History Webcomic / CucumberQuest

* AdultFear:
** In Chapter 2, Mayor Lute's son, Mandolin, was kidnapped by Count Legato, which made her enforce a curfew in town so no kidnappings would happen again. [[spoiler:Later, she learns that Mandolin had been bullying other kids behind her back, which led to Panpipe turning into Count Legato]].
** In Chapter 3:
*** [[spoiler:Rosemaster's MassHypnosis made everyone forget who they were, as well as their loved ones. While it's played for laughs with Peridot and Almond, it's still terrifying considering how King Aster expressed regret over forgetting about his daughter, Princess Azalea, once he regained his memories]].
*** Almond thought that [[spoiler:the Nightmare Knight would kill Cucumber, so she tried rushing in to defend her brother. Unfortunately, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero she ruined Cucumber's attempt to negotiate an offer of peace with Nightmare Knight]]. This nearly led to both their deaths until Carrot rushes in and begs the Nightmare Knight to stop]].
*** Rosemaster [[spoiler:emotionally manipulates Almond into seeing Carrot as a villain due to his cowardice, and forces her to fight her with brainwashing. Once Carrot [[TookALevelInBadass levels up into a knight]] and defeats Rosemaster, [[MotivationalLie he willingly lies to Peridot, Cucumber, and Nautilus about what happened so Almond will cheer up from being praised]]]].
** The Chapter 3 interlude reveals that [[spoiler:Peridot has been suffering from anxiety-induced nightmares over not being a proper villain and crushing on Almond. Cordelia doesn't know about it until Nightmare Knight tells her]].

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Exotic hair colors are commonplace among Dreamsiders. Their hair will often be the shape and color of the thing they're named after; for example Cabbage's hair resembling a cabbage, or Peridot's box-shaped hair resembling green gemstones.

* ThisCannotBe: Cordelia pulls this one off after Splashmaster's defeat, and the Nightmare Knight {{lampshades}} it. The ImageSource.

On July 3, 2019, Gigi [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/cq/important-announcement/ announced]] a significant revamping of the comic's format, stating that due to a myriad of factors in their personal life, they no longer have the time or energy to continue the comic in its original form. Consequently, following a lengthy hiatus, the remainder of the comic's story will appear in the form of an illustrated script.

* AlternativeCalendar: A glimpse at [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/cq/page-313/ characters' journal entries]] shows that they list months and years with wingding symbols, although the days are numeric.
* AllThereInTheManual: [[http://gigidigiarchive.tumblr.com/ Gigi's Tumblr]], formerly. Later, their [[http://ask.fm/gigideegee Ask.fm]] (now deleted).

* DeadpanSnarker: Gigi, ''constantly'' in their author notes. [[WorldOfSnark Also Peridot, Almond, what little we've seen of Saturday, the two cake ladies, Saturday's butler...]]

* FlatWorld: Dreamside was revealed to be flat when we see a map of Dreamside in Saturday's hideout with the ocean ending off the sides like a cliff. When someone asked Gigi how this was supposed to work, they responded with [[AWizardDidIt "Wizards"]].

* RolePlayingGameVerse: All significant characters have stat distributions on the site's Character page and Gigi had released inventories for [[http://i.imgur.com/Nh1iZ.png Cucumber]] and [[http://i.imgur.com/E6Idq.png Almond]] on their Tumblr. However, while the comic resembles an RPG in presentation and story, actual gameplay elements like stats or MP haven't made an appearance in the work itself.

* SceneryPorn: Gigi's done some [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/archive/page-138/ pretty,]] [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/archive/page-176/ captivating]] [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/archive/page-312/ backgrounds]] during their run of the comic so far. It really adds to the fantasy world the characters live in.

On July 3, 2019, Gigi [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/cq/important-announcement/ announced]] a significant revamping of the comic's format, stating that due to a myriad of factors in her personal life, they no longer have the time or energy to continue the comic in its original form. Consequently, following a lengthy hiatus, the remainder of the comic's story will appear in the form of an illustrated script.

On July 3, 2019, Gigi [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/cq/important-announcement/ announced]] a significant revamping of the comic's format, stating that due to a myriad of factors in her personal life, she no longer has the time or energy to continue the comic in its original form. Consequently, following a lengthy hiatus, the remainder of the comic's story will appear in the form of an illustrated script.

* AllThereInTheManual: [[http://gigidigiarchive.tumblr.com/ Gigi's Tumblr]], formerly. Later, her [[http://ask.fm/gigideegee Ask.fm]] (now deleted).

* DeadpanSnarker: Gigi, ''constantly'' in her author notes. [[WorldOfSnark Also Peridot, Almond, what little we've seen of Saturday, the two cake ladies, Saturday's butler...]]

* FlatWorld: Dreamside was revealed to be flat when we see a map of Dreamside in Saturday's hideout with the ocean ending off the sides like a cliff. When someone asked Gigi how this was supposed to work she responded with [[AWizardDidIt "Wizards"]].

* RolePlayingGameVerse: All significant characters have stat distributions on the site's Character page and Gigi had released inventories for [[http://i.imgur.com/Nh1iZ.png Cucumber]] and [[http://i.imgur.com/E6Idq.png Almond]] on her Tumblr. However, while the comic resembles an RPG in presentation and story, actual gameplay elements like stats or MP haven't made an appearance in the work itself.

* SceneryPorn: Gigi's done some [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/archive/page-138/ pretty,]] [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/archive/page-176/ captivating]] [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/archive/page-312/ backgrounds]] during her run of the comic so far. It really adds to the fantasy world the characters live in.

* ItsPronouncedTroPAY: Peridot's name is Peri-DOH, not Peri-DOT.

** [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/archive/page-298/ This page]] actually uses the IPA phonetic alphabet to demonstrate ItIsPronouncedTroPAY.

* AbusiveParents: [[{{Jerkass}} Cabbage]] sort of toes the line with this trope; [[PetTheDog while he does have a few kinder moments and helps the gang out on occasion]], Cabbage does things to Cucumber that a good father wouldn't do, such as putting a drab cucumber flower on Cucumber in chapter 3 just to watch Almond and the beauty pageants beat him up, snidely dismissing Cucumber's wishes to go to magic school and pressuring him to go on a quest he doesn't want, and generally putting Cucumber down for not being the heroic son he wanted, while [[ParentalFavoritism favoring Almond]].

** Cabbage, Cucumber's father. Despite having a few PetTheDog moments, he borders on being an [[AbusiveParents emotionally abusive father]], considering how snide and dismissive he is towards his son for not being a hero like his ancestors, and constantly insults him in front of his favorite child, Almond.

** When Saturday and Brambleby are blown up and turned into ATwinkleInTheSky, the footnote says "[[{{Anime/Pokemon}} Looks like Team]]--[[DefiedTrope no. No, never mind.]]"

[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Tagline}} "A comic about bunny kids going on adventures and having fun."]] [[note]]Counterclockwise from top-left: The Dream Oracle, Saturday, Carrot, Princess Parfait, Baguette, Tartelette, Cosmo, [[TheLancer Almond]], [[ReluctantHero Cucumber]], Bagel, Cabbage, Cordelia, Bacon, Tomato, Lettuce, and Peridot.[[/note]]]]

** On [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/cq/page-675/ page 675]], Peridot is shown wearing fluffy slippers that look like [[VideoGame/UnderTale Toriel]]; Creator/TobyFox even used a screencap of them as his Twitter profile pic for a while.

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: With the set of things being visual and placed in a circle, it doesn't really fall specifically under any of the subtropes, but it's immediately apparent that the [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/archive/page-30/ Disaster Stones]] have some sort of generic elemental theme, with the orbs having pastel colorings with symbols on them of a cloud, fire, water, flower, [[ThePowerOfRock a music note]], a musical "rest" symbol [[note]] Representing "Silence" StandardStatusEffects[[/note]], and... a pitch black orb with a bright red power on/off symbol on it.

** On [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/cq/page-675/ page 675]], Peridot is shown wearing fluffy slippers that look like [[VideoGame/UnderTale Toriel]].

* GlassCannon: In [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/characters/ Gigi's character stats]], Almond and Splashmaster are each listed with 5 or more stars in attack, but only 2 stars in defense. It's justified with Almond, [[RealityEnsues who's a little kid]].

* RealityEnsues:
** Almond gets hit with this hard at the end of chapter 3 and throughout the beginning of chapter 4. Sure, a grand adventure to save the world might sound fun from an observer's perspective, but actually being in one requires the person to experience the suffering of all the hardships that those people have to go through. [[spoiler:This especially gets hammered in when Cucumber bluntly states that Almond could have avoided all that suffering if she actually considered this from the beginning, instead of just giving the villains the ArtifactOfDoom that they needed to kick start their evil plan just because she wanted to go on a "fun" adventure]].
*** Similarly, her criticizing Cucumber for [[spoiler:trying to make peace with the Nightmare Knight]] comes off as hypocritical when she's already on friendly terms with Peridot, who's also a villain. [[spoiler:After Cucumber calls her out, she has a JerkassRealization and later tells her brother that she'll stop nagging him about sympathizing with the villains and she'll support him no matter what]].
** As mentioned above, Nautilus spent so much time reading and studying history that she often forgot crucial information until it's too late, exasperating her friends. To counter this, Nautilus keeps a diary with her so she wouldn't forget what she learned.
** Carrot's cowardice caused his friends to lose faith in him a few times, and came to a head in Chapter 3 [[spoiler:when Rosemaster exploits Almond's shock and heartbreak at seeing Carrot cowering behind a bush by manipulating her into believing that cowardice made Carrot a villain, so she could brainwash Almond]]. Fortunately, [[spoiler:a sweet LoveLetter and ThePowerOfLove gives him the confidence he needs and transforms him into a MagicKnight]].
** The Count Legato incident in Chapter 2 happened because [[spoiler:Mandolin, the mayor's son, bullied the nerdy Panpipe at school behind his mother's back, driving Panpipe to try taking revenge against his tormentor when he finds the original Count Legato's contact lens. When Mayor Lute finds out, she is ''furious'']].
** Being defeated again and again by the heroes can inflict a severe toll on one's psyche [[spoiler:as shown with the case of Nightmare Knight and the Disaster Masters. The Nightmare Knight wants the cycles to stop, but can't because not being feared means the Disaster Masters will die, so he results to sabotaging the Disaster Masters' plans in secret so no lasting harm could come to Dreamside. The Disaster Masters themselves end up taking desperate measures to take over or destroy Dreamside, either because they lost faith in Nightmare Knight as a villain, or they also want the cycles to stop]].
** [[TakeYourTime Heroes often take their time on their quests, only saving the world and defeating the villains at the last minute]]. [[spoiler:Noisemaster decides to do things differently and destroy Trebleopolis with his Noisecannon right then and there before the heroes could do anything... until the Nightmare Knight directly intervenes by summoning a protective barrier]].

* BlueIsHeroic:
** Princess Nautilus is a member of Cucumber's party, and helps out her friends with knowledge and optimism ([[GeniusDitz Even if she's a little forgetful]]).
** The Dream Oracle is a subversion; despite wearing all blue, and despite being played up as wise and all-knowing, she really... [[{{Jerkass}} isn't]].

* SortingAlgorithmOfThreateningGeography: The heroes' travels through the various kingdoms of Dreamside seem to be following this order to a tee, at least so far. (Which is appropriate, since the comic is an affectionate tribute to the sort of games that traditionally employ such algorithms.) To date, they've started in [[{{Arcadia}} their home village]], traveled through the [[LevelAte Donut Kingdom]] and its [[GreenHillZone candy woodlands]], then visited (in order) the [[PalmtreePanic Ripple]] [[UnderTheSea Kingdom]], the [[BandLand Melody]] [[BigBoosHaunt Kingdom]], and the [[TheHedgeOfThorns Flower]] [[RuinsForRuinsSake Kingdom]]. After a [[BonusStage slight]] [[JokeLevel detour]], they moved on to [[CrystalLandscape the]] [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Crystal]] [[LethalLavaLand Kingdom]], and they seem to be headed for the [[BubblyClouds Sky]] [[FloatingContinent Kingdom]] and the [[SpaceZone Space]] [[{{Tomorrowland}} Kingdom]], before presumably facing the final boss...[[SubvertedTrope in one sense or another]].

-->'''Almond''': '''This''' is for sinking our boat! '''This''' is for kidnapping me! And '''this''' is for being a jerk! And this is... [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking for being bad at limbo]]?

-->"Welcome to Kukobu Quest, my new webmanga! n_n;; It follows the story of a boy named Kukobu who leaves his hometown of Cupcake to visit his father, only to learn that he’s been captured by the evil Lady Cordelia, who plans to take over Doughnut Island, and soon all of the Dream Islands! (Oh noes!!!1 XD)\\

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of the prototypical video game villain archetype: a scary monster that desires world conquest and constantly comes back no worse for wear no matter how many defeats or setbacks they suffer, such as [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]] and [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Ganon]]. ''Cucumber Quest'' takes that concept and applies realistic consequences to it: [[spoiler: the Nightmare Knight and his crew have been defeated almost a hundred times by this point, and one of the main goals of the comic is examining the physical and psychological effects so much defeat can have on somebody. The Nightmare Knight simply doesn't want to hurt anyone anymore, and is stuck trying to make sure Dreamside fears him while secretly preventing his Disaster Masters from causing any real damage. The Disaster Masters, meanwhile, showcase varying reactions to their predicament (Rosemaster hates hurting innocents, Quakemaster worries about his physical health, Noisemaster has grown to resent the Knight for his failure to lead them, etc.), but there is one constant: they are sick and tired of losing, and [[NoNonsenseNemesis are willing to do absolutely anything]] to finally score the sweet taste of victory.]]

--> '''Cucumber:''' [[LampshadeHanging How...?]]

---> '''Gigi D.G.:''' the real nightmare is this show running for 7 seasons

--> '''Almond:''' We haven't had a decent fight this whole chapter! Put up your dukes, Grandpa!

---> '''Cucumber:''' ''aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa''

''({{Beat|Panel}})''\\

--> '''Gigi:''' Well...the people of Dreamside have television, electric lighting and space travel, but they’re still fighting with swords. I probably decided on this because I’ve always liked cartoons and comics that blend old-timey fantasy stuff with modern technology for the sake of humor or whimsy or whatever.''

* BadBoss: The Dream Oracle made Chardonnay her errand girl while she kicks back and watches TV, and she could do nothing but suppress her feelings. [[spoiler:When she's far away from her boss, Chardonnay ''[[RageBreakingPoint does not mince words]].

* ThemeNaming: The theme varies based on the kingdom. The Doughnut denizens are [[EdibleThemeNaming named after foods]], the Ripple residents are named after sea life, the Melody kingdom's theme is, obviously, [[MusicalThemeNaming music and musical instruments]] and the Flower Kingdom natives are [[FloralThemeNaming named after plants and florae]]. The only character this doesn't seem to apply to is Saturday, and it's implied that's not her real name in her character profile on the comic's website. [[spoiler:Her real name, Azalea, fits right in with the theme of her home kingdom.]]

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: We've got Princess Nautilus, who's traveling with Cucumber and his friends; Princess Parfait [[spoiler:who managed to befriend the Nightmare Knight]]; Princess Sunshine who helps bring sunlight to Dreamside; Princess Ametrine, who's also an ActionGirl and ReasonableAuthorityFigure...

** [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses Princess]] Nautilus is a member of Cucumber's party, and helps out her friends with knowledge and optimism ([[GeniusDitz Even if she's a little forgetful]]).

* JerkassFacade: [[spoiler:The Nightmare Knight. He doesn't want to be a villain, but he has no choice but to perpetuate the cycles because he doesn't want to lose his "children", the Disaster Masters]].

** The fourth Intermission has the Nightmare Knight and Peridot watch ''Punisher Pumice'' together again, and like the last times we see glimpses of the show it's everything you'd expect from a subpar MagicalGirlWarrior series. But then the apparent BigBad appears, and he's a terrible parody of the Knight himself and his Disaster Masters, with all of them {{Flanderize}}d into hilariously stale caricatures of themselves (save for [[TookALevelInBadass Splashmaster]], of all people) and instantly [[AdaptationalWimp defeated]] by Pumice. That fact that this kind of scene could happen at ''all'' makes the Nightmare Knight want to travel to Silver Studios.