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* BadassDecay: Occurs to The Law the moment he steps away from a computer. A force of destruction in-game, in real life he is an insecure, egotistical, kind of stupid JerkJock whose popularity rests entirely on his FPS abilities. Of course, he gains it right back when get back into the game.
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* BadassDecay: Occurs to The Law the moment he steps away from a computer. A force of destruction in-game, in real life he is an insecure, egotistical, kind of stupid JerkJock whose popularity rests entirely on his FPS abilities. Of course, he gains it right back when get back into the game.
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* ReplacementScrappy: Scott Slanders views ShotBot 2.0 as this, saying that he hates him and rejecting the latter's offer of friendship.
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* ReplacementScrappy: Scott Slanders views ShotBot Shot Bot 2.0 in universe as this, saying that he hates him and rejecting the latter's offer of friendship.
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* ReplacementScrappy: Scott Slanders views ShotBot 2.0 as this, saying that he hates him and rejecting the latter's offer of friendship.
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*VomitIndiscretionShot: The Law pukes repeatedly in one instance where he is placed into a game.
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* ContrastMontage: Season 2 episode 6 has this for [[spoiler:Ki and Ted as they're down against their challenges to Ronin and Drift King, respectively. Rethinking the ArmorPiercingQuestion Ronin asked her earlier, Ki finds inspiration from every moment she's helped countless students going all the way back to where she helped Brian in season 1, and finds the HeroicSecondWind to defeat Ronin. At the same time, after spinning out in his race, Ted recalls Brian seemingly drifting away form him as a friend, culminating with Brian berating him for being needy in the previous episode. In his anger, he takes a shortcut that allows him to overtake and beat Drift King.]]
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* ContrastMontage: Season 2 episode 6 has this for [[spoiler:Ki and Ted as they're down against their challenges to Ronin and Drift King, respectively. Rethinking the ArmorPiercingQuestion Ronin asked her earlier, Ki finds inspiration from every moment she's helped countless students going all the way back to where she helped Brian in season 1, and finds the HeroicSecondWind to defeat Ronin. At the same time, after spinning out in his race, Ted recalls Brian seemingly drifting away form from him as a friend, culminating with Brian berating him for being needy in the previous episode. In his anger, he takes a shortcut that allows him to overtake and beat Drift King.]]
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* ContrastMontage: Season 2 episode 6 has this for [[spoiler:Ki and Ted as they're down against their challenges to Ronin and Drift King, respectively. Rethinking the ArmorPiercingQuestion Ronin asked her earlier, Ki finds inspiration from every moment she's helped countless students, going all the way back to where she helped Brian in season 1, and finds the HeroicSecondWind to defeat Ronin. At the same time, after spinning out in his race, Ted recalls every moment of Brian berating him for being needy and in his rage takes a shortcut that allows him to overtake and beat Drift King.]]
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* ContrastMontage: Season 2 episode 6 has this for [[spoiler:Ki and Ted as they're down against their challenges to Ronin and Drift King, respectively. Rethinking the ArmorPiercingQuestion Ronin asked her earlier, Ki finds inspiration from every moment she's helped countless students, students going all the way back to where she helped Brian in season 1, and finds the HeroicSecondWind to defeat Ronin. At the same time, after spinning out in his race, Ted recalls every moment of Brian seemingly drifting away form him as a friend, culminating with Brian berating him for being needy and in the previous episode. In his rage anger, he takes a shortcut that allows him to overtake and beat Drift King.]]
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* ColorWash: DeepImmersionGaming scenes are shot at 48 FPS, while scenes out of game are recorded at 24 FPS.
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* ColorWash: In season 2, DeepImmersionGaming scenes are shot at 48 FPS, while scenes out of game are recorded at 24 FPS. FPS.
* ContrastMontage: Season 2 episode 6 has this for [[spoiler:Ki and Ted as they're down against their challenges to Ronin and Drift King, respectively. Rethinking the ArmorPiercingQuestion Ronin asked her earlier, Ki finds inspiration from every moment she's helped countless students, going all the way back to where she helped Brian in season 1, and finds the HeroicSecondWind to defeat Ronin. At the same time, after spinning out in his race, Ted recalls every moment of Brian berating him for being needy and in his rage takes a shortcut that allows him to overtake and beat Drift King.]]
* ContrastMontage: Season 2 episode 6 has this for [[spoiler:Ki and Ted as they're down against their challenges to Ronin and Drift King, respectively. Rethinking the ArmorPiercingQuestion Ronin asked her earlier, Ki finds inspiration from every moment she's helped countless students, going all the way back to where she helped Brian in season 1, and finds the HeroicSecondWind to defeat Ronin. At the same time, after spinning out in his race, Ted recalls every moment of Brian berating him for being needy and in his rage takes a shortcut that allows him to overtake and beat Drift King.]]
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* {{Adorkable}}: In season 2, Wendell
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* CliffHanger: The end of season 2. Brian and Jenny are finally dating (and with Mary Matrix's approval no less) and Ki has decided to run for student body president against Shane Pizza. But Law jumps ship to a rival school, and Ted moves out of his dorm with Brian after taking Brian calling him needy to heart.
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* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Ki gets bored of everything eventually because of her incredible talent. This trope is realized when someone asks Ki what she wakes up for everyday.
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* FlippingTheBird: The Law as he [[spoiler: joins a rival team.]]
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* HesBack: The Law, after an entire season of humiliation and self pity, returns to being a badass.
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* FictionalHoliday: L33tmas, the VGHS-student-created holiday being celebrated in season 2 episode 5.
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* FictionalHoliday: L33tmas, the VGHS-student-created holiday being celebrated in season 2 episode 5. As the song on the radio in Brian's room describes it:
-->''"Well screw you, Calhoun" the students did say\\
"We'll just come up with our own holiday"\\
With the best parts of Christmas, Earth Day, Halloween\\
Cinco de Mayo and all in between\\
We'll carol 'til sundown and party 'til morn\\
And with a chug of sweet noobnog, L33tmas was born...''
-->''"Well screw you, Calhoun" the students did say\\
"We'll just come up with our own holiday"\\
With the best parts of Christmas, Earth Day, Halloween\\
Cinco de Mayo and all in between\\
We'll carol 'til sundown and party 'til morn\\
And with a chug of sweet noobnog, L33tmas was born...''
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* FictionalHoliday: L33tmas, the VGHS-student-created holiday being celebrated in season 2 episode 5.
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none of these need capitalizing
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* JerkassHasAPoint: Coach Matrix says having an Ace Coach is more important than having an Ace Player or an Ace Team. Sounds pretty egotistical... but guess who came up with the play that won the climactic match? If it weren't the "Special Delivery" things would likely have turned out more poorly for Brian.
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* JerkassHasAPoint: Coach Matrix says having an Ace Coach ace coach is more important than having an Ace Player ace player or an Ace Team.ace team. Sounds pretty egotistical... but guess who came up with the play that won the climactic match? If it weren't the "Special Delivery" things would likely have turned out more poorly for Brian.
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** The Law at one point threatens to squeeze someone's head between his thighs, a reference to one of [[Franchise/StreetFighter Zangief's]] lines in Film/WreckItRalph. He even slaps his thigh for emphasis.
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** The Law at one point threatens to squeeze someone's head between his thighs, a reference to one of [[Franchise/StreetFighter Zangief's]] lines in Film/WreckItRalph.Disney/WreckItRalph. He even slaps his thigh for emphasis.
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** The Law at one point threatens to squeeze someone's head between his thighs, a reference to one of [[Franchise/StreetFighter Zangief's]] lines in Film/WreckItRalph. He even slaps his thigh for emphasis.
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** However, if the VGHS ranking system was based on the Elo system, like some online competitive gaming ladders, Annihilist's challenge to Brian D could be considered a last-ditch gambit to ''save'' himself from expulsion. By taking on a player who vastly outclassed him, a victory - regardless of how remote the possibility - would grant him enough points to avoid expulsion and also provide him with a decent points "buffer" to avoid an identical situation for some time. The only drawback was that Brian was on-form.
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** However, if the VGHS ranking system was based on the Elo system, like some online competitive gaming ladders, Annihilist's challenge to Brian D could be considered a [[spoiler:a last-ditch gambit to ''save'' himself from expulsion. By taking on a player who vastly outclassed him, a victory - regardless of how remote the possibility - would grant him enough points to avoid expulsion and also provide him with a decent points "buffer" to avoid an identical situation for some time. ]] The only drawback was that Brian was on-form.
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** However, if the VGHS ranking system was based on the Elo system, like some online competitive gaming ladders, Annihilist's challenge to Brian D could be considered a last-ditch gambit to ''save'' himself from expulsion. By taking on a player who vastly outclassed him, a victory - regardless of how remote the possibility - would grant him enough points to avoid expulsion and also provide him with a decent points "buffer" to avoid an identical situation for some time. The only drawback was that Brian was on-form.
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** He later makes an appearance as one of the VGHS teachers.
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** He later makes an appearance as one of the VGHS teachers. As something of a partial (if somewhat distant) callback, he teaches classes centering around a Guitar Hero-esque rhythm game.
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** Seeing as Brian spins and drops into a crouch in order to dodge the bullet from Law's personalised Desert Eagle, his camera could have been thrown off-centre by the movements required to do so. As well as activating iron-sights, the raising of his assault rifle could easily be explained by "looking" upward in order to level himself out, as the "lookspring" mechanic of snapping the viewpoint back to a floor-parallel/straight ahead state has been phased out of multiplayer FPS games. This could be an alternative explanation as to why he moved the mouse up before firing, as opposed to an inverted Y-axis setting.
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* DrillSergeantNasty: Mary Matrix qualifies. The regiment she puts her players through seems more like athletics training than gaming.
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* DrillSergeantNasty: Mary Matrix qualifies. The regiment regimen she puts her players through seems more like athletics training than gaming.gaming.
* DueToTheDead: After the [[HeroicSacrifice heroic sacrifice]] performed by [[spoiler: Shot Bot, The Law "closes" his electronic eyes. He then asks if anyone in the crowd will honor Shot Bot's efforts as a journalist by opening the flash drive containing evidence of The Law's framing: the last story Shot Bot investigated.]]
* DueToTheDead: After the [[HeroicSacrifice heroic sacrifice]] performed by [[spoiler: Shot Bot, The Law "closes" his electronic eyes. He then asks if anyone in the crowd will honor Shot Bot's efforts as a journalist by opening the flash drive containing evidence of The Law's framing: the last story Shot Bot investigated.]]
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** Games Dean does [[HeelFaceTurn get better later]], when he and Brian are on the same team in Episode 9. When two other teammies chew out Brian, thinking he's going to screw everyone else over, Games defends him with a reference to Episode 6.
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** Games Dean does [[HeelFaceTurn get better later]], when he and Brian are on the same team in Episode 9. When two other teammies teammates chew out Brian, thinking he's going to screw everyone else over, Games defends him with a reference to Episode 6.
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* GameBreakingBug: Two on the "Purgatorio" driving simulator. The first of which was actually billed as a "feature"; the machine closes up around the player when they start playing, and only opens if they win a race. Drift King states that someone died because of this, which is why the game was discontinued and so hard to get a hold of. The second is one of the virtual opponents in the game. Normally, if the player wins a race, they are able to claim a toy version of that car and leave the sim. But one of the cars was bugged so that when the player tries to claim it, the game resets. [[spoiler:Ted discovers that it actually has a different "win" condition; just mimic what it does and keep up with it, and you get the toy and are able to leave]].
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* GameBreakingBug: Two on the "Purgatorio" driving simulator. The first of which was actually billed as a "feature"; the machine closes up around the player when they start playing, and only opens if they win a race. Drift King states There's an urban legend that someone died because of this, this (Drift King implies its untrue), which is why the game was discontinued and so hard to get a hold of. The second is one of the virtual opponents in the game. Normally, if the player wins a race, they are able to claim a toy version of that car and leave the sim. But one of the cars was bugged so that when the player tries to claim it, the game resets. [[spoiler:Ted discovers that it actually has a different "win" condition; just mimic what it does and keep up with it, and you get the toy and are able to leave]].
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* PetTheDog: Despite being a jerk to pretty much everyone, Calhoun has a moment where he advises Brian after Brian has snapped and yelled at Ki, Jenny, and Ted.
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* PaperThinDisguise: Shot Bot's disguise as "Rebecca Barbara" in season 2 episode 5. The Law is fooled by it [[CargoShip and even falls for the disguise]] [[spoiler:while Shane Pizza had already seen through it and dropped the reveal of an unbelieving Law halfway through the episode.]]
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* PaperThinDisguise: Shot Bot's disguise as "Rebecca Barbara" in season 2 episode 5. The Law is fooled by it [[CargoShip and even falls for the disguise]] [[spoiler:while Shane Pizza had already seen through it and dropped the reveal of on an unbelieving Law halfway through the episode.]]
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** The Law does this in season two ''[[ParodiedTrope while in nothing but his underwear]]'' after [[spoiler: Shock Bot dies saving him from the dunk tank, but not without managing to reveal the fact that the Law was framed for cheating.]]
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** The Law does this in season two ''[[ParodiedTrope while in nothing but his underwear]]'' after [[spoiler: Shock Bot dies saving him from the dunk tank, but not without managing to reveal the fact evidence proving that the Law was framed for cheating.cheating to the world.]]
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** The Law does this in season two ''[[ParodiedTrope while in nothing but his underwear]]'' after [[spoiler: Shock Bot dies saving him from the dunk tank, but not without managing to reveal the fact that the Law was framed for cheating.]]
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* LaserGuidedKarma: Season two opens with the Law [[spoiler: on trial for hacking and making a total fool of himself at his press conference--which is on national television.]]
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* LaserGuidedKarma: Season two opens with the Law [[spoiler: on trial for hacking and making a total fool of himself at his press conference--which is on national television. After going through some rather humiliating hijinks and becoming a better person, he experiences the rare positive variant when the word gets out that he was framed.]]
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** And Cliffy B as one of the [[spoiler: Jurors at Law's trial]]
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** And Cliffy B as one of the [[spoiler: Jurors jurors at Law's trial]]trial.]]
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* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:At the climax of season 2 episode 5, Shot Bot destroys the dunk tank Law's trapped in to save him, but dies due to the exposure of water.]]
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* PaperThinDisguise: Shot Bot's disguise as "Rebecca Barbara" in season 2 episode 5. The Law is fooled by it [[CargoShip and even falls for the disguise]] [[spoiler:while Shane Pizza had already seen through it and dropped the reveal of an unbelieving Law halfway through the episode.]]
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Edited background to be closer to what was originally mentioned.
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[[TwentyMinutesInTheFuture In the near future]], video games have become the most popular spectator sport. The only way to catch up to the improbably skilled professional players is to graduate from the eponymous Video Game High School. The story starts when young Brian D. finds himself catapulted into infamy when the next big star, known only as The Law, loses to him in a pub-stomp gone wrong. Now Brian has to put up with the pressures of high school, as well as the constant threat that any defeat could leave him expelled.
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''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ScNjBd118 Video Game High School]]'' is the latest project from Website/YouTube star Creator/FreddieWong.
[[TwentyMinutesInTheFuture In the near future]], video games have become the most popular spectator sport. The only way to catch up to the improbably skilled professional players is to graduate from the eponymous Video Game High School. The story starts when young Brian D. finds himself catapulted into infamy when the next big star, known only as The Law, loses to him in a pub-stomp gone wrong. Now Brian has to put up with the pressures of high school, as well as the constant threat that any defeat could leave him expelled.
New episodes are released every week on Freddie's site, http://www.rocketjump.com/ and the week after on his [=YouTube=] channel. Currently on Season 2.
!! This series provides examples of:
* AbusiveParents: Freddie Wong is very mean to Ted. Mary Matrix is one to Jenny, but more in a harsh, neglectful way.
* TheAce: The Law, captain of the varsity FPS team, in season 1. In season 2, it's Shane Pizza, who's captain of the RTS team, head RA [[spoiler:and the person who probably framed Law for aimbotting.]]
* AlphaBitch: Jenny [[SubvertedTrope subverts]] this: She's known as one of the best gamers in the school, she's extremely popular, judging by the fact that nearly everyone in school shows up to one of her parties, and she dates The Law, VGHS's equivalent to the popular JerkJock. At first glance, everything about her ''screams'' haughty AlphaBitch. However, she's actually one of the only students to show Brian the slightest bit of kindness or respect.
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: The Law.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: [[spoiler: Brian gets expelled for, in the Dean's words: [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown assaulting a student, inciting a brawl]], and stealing [[NiceHat a hat]].]]
* ArtisticLicenseUniversityAdmissions: Brian D gets accepted to the school after he surprisingly defeats their star student "The Law" in an online match.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Averted with Ted; despite being the RA, he apparently frequently gets picked on. His very first appearance is him getting pushed around, in fact.
** He can, however, apparently invoke this occasionally.
--> '''Ted''': (to the guys hassling Brian) Whoa, whoa, you guys can't fight in my hallway. ({{Beat}}) RUMBLE IN THE RUMPUS ROOM!
** Played straight with The Law, who is the varsity FPS team captain and the best player in the school. Until Season 2 that is...
* BadassMustache: The Law gains one out of nowhere, and it stays for the remainder of the episode.
** [[RuleOfFunny The only reason he gets it is because he's wearing a shirt that says "Like My Stache?".]] You can tell he's just ''begging'' for someone to ask about it, but no one does until much later.
*** The Season 2 titles imply that this is going to be a RunningGag with The Law.
* BerserkButton: In episode 9, [[spoiler: The Law gets PISSED when J/V is about to win and goes on a rampage, slaughtering nearly everyone on JV.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes / BewareTheSillyOnes: Brian and Ted may be a little out of it, but don't doubt their skill. Brian manages to kill The Law in ''Field of Fire'' and has shown decent skill in other games, and Ted is rather good at racing games.
** Plus, in Ted's case, it's heavily implied that he's beaten Drift King before, or at the very least been a challenge.
** Ki Swan as well. She's generally rather kind, but don't insult her friends.
--> ''[after Ki and a teacher played a fighting game, which Ki won]''
--> '''Ki''': ''[cheerfully]'' Let's play again!
--> '''Teacher''': ''[chuckling]'' No thanks, I think I've made myself enough of a Brian D today...
--> '''Ki''': ''[pauses as her face becomes one of annoyance, then speaks in a more forceful tone]'' Let's play again.
--> ''[starts the game again and launches an attack that instantly reduces the teacher to half health]''
* BigBad: The Law, definitely.
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: Just as Brian is about to deliberately lose a game against Games Dean and get himself expelled, Jenny joins the game on Brian's team, bails him out, gives him a RousingSpeech telling him DoNotGoGentle, and convinces him to actually fight back and stay at the school.]]
** In episode 7, Ki convinces the Drift King and his followers to help Brian and Ted after they get in a fight with The Law and his thugs.
--> '''Drift King''': [[IncomingHam TO WAR!]]
* BlandNameProduct: Just for the games. For example, they don't play ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'', they play ''Field of Fire''.
** Strange case for VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution clone Dance Ex Machina, the arcade cabinet actually has Konami branding on it.
* BookEnds: Brian killed The Law once in Field of Fire and got into VGHS due to a failed pubstomp involving a grenade on his head in Episode 1. In Episode 9, [[spoiler: Brian kills The Law using an extension of the same pubstomp fiasco that got him into VGHS, [[UpToEleven except against an army of 6,]] and ends with The Law getting killed by 2 shots to the leg and a grenade planted on his chest.]]
* ButtMonkey: Brian, Brian, Brian. Also Ted, to a much lesser extent.
* ButtonMashing: Judging by episode 2, reloading a gun is quite complicated in ''Field of Fire''.
** Averted in Episode 1: The close-ups on Brian's hands correspond to the correct key presses to pull off his move. First, he presses D to back up and cause the grenade on his head to drop (assuming he uses ESDF controls rather than WASD), then hits the space bar to trigger his melee attack, punching the grenade away. Finally, he mouses up (possibly because he plays using Inverted Mouse controls?) to aim at the grenade, then presses the Mouse 1 button to fire.
* TheCameo: Burnie and Joel of Creator/RoosterTeeth fame appears in the start of season two as one of the Principal's bosses.
** Also in season two, the King of Cameos himself: StanLee!
** As well as The Nerdist Podcast's Chris Hardwick as a newsreader.
** And Cliffy B as one of the [[spoiler: Jurors at Law's trial]]
* CastingGag: Freddie Wong as Ted Wong's father. Jimmy and Freddie Wong are real life brothers, both [=YouTubers=] that frequently receive comments about their resemblance to each other.
* CatchPhrase: The Law's, "LAW READY FOR THIS?"
* CerebusSyndrome: The wacky high school comedy hijinks pretty much end after Episode 5, since that's when [[spoiler:Brain gets his ass kicked by The Law in the scrimmage match and is on the verge of expulsion.]] Not to mention at this point Ted and Ki are also forced to start dealing with their own personal problems.
* ChekhovsGun: The copy of ''Dance Ex Machina'' that Brian threw out his window with a note to Jenny in it. [[spoiler: Games Dean finds it and taunts Brian with it, pushing the kid [[LetsGetDangerous a bit too far]].]]
** The flagpole with {{Mario}}-style blocks in front of it finally gets used in Episode 7.
* ChewingTheScenery: Drift King.
* CloudCuckooLander: Ted normally, but Brian sometimes takes this.
** The Law may beat them both, his harassment of Brian frequently segueing into hilarious insanity. His out-of-nowhere BadassMoustache, for instance.
* CollegeIsHighSchoolPart2: Inverted. VGHS is a high school with similarities to University life. For example, each floor has a RA and students can earn scholarships.
* ColorWash: DeepImmersionGaming scenes are shot at 48 FPS, while scenes out of game are recorded at 24 FPS.
* CoolLoser: Brian is skilled, funny, and becomes famous seemingly ''worldwide'' in the span of what appears to be no more than a couple of days. Yet at VGHS, he gets picked on by pretty much everyone.
** Possibly justified: he has a ''huge'' rep after killing Law, and almost everyone is convinced that it was a flash-in-the-pan moment. They're not interested in being friends with Brian, they're interested in being the one that kicks his ass, as a kind of surrogate butt-kicking to the Law. They can't beat the Law, but they ''can'' beat Brian, who beat the Law, and that's almost as good.
* ComfortFood: [[spoiler: After being found guilty of hacking and becoming Brian's roommate, The Law seems to be seeking solace in various foods such as Taco Bell products, cereal, and popcorn. The Law indulges in disgusting or unsanitary ways, prompting several students to report that he is being gross in the common area.]]
* CreatorCameo: Freddie Wong is mentioned as being Ted's father. The actor who plays Ted is Freddie's younger brother.
** He later makes an appearance as one of the VGHS teachers.
** Brandon Laatsch appears as an unnamed member of the Junior Varsity FPS team. The credits list him as Rico, which is a ShoutOut to several of their previous Website/YouTube shorts.
* CurbstompBattle: The Law turns every single game he deigns to join into this with insulting ease.
** Ki does this to a teacher, scoring a perfect win after a [[DeathOfAThousandCuts 4016 hit combo]].
* TheDanza: Freddie Wong
* DawsonCasting: The main characters are played by 20 something actors.
** Freddie Wong is Ted Wong's father, but the Wong brothers were born just a year apart! Depending on the time of year, they are actually the ''same age''.
** Most, if not all of the actors are in their 20s and 30s.
* DeadpanSnarker: Brian when he's not being a CloudCuckooLander. Jenny and The Law also have their own moments of this.
** In the behind the scenes videos, Josh Blaylock (Brian's actor) is seen being a real life example of this. For example, after shooting the scene where Brian gets attacked by his cat, it's stated that Noah (the cat) is actually very calm and not nearly as violent as Cheetoh. Then:
--> '''Josh''': [[SarcasmMode You know, working with dangerous animals on set is always a hazard here at VGHS.]]
* DeepImmersionGaming: PlayedForLaughs when Brian goes AFK or his keys get stuck and it's obvious his head isn't communicating with his character's body.
** When he goes AFK its just his mouth that's not communicating with his character's body - his in-game expression remains entirely neutral even while being mauled by his pet cat in the real world.
* {{Defictionalization}}: Season 2, Episode 3 involves a game Ki made; ''High School Video Game: The Video Game High School Video Game''. It's basically an 8-bit interactive version of Season 1. And it is entirely playable in RealLife, [[http://www.rocketjump.com/channels/vghs-season-1-the-flash-game here]].
* {{Determinator}}: Jenny tells a story about how her pregnant mother went into labour in the middle of an important game. She stayed there and continued playing, and won, before finally giving birth to Jenny.
* DisproportionateRetribution: After getting killed ''once'' by Brian in a random game, The Law makes it his personal mission to make Brian's life at VGHS as miserable as possible, both in and out of the game.
** Inverted when Brian gets let back into school for beating someone in a video game, even though the reason he was expelled was for physical assault.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: VGHS students chug energy drinks when they party.
* DoNotCallMePaul: In season 2 episode 3, Law has this moment with a pixelated reflection of himself that calls him by his real name, [[spoiler:Lawrence Pemperton]].
-->'''Law:''' Never say THAT NAME TO ME! ''[[RageAgainstTheReflection [Law punches the mirror]]]''
* DoNotGoGentle: [[spoiler: Jenny gives a speech of this kind to Brian while the latter is trying to "leave of his own accord", convincing him to fight back.]]
* DownerEnding: Episode[[spoiler: 5. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Because Brian goes after The Law instead of following Jenny's orders,]] [[HumiliationConga Brian suffers embarrassing kill after kill, until the game ends.]] What really makes this a downer is the somber music after the game is over, Brian's team all but passing him by without a word (especially Jenny), Ki Swan handing her bet over and leaving with Ted, Brian's score becoming dangerously close to the expulsion mark, and the episode ending with The Law mock-shooting Brian with his fingers.]]
** Episode [[spoiler:7. Brian's expelled from VGHS after a fight with the Law, Freddie tells Ted he never wants to see him again, Ted breaks up with Ki, Ki is signed up for Freddie's class instead of Fighting Games, Jenny is not promoted to Varsity FPS and blames Brian for it, and the episode ends as she calls him an "asshole"]].
* DrillSergeantNasty: Mary Matrix qualifies. The regiment she puts her players through seems more like athletics training than gaming.
* EmbarrassingFirstName: It's revealed in Season 2, Episode 2 that The Law's real name is [[spoiler: Lawrence.]]
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Being loaded with references to video games, people at VGHS aren't called by their names. They go by their in-game handles, which refer to which games they play and or their skill in said games. To name a couple, Drift King, [[SpellMyNameWithAThe The Law]].
** Freshman at VGHS will either arrive at the school with their moniker or go by their given name.
** Brian is also an example of HisNameReallyIsBarkeep with his username ''[=BrianD=]''.
** The FPS Fundamentals teacher, Ace (which ''could'' be his real name, but the nickname theme still holds).
* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler: It turns out that the Law was framed for cheating.]]
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The Agreement Corner consists of four people who present a topic, have one state an opinion, and then have the others all agree with that one person. They seem to agree very... passionately.
* FinalBoss: The Law.
* FreudianTrio: Ted, Brian, and Ki as TheId, TheEgo, and TheSuperego, respectively.
* FunWithSubtitles: When The Law's verdict is being handed down on TV, the bottom of the screen has a spot labeled "Breaking" presumably for [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin breaking news]]. But what's written there is "The Law, Guilty". So it ends up reading "Breaking The Law".
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: While Drift King talks to Ted in episode 6, Brian is in the background trying to get a bag of chips that has become stuck in the vending machine.
* GameBreakingBug: Two on the "Purgatorio" driving simulator. The first of which was actually billed as a "feature"; the machine closes up around the player when they start playing, and only opens if they win a race. Drift King states that someone died because of this, which is why the game was discontinued and so hard to get a hold of. The second is one of the virtual opponents in the game. Normally, if the player wins a race, they are able to claim a toy version of that car and leave the sim. But one of the cars was bugged so that when the player tries to claim it, the game resets. [[spoiler:Ted discovers that it actually has a different "win" condition; just mimic what it does and keep up with it, and you get the toy and are able to leave]].
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
--> '''The Law''': I've got the girl of your dreams ''S-ing My D''. Styling My 'Do.
* GracefulLoser: Zigzagged with The Law. At first he seems to be perfectly fine with Brian besting him and even ''proud'' of him...only for it to turn out this is just an act and he now harbors a deep hatred towards Brian. Later, he plays this trope straight when he and Brian go head-to-head in ''Dance Ex Machina'', where Brian loses but becomes the life of the party (see TheRunnerUpTakesItAll below).
* HannibalLecture: The Law's speech to Brian in episode 9 enters this territory.
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Games Dean, after [[DefeatMeansFriendship losing to Brian]], stands up for him in episode 9 when other players are picking on him.]]
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Brian and Ted always have each other's backs.
* HoldYourHippogriffs: Brian says he has wanted to play on a VGHS team since he was "E For Everyone".
* HollywoodGameDesign: Ki Swan can bash out simple games over the course of a conversation.
* HypercompetentSidekick: Ki is freakishly skilled at pretty much every kind of game, and can even make new ones over the span of a short conversation. But she takes on a support role, letting Brian and Ted take the limelight.
* ImStandingRightHere: At Jenny's party, Brian remarks to a girl how much of a loser Jenny is for owning ''Dance Ex Machina''. Guess who said girl turns out to be.
** He did that on purpose though.
* IronicEcho: The Dean points out a couple of times to Brian that "it's all about the game". He even has a plaque on his desk of it. [[spoiler: In episode 9, Brian says "it's all about the game" to the Dean, convincing him to let him try out when the Dean was trying to stop him since he was expelled.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: Both the Law and Freddie Wong. The Law goes out of his way to try and ruin Brain's life [[ForTheEvulz just because he can]] and admits that he doesn't think much of Jenny. Meanwhile, [[ManipulativeBastard Freddie manipulates Ted]] into sticking with rhythm games, knowing that he's terrible at them because he always wants his son to live in his shadow. Also, Games Dean qualifies. In Episode 2, he steals Brian's hat. Then in Episode 4, he steals Brian's cake and makes people think it's his. Last of all, in episode 5, he challenges Brian [[SmugSnake VERY SMUGLY]] after he is told to leave the school. Then when he is defeated, Games Dean spreads a rumor that he saw Brian and Jenny making out.
** Freddie Wong takes new levels in Season 2, where he refuses to give Ki homework despite her desire to learn, and he won't kick her out of his class either and purposely looks for an excuse to give her a failing grade. All of this is done purely out of spite.
*** In addition to all the other crap he puts Ted through, it's revealed that he makes Ted pay $5000 a month for child support.
** So is Dean Calhoun. His motivations for hating Brian throughout the series have been slim to none, he clearly supports a varsity team who makes the lives of a new student insufferable, and his moment in Episode 9 is based on a poor realization of fairness.
** Games Dean does [[HeelFaceTurn get better later]], when he and Brian are on the same team in Episode 9. When two other teammies chew out Brian, thinking he's going to screw everyone else over, Games defends him with a reference to Episode 6.
-->'''Games:''' "Hey. I've seen these two cats meow. It's about to be a fancy feast tonight. (to Brian) You plan on bringing the thunder?"
-->'''Brian:''' "You know it."
-->'''Games:''' "Good enough for me."
* JerkassHasAPoint: Coach Matrix says having an Ace Coach is more important than having an Ace Player or an Ace Team. Sounds pretty egotistical... but guess who came up with the play that won the climactic match? If it weren't the "Special Delivery" things would likely have turned out more poorly for Brian.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Drift King, despite being presented as a minor antagonist to Ted, doesn't actually seem that bad and appears to just want to get Ted into racing games. It's his two followers that seem to be the ''real'' problems.
** [[spoiler: Games Dean in Episode 9. When one of Brian's teammates [[WhatTheHellHero calls him out for being expelled]] and says he has no chance on their team, [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Games Dean defends Brian,]] despite mocking him in Episode 6 and spreading a rumor about Brian and Jenny in Episode 7.]]
* LargeHam: The Law. All the way.
** Drift King even more so. It's likely that he calls Ted "Theodore" just as an excuse to have more syllables to shout.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Season two opens with the Law [[spoiler: on trial for hacking and making a total fool of himself at his press conference--which is on national television.]]
* LoopholeAbuse: [[spoiler: Because Brian signed up for the try outs before he was expelled, his name was still in the system, technically meaning he could play. Dean Calhoun almost stopped the abuse, however, before Brian pulled out the IronicEcho.]]
** Done in Season 2, Episode 1. Ki reads all the school's rule books to find a loophole that will let her be given homework again, but fails to find one. However, this gives her enough knowledge of the rules that let her use a different loophole: When the Varsity team is no longer allowed to compete in the nationals, she determines that the Junior Varsity team can take their place.
* MomentKiller: Oh goddamnit, Ted.
* MoodWhiplash: In episode 2, Brian defeats Annihilist and the crowd is cheering. [[spoiler: That is, until the rankings change and Annihilist is revealed to have been automatically expelled. The scene becomes very quiet and sad when that is revealed.]]
** A much bigger example in episode 7: [[spoiler: Brian gets a CrowningMomentOfAwesome by beating up the law in a fistfight, getting his stolen ID back by jumping and grabbing it from a flagpole, and [[CrowningMomentOfFunny stealing Games Dean's hat]]. Meanwhile, Ted, Ki, and Drift King (and his cronies) help fight off a bunch of The Law's followers trying to stop Brian from getting his ID back. This is ''instantly'' followed by Brian being expelled for "assaulting a student, inciting a brawl, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking stealing a hat]]".]]
* MundaneMadeAwesome: The entire premise of the show is based on society entirely revolving around video games. Calhoun also takes his job too seriously.
* MyCard: Upon naming Ki as the replacement RA for the Frag Floor, head RA Shane Pizza hands her one of his business cards. It's even got a response for pointing out his name is dumb: [[NoYou "You're dumb."]]
* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: Brian is asked to run through the pit in Episode 3. He takes only 2 grenades and his tomahawk to do so, and nearly makes it through with clever grenade tossing and a fist to the face of one of the projections. Then he tosses his tomahawk at the last projection, and turns away, sure that he won...[[spoiler: Brian misses his mark and hits the wall, [[CrowningMomentofFunny which leads to the tomahawk bouncing off and falling on Brian's head.]]]]
* NeverLiveItDown: [[spoiler:Brian's loss to The Law in the scrimmage match]]. It gets so bad that his name becomes an in-universe [[MemeticMutation meme]] for failure.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer portrayed the series in a very dramatic light, almost like some kind of epic feature film. So far, the series has been mostly comedic, with its few dramatic moments being so peppered with funny moments it's nigh-impossible to take them seriously.
** That's because most of the scenes in the trailer are from the latter half of the series, after the CerebusSyndrome has kicked in.
* NiceGuy: Subverted with The Law. When Brian is having trouble tossing out his more sentimental gear, The Law comes up to him and gives him a very friendly pep talk. Before promptly destroying Brian's old gear and screaming that ''he'' is VGHS.
* NiceHat: Games Dean wears one. [[spoiler: Brian steals it near the middle of episode 7.]]
** Worth noting that the hat was originally Brian's but he threw it away. Cue Games Dean appearing behind the crowd wearing Brian's hat, being complimented on it (even by people who'd just seen Brian toss it) and getting a lovely lady on each arm before smugly walking off.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: It's very likely that Ted making the Brianpalooza posters is what caused most of the school to hate Brian, thinking ''he'' made them and was self-centered.
** Brian trying to [[spoiler:go after The Law rather than follow Jenny's orders during the scrimmage match arguably was what caused their team to lose the game.]]
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: We never see how well Ki and Ted do in their tryouts. All we know is that Ted did well enough to get onto the racing game team and Ki was good enough at rhythm games to earn Freddie Wong's grudging respect and a spot on his team.
* OhCrap: The Law when he realizes Brian is about to kill him in ''Field of Fire''. Also the other players when they realize The Law has entered their game.
** Everybody's faces at the end of season 2 episode 1, where [[spoiler:a disgraced The Law becomes Brian's new roommate.]]
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Most of the side and minor characters, such as Annihilist and Games Dean's crew.
* OnlySaneMan: Jenny when she's around. Brian when she's not.
* [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard The Opposing Team Are Cheating Bastards]]: In every ''Field of Fire'' match, the opposing teams always seem to have more players and resources than the VGHS team. On particularly egregious example is one game where the VGHS team gets a pair of [=ATVs=], and the other team gets [[TankGoodness A TANK]].
* ParentalNeglect: Only the back of Brian's mom's head is seen as she plays an MMO, and she is implied to be so detached that she relies on Brian to fill her snack bowl. Her existence isn't brought up again until season 2 episode 3; Brian composes an email introducing himself as "your irl son" and wondering when she might come to visit.
* PrecisionFStrike: The Law to Brian, referring to Jenny trying to get on the Varsity team:
--> '''The Law''': Her boyfriend doesn't give a ''shit''.
* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: Toward the end of season 2 episode 3, Law finally beat's Ki's new game after spending the entire episode struggling to do so. He celebrates on top of the dorms dressed in a bathrobe and his underpants, and Games Dean unfortunately gets an eyeful of the visual:
--> '''Games Dean:''' Aw dude, Law, put some pants on man! Make an effort! Do something!\\
'''The Law:''' NEVER!
* PunchAWall: Law punches and breaks a mirror when he imagines his reflection is mocking him.
* RageAgainstTheReflection: Law is in the throes of a VillainousBSOD, and sees an 8-bit version of himself in the mirror which claims to represent the best version of himself that ever existed (basically, him from Season 1). It mocks him by calling him by his real name, [[spoiler:Lawrence Pemperton]], causing him to punch and break the mirror in a rage.
* RealityEnsues: [[spoiler:Brian stands up to The Law and beats him. Afterwards, he is expelled for assaulting a student, inciting a brawl, and stealing a hat.]]
** [[spoiler:Brian tried to use the fact that his record was still in the system to play in the tournament, only for the dean to nearly stop him. Programming oversights do not get to override being expelled.]]
* RealLifeRelative: Real life brothers Freddie and Jimmy play a hilarious father-son dynamic.
* RedOniBlueOni: Throughout the whole series, Ted and Brian, as well as Brian and Jenny. In the early episodes, Brian and Ki. In the later episodes, Ted and Ki.
* TheRunnerUpTakesItAll: Played with; when Brian and The Law battle each other in ''Dance Ex Machina'', The Law wins flawlessly while Brian does mediocre at best. Halfway through, realizing this, Brian gives up on dancing to the game and just starts doing disco dancing for the crowd. This results in him losing, but he becomes the life of the party, while The Law's victory is pretty much ignored.
** When Ted and the Drift King race for possession of Ki Swan's game prototype, Ted loses, but the King gives back her game anyway.
*** Except the Drift King said that he would get the game prototype back if he raced, no condition on win or lose.
* SelfDeprecation: Co-creator Creator/FreddieWong stars as the father of Ted Wong. He's neglectful, borderline-abusive, and acts quite a lot like [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/high-expectations-asian-father High Expectations Asian Father]], to such a degree that it would be UnfortunateImplications otherwise.
* SequelHook: The first season ends right when Brian makes the JV team, and hasn't even gone though his first year of VGHS yet.
* SeriousBusiness: Video games are serious business in the VGHS-verse. Losing a game at VGHS can get you ''expelled from the school''. Hacking or cheating is considered a ''criminal offense''.
* ShoutOut: Episode 3 references 'nope.avi' from the VideoGame/TeamFortress2 fanbase, and 'Son, I am disappoint' from [[ImageBoards 4Chan]].
** There's tons of hidden references which only make sense if you're a gamer.
** GrimFandango gets a sly nod during the arcade sequence, with Brian even wearing Manny's iconic white suit.
** Casablanca gets a shout out during the arcade sequence as well with a female patron being told that Brian never plays with the customers, much like Rick never drinks with his.
** [[RebelWithoutACause Games Dean's name and outfit]] is probably [[SmallReferencePools too old a reference for the target audience.]]
*** Also look at his team's names when he versus Brian, paying off James Dean, Sal Mineo and Natalie Wood.
** The way Brain retrieves his school ID from the top of the flagpole is a direct homage to ''SuperMarioBros''.
** The main games take splace in the [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto Grand Theft Auditorium]].
** The Dorm Rules include the following (this also counts as FreezeFrameBonus):
-->[[FightClub #1 - You do not talk about VGHS.]]
-->[[FightClub #7 - Matches will go on as long as they have to.]]
-->[[TheMatrix #27 - The body cannot live without the mind.]]
* ShowyInvincibleHero: The Law thinks he's one of these.
** Actually, he is this to a ridiculous degree. He seems to have absolute battlefield awareness, to the point of [[HighSpeedMissileDodge dodging a locked missile]] fired at him at point-blank from behind, has [[ImprobableAimingSkills virtually 100% hit rate]] despite never bothering to actually aim, and no one seems capable of actually hitting him or don't even bother to shoot at him, regardless of his apparent disdain for cover. This has led some people to believe that The Law might not be so high ranked due to skill alone, and is actually cheating.[[spoiler: The premiere of Season 2 shows The Law indicted and convicted for using an aimbot.]]
** Actually, the Law is more of a Showy Invincible Villain.
* ShutUpHannibal: After Games Dean taunts Brian once more when the latter is in danger of being expelled, Brian gets ''pissed,'' yells at Games Dean, and then challenges him to a game of ''Field of Fire''. [[spoiler: Though it turns out Brian was planning on losing the game and getting himself expelled. Thankfully, Jenny saves him.]]
* StylisticSuck: Games Dean's 'The Daily Dean' show, where he talks about the game he lost to Brian and Jenny and clan try-outs. Complete with bad editing and poorly placed special effects for the sake of looking cool.
* SuicidalOverconfidence: Annihilist challenges Brian D to a game because he's a noob (freshman). His own in-school score is so low that [[spoiler: losing automatically gets him expelled.]] He was apparently so certain of his own victory, [[WhatAnIdiot he never even considered what would happen if he lost.]]
* [[spoiler: TheyDo: Brian and Jenny hook up at the end of the third episode of Season 2.]]
* ThrowTheDogABone: After being the ButtMonkey for five straight episodes, Brian finally catches a break in episode six: [[spoiler: Jenny pulls him out of a HeroicBSOD, he kicks Games Dean's ass in ''Field of Fire'', and he appears to actually be friends with Jenny now rather than just looking like some obsessed fanboy.]]
* TimeSkip: PlayedForLaughs. The entire arcade sequence takes place just a day after Brian leaves, but everyone treats it like he's been gone for a long time.
-->'''Brian:''' "Ted? How long has it been? 20? 24 hours?"
-->'''Ted:''' "You haven't aged a day!"
** Hilariously, only Ki doesn't seem to be affected by this
-->'''Brian:''' "So, Ki, it's been a while"
-->'''Ki:''' "It's been one day, Brian."
-->'''Brian:''' "Yeah, okay."
* TookALevelInBadass: In Episode 7, in order to help Brian, Ted attacks The Law's thugs and does a good job of beating them down.
* [[TrademarkFavouriteFood Trademark Favorite Beverage]]: Everyone drinks [[MustHaveCaffeine Monster]], constantly.
** Subverted once with Ted, though, who gets a can out of a vending machine, opens it, and pulls out a pizza.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: We know thanks to the trailer that [[spoiler: Brian will be refused from the VGHS team, at least temporarily]].
** Also, judging by Brian and Jenny's interactions in the trailer, we knew they'd become friends at some point, as well as learning ahead of time that Jenny was The Law's girlfriend.
*** The opening titles for Season 2 spoiled [[spoiler:The Law's return to VGHS]].
* TrainingFromHell: Courtesy of Mary Matrix. By gaming standards at least.
* {{Troperiffic}}: It's the standard high school drama as it's existed since the eighties... ''[[RecycledInSpace but with games]]''!
* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Season 2 has Ted working on a paper, showing the current year to be 2018.
* UnflinchingWalk: [[spoiler:Brian's final showdown against the Law]]
* VerbalTic: Alliterator always adds annoying alliteration- he enjoys rhyming the beginning of his words. And he's part of the JerkJock varsity team. Brian's probably right that most people hate him.
** He finally drops it for a line in Season 2's first episode after being cut from the Varsity FPS team (the tic annoyed the new coach). "Well, it was fun while it lasted; goodbye everybody!"
* VillainDecay: Very intentionally invoked with The Law. After being the first season's BigBad, he takes losing again to Brian and being convicted of aimbotting ''very'' poorly. He's now reduced to being an annoying pain in everybody's ass.
* WeaponOfChoice: Brian's quite skilled with tomahawks and grenades. The Law has his custom gold-plated pistols, and Games Dean loves his [=SMGs=].
** StealthPun: Twice during the series, we can see The Law's gold-plated handgun has a name engraved on the side - in a blink and you'll miss it moment, it can be clearly seen as [[spoiler: "The Long Arm"]].
* WellDoneSonGuy: Ted constantly tries to improve at rhythm games despite the fact that he's terrible at them, all in an effort to impress his dad. He's so obssessed with this mission that he actively tries to avoid the game genre he actually is good at: racing games. As of Season 2, Jenny fits into this as well.
* WhamLine: Season 2 episode 4 reveals The Law has a [[TheBigBoard big board]] titled [[spoiler:"Who Framed The Law?", strongly implying that he ''really wasn't aimbotting'']].
* WishFulfillment: This is a show about a guy who gets to go to a magic school for video games, is the most popular kid in his circle of friends, is famous for playing FPS, and the most popular girl in the school (and the girlfriend of his bully) takes an immediate interest in him. .... Yeah.
* WorkOffTheDebt: [[spoiler: Brian loses his scholarship because of The Law's hacking fiasco. He owes over 100 thousand and is made to become a janitor to pay his way through school.]]
* WorstNewsJudgmentEver: Before [=BrianD=]s domination of gaming champ The Law hit the news cycle, the current top story was the unknown whereabouts of the President of the United States. Perhaps there's a lot of things going wrong in the world, and that's why there's so much societal focus on gaming (also why there's the entirely non-critical show, ''Agreement Corner'').
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: After [[spoiler:Brian loses to The Law in the scrimmage match]], the school "kindly" asks him to [[spoiler:deliberately lose a game and get himself expelled since they believe they had overestimated his potential]].
----
[[TwentyMinutesInTheFuture In the near future]], video games have become the most popular spectator sport. The only way to catch up to the improbably skilled professional players is to graduate from the eponymous Video Game High School. The story starts when young Brian D. finds himself catapulted into infamy when the next big star, known only as The Law, loses to him in a pub-stomp gone wrong. Now Brian has to put up with the pressures of high school, as well as the constant threat that any defeat could leave him expelled.
New episodes are released every week on Freddie's site, http://www.rocketjump.com/ and the week after on his [=YouTube=] channel. Currently on Season 2.
!! This series provides examples of:
* AbusiveParents: Freddie Wong is very mean to Ted. Mary Matrix is one to Jenny, but more in a harsh, neglectful way.
* TheAce: The Law, captain of the varsity FPS team, in season 1. In season 2, it's Shane Pizza, who's captain of the RTS team, head RA [[spoiler:and the person who probably framed Law for aimbotting.]]
* AlphaBitch: Jenny [[SubvertedTrope subverts]] this: She's known as one of the best gamers in the school, she's extremely popular, judging by the fact that nearly everyone in school shows up to one of her parties, and she dates The Law, VGHS's equivalent to the popular JerkJock. At first glance, everything about her ''screams'' haughty AlphaBitch. However, she's actually one of the only students to show Brian the slightest bit of kindness or respect.
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: The Law.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: [[spoiler: Brian gets expelled for, in the Dean's words: [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown assaulting a student, inciting a brawl]], and stealing [[NiceHat a hat]].]]
* ArtisticLicenseUniversityAdmissions: Brian D gets accepted to the school after he surprisingly defeats their star student "The Law" in an online match.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Averted with Ted; despite being the RA, he apparently frequently gets picked on. His very first appearance is him getting pushed around, in fact.
** He can, however, apparently invoke this occasionally.
--> '''Ted''': (to the guys hassling Brian) Whoa, whoa, you guys can't fight in my hallway. ({{Beat}}) RUMBLE IN THE RUMPUS ROOM!
** Played straight with The Law, who is the varsity FPS team captain and the best player in the school. Until Season 2 that is...
* BadassMustache: The Law gains one out of nowhere, and it stays for the remainder of the episode.
** [[RuleOfFunny The only reason he gets it is because he's wearing a shirt that says "Like My Stache?".]] You can tell he's just ''begging'' for someone to ask about it, but no one does until much later.
*** The Season 2 titles imply that this is going to be a RunningGag with The Law.
* BerserkButton: In episode 9, [[spoiler: The Law gets PISSED when J/V is about to win and goes on a rampage, slaughtering nearly everyone on JV.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes / BewareTheSillyOnes: Brian and Ted may be a little out of it, but don't doubt their skill. Brian manages to kill The Law in ''Field of Fire'' and has shown decent skill in other games, and Ted is rather good at racing games.
** Plus, in Ted's case, it's heavily implied that he's beaten Drift King before, or at the very least been a challenge.
** Ki Swan as well. She's generally rather kind, but don't insult her friends.
--> ''[after Ki and a teacher played a fighting game, which Ki won]''
--> '''Ki''': ''[cheerfully]'' Let's play again!
--> '''Teacher''': ''[chuckling]'' No thanks, I think I've made myself enough of a Brian D today...
--> '''Ki''': ''[pauses as her face becomes one of annoyance, then speaks in a more forceful tone]'' Let's play again.
--> ''[starts the game again and launches an attack that instantly reduces the teacher to half health]''
* BigBad: The Law, definitely.
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: Just as Brian is about to deliberately lose a game against Games Dean and get himself expelled, Jenny joins the game on Brian's team, bails him out, gives him a RousingSpeech telling him DoNotGoGentle, and convinces him to actually fight back and stay at the school.]]
** In episode 7, Ki convinces the Drift King and his followers to help Brian and Ted after they get in a fight with The Law and his thugs.
--> '''Drift King''': [[IncomingHam TO WAR!]]
* BlandNameProduct: Just for the games. For example, they don't play ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'', they play ''Field of Fire''.
** Strange case for VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution clone Dance Ex Machina, the arcade cabinet actually has Konami branding on it.
* BookEnds: Brian killed The Law once in Field of Fire and got into VGHS due to a failed pubstomp involving a grenade on his head in Episode 1. In Episode 9, [[spoiler: Brian kills The Law using an extension of the same pubstomp fiasco that got him into VGHS, [[UpToEleven except against an army of 6,]] and ends with The Law getting killed by 2 shots to the leg and a grenade planted on his chest.]]
* ButtMonkey: Brian, Brian, Brian. Also Ted, to a much lesser extent.
* ButtonMashing: Judging by episode 2, reloading a gun is quite complicated in ''Field of Fire''.
** Averted in Episode 1: The close-ups on Brian's hands correspond to the correct key presses to pull off his move. First, he presses D to back up and cause the grenade on his head to drop (assuming he uses ESDF controls rather than WASD), then hits the space bar to trigger his melee attack, punching the grenade away. Finally, he mouses up (possibly because he plays using Inverted Mouse controls?) to aim at the grenade, then presses the Mouse 1 button to fire.
* TheCameo: Burnie and Joel of Creator/RoosterTeeth fame appears in the start of season two as one of the Principal's bosses.
** Also in season two, the King of Cameos himself: StanLee!
** As well as The Nerdist Podcast's Chris Hardwick as a newsreader.
** And Cliffy B as one of the [[spoiler: Jurors at Law's trial]]
* CastingGag: Freddie Wong as Ted Wong's father. Jimmy and Freddie Wong are real life brothers, both [=YouTubers=] that frequently receive comments about their resemblance to each other.
* CatchPhrase: The Law's, "LAW READY FOR THIS?"
* CerebusSyndrome: The wacky high school comedy hijinks pretty much end after Episode 5, since that's when [[spoiler:Brain gets his ass kicked by The Law in the scrimmage match and is on the verge of expulsion.]] Not to mention at this point Ted and Ki are also forced to start dealing with their own personal problems.
* ChekhovsGun: The copy of ''Dance Ex Machina'' that Brian threw out his window with a note to Jenny in it. [[spoiler: Games Dean finds it and taunts Brian with it, pushing the kid [[LetsGetDangerous a bit too far]].]]
** The flagpole with {{Mario}}-style blocks in front of it finally gets used in Episode 7.
* ChewingTheScenery: Drift King.
* CloudCuckooLander: Ted normally, but Brian sometimes takes this.
** The Law may beat them both, his harassment of Brian frequently segueing into hilarious insanity. His out-of-nowhere BadassMoustache, for instance.
* CollegeIsHighSchoolPart2: Inverted. VGHS is a high school with similarities to University life. For example, each floor has a RA and students can earn scholarships.
* ColorWash: DeepImmersionGaming scenes are shot at 48 FPS, while scenes out of game are recorded at 24 FPS.
* CoolLoser: Brian is skilled, funny, and becomes famous seemingly ''worldwide'' in the span of what appears to be no more than a couple of days. Yet at VGHS, he gets picked on by pretty much everyone.
** Possibly justified: he has a ''huge'' rep after killing Law, and almost everyone is convinced that it was a flash-in-the-pan moment. They're not interested in being friends with Brian, they're interested in being the one that kicks his ass, as a kind of surrogate butt-kicking to the Law. They can't beat the Law, but they ''can'' beat Brian, who beat the Law, and that's almost as good.
* ComfortFood: [[spoiler: After being found guilty of hacking and becoming Brian's roommate, The Law seems to be seeking solace in various foods such as Taco Bell products, cereal, and popcorn. The Law indulges in disgusting or unsanitary ways, prompting several students to report that he is being gross in the common area.]]
* CreatorCameo: Freddie Wong is mentioned as being Ted's father. The actor who plays Ted is Freddie's younger brother.
** He later makes an appearance as one of the VGHS teachers.
** Brandon Laatsch appears as an unnamed member of the Junior Varsity FPS team. The credits list him as Rico, which is a ShoutOut to several of their previous Website/YouTube shorts.
* CurbstompBattle: The Law turns every single game he deigns to join into this with insulting ease.
** Ki does this to a teacher, scoring a perfect win after a [[DeathOfAThousandCuts 4016 hit combo]].
* TheDanza: Freddie Wong
* DawsonCasting: The main characters are played by 20 something actors.
** Freddie Wong is Ted Wong's father, but the Wong brothers were born just a year apart! Depending on the time of year, they are actually the ''same age''.
** Most, if not all of the actors are in their 20s and 30s.
* DeadpanSnarker: Brian when he's not being a CloudCuckooLander. Jenny and The Law also have their own moments of this.
** In the behind the scenes videos, Josh Blaylock (Brian's actor) is seen being a real life example of this. For example, after shooting the scene where Brian gets attacked by his cat, it's stated that Noah (the cat) is actually very calm and not nearly as violent as Cheetoh. Then:
--> '''Josh''': [[SarcasmMode You know, working with dangerous animals on set is always a hazard here at VGHS.]]
* DeepImmersionGaming: PlayedForLaughs when Brian goes AFK or his keys get stuck and it's obvious his head isn't communicating with his character's body.
** When he goes AFK its just his mouth that's not communicating with his character's body - his in-game expression remains entirely neutral even while being mauled by his pet cat in the real world.
* {{Defictionalization}}: Season 2, Episode 3 involves a game Ki made; ''High School Video Game: The Video Game High School Video Game''. It's basically an 8-bit interactive version of Season 1. And it is entirely playable in RealLife, [[http://www.rocketjump.com/channels/vghs-season-1-the-flash-game here]].
* {{Determinator}}: Jenny tells a story about how her pregnant mother went into labour in the middle of an important game. She stayed there and continued playing, and won, before finally giving birth to Jenny.
* DisproportionateRetribution: After getting killed ''once'' by Brian in a random game, The Law makes it his personal mission to make Brian's life at VGHS as miserable as possible, both in and out of the game.
** Inverted when Brian gets let back into school for beating someone in a video game, even though the reason he was expelled was for physical assault.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: VGHS students chug energy drinks when they party.
* DoNotCallMePaul: In season 2 episode 3, Law has this moment with a pixelated reflection of himself that calls him by his real name, [[spoiler:Lawrence Pemperton]].
-->'''Law:''' Never say THAT NAME TO ME! ''[[RageAgainstTheReflection [Law punches the mirror]]]''
* DoNotGoGentle: [[spoiler: Jenny gives a speech of this kind to Brian while the latter is trying to "leave of his own accord", convincing him to fight back.]]
* DownerEnding: Episode[[spoiler: 5. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Because Brian goes after The Law instead of following Jenny's orders,]] [[HumiliationConga Brian suffers embarrassing kill after kill, until the game ends.]] What really makes this a downer is the somber music after the game is over, Brian's team all but passing him by without a word (especially Jenny), Ki Swan handing her bet over and leaving with Ted, Brian's score becoming dangerously close to the expulsion mark, and the episode ending with The Law mock-shooting Brian with his fingers.]]
** Episode [[spoiler:7. Brian's expelled from VGHS after a fight with the Law, Freddie tells Ted he never wants to see him again, Ted breaks up with Ki, Ki is signed up for Freddie's class instead of Fighting Games, Jenny is not promoted to Varsity FPS and blames Brian for it, and the episode ends as she calls him an "asshole"]].
* DrillSergeantNasty: Mary Matrix qualifies. The regiment she puts her players through seems more like athletics training than gaming.
* EmbarrassingFirstName: It's revealed in Season 2, Episode 2 that The Law's real name is [[spoiler: Lawrence.]]
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Being loaded with references to video games, people at VGHS aren't called by their names. They go by their in-game handles, which refer to which games they play and or their skill in said games. To name a couple, Drift King, [[SpellMyNameWithAThe The Law]].
** Freshman at VGHS will either arrive at the school with their moniker or go by their given name.
** Brian is also an example of HisNameReallyIsBarkeep with his username ''[=BrianD=]''.
** The FPS Fundamentals teacher, Ace (which ''could'' be his real name, but the nickname theme still holds).
* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler: It turns out that the Law was framed for cheating.]]
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The Agreement Corner consists of four people who present a topic, have one state an opinion, and then have the others all agree with that one person. They seem to agree very... passionately.
* FinalBoss: The Law.
* FreudianTrio: Ted, Brian, and Ki as TheId, TheEgo, and TheSuperego, respectively.
* FunWithSubtitles: When The Law's verdict is being handed down on TV, the bottom of the screen has a spot labeled "Breaking" presumably for [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin breaking news]]. But what's written there is "The Law, Guilty". So it ends up reading "Breaking The Law".
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: While Drift King talks to Ted in episode 6, Brian is in the background trying to get a bag of chips that has become stuck in the vending machine.
* GameBreakingBug: Two on the "Purgatorio" driving simulator. The first of which was actually billed as a "feature"; the machine closes up around the player when they start playing, and only opens if they win a race. Drift King states that someone died because of this, which is why the game was discontinued and so hard to get a hold of. The second is one of the virtual opponents in the game. Normally, if the player wins a race, they are able to claim a toy version of that car and leave the sim. But one of the cars was bugged so that when the player tries to claim it, the game resets. [[spoiler:Ted discovers that it actually has a different "win" condition; just mimic what it does and keep up with it, and you get the toy and are able to leave]].
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
--> '''The Law''': I've got the girl of your dreams ''S-ing My D''. Styling My 'Do.
* GracefulLoser: Zigzagged with The Law. At first he seems to be perfectly fine with Brian besting him and even ''proud'' of him...only for it to turn out this is just an act and he now harbors a deep hatred towards Brian. Later, he plays this trope straight when he and Brian go head-to-head in ''Dance Ex Machina'', where Brian loses but becomes the life of the party (see TheRunnerUpTakesItAll below).
* HannibalLecture: The Law's speech to Brian in episode 9 enters this territory.
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Games Dean, after [[DefeatMeansFriendship losing to Brian]], stands up for him in episode 9 when other players are picking on him.]]
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Brian and Ted always have each other's backs.
* HoldYourHippogriffs: Brian says he has wanted to play on a VGHS team since he was "E For Everyone".
* HollywoodGameDesign: Ki Swan can bash out simple games over the course of a conversation.
* HypercompetentSidekick: Ki is freakishly skilled at pretty much every kind of game, and can even make new ones over the span of a short conversation. But she takes on a support role, letting Brian and Ted take the limelight.
* ImStandingRightHere: At Jenny's party, Brian remarks to a girl how much of a loser Jenny is for owning ''Dance Ex Machina''. Guess who said girl turns out to be.
** He did that on purpose though.
* IronicEcho: The Dean points out a couple of times to Brian that "it's all about the game". He even has a plaque on his desk of it. [[spoiler: In episode 9, Brian says "it's all about the game" to the Dean, convincing him to let him try out when the Dean was trying to stop him since he was expelled.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: Both the Law and Freddie Wong. The Law goes out of his way to try and ruin Brain's life [[ForTheEvulz just because he can]] and admits that he doesn't think much of Jenny. Meanwhile, [[ManipulativeBastard Freddie manipulates Ted]] into sticking with rhythm games, knowing that he's terrible at them because he always wants his son to live in his shadow. Also, Games Dean qualifies. In Episode 2, he steals Brian's hat. Then in Episode 4, he steals Brian's cake and makes people think it's his. Last of all, in episode 5, he challenges Brian [[SmugSnake VERY SMUGLY]] after he is told to leave the school. Then when he is defeated, Games Dean spreads a rumor that he saw Brian and Jenny making out.
** Freddie Wong takes new levels in Season 2, where he refuses to give Ki homework despite her desire to learn, and he won't kick her out of his class either and purposely looks for an excuse to give her a failing grade. All of this is done purely out of spite.
*** In addition to all the other crap he puts Ted through, it's revealed that he makes Ted pay $5000 a month for child support.
** So is Dean Calhoun. His motivations for hating Brian throughout the series have been slim to none, he clearly supports a varsity team who makes the lives of a new student insufferable, and his moment in Episode 9 is based on a poor realization of fairness.
** Games Dean does [[HeelFaceTurn get better later]], when he and Brian are on the same team in Episode 9. When two other teammies chew out Brian, thinking he's going to screw everyone else over, Games defends him with a reference to Episode 6.
-->'''Games:''' "Hey. I've seen these two cats meow. It's about to be a fancy feast tonight. (to Brian) You plan on bringing the thunder?"
-->'''Brian:''' "You know it."
-->'''Games:''' "Good enough for me."
* JerkassHasAPoint: Coach Matrix says having an Ace Coach is more important than having an Ace Player or an Ace Team. Sounds pretty egotistical... but guess who came up with the play that won the climactic match? If it weren't the "Special Delivery" things would likely have turned out more poorly for Brian.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Drift King, despite being presented as a minor antagonist to Ted, doesn't actually seem that bad and appears to just want to get Ted into racing games. It's his two followers that seem to be the ''real'' problems.
** [[spoiler: Games Dean in Episode 9. When one of Brian's teammates [[WhatTheHellHero calls him out for being expelled]] and says he has no chance on their team, [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Games Dean defends Brian,]] despite mocking him in Episode 6 and spreading a rumor about Brian and Jenny in Episode 7.]]
* LargeHam: The Law. All the way.
** Drift King even more so. It's likely that he calls Ted "Theodore" just as an excuse to have more syllables to shout.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Season two opens with the Law [[spoiler: on trial for hacking and making a total fool of himself at his press conference--which is on national television.]]
* LoopholeAbuse: [[spoiler: Because Brian signed up for the try outs before he was expelled, his name was still in the system, technically meaning he could play. Dean Calhoun almost stopped the abuse, however, before Brian pulled out the IronicEcho.]]
** Done in Season 2, Episode 1. Ki reads all the school's rule books to find a loophole that will let her be given homework again, but fails to find one. However, this gives her enough knowledge of the rules that let her use a different loophole: When the Varsity team is no longer allowed to compete in the nationals, she determines that the Junior Varsity team can take their place.
* MomentKiller: Oh goddamnit, Ted.
* MoodWhiplash: In episode 2, Brian defeats Annihilist and the crowd is cheering. [[spoiler: That is, until the rankings change and Annihilist is revealed to have been automatically expelled. The scene becomes very quiet and sad when that is revealed.]]
** A much bigger example in episode 7: [[spoiler: Brian gets a CrowningMomentOfAwesome by beating up the law in a fistfight, getting his stolen ID back by jumping and grabbing it from a flagpole, and [[CrowningMomentOfFunny stealing Games Dean's hat]]. Meanwhile, Ted, Ki, and Drift King (and his cronies) help fight off a bunch of The Law's followers trying to stop Brian from getting his ID back. This is ''instantly'' followed by Brian being expelled for "assaulting a student, inciting a brawl, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking stealing a hat]]".]]
* MundaneMadeAwesome: The entire premise of the show is based on society entirely revolving around video games. Calhoun also takes his job too seriously.
* MyCard: Upon naming Ki as the replacement RA for the Frag Floor, head RA Shane Pizza hands her one of his business cards. It's even got a response for pointing out his name is dumb: [[NoYou "You're dumb."]]
* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: Brian is asked to run through the pit in Episode 3. He takes only 2 grenades and his tomahawk to do so, and nearly makes it through with clever grenade tossing and a fist to the face of one of the projections. Then he tosses his tomahawk at the last projection, and turns away, sure that he won...[[spoiler: Brian misses his mark and hits the wall, [[CrowningMomentofFunny which leads to the tomahawk bouncing off and falling on Brian's head.]]]]
* NeverLiveItDown: [[spoiler:Brian's loss to The Law in the scrimmage match]]. It gets so bad that his name becomes an in-universe [[MemeticMutation meme]] for failure.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer portrayed the series in a very dramatic light, almost like some kind of epic feature film. So far, the series has been mostly comedic, with its few dramatic moments being so peppered with funny moments it's nigh-impossible to take them seriously.
** That's because most of the scenes in the trailer are from the latter half of the series, after the CerebusSyndrome has kicked in.
* NiceGuy: Subverted with The Law. When Brian is having trouble tossing out his more sentimental gear, The Law comes up to him and gives him a very friendly pep talk. Before promptly destroying Brian's old gear and screaming that ''he'' is VGHS.
* NiceHat: Games Dean wears one. [[spoiler: Brian steals it near the middle of episode 7.]]
** Worth noting that the hat was originally Brian's but he threw it away. Cue Games Dean appearing behind the crowd wearing Brian's hat, being complimented on it (even by people who'd just seen Brian toss it) and getting a lovely lady on each arm before smugly walking off.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: It's very likely that Ted making the Brianpalooza posters is what caused most of the school to hate Brian, thinking ''he'' made them and was self-centered.
** Brian trying to [[spoiler:go after The Law rather than follow Jenny's orders during the scrimmage match arguably was what caused their team to lose the game.]]
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: We never see how well Ki and Ted do in their tryouts. All we know is that Ted did well enough to get onto the racing game team and Ki was good enough at rhythm games to earn Freddie Wong's grudging respect and a spot on his team.
* OhCrap: The Law when he realizes Brian is about to kill him in ''Field of Fire''. Also the other players when they realize The Law has entered their game.
** Everybody's faces at the end of season 2 episode 1, where [[spoiler:a disgraced The Law becomes Brian's new roommate.]]
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Most of the side and minor characters, such as Annihilist and Games Dean's crew.
* OnlySaneMan: Jenny when she's around. Brian when she's not.
* [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard The Opposing Team Are Cheating Bastards]]: In every ''Field of Fire'' match, the opposing teams always seem to have more players and resources than the VGHS team. On particularly egregious example is one game where the VGHS team gets a pair of [=ATVs=], and the other team gets [[TankGoodness A TANK]].
* ParentalNeglect: Only the back of Brian's mom's head is seen as she plays an MMO, and she is implied to be so detached that she relies on Brian to fill her snack bowl. Her existence isn't brought up again until season 2 episode 3; Brian composes an email introducing himself as "your irl son" and wondering when she might come to visit.
* PrecisionFStrike: The Law to Brian, referring to Jenny trying to get on the Varsity team:
--> '''The Law''': Her boyfriend doesn't give a ''shit''.
* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: Toward the end of season 2 episode 3, Law finally beat's Ki's new game after spending the entire episode struggling to do so. He celebrates on top of the dorms dressed in a bathrobe and his underpants, and Games Dean unfortunately gets an eyeful of the visual:
--> '''Games Dean:''' Aw dude, Law, put some pants on man! Make an effort! Do something!\\
'''The Law:''' NEVER!
* PunchAWall: Law punches and breaks a mirror when he imagines his reflection is mocking him.
* RageAgainstTheReflection: Law is in the throes of a VillainousBSOD, and sees an 8-bit version of himself in the mirror which claims to represent the best version of himself that ever existed (basically, him from Season 1). It mocks him by calling him by his real name, [[spoiler:Lawrence Pemperton]], causing him to punch and break the mirror in a rage.
* RealityEnsues: [[spoiler:Brian stands up to The Law and beats him. Afterwards, he is expelled for assaulting a student, inciting a brawl, and stealing a hat.]]
** [[spoiler:Brian tried to use the fact that his record was still in the system to play in the tournament, only for the dean to nearly stop him. Programming oversights do not get to override being expelled.]]
* RealLifeRelative: Real life brothers Freddie and Jimmy play a hilarious father-son dynamic.
* RedOniBlueOni: Throughout the whole series, Ted and Brian, as well as Brian and Jenny. In the early episodes, Brian and Ki. In the later episodes, Ted and Ki.
* TheRunnerUpTakesItAll: Played with; when Brian and The Law battle each other in ''Dance Ex Machina'', The Law wins flawlessly while Brian does mediocre at best. Halfway through, realizing this, Brian gives up on dancing to the game and just starts doing disco dancing for the crowd. This results in him losing, but he becomes the life of the party, while The Law's victory is pretty much ignored.
** When Ted and the Drift King race for possession of Ki Swan's game prototype, Ted loses, but the King gives back her game anyway.
*** Except the Drift King said that he would get the game prototype back if he raced, no condition on win or lose.
* SelfDeprecation: Co-creator Creator/FreddieWong stars as the father of Ted Wong. He's neglectful, borderline-abusive, and acts quite a lot like [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/high-expectations-asian-father High Expectations Asian Father]], to such a degree that it would be UnfortunateImplications otherwise.
* SequelHook: The first season ends right when Brian makes the JV team, and hasn't even gone though his first year of VGHS yet.
* SeriousBusiness: Video games are serious business in the VGHS-verse. Losing a game at VGHS can get you ''expelled from the school''. Hacking or cheating is considered a ''criminal offense''.
* ShoutOut: Episode 3 references 'nope.avi' from the VideoGame/TeamFortress2 fanbase, and 'Son, I am disappoint' from [[ImageBoards 4Chan]].
** There's tons of hidden references which only make sense if you're a gamer.
** GrimFandango gets a sly nod during the arcade sequence, with Brian even wearing Manny's iconic white suit.
** Casablanca gets a shout out during the arcade sequence as well with a female patron being told that Brian never plays with the customers, much like Rick never drinks with his.
** [[RebelWithoutACause Games Dean's name and outfit]] is probably [[SmallReferencePools too old a reference for the target audience.]]
*** Also look at his team's names when he versus Brian, paying off James Dean, Sal Mineo and Natalie Wood.
** The way Brain retrieves his school ID from the top of the flagpole is a direct homage to ''SuperMarioBros''.
** The main games take splace in the [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto Grand Theft Auditorium]].
** The Dorm Rules include the following (this also counts as FreezeFrameBonus):
-->[[FightClub #1 - You do not talk about VGHS.]]
-->[[FightClub #7 - Matches will go on as long as they have to.]]
-->[[TheMatrix #27 - The body cannot live without the mind.]]
* ShowyInvincibleHero: The Law thinks he's one of these.
** Actually, he is this to a ridiculous degree. He seems to have absolute battlefield awareness, to the point of [[HighSpeedMissileDodge dodging a locked missile]] fired at him at point-blank from behind, has [[ImprobableAimingSkills virtually 100% hit rate]] despite never bothering to actually aim, and no one seems capable of actually hitting him or don't even bother to shoot at him, regardless of his apparent disdain for cover. This has led some people to believe that The Law might not be so high ranked due to skill alone, and is actually cheating.[[spoiler: The premiere of Season 2 shows The Law indicted and convicted for using an aimbot.]]
** Actually, the Law is more of a Showy Invincible Villain.
* ShutUpHannibal: After Games Dean taunts Brian once more when the latter is in danger of being expelled, Brian gets ''pissed,'' yells at Games Dean, and then challenges him to a game of ''Field of Fire''. [[spoiler: Though it turns out Brian was planning on losing the game and getting himself expelled. Thankfully, Jenny saves him.]]
* StylisticSuck: Games Dean's 'The Daily Dean' show, where he talks about the game he lost to Brian and Jenny and clan try-outs. Complete with bad editing and poorly placed special effects for the sake of looking cool.
* SuicidalOverconfidence: Annihilist challenges Brian D to a game because he's a noob (freshman). His own in-school score is so low that [[spoiler: losing automatically gets him expelled.]] He was apparently so certain of his own victory, [[WhatAnIdiot he never even considered what would happen if he lost.]]
* [[spoiler: TheyDo: Brian and Jenny hook up at the end of the third episode of Season 2.]]
* ThrowTheDogABone: After being the ButtMonkey for five straight episodes, Brian finally catches a break in episode six: [[spoiler: Jenny pulls him out of a HeroicBSOD, he kicks Games Dean's ass in ''Field of Fire'', and he appears to actually be friends with Jenny now rather than just looking like some obsessed fanboy.]]
* TimeSkip: PlayedForLaughs. The entire arcade sequence takes place just a day after Brian leaves, but everyone treats it like he's been gone for a long time.
-->'''Brian:''' "Ted? How long has it been? 20? 24 hours?"
-->'''Ted:''' "You haven't aged a day!"
** Hilariously, only Ki doesn't seem to be affected by this
-->'''Brian:''' "So, Ki, it's been a while"
-->'''Ki:''' "It's been one day, Brian."
-->'''Brian:''' "Yeah, okay."
* TookALevelInBadass: In Episode 7, in order to help Brian, Ted attacks The Law's thugs and does a good job of beating them down.
* [[TrademarkFavouriteFood Trademark Favorite Beverage]]: Everyone drinks [[MustHaveCaffeine Monster]], constantly.
** Subverted once with Ted, though, who gets a can out of a vending machine, opens it, and pulls out a pizza.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: We know thanks to the trailer that [[spoiler: Brian will be refused from the VGHS team, at least temporarily]].
** Also, judging by Brian and Jenny's interactions in the trailer, we knew they'd become friends at some point, as well as learning ahead of time that Jenny was The Law's girlfriend.
*** The opening titles for Season 2 spoiled [[spoiler:The Law's return to VGHS]].
* TrainingFromHell: Courtesy of Mary Matrix. By gaming standards at least.
* {{Troperiffic}}: It's the standard high school drama as it's existed since the eighties... ''[[RecycledInSpace but with games]]''!
* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Season 2 has Ted working on a paper, showing the current year to be 2018.
* UnflinchingWalk: [[spoiler:Brian's final showdown against the Law]]
* VerbalTic: Alliterator always adds annoying alliteration- he enjoys rhyming the beginning of his words. And he's part of the JerkJock varsity team. Brian's probably right that most people hate him.
** He finally drops it for a line in Season 2's first episode after being cut from the Varsity FPS team (the tic annoyed the new coach). "Well, it was fun while it lasted; goodbye everybody!"
* VillainDecay: Very intentionally invoked with The Law. After being the first season's BigBad, he takes losing again to Brian and being convicted of aimbotting ''very'' poorly. He's now reduced to being an annoying pain in everybody's ass.
* WeaponOfChoice: Brian's quite skilled with tomahawks and grenades. The Law has his custom gold-plated pistols, and Games Dean loves his [=SMGs=].
** StealthPun: Twice during the series, we can see The Law's gold-plated handgun has a name engraved on the side - in a blink and you'll miss it moment, it can be clearly seen as [[spoiler: "The Long Arm"]].
* WellDoneSonGuy: Ted constantly tries to improve at rhythm games despite the fact that he's terrible at them, all in an effort to impress his dad. He's so obssessed with this mission that he actively tries to avoid the game genre he actually is good at: racing games. As of Season 2, Jenny fits into this as well.
* WhamLine: Season 2 episode 4 reveals The Law has a [[TheBigBoard big board]] titled [[spoiler:"Who Framed The Law?", strongly implying that he ''really wasn't aimbotting'']].
* WishFulfillment: This is a show about a guy who gets to go to a magic school for video games, is the most popular kid in his circle of friends, is famous for playing FPS, and the most popular girl in the school (and the girlfriend of his bully) takes an immediate interest in him. .... Yeah.
* WorkOffTheDebt: [[spoiler: Brian loses his scholarship because of The Law's hacking fiasco. He owes over 100 thousand and is made to become a janitor to pay his way through school.]]
* WorstNewsJudgmentEver: Before [=BrianD=]s domination of gaming champ The Law hit the news cycle, the current top story was the unknown whereabouts of the President of the United States. Perhaps there's a lot of things going wrong in the world, and that's why there's so much societal focus on gaming (also why there's the entirely non-critical show, ''Agreement Corner'').
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: After [[spoiler:Brian loses to The Law in the scrimmage match]], the school "kindly" asks him to [[spoiler:deliberately lose a game and get himself expelled since they believe they had overestimated his potential]].
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