guy's Trauma Button. "Time! Time! Time! Time! Time!"
** "What is love?" For the same reason to the above. Yellow poses this question to Shrignold, and does not appear to have received a well-explained answer. "I don't know. I think he's a little baby pigeon."
** "Special thanks to Roy".
** "There's three of us" in the new TV series. The trio sing it a total of seven times in the intro of every single episode (other than the last). Who knows, but there's probably three of them. Parodied in Episode 2. Red Guy doesn't seem to particularly miss Duck, but replaces Stain Edwards with him so there can be "three main guys". Even singing the intro theme song again, once more confirming there's three of them. When the old Duck also comes back, the Trio attempts to make do with four people, but one of the Ducks abruptly murders the other, saying it works better when there's three of them.

* MonsterOfTheWeek installments have a new inanimate object come to terrorize the protagonists with a new lesson, and they are collectively known as "the Teachers":
** The original DHMIS has the Sketchbook... [[AmbiguouslyEvil kinda. It's unclear if they're actually evil or if things just spiral out of their control]].
** 2/"Time": Tony the Talking Clock. While at first appearing to be affable and somewhat goofy, he shows himself to be evil when he [[spoiler:speeds up time to rot the puppets alive]] for questioning time.

** 3/"Love": Shrignold the Butterfly, head of a Love Cult who worship a giant stone face named [[TomTheDarkLord Malcolm]].
** 4/"Computers": Colin, a talking computer who traps the puppet trio in {{Cyberspace}}.
** 5/"Health": The Healthy Band, who tell the puppets contradicting things on what is and what isn't healthy, with the lamb chop being the most prominent. They're laughable as ever, but horrifically, [[spoiler:they go as far as to ''kill'' Duck by tricking Yellow Guy into eating him]].
** 6/"Dreams": The Lamp is set up as a decoy Big Bad, while the Big Bad of the whole series is revealed: [[spoiler:Roy, the father of one of the three main characters]].

* NoNameGiven: none of the main characters’ names have been revealed, hence why they are known to fans as Red Guy, Yellow Guy, and Duck.

** In "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 2," the picture on the wall reads 19/06/55. Also, every date during the time travel sequence is June 19th. Additionally, during the Victorian Time scene, you can see that there is a wanted poster for the Yellow Guy. His price, dead or alive? £1,906... 19/06, also known as ''June 19th'' (since Europeans put day first then month).

** Turns out, this was the date the Finale came out. [[spoiler: And [[HereWeGoAgain it switches to June 20th at the end]].]]

** "There's three of us" in the new TV series. The trio sing it a total of seven times in the intro of every single episode (other than the last). Who knows, but there's probably three of them. Parodied in Episode 2. Red Guy doesn't seem to particularly miss Duck, but replaces Stain Edwards with him so there can be "three main guys". Even singing the intro theme song again, once more confirming there's three of them. When the old Duck also comes back, the Trio attempts to make do with four people, but one of the Duck abruptly murders the other, saying it works better when there's three of them.

* AndIMustScream: Starting with "Computers", the puppets in ''Don't Hug Me I'm Scared'' are shown to be completely aware of past events (including rapidly aging and ''decomposing'' alive). [[spoiler:Yellow Guys tells Tony, "You made me die!" when Red Guy starts messing with the terminal in "Dreams". Really showcases how scary the situation is, if Yellow Guy crying "no more songs" in the beginning wasn't enough.]]

** Unlike the previous teachers, Shrignold and his friends are willing to answer the Yellow Guy's questions, and they do seem to want to teach him their version of love as opposed to knowing the real moral and intentionally twisting the moral to brainwash them. [[spoiler:Except that their version of love involves joining a cult and feeding gravel to a giant head.]]

* AIIsACrapshoot: [[spoiler: Colin, the Computer in episode 4, continues the trend of sociopathic, unhelpful teachers.]]

** On the Kickstarter for Don't Hug Me I'm Scared: The Series, the yellow guy and the red guy are simply referred to as "the Yellow Guy" and "Red Guy".

* AllJustADream: [[spoiler:The new characters and creepy hijinks in "Love", after the Yellow Guy runs off. The Red Guy and Duck's subplot is real, though it is extremely low-key. [[OrWasItADream However]], the [[GainaxEnding emerging caterpillar]] at the end and the reappearance of the butterfly with the rest of the teachers in "Dreams" imply that ''something'' went down.]]

* ArcWords: "I wonder what will happen..."

* AnAesop: Some of the episodes of the TV series do take pains to convey valid and occasionally weighty lessons. Such as career disatisfaction and fulfillment in "Jobs", the rising grief over losing a loved one in "Death", and alienatingly toxic relationship behavior in "Friendship".

** The rock teacher in "Electricity" claims both that there only exists three types of rocks, ''and'' that the sun is a rock itself.

** The world of ''Don't Hug Me I'm Scared'' is almost entirely made out of soft felt and cloth and is modeled after typical children's edutainment shows like Sesame Street, but once the songs start it goes right downhill, from being mildly uncomfortable to full-blown horrifying. The one time the main characters [[spoiler:try to leave]], in “Transport”, they end up [[spoiler:all alone in a darkened junkyard / garbage dump, warming their hands around a trash fire]].

* KilledOffScreen: Once the power goes out from overusing electricity, Red and Duck go to the basement, only to discover the corpses of [[spoiler:Briefcase, Tony the clock, Roy, Sketchbook, and [[MindScrew Duck]]]].

* NoNameGiven: none of the main characters’ names have been revealed, hence why they are known to fans as Red Guy, Yellow Guy, and Duck. On the show, they simply refer to each other by pronouns or as “that one”, etcetera.

** The TV series continues this trend. In "Death", Duck's heart suddenly falls out of his body at one point. In another, one of the Ducks is suddenly gorily beheaded with a shovel.
** In "Family", at two points the grandma just starts violently screaming for no reason, accompanied by horrible piano mashing. The twins always interpret this as her way of speaking.

However, a trailer released on September 13th, 2018 made clear that the puppets' journey [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkFpNVxzhTs is not quite over yet]]. A while after, a 23-minute episode of the show was shown at Sundance, with the puppets finding themselves in a new setting known as Clayhill. In July 2020, it was officially confirmed that this pilot episode has led to the series being picked up as a television show airing on British network Channel 4. Though no official statement to the effect has been made, it has been widely suspected that the production of the series had been delayed due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic. In September 2021, it was announced that the filming of the first season had wrapped. On [[ArcNumber June 19]], 2022, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrtrzIWfGYw a teaser]] confirming a September 2022 release for the Channel 4 series was uploaded. It premiered on September 23, 2022 (with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZN2BC8Z48U another trailer here]]).

* BigBad:
** The finale seems to imply that [[spoiler:Yellow Guy's father Roy]] is behind it all, albeit for reasons that are never explained [[spoiler:(unless the supplementary interviews are canon, where he says it's to punish his son). He's implied to have created the DHMIS universe to punish Yellow Guy via a console used to summon and control the teachers]].

** The teachers for the web series are as follows.
*** The original DHMIS has the Sketchbook... [[AmbiguouslyEvil kinda. It's unclear if they're actually evil or if things just spiral out of their control]].
*** 2/"Time": Tony the Talking Clock. While at first appearing to be affable and somewhat goofy, he shows himself to be evil when he [[spoiler:speeds up time to rot the puppets alive]] for questioning time.
*** The "HELP" videos: The Money Man (not a teacher, but kidnaps the characters and ransoms them).
*** 3/"Love": Shrignold the Butterfly, head of a Love Cult who worship a giant stone face named [[TomTheDarkLord Malcolm]].
*** 4/"Computers": Colin, a talking computer who traps the puppet trio in {{Cyberspace}}.
*** 5/"Health": The Healthy Band, who tell the puppets contradicting things on what is and what isn't healthy, with the lamb chop being the most prominent. They're laughable as ever, but horrifically, [[spoiler:they go as far as to ''kill'' Duck by tricking Yellow Guy into eating him]].
*** 6/"Dreams": The Lamp is set up as a decoy Big Bad, while the Big Bad of the whole series is revealed: [[spoiler:Roy, the father of one of the three main characters]].

->'''Duck:''' Every day's a new surprise!\\
'''Yellow Guy:''' When you're learning with us guys!\\
'''Red Guy:''' And we live in an '''ACTUAL NIGHTMARE'''!

The show details the lives of the plainly named Red Guy, Duck and Yellow Guy as they find their routine interrupted by highly varied, increasingly demented teachers. Initially, the draw of the show was the shock of the [[SurpriseCreepy sudden]] [[MoodWhiplash switch]] from an upbeat, cutesy {{edutainment}} show to a {{horror}} show that occurred at the end of the first episode, but later episodes were forced to rely less on shock value, and as a result they angle more towards {{existential|Horror}} {{psychological|Horror}} and {{surreal horror}} with a smidge of NothingIsScarier and has a creepy touch of SurrealHumor.

However, a trailer released on September 13th, 2018 made clear that the puppets' journey [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkFpNVxzhTs is not quite over yet]]. A while after, a 23-minute episode of the show was shown at Sundance, with the puppets finding themselves in a new setting known as Clayhill. In July 2020, it was officially confirmed that this pilot episode has led to the series being picked up as a television show airing on British network Channel 4. Though no official statement to the effect has been made, it has been widely suspected that the production of the series has been delayed due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic. In September 2021, it was announced that the filming of the first season had wrapped. On [[ArcNumber June 19]], 2022, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrtrzIWfGYw a teaser]] confirming a September 2022 release for the Channel 4 series was uploaded. It premiered on September 23, 2022 (with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZN2BC8Z48U another trailer here]]).

--->'''[[spoiler:Sketchbook]]''': [[:What's your favourite idea?]]

* AdaptationalJerkass: Although none of the characters do much of anything bad in the original, Duck is certainly an example of this in the TV series. [[KarmaHoudini He's mean to Yellow Guy, used to bite him severely, and kills a piece of bread and his clone without good reason.]]
* AerithAndBob:
** The six characters from the web series who have been given proper names are Tony, Roy,[[note]]the former two are from WordOfGod and not the show itself[[/note]] Michael, Malcolm, Colin and... Shrignold? Bearing in mind that Malcolm is a sentient stone head that eats gravel.
** The TV series makes this even weirder; “Friendship” features a character named Warren. On the other hand, Yellow Guy’s name is so long it takes Red Guy half a minute to type out and apparently includes a hyphen. And his ''maiden name'' was ''“Rat Eyes”'' or ''“Rateyes”''.
*** Keep in mind that the keyboard Red Guy is typing on isn't the typical qwerty keyboard.

** All the puppets were rehauled one last time for the All4 series. Duck's head is rounder and his feathers a slightly lighter green instead of the black/green before, and Yellow Guy's body now has much more definition and a nice square shape compared to his previously slumpy appearance. Red Guy looks more like his original counterpart, the only change being his eyes, which have slightly longer eyelids connecting them to his skull instead of the perfect spheres from before.

** This even extends to Wakey Wakey, the pilot episode to the Blink Industries version. Much of the Security Song, sung by a key-shaped teacher is animated in the style of a rubberhose cartoon.
** In "Jobs", this takes place during [[spoiler:Duck's "counseling" session in the elevator and is given an almost early-2000's Flash animation look]].
** In "Friendship", the segments inside Yellow Guy's mind are animated in colourful, claymation-esque CGI.

* AssholeVictim: In “Family”, [[spoiler:Yellow Guy's dad shows up while Lily & Todney’s family are having dinner. It’s implied he violently murders them to steal their chicken, but after their creepy behaviour including kidnapping Yellow Guy and stealing Red Guy’s blood, no one feels bad for them]].
* AudienceWhatAudience: In "Family" Duck announces that he found something in the attic, but he won't tell what it is at first, giving Red Guy three guesses to figure out what it is. When Red Guy gets it right on his second guess, "a packet of Chuddle Dollops", Duck insists that he still uses his third guess. Red Guy asks what the point would even be, since he has already guessed correctly, and Duck explains that "People are dying to know what your final guess would have been." A confused Yellow Guy asks "What 'people'?"

** Used to create the Duck's speaking voice. Weirdly enough, it's less noticeable in "Computers". The autotune effect is at its strongest immediately before he leaves in "Health". It's notably absent in "Jobs".

** In "Friendship", after being annoyed to no end by Warren, Yellow Guy's "Shy Older Brother" excuses himself by saying he has to leave, breaks a window with his elbow... [[spoiler:and then proceeds to slit his throat with a shard instead of jumping out.]]

* BaitAndSwitchCharacterIntro: in “Family”, two characters enter the room. Lily & Todney greet them as “Father” and “Brother”. One naturally assumes [[spoiler: the massive, paunchy, scowling, adult-sized figure with male pattern baldness is Father, right? Wrong! The tiny little fellow dressed as a schoolboy is! Yellow Guy even {{lampshade}}s this by yelling, “''That one’s'' the dad?” when he finds out]].

* BirthdayEpisode: The pilot takes place in Yellow Guy's 38th birthday party. Though Yellow Guy spends most of it being upset because everyone is too distracted by the mayor's disappearance and Duck slowly turning into a ControlFreak. [[spoiler: The end of the pilot ends with Yellow Guy's apparent 48th birthday party]].

** In "Jobs", [[spoiler:messing with his friends and brainwashing them appears to be Duck's. He ends up causing a huge accident upon realizing that none of the events going on are correct. To a lesser degree, his ego about his intelligence not being stroked.]]

** The TV episode “Electricity” has the massive reveal of [[spoiler:Lesley, a colourfully-dressed woman with stitches on her face who apparently controls the main characters’ lives with a miniature version of their house… which she also lives inside. Or she might actually be trying to help them]]. [[MindScrew It’s all very unclear]].
* BigDamnHeroes:
** Yellow Guy [[spoiler: brings Duck back from being “dead” by digging up his grave and smashing the talking coffin]].
** Yellow Guy’s father shows up to rescue him from [[spoiler:Lily & Todney’s family. {{Subverted}} as he’s apparently just there for the Grolton's Chicken bucket, though his violent attack still allows his son to get away]].

* BittersweetEnding: The pilot's ending edges between this and HappyEnding. [[spoiler: The Key to the City is stopped by Yellow Guy and Red Guy, Duck apologizes for his ControlFreak nature, and the town is restored back to normal. However the final shot has everyone spontaneously gushing out their mindless love for fizzy milk to the confusion of the main trio. Implying that they may be in another LotusEaterMachine]].

** The Love Cult tells Yellow Guy "The Story of Michael", which ends with the titular character being forced to live alone in a cave because everyone in town shuns him for being ugly. At the end Shrignold tells Yellow Guy the supposed [[AnAesop Aesop]] of the story:

** Yellow Guy getting his hand horrifically [[spoiler:torn off in the machine in “Jobs”, and the Briefcase throwing a coin into Duck’s eye]]
** In “Death”, shortly after Duck declares himself dead some kind of bloodied internal organ falls out of him, then creates a blood-drenched hole in the floor, from whence cometh the Coffin. We also later see his legs rotting away, and [[spoiler:his brain fall out when he decapitates his doppelganger]].
** In “Friendship”, Yellow Guy’s “shy older brother” construct [[spoiler:violently slits his own throat and bleeds out, rather than listen to Warren’s podcast]].

** When Duck briefly lifts up Duncan’s helmet in “Jobs”, he sees Duncan’s brain has its own mutilated, screaming head.

* BlackComedy: The series laspes into this, due to its [[BloodierandGorier graphic violence]] {{Surreal Horror}} and sometimes shock value.

** The second episode of the TV series. Despite being themed around Death, the episode has the least focus on horror elements in the series and instead puts a heavier emphasis on comedy even in the darker moments.

** The TV series continues this trend. In “Jobs” he gets [[spoiler:aged 40 years and his hand torn off by machinery, then when everything goes back to “normal” afterward he quite clearly misses his wife and child]].
** In “Family” he’s told his Dad doesn’t count as a family, then Lily & Todney [[spoiler:and their dad kidnap him to be their new Mum. He escapes when his own father shows up, but it wasn’t a rescue; his father was just there for the fried chicken]].
** In “Transport”, [[spoiler:while riding in the car]] Duck gets Netflix, headphones and snacks; Yellow Guy gets an overflowing ashtray and a barf bag. He also falls out [[spoiler:the car window at one point and gets run over by a car in his dream sequence]].
** Especially prominent in “Friendship”. The other two get mad at him for forgetting the computer password and call him things that are bleeped out. He [[spoiler:retreats into his subconscious, but then Warren the Worm shows up there and ruins everything]].
** Warren also takes on this role in “Friendship”, with the three main characters extensively mocking his appearance.

** From the TV series, 1 discusses Jobs and Employment
** 2 focuses on Death
** 3 is about Family
** 4 discusses Friends
** 5 focuses on Transportation
** 6 starts off talking about Electricity. [[spoiler:But like the web series before it quickly goes meta]].
** The series as a whole has "how not to teach something". It's widely speculated that the series is also about how the media conditions children to think in certain ways.

** "Jobs", while showing the events of all three characters, seems to focus the most on [[spoiler:the Duck and his quest to find a job in the factory and be appreciated. He's even eventually the one to end everything and reset it all back to the beginning.]]

** In "Jobs", it's the [[spoiler: first aid kit]]. When Red Guy asks if the workers have seen the Briefcase, [[spoiler:one of them motions to it and Red Guy dismisses it as not the correct kind. Later on, it's opened in an emergency by Duck to reveal that it ''was'' the Briefcase the entire time, thus letting him continue his song and get them out of the factory.]]

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: In "Death", Duck's gravestone is engraved with "David" -- because Duck thought the point was to give his gravestone a name.

* CouchGag: The semifinal verse of the theme song changes in every episode of the TV series.

* CreepyFamily: Lily & Todney’s family, and ''how.'' They live in a disgusting-smelling filthy apartment, serve tea that looks like diarrhea, and their “family tree” is a literal talking tree they keep in a dark room, festooned with photos of their relatives, most of which have been ominously crossed out. The tree also [[spoiler:apparently feeds on the blood of unsuspecting guests]]. Also their brother [[spoiler:looks 40 years older (to the point he gets mistaken for their father), and their ''father'' looks younger than them, dresses like a schoolboy and]] plays video games under their bed at night. At dinner, they’re [[spoiler:finally revealed as eldritch monstrosities with gaping, toothy monster mouths. Oh, and they kidnapped Yellow Guy to make him their new mum]].

** After being subjected to four abusive lessons by some unhelpful "teachers" on their television show, the Red Guy is gone from the group by "Health". Despite being gone from the show, he's still on set attempting to help his friends escape as well. Duck tries to leave, but is killed before he can, and "Dreams" shows that Red Guy is still badly affected by his time on set and finds himself unable to function in the normal world, which appears to have taken the "lessons" to heart -- everyone is exactly the same, and Red Guy gets rejected when trying to be creative with the song from "Creativity".
** To a lesser degree in "Jobs", Duck [[spoiler:breaks free from the brainwashing he'd seemingly just been out through quite quickly upon seeing his friends aged into old executives]].

** [[ShowWithinAShow Grolton & Hovris]] is one of these for [[WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit Wallace & Gromit]].

** Episode 2 of the TV series, "Death", seems to serve as one to the show itself, as while most of the show is lessons themed around rather benign or cheerful topics like time or creativity and then spinning off into surprisingly dark directions brought about by borderline supernatural beings serving as teachers, this episode focuses on an inherantly dark theme (death) and yet the epiode is one of the more lighthearted and comical episodes in the series and most of the horror elements are being done ''to'' the teachers and supernatural elements due to the main trio's own sociopathy rather than the other way around. [[spoiler:The cast even ends up killing the coffin who was explaining death and possibly the replacement friend]].
* DeliberateVHSQuality: The ArtShift in the Old Train's song from "Transportation" is done up in this way, making it look like some sort of animation from TheNineties.
* DenserAndWackier: With a number of the overarching mysteries of the setting unveiled at the end of the readily available web series, the succeeding TV show ups the wackiness and violence of the "lessons" while shortening the tempers and tolerance of the protagonists.
->'''Duck:''' Shut up. What? Don't turn on me. He ruined it. I'm never going to see that skeleton!\\
'''Red Guy:''' Oh, boo hoo, here we go, everyon--\\
'''Yellow Guy:''' ''[smashes bottle on Duck's head] I hate you!''\\
'''Red Guy:''' Wh-- ''[smashes bottle on Yellow Guy's head] --I'm dealing with it!''

** Season 1, Episode 6 of the TV series ends with [[spoiler:Yellow Guy getting his brain batteries taken out before he can share the mysterious book Lesley gave him. No longer able to comprehend its importance, he instead puts it in the shredder.]]

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Dropped it on whole town, actually. In the "Transport" episode of the TV Series, while trying to find a new place to live, Red Guy suggests Clayhill, the town they lived in during the pilot episode... only for the GPS to inform him that its gone.
-->'''GPS:''' Just shrivelled up I reckon!

* {{Fingore}}:
** The Duck's fingers get a nice close-up in "Time" as they rot away to expose muscles, veins, and eventually bones.
** Shows up again in "Death". [[spoiler:When proving that Duck is dead, his finger gets snipped off. All that comes out is a bit of smoke. Then Yellow Guy tries it with his own finger, only for it to spit gouts of blood.]]

** In the All4 series, the guys seem now fully aware of the routine from the beginning, and casually expect it to happen. Yellow Guy says that a suitcase teacher with his own suitcase is "One of those guys who has one of himself", Red Guy and Duck see the appearance of a new Teacher as a return to normalcy when Yellow Guy is acting weird, and when Duck seems to forget about the routine, just seeing a miniature train stroll into the living room is enough to make him say "Oh right. ''This'' kind of thing."

* HeelFaceTurn: In the new series, both [[spoiler:Tony the Talking Clock, the Lamp and Colin the Computer appear as friends to the gang. Colin more specifically as it's apparently a yearly ritual to go on the internet using him. He seems perfectly personable and polite to them, even joining in banter with them nonchalantly. The Lamp then gives Yellow Guy some advice about concepts of what happens after death and personal beliefs of a afterlife. He even turns himself off with no ill intents what so ever. Tony hangs on the wall and talks during one episode, casually. It doesn't last long though...]]

* LighterAndSofter: The 2022 television series still features plenty of blood and SurrealHorror, but it takes a notably different tack than the earlier internet shorts. Many of the more disturbing concepts are tempered out with a healthy dose of BlackComedy -- for instance, "Death" shows Duck slowly rotting away while BuriedAlive in a coffin, but he's not particularly bothered by it and the scene mostly focuses on him repeatedly annoying the Coffin with inane requests. In addition, not all of the teachers exist just to torment the main characters, and the main characters [[ThrowTheDogABone actually get to win against them more than once]].

* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:Episode 6 reveals that all the teachers were being controlled by Roy.]]
** In 'Electricity', the final episode of the new series, we see that the one behind literally everything, possibly including [[spoiler: Roy]] and the old series, is [[spoiler: Lesley, an old and stitched up woman in a colorful coat, who controls everything using the dollhouse on her piano. A staircase revealed after Yellow Guy leaves implies someone else might even be above her.]]

* MeaningfulName:
** Mr. and Mrs. Dead are, well, dead.
** In "Jobs", we have Unemployed Brendan. [[spoiler:Subverted in that his name is just Brendan and his brother is making him do this and he hates it.]]
* MediumAwareness: crops up more in the TV series, but notably in “Death” when the claymated blob from the “Create Your Own New Friend” kit comes to life, Yellow Guy exclaims “Ugh, claymation?”

* MindScrew: Combined with SerialEscalation. The first few episodes ''tend'' to make sense within children's show logic, excepting a few scenes and the AmbiguousSituation. The second half of the show invokes SurrealHorror and psychological storytelling more and more. It all leads up to an extremely confusing [[TheReveal reveal]] (in the web videos) that [[spoiler:all the singing teachers are controlled by some kind of weird machine, which may or may not belong to Yellow Guy's creepy dad. Red Guy unplugs the machine, and suddenly we cut to the first scene from the first episode]], except all the characters are different colours. The TV show gets even screwier, with Yellow Guy in the S1 finale revealed to have [[spoiler:batteries in his chest. A set of fresh ones is put in and suddenly he becomes much smarter and notices a stairway leading to higher floors of the house, occupied by weird versions of his friends]]. Finally he reaches a room where [[spoiler:an actual live action character (i.e. a person in makeup, not a full-body costume like Red Guy) named Lesley is playing with a miniature version of the house. She may or may not control what happens to the three residents, and might be replacing them when they die]]? It's all highly up for interpretation. And Yellow Guy leaves before noticing [[spoiler:yet ''another'' staircase beyond Lesley, indicating there might be someone above even '''''her''''']].

** The teachers for the TV series are for the most part much nicer, but the ones that are more antagonistic are:
*** “Jobs”: It’s a bit vague whether the singing briefcase is evil or merely negligent, but Peterson’s and Sons and Friends Bits & Parts, Ltd. are definitely evil. They [[spoiler: encourage upper management to randomly fire (or kill) people, complaints get you sent to the [=CareHound=] (a terrifying four-eyed monstrosity that devours you and spits you out as a loyal employee), and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking hand out cigarettes with lunch]]. They also encourage dangerous accidents on a regular basis, to help us appreciate the times when there's ''not'' an accident]].
*** “Family” has more of a BigBadEnsemble: Lily & Todney and their creepy family [[spoiler:feed Red Guy to their “family tree”, which drains all of his blood, and kidnap Yellow Guy to turn him into their new mother [[HumbleGoal so she can order them a bucket of chicken]]]].
*** “Friendship” has Warren the Eagle, a gross worm who tries to deliver a lesson about friendship. He isn’t overtly villainous until [[spoiler:Red Guy & Duck ask him to enter Yellow Guy’s brain and bring him out of his coma, and Warren decides to take over Yellow Guy’s subconscious instead]].

** Zigzagged in the second episode of the TV series, which is very bluntly titled "Death" — while the word is used somewhat frequently, "gone away" is used just as often.

** In “Friendship” we find out Yellow’s name, [[TheUnreveal whatever it is]], is apparently quite long, as it takes Red Guy nearly a full minute to type out and is hyphenated. But his ''maiden name'' was '''“Rat Eyes”'''. Conversely, Duck's real name took only a single button press to type out.
** The tombstone and mourners in “Death” repeatedly call the duck David, but he and his friends point out this isn’t his name.

* ShipTease: Rather oddly for a show like this, DHMIS gives us this in "Electricity", where [[spoiler:during the blackout in the house, Red Guy rather nervously states that he enjoys 'looking at you [Duck]', to which Duck responds that he feels the same. Yellow Guy interrupts before this can go anywhere, however.]]

** The show has "Grolton and Hovris", a parody of ''WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit''. Yellow Guy is unsure which one is which.

* StepfordSuburbia: Judging by the teaser for the TV series pilot, Clayhill seems to have this going on.

* SurrealHumor: despite its dark and unsellting content and imagery, the show sometimes may have this touch.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: From "Family", when the Twins invites the trio to play their creepy, weird, and rather nonsensical boardgame:
-->'''Duck:''' Where did you get this game?\\
'''The Twins:''' ''(quickly, in unison)'' We didn't invent it!\\
'''Duck:''' I didn't say you did.

** New Series, Episode 6, Electricity: [[spoiler: There is a staircase beyond the kitchen that we've never seen due to the angle. Upstairs? The Big Boys Room, where a larger Red Guy and Duck sit studying TWO lessons at once. And another staircase? The Bigger Boys Room, where a hyperintelligent Red Guy and Duck sit doing experiments, lacking any and all empathy for the creature that they've basically mutated beyond recognition. And the last staircase? An attic where an old woman named Lesley sits, playing the piano and playing with a dollhouse that controls the events of the house somehow.]] And the biggest Wham of this episode? [[spoiler: Yellow Guy is actually massively intelligent and kind with good batteries and has apparently met everyone he meets in the upper floors before.]]

** The latest one in "Electricity" is [[spoiler:Yellow Guy uncovering whats in the attic: a lone old lady playing piano named Lesley, who's all speculated to be the new GreaterScopeVillain of the series.]]

----
->"Journeys made and lessons learned\\
You may feel like you’re alone\\
But no matter how much the wheels turn\\
The journey ''always'' ends up [[HereWeGoAgain back at home]]!"

* HeelFaceTurn: In the new series, both [[spoiler:Tony the Talking Clock and Colin the Computer appear as friends to the gang. Colin more specifically as it's apparently a yearly ritual to go on the internet using him. He seems perfectly personable and polite to them, even joining in banter with them nonchalantly. Tony hangs on the wall and talks during one episode, casually.]]

** This comes up again in the final video. [[spoiler:It turns out all the strange Teachers that accosted the puppets were created by a large computer, and the series concludes with Red Guy attempting to shut it off.]]

** Keep in mind that the keyboard Red Guy is typing on isn't the typical qwerty keyboard.

** The TV series makes this even weirder; “Friendship” features a character named Warren. On the other hand, Yellow Guy’s name is so long it takes Red Guy half a minute to type out and apparently includes a hyphen. And his ''maiden name'' was ''“Rat Eyes”''.

** Most installments have their own Big Bad, and they are collectively known as "the Teachers":
*** The original DHMIS has the Sketchbook... [[AmbiguouslyEvil kinda. It's unclear if they're actually evil or if things just spiral out of their control]].
*** 2/"Time": Tony the Talking Clock. While at first appearing to be affable and somewhat goofy, he shows himself to be evil when he [[spoiler:speeds up time to rot the puppets alive]] for questioning time.
*** The "HELP" videos: The Money Man (not a teacher, but kidnaps the characters and ransoms them).
*** 3/"Love": Shrignold the Butterfly, head of a Love Cult who worship a giant stone face named [[TomTheDarkLord Malcolm]].
*** 4/"Computers": Colin, a talking computer who traps the puppet trio in {{Cyberspace}}.
*** 5/"Health": The Healthy Band, who tell the puppets contradicting things on what is and what isn't healthy, with the lamb chop being the most prominent. They're laughable as ever, but horrifically, [[spoiler:they go as far as to ''kill'' Duck by tricking Yellow Guy into eating him]].
*** 6/"Dreams": The Lamp is set up as a decoy Big Bad, while the Big Bad of the whole series is revealed: [[spoiler:Roy, the father of one of the three main characters]].
*** “Jobs”: It’s a bit vague whether the singing briefcase is evil or merely negligent, but Peterson’s and Sons and Friends Bits & Parts, Ltd. are definitely evil. They [[spoiler: encourage upper management to randomly fire (or kill) people, complaints get you sent to the [=CareHound=] (a terrifying four-eyed monstrosity that devours you and spits you out as a loyal employee), and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking hand out cigarettes with lunch]]. They also encourage dangerous accidents on a regular basis, to help us appreciate the times when there's ''not'' an accident]].
*** “Family” has more of a BigBadEnsemble: Lily & Todney and their creepy family [[spoiler:feed Red Guy to their “family tree”, which drains all of his blood, and kidnap Yellow Guy to turn him into their new mother [[HumbleGoal so she can order them a bucket of chicken]]]].
*** “Friendship” has Warren the Eagle, a gross worm who tries to deliver a lesson about friendship. He isn’t overtly villainous until [[spoiler:Red Guy & Duck ask him to enter Yellow Guy’s brain and bring him out of his coma, and Warren decides to take over Yellow Guy’s subconscious instead]].
** “Electricity” has the massive reveal of [[spoiler:Lesley, a colourfully-dressed woman with stitches on her face who apparently controls the main characters’ lives with a miniature version of their house… which she also lives inside. Or she might actually be trying to help them]]. [[MindScrew It’s all very unclear]].

-->'''GPS:''' Just shrivelled up I reckon!\\\

->'''Duck Guy:''' Every day's a new surprise!\\

The show details the lives of the plainly named Red Guy, Duck Guy and Yellow Guy as they find their routine interrupted by highly varied, increasingly demented teachers. Initially, the draw of the show was the shock of the [[SurpriseCreepy sudden]] [[MoodWhiplash switch]] from an upbeat, cutesy {{edutainment}} show to a {{horror}} show that occurred at the end of the first episode, but later episodes were forced to rely less on shock value, and as a result they angle more towards {{existential|Horror}} {{psychological|Horror}} and {{surreal horror}} with a smidge of NothingIsScarier and has a creepy touch of SurrealHumor.

* AdaptationalJerkass: Although none of the characters do much of anything bad in the original, Duck Guy is certainly an example of this in the TV series. [[KarmaHoudini He's mean to Yellow Guy, used to bite him severely, and kills a piece of bread and his clone without good reason.]]

** The day after the release of "Computers", Duck Guy's name was [[https://instagram.com/p/07dMZYHzWI/ revealed]] [[http://jacksachs.tumblr.com/post/115203892499/ by]] CGI designer Jack Sachs.
* AllJustADream: [[spoiler:The new characters and creepy hijinks in "Love", after the Yellow Guy runs off. The Red Guy and Duck Guy's subplot is real, though it is extremely low-key. [[OrWasItADream However]], the [[GainaxEnding emerging caterpillar]] at the end and the reappearance of the butterfly with the rest of the teachers in "Dreams" imply that ''something'' went down.]]

%%** The puppets being trapped in Colin's digital world and [[spoiler:Duck Guy's death]] also play with this trope. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample; ''how'' do they play with it?)

** Played straight in "Health", when [[spoiler:Duck Guy]] is EatenAlive.

** Yellow Guy and Duck Guy had their puppets rebuilt between the first and the second video; Yellow Guy has a more defined body and a more noticeable jaw (in comparison to the first video where he was a Muppet-style handrod puppet) and Duck Guy received longer articulated legs for the sequel.

** And then during the actual sequence, Yellow Guy and the Duck Guy switch from being puppets to people wearing costumes like the Red Guy (with a few noticeable physical differences, like Yellow Guy's wild blue mane and Duck Guy's longer beak).

** In "Jobs", this takes place during [[spoiler:Duck Guy's "counseling" session in the elevator and is given an almost early-2000's Flash animation look]].

* AudienceWhatAudience: In "Family" Duck Guy announces that he found something in the attic, but he won't tell what it is at first, giving Red Guy three guesses to figure out what it is. When Red Guy gets it right on his second guess, "a packet of Chuddle Dollops", Duck Guy insists that he still uses his third guess. Red Guy asks what the point would even be, since he has already guessed correctly, and Duck Guy explains that "People are dying to know what your final guess would have been." A confused Yellow Guy asks "What 'people'?"

** Used to create the Duck Guy's speaking voice. Weirdly enough, it's less noticeable in "Computers". The autotune effect is at its strongest immediately before he leaves in "Health". It's notably absent in "Jobs".

** [[spoiler: Duck Guy makes a cameo for a few seconds in episode six. Can apply to the trio as a whole as they are back in their house once the universe resets]].
** In the new "Wakey Wakey..." trailer, [[spoiler: Duck Guy is alive and well. The same can be said for Red Guy & Yellow Guy as well, given that they were implied to have been erased from existence in Episode 6.]]

** In the fourth episode, Red Guy says "If only there was a way to learn more about the world..." and turns to the globe. Then Duck Guy says the same thing, also turning to the globe. The globe then suddenly grows a face, leading the audience to believe he's the instructor of the episode. But then, Colin the Computer, the real instructor, suddenly appears and sings about being a computer.

* BirthdayEpisode: The pilot takes place in Yellow Guy's 38th birthday party. Though Yellow Guy spends most of it being upset because everyone is too distracted by the mayor's disappearance and Duck Guy slowly turning into a ControlFreak. [[spoiler: The end of the pilot ends with Yellow Guy's apparent 48th birthday party]].

** Used again in the third video after the chicken picnic has been eaten by Duck Guy and Red Guy. Duck Guy insists that they ''have'' finished the chicken picnic and stares at the screen for a few moments.

** In "Jobs", [[spoiler:messing with his friends and brainwashing them appears to be Duck Guy's. He ends up causing a huge accident upon realizing that none of the events going on are correct. To a lesser degree, his ego about his intelligence not being stroked.]]

*** 5/"Health": The Healthy Band, who tell the puppets contradicting things on what is and what isn't healthy, with the lamb chop being the most prominent. They're laughable as ever, but horrifically, [[spoiler:they go as far as to ''kill'' Duck Guy by tricking Yellow Guy into eating him]].

*** “Friendship” has Warren the Eagle, a gross worm who tries to deliver a lesson about friendship. He isn’t overtly villainous until [[spoiler:Red Guy & Duck Guy ask him to enter Yellow Guy’s brain and bring him out of his coma, and Warren decides to take over Yellow Guy’s subconscious instead]].

** Yellow Guy [[spoiler: brings Duck Guy back from being “dead” by digging up his grave and smashing the talking coffin]].

* TheBigGuy: Red Guy, due to him being a human in a costume, is noticeably larger than the other puppets. However, this is no longer the case during the manic creativity montage at the end of the first film (when the Yellow Guy and the Duck Guy were also portrayed by humans in costumes).
* BittersweetEnding: The pilot's ending edges between this and HappyEnding. [[spoiler: The Key to the City is stopped by Yellow Guy and Red Guy, Duck Guy apologizes for his ControlFreak nature, and the town is restored back to normal. However the final shot has everyone spontaneously gushing out their mindless love for fizzy milk to the confusion of the main trio. Implying that they may be in another LotusEaterMachine]].

** The fifth episode, where [[spoiler:Duck Guy's organs are torn out and eaten, and later his entire body is mutilated]].

** Yellow Guy getting his hand horrifically [[spoiler:torn off in the machine in “Jobs”, and the Briefcase throwing a coin into Duck Guy’s eye]]
** In “Death”, shortly after Duck Guy declares himself dead some kind of bloodied internal organ falls out of him, then creates a blood-drenched hole in the floor, from whence cometh the Coffin. We also later see his legs rotting away, and [[spoiler:his brain fall out when he decapitates his doppelganger]].

** The strange creature that pops out of the egg in the third video is quickly smashed by the Duck Guy, leaving the cracked egg full of gore.

** When Duck Guy briefly lifts up Duncan’s helmet in “Jobs”, he sees Duncan’s brain has its own mutilated, screaming head.

'''Duck Guy:''' Digital style!\\

** Yet again, Yellow Guy is the butt of the joke. In the fourth video he is interrupted by Duck Guy and smacked in the face twice by Colin.

** In “Transport”, [[spoiler:while riding in the car]] Duck Guy gets Netflix, headphones and snacks; Yellow Guy gets an overflowing ashtray and a barf bag. He also falls out [[spoiler:the car window at one point and gets run over by a car in his dream sequence]].

** The Duck Guy is the central focus of the fifth episode, coming more into conflict with this episode's Teachers than normal.

** "Jobs", while showing the events of all three characters, seems to focus the most on [[spoiler:the Duck Guy and his quest to find a job in the factory and be appreciated. He's even eventually the one to end everything and reset it all back to the beginning.]]

** In "Jobs", it's the [[spoiler: first aid kit]]. When Red Guy asks if the workers have seen the Briefcase, [[spoiler:one of them motions to it and Red Guy dismisses it as not the correct kind. Later on, it's opened in an emergency by Duck Guy to reveal that it ''was'' the Briefcase the entire time, thus letting him continue his song and get them out of the factory.]]
* ChromaticArrangement: Yellow, Red, and Duck Guy are obvious examples judging by their color schemes (Yellow, Red, and Green; later becoming Green, Red, and Blue).
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: In "Death", Duck Guy's gravestone is engraved with "David" -- because Duck Guy thought the point was to give his gravestone a name.

** In ''4'', when Colin mentions that he can tell the time, Duck Guy turns to the camera and says "time?", referencing the events of episode 2. [[spoiler: Later on, the trio turn into approximations of their crude CGI models from the original short film.]]

** After being subjected to four abusive lessons by some unhelpful "teachers" on their television show, the Red Guy is gone from the group by "Health". Despite being gone from the show, he's still on set attempting to help his friends escape as well. Duck Guy tries to leave, but is killed before he can, and "Dreams" shows that Red Guy is still badly affected by his time on set and finds himself unable to function in the normal world, which appears to have taken the "lessons" to heart -- everyone is exactly the same, and Red Guy gets rejected when trying to be creative with the song from "Creativity".
** To a lesser degree in "Jobs", Duck Guy [[spoiler:breaks free from the brainwashing he'd seemingly just been out through quite quickly upon seeing his friends aged into old executives]].

* TheDandy: Duck Guy really likes the different costumes he can try out in number 4 using "digital style!"

* ADeathInTheLimelight: [[spoiler: Duck Guy is featured the most in the 5th episode, which is also the episode in which he is brutally killed and eaten.]]

->'''Duck Guy:''' Shut up. What? Don't turn on me. He ruined it. I'm never going to see that skeleton!\\

'''Yellow Guy:''' ''[smashes bottle on Duck Guy's head] I hate you!''\\

** Episode 4 ends with [[spoiler: Yellow Guy and Duck Guy still trapped in the deteriorating digital world]].
** Episode 5's ending may be the most depressing one yet. Duck Guy [[spoiler:gets ground into canned food (''alive!'') and served as lunch for the Yellow Guy. The latter is then force-fed every can (unaware that he had just eaten his own friend ''because he was drugged by the teachers''), and ends up sitting in the dark kitchen, completely alone]]. Afterwards, the mysterious caller (who had been trying to call the two throughout the episode) is revealed to be [[spoiler:the absent Red Guy, who had been calling from a phone booth outside]]. The episode ends with [[spoiler:Red Guy, dressed in a trenchcoat and carrying a suitcase, walking away from the phone booth in the rain. It's implied that he was the one who called Duck Guy and Yellow Guy earlier in the episode]]. Judging by the depressing rainstorm, the somewhat melancholic jazz music, and the fact that [[spoiler:he has a suitcase]], it's certainly not happy with the results.

* EatenAlive: [[spoiler: Duck Guy awakens to see his body cut open and his innards are being slowly pulled out and devoured by a can monster, giggling as he eats. Duck Guy can only gape and watch in horror as he's slowly eaten alive.]]

* EyeScream: As the puppets rot in the second episode, the Duck Guy's eye can be seen to have detached from its socket.

** The Food Band pretend to be friendly, but they ignore everything the main characters say, and it’s heavily implied they tricked Yellow Guy into [[spoiler: ''eating Duck Guy after harvesting the latter’s organs '''while he was still alive''''']].

** The Duck Guy's fingers get a nice close-up in "Time" as they rot away to expose muscles, veins, and eventually bones.
** Shows up again in "Death". [[spoiler:When proving that Duck Guy is dead, his finger gets snipped off. All that comes out is a bit of smoke. Then Yellow Guy tries it with his own finger, only for it to spit gouts of blood.]]

''[[spoiler:[Spinach Can turns into Duck Guy]]]''\\
'''[[spoiler:Duck Guy]]:''' [[spoiler:--fish on my tray? WHAT?! WHERE AM I?!??!]]

** In the fifth episode, when Duck Guy knocks down the camera [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere trying to escape]], you can see Red Guy's head in the microwave, Roy sitting on top of the wall of the set, and a shot of Red Guy just standing as it falls down, when Red Guy has been absent for almost the entire episode.

** Also in the sixth episode, Duck guy makes a very brief cameo before glitching and turning into the next teacher. If you pause it at the right time, you can see a hand inside of his body, presumably the one controlling the puppet.
** In the second episode, when Duck Guy is questioning if time is simply an illusion of our senses, the blackboard he points to is covered in humorously nonsensical diagrams and equations. Including one whose solution is a ''swastika''.

** Episode 3: Yellow Guy [[spoiler:[[AllJustADream wakes up from his dream of the cult]]]] and is discovered by his friends, who have been looking all over for him. Just as they offer him the last boiled egg from their picnic to cheer him up, [[spoiler:[[OrWasItADream a bloody caterpillar]] [[SurpriseCreepy emerges from the egg]], shouting "Father!" Duck Guy [[BookEnds smashes it with his flyswatter]].]]

** By the time of Episode 5, Duck Guy seems to have realized that the lessons always go horribly wrong. He's utterly terrified the whole time that he's around the Healthy Band, in contrast to his total comfort around Sketchbook, Tony, the Money Man, and Colin.

* GrossUpCloseUp: The organ cake in the first video, as well as the dead fish, Yellow Guy's [[EarAche bleeding ear]], the characters' [[RapidAging rapid rotting]] in the second video, the bloody chicken, eggs and the maggot in the third video, Colin's "digital mind" in the fourth video, and [[spoiler: the can eating Duck Guy's organs]] in the fifth video.

* IAmNotWeasel: Duck Guy refers to both a butterfly and a maggot as "pesky bee[s]". The Yellow Guy refers to Shrignold as "A little baby pigeon", despite him clearly being a butterfly.
* ImpededCommunication: In Episode 5, Red Guy keeps trying to contact Duck Guy, via the use of a telephone on set. However, every time the Duck Guy tries to answer, the antagonists of the episode take over, making it impossible for him to actually get the message. One such moment has the phone being turned into a sandwich in the next scene, confusing him and making it even harder to break free.

'''Duck Guy:''' Yes. If only there was ''some'' way to learn more information about this.\\

* JumpScare: Interestingly enough, The show ''doesn't'' utilize any [[JumpScare jumpscares]], since it focuses more on shocking the viewer rather than startling them. However, "Computers" does have a moment that may qualify: during the scene where Colin the Computer distorts reality in order to warp to his world, Duck Guy's face suddenly pops out (in close up) and glitches in front of the screen.

** In episode 5, the food band chant "You shouldn't eat food from a stranger's plate! A stranger's plate! A stranger's plate! A stranger's plate! A stranger's plate!". [[spoiler:It's implied that this is the point where they start feeding Duck Guy to Yellow Guy.]]

* MandatoryTwistEnding: The teacher in each installment always turns out to be EvilAllAlong. By the fifth, even Duck Guy seems to be aware of this. The sixth subverts the formula by having The Lamp not even bother with acting friendly, and just drowns Yellow Guy ForTheEvulz four lines into the song.

'''Duck Guy:''' I live in my house.

* MotorMouth: Duck Guy in the Kickstarter video.

** In "Creativity", Duck Guy writes "DEATH" on the table using potato stamps during the CREATIVITY EXPLOSION.

* NoNameGiven: none of the main characters’ names have been revealed, hence why they are known to fans as Red Guy, Yellow Guy, and Duck Guy. On the show, they simply refer to each other by pronouns or as “that one”, etcetera.
** In “Friendship” we find out Yellow’s name, [[TheUnreveal whatever it is]], is apparently quite long, as it takes Red Guy nearly a full minute to type out and is hyphenated. But his ''maiden name'' was '''“Rat Eyes”'''. Conversely, Duck Guy's real name took only a single button press to type out.

* OrWasItADream: In the final shot of "Time", [[spoiler: the entire sequence is revealed to be the TV show that Red Guy was waiting to watch... although you can still see the Duck Guy's rotting eyeball in the corner of the room.]]
** Happens again in "Love", [[spoiler:after Yellow Guy wakes up from his terrible nightmare about a cult trying to persuade him to join and find his "special one", his friends offer him an egg which hatches into a bloody worm-like creature that yells "Father!", before being smashed by Duck Guy.]]

'''Duck Guy''': Maybe we should look for our friend. Isn't that what friends do?

* SapientEatSapient: PlayedForDrama. [[spoiler:The ambiguously human Yellow Guy is forced to eat the remains of his aptly named friend, Duck Guy, in the fifth episode.]]

* ShameIfSomethingHappened: The Lamb Chop is vaguely menacing throughout: poking Duck Guy with a fork, putting his arm around him in a controlling fashion. He finally drives his veiled threat home by showing what happens if you eat "Show-offy" foods by throwing the model on the floor and stepping on it: "Oh no! It's all broken and on the floor!"

* ShipTease: Rather oddly for a show like this, DHMIS gives us this in "Electricity", where [[spoiler:during the blackout in the house, Red Guy rather nervously states that he enjoys 'looking at you [Duck Guy]', to which Duck Guy responds that he feels the same. Yellow Guy interrupts before this can go anywhere, however.]]
* ShowWithinAShow: At the end of "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 2", [[spoiler:the camera slowly zooms out back to the three puppets in the living room, implying that everything that just happened was the show they were planning to watch. [[MindScrew Maybe.]] It's worth noting that the Duck Guy's [[EyeScream rotten, fallen-out eyeball]] is still on the ground when everything goes back to normal. The portrait of the puppets representing "the past" in the first scene has changed to Tony's "The future", a frame with the word "nothing" written on the background.]]

* TheSmartGuy: Duck Guy was the one most shown as rational and even suggested the possibility that time is just a perception before being turned down.

* SomewhereAnEntomologistIsCrying: Duck Guy refers to a butterfly [[spoiler:(and later, a caterpillar)]] as a "bee," while Yellow Guy thinks it's a [[AllFlyersAreBirds baby pigeon]].

* SubvertedKidsShow: This series provides the trope page's current image for a reason. Each episode starts off relatively saccharine and gradually become more depraved. By episode 5, though, things are pretty creepy right from the start, with Yellow Guy and Duck Guy already starting to realise that something's wrong.

** In "Episode 3", There's a long, silent moment where Duck Guy does nothing but stare at the camera after speaking, just before the song starts up again, making the entire episode feel even more unsettling.

-->'''Duck Guy:''' Where did you get this game?\\

'''Duck Guy:''' I didn't say you did.

* ThatCloudLooksLike: In the first episode, the sketchbook has Red Guy, Yellow Guy, and Duck Guy look at the clouds out the window. In a very subtle nod to the series' overarching theme of how media instructs its audience to view the world around them, the cast initially don't find it very exciting, but then the sketchbook tells them to take a closer look, and they notice a cloud which starts to constantly change shapes.
-->'''Red Guy, Yellow Guy, and Duck Guy:''' I can see a hat! I can see a cat! I can see a bird with a baseball bat! I can see a dog! I can see a frog! I can see a ladder leaning on a log!

* TheUnreveal: Colin asks the characters where they live, what they like to eat, and what their names are. Duck Guy answers "[[CaptainObvious my house]]" to the first and Red Guy almost reveals his name, but he's interrupted.

** The fourth video has Colin, an anthropomorphic computer who introduces the puppets to the Digital World. But as the video progresses, Duck Guy and Yellow get caught up with exploring the world, and it turns out that Colin trapped them within the world in an endless loop. And unlike the previous videos, it's ''not'' just a dream or hallucination.
** The fifth video introduces The Healthy Band, a group of sociopathic food who don't even ''try'' to be affable around the puppets. When Duck Guy gets fed up with their "lesson," [[spoiler:The Healthy Band has their Cans kidnap him, dissect him alive, ''and then they force feed Duck Guy's remains to Yellow Guy'']].

** Episode 5 tops it: Yellow Guy and Duck Guy have grown more aware of their surroundings; the "Teachers" in this episode aren't even ''trying'' to hide their creepiness; Duck Guy finally cracks and desperately tries to escape only to be [[spoiler:killed and eaten alive, leaving Yellow Guy as the only one left]]; and to top it all off, it's implied at the credits that the mysterious phone calls being sent throughout the episode were sent by [[spoiler:Red Guy, who is still alive and now outside of their reality]].

** New Series, Episode 6, Electricity: [[spoiler: There is a staircase beyond the kitchen that we've never seen due to the angle. Upstairs? The Big Boys Room, where a larger Red Guy and Duck Guy sit studying TWO lessons at once. And another staircase? The Bigger Boys Room, where a hyperintelligent Red Guy and Duck Guy sit doing experiments, lacking any and all empathy for the creature that they've basically mutated beyond recognition. And the last staircase? An attic where an old woman named Lesley sits, playing the piano and playing with a dollhouse that controls the events of the house somehow.]] And the biggest Wham of this episode? [[spoiler: Yellow Guy is actually massively intelligent and kind with good batteries and has apparently met everyone he meets in the upper floors before.]]

** It happens again in "Time", when Duck Guy starts musing about time being "a concept of human perception" and Tony quite rudely interrupts him with his screeching beeps, [[EarAche causing Yellow Guy to bleed out of his ears.]]

*** This from Duck Guy:
---->''Duck Guy:''' No... [[RageBreakingPoint ENOUGH!]] ''[[AndIMustScream I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE!]]''"

** Halfway through 5, Duck Guy wakes up in a mysterious dark room. Eventually, we see that [[spoiler:his body had been sliced open, and his organs are being processed into canned food product.]]
*** And after that, we see a shot of Yellow Guy, [[spoiler: now obese, having eaten all of the cans containing Duck Guy.]]

* WistfulAmnesia: In the fifth video, Duck Guy and Yellow Guy have somehow been made to forget about [[spoiler:Red Guy]], but still sense that something is missing.

%% Since this keeps happening, I'll comment it in here. Potholing page quotes is not allowed. "Potholing" is adding links that are not direct references to something. In this case, adding SuddenlyShouting to text that isn't directly referencing that trope. If you see it on other pages, they are wrong and feel free to remove them. See https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Administrivia/WhatToPutAtTheTopOfAPage and https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Administrivia/SinkHole for more info.

** The day after the fourth episode's release, Duck Guy's name was [[https://instagram.com/p/07dMZYHzWI/ revealed]] [[http://jacksachs.tumblr.com/post/115203892499/ by]] CGI designer Jack Sachs.
* AllJustADream:
** [[spoiler:The third video's new characters and creepy hijinks, after the Yellow Guy runs off. The Red Guy and Duck Guy's subplot is real, though it is extremely low-key.]]
*** OrWasItADream: [[spoiler:The [[GainaxEnding emerging caterpillar]] at the end and the reappearance of the butterfly with the rest of the teachers in 6 imply that ''something'' went down.]]
** The finale plays around with this concept.
* AluminumChristmasTrees: Considering the weirdness of the series, you'd be surprised to learn that "Aspic" from episode 5 is a real food. It's a clear and gelatinous ingredient made from meat stock which is eaten on its own, or used to season and preserve meat in pies, mostly those of the pork variety.
* AmazingTechnicolourPopulation: The puppets are yellow, red, and green. [[spoiler: They change to green, blue, and red respectively at the end of episode six.]]
* AmbiguousSituation: In the first video, it's unclear whether Sketchbook intentionally drove the puppets insane or things just spiraled out of their control.
* AmbiguousTimePeriod: An apparently recent picture of the puppets is dated "1955," and they have an old-fashioned TV with dials and rabbit ears. They also have a laptop computer. [[spoiler:[[JustifiedTrope Justified]] by the illusory nature of the world they inhabit, which is seemingly manned by Roy.]]
* AnAesop: Some of the episodes of the TV series do take pains to convey valid and occasionally weighty lessons. Such as career disatisfaction and fulfillment in ''Jobs'', the rising grief over losing a loved one in ''Death'', and alienatingly toxic relationship behavior in ''Friendship''.

* AndIMustScream:
** Starting with the fourth episode, the puppets in "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared" are shown to be completely aware of past events (including rapidly aging and ''decomposing'' alive). The puppets being trapped in Colin's digital world and [[spoiler:Duck Guy's death]] also play with this trope.
** [[spoiler: "You made me die!" said by Yellow Guy, directed toward Tony when Red Guy starts messing with the terminal in episode 6. Really showcases how scary the situation is, if Yellow Guy crying "no more songs" in the beginning wasn't enough.]]

** Played straight in episode 5, when [[spoiler:Duck Guy]] is EatenAlive.

** All the puppets were rehauled one last time for the All4 series. Duck's head is rounder and his feathers a slightly lighter green instead of the black/green before, and Yellow Guy's body now has much more definition and a nice square shape compared to his previously slumpy appearance. Red Guy looks more like his original counterpart, the only change being his eye with have slightly longer eyelids connecting them to his skull instead of the perfect spheres from before.

** In "Friendship", after being annoyed to no end by Warren, Yellow Guy's "Shy Older Brother" excuses himself by saying he has to leave, breaks a window with his elbow... [[spoiler: and then proceeds to slit his throat with a shard instead of jumping out.]]

** The rock teacher in "Electricity" claims both that there only exists three types of rocks, AND that the sun is a rock itself.

*** It also possibly deconstructs the common children’s moral of “follow your dreams.” According to the theory, the in-universe show was created by Red Guy. It was his dream to create a children’s show, but because he [[spoiler:gains sponsorship from [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Roy]]]], it becomes warped and twisted. This shows that following your dreams won’t always turn out the way you want, especially if [[DealWithTheDevil you’re getting help from an untrustworthy individual who says they can make your dreams come true]].
** Episode 2 of the TV series, Death, seems to serve as one to the show itself as while most of the show is lessons themed around rather benign or cheerful topics like Time or Creativity and then spinning off into surprisingly dark directions brought about by boarderline supernatural beings serving as teachers, this episode focuses on an inherantly dark theme (death) and yet the epiode is one of the more lighthearted and comical episodes in the series and most of the horror elements are being done TO the teachers and supernatural elements due to the main trio's own sociopathy rather than the other way around. [[spoiler:The cast even ends up killing the coffin who was explaining death and possibly the replacement friend]].

->'''Duck Guy:''' Shut up. What? Don't turn on me. He ruined it. I’m never going to see that skeleton!\\
'''Red Guy:''' Oh, boo hoo, here we go, everyon-.\\
'''Yellow Guy:''' (smashes bottle on Duck Guy's head) I HATE YOU!\\
'''Red Guy:''' Wh-(smashes bottle on Yellow Guy's head)-I'M DEALING WITH IT!
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Happens every now and then, especially in episode 2.
-->'''Tony the Talking Clock:''' Watch it go round like a merry-go-round, going so fast [[ShapedLikeItself like a merry-go-round.]]\\\
'''Tony the Talking Clock''': Let's go on a journey, a journey through time! The time is changing all the time, it's time to go to '''TIME!'''
* DirtyOldMan: Yellow Guy's dad is extremely creepy and sketchy, saying nothing and only staring at the viewer with dead eyes. He's later shown viewing what appears to be a heavily-pixellated porn site. [[spoiler:And even later he turns out to be the BigBad.]]
* DisneyAcidSequence:
--> "And now let's all agree to never be creative again."
* DisproportionateRetribution: Merely insinuating that time is nothing more than a concept gets met with Tony screaming at the puppets till their ears bleed, to say nothing of what happens to them later.

* DownerBeginning: Episode 6 opens with Yellow Guy alone in his room, crying over the loss of his best friends after the events of 4 and 5. Before going to sleep, he looks at his buddies' now-empty beds and tearfully says, "Good night, guys. I miss you..."

-->'''GPS:''' Just shrivelled up I reckon !\\\

** In the All4 series, the guys seem now fully aware of the routine from the beginning, and casually expect it to happen : Yellow Guy says that a suitcase teacher with his own suitcase is "One of those guys who has one of himself", Red Guy and Duck see the appearance of a new Teacher as a return to normalcy when Yellow Guy is acting weird, and when Duck seems to forget about the routine, just seeing a miniature train stroll into the living room is enough to make him say "Oh right. THIS kind of thing."

** But who could forget our [[ComicBook/SpiderMan friendly neighborhood guide]], Sketchbook? From the first film alone, they ruined Yellow Guy's painting of a clown by smearing black ink on it just because they thought Yellow Guy wasn't following what they thought being creative was, and also notified him about green not being a creative colour when he wanted to use it.
** Shrignold keeps telling Yellow Guy that he is alone throughout the video, and also dismisses Yellow's ideas of what love is about. Near the end he also forces Yellow Guy to get married to his 'special one'.

* JumpScare: Interestingly enough, The show ''doesn't'' utilize any [[JumpScare jumpscares]], since it focuses more on shocking the viewer rather than startling them. However, ''4'' does have a moment that may qualify: during the scene where Colin the Computer distorts reality in order to warp to his world, Duck Guy's face suddenly pops out (in close up) and glitches in front of the screen.
* KarmaHoudini: All negative figures, great and small, in the videos seem to have gotten off scot-free, [[spoiler:at least until Episode 6, where [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty they're all destroyed]] and Roy’s plot is foiled]].
* KilledOffScreen: Once the power goes out from overusing electricity Red and Duck go to the basement only to discover the corpses of [[spoiler: Briefcase, Tony the clock, Roy, Sketchbook and [[MindScrew Duck]]]].

* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: After the CREATIVITY EXPLOSION from the things, the puppets are sitting around, confused as to what the hell just happened. Sketchbook says they should all agree to never be creative again.
* LighterAndSofter: The 2022 television series still features plenty of blood and SurrealHorror, but it takes a notably different tack than the earlier Internet shorts. Many of the more disturbing concepts are tempered out with a healthy dose of BlackComedy -- for instance, "Death" shows Duck slowly rotting away while BuriedAlive in a coffin, but he's not particularly bothered by it and the scene mostly focuses on him repeatedly annoying the Coffin with inane requests. In addition, not all of the teachers exist just to torment the main characters, and the main characters [[ThrowTheDogABone actually get to win against them more than once]].
* LostAesop: When the Yellow Guy is depressed that he can't find love in the third video, the Tree assure him that everyone has a special one, and sings to him about The Story of Michael, the loneliest boy in town. Michael was ugly, everyone called him a freak, and he lived on his own underground...and that's it. He doesn't find his special one, and yet they treat it like he did.

''(beat)''\\
'''Rabbit Boy:''' [[BlatantLies Even Michael]]!

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Downplayed in 6. [[spoiler:Red Guy takes off his clothes and walks on a stage to sing the Creativity Song, but the other Red Guys are more bothered by how bad the song is, while the nudity is simply referred passingly as "rude".]]
-->'''Red Guy Pianist''': "That's rude! No clothes."

* KilledOffScreen: Once the power goes out from overusing electricity Red and Duck go to the basement only to discover the corpses of [[spoiler: Briefcase, Tony the clock, Roy and [[MindScrew Duck]]]].

-->'''GPS:''' Just shrivelled up I guess !\\\

** All the puppets were rehauled one last time for the All4 series. Duck's head is rounder and his feathers a slightly lighter green instead of the black/green before, and Yellow Guy's body now has much more definition and a nice square shape compared to his previously slumpy appearance. Red Guy looks more like his original counterpart, the only change being his eye with have slightly longer eyelids connecting them to his skulls instead of the perfect spheres from before.