History Webcomic / DarthsAndDroids

* KickTheSonOfABitch: During the Rogue One arc, when Jim asks [[TokenEvilTeammate Pete]] (who has hacked the Peace Moon's targeting controls) if he can "kick Krennic's corpse" along with destroying the data tower. [[https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/1739.html Pete finds a way]], complete with UnsoundEffect ("''Kick!''").

** The author's notes under [[http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0050.html 50]] describe how the players' universe differs from our own and how the lack of the Star Wars franchise affects its pop-culture. The last line says; "The Comic Irregulars exist and are making a screencap comic based on Harry Potter", and if you click on it, it will take you to a fake Comic Irregulars site with an one-shot comic about Literature/HarryPotter... and an author's note with a variation on the original and pointing at yet another fake site with an one-shot comic on Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic, which has yet another variation of the author's note with yet another link at the end, which points to another fake page and so on and so forth. What makes this truly fascinating is the dedication to details: every single fake page has its own logo, color scheme, and tweaked FAQ, Cast and Archives pages. Oh, and every one-shot gag comic is actually hilarious with its own RPG [[AnAesop Aesop]] to boot. It goes a level deeper for every 50 strips of the main comic, so at this point it is very long indeed.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Played with. The players, and especially Jim, often tries to invoke this by pointing out the logical fallacies in the DM's setting (mostly when the more realistic alternative would work to their benefit. The GM usually shoots them down. In one example, the ''Falcon'' enters an asteroid field, with Jim arguing that the asteroids would be so far apart that you'd be hard pressed to hit them if you tried, and standing perfectly still (relatively speaking).

* ObfuscatingStupidity: While that's always been a part of his overall character (he's intelligent but roleplaying is his brain's off-time) Jim turns out to have been specifically doing this in with his character in Episode IV. The other players, after a whole lot of complaining about how dumb his ideas are, realize that he's coming up with dumb ideas intentionally because his character has a low intelligence rating, [[spoiler:and also because he's secretly a traitor, selling the rebellion out to the empire.]]

* ObfuscatingStupidity: While that's always been a part of his overall character (he's intelligent but roleplaying is his brain's off-time) Jim turns out to have been specifically doing this in with his character in Episode IV. The other players, after a whole lot of complaining about how dumb his ideas are, realize that he's coming up with dumb ideas intentionally because his character has a low intelligence rating, [[spoiler: and also because he's secretly a traitor, selling the rebellion out to the empire.]]

** Defied; fans eagerly anticipated seeing what the "Han Shot First" scene would be, but the creators knew early on they didn't want to make that joke and instead turned the scene into a legitimate plot twist ([[spoiler: Greedo shot first, because Han was the green guy]]). They do, however, make the expected "shot first" jokes in other places, as a RunningGag about Han's [[TriggerHappy tendency to shoot first and not even bother asking questions later,]] often shooting anything the group ran into before bothering to figure out whether shooting that thing was a good idea or not. Similarly, Anakin as a child is on the run after killing a boy called Greedo in a fist-fight, but repeatedly insists that it was really Greedo's fault because, 'He punched first!'

* PreAsskickingOneLiner: [[spoiler: "Has that made you angry? [[http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0557.html I think it's made you angry]]."]]

** Inverted with Kylo Ren, who is the son of Han Solo in canon. [[spoiler: In the comics specifically, he's the son of Han Solo, who was killed by Greedo and his identity stolen]].

** Subverted in the case of General Grievous - it's Ben who figures out, and states, [[spoiler: that he is actually ex-Chancellor Valorum in a cyborg body]].

* SelfMadeOrphan: [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0455.html Most likely Anakin]]. [[spoiler: Turns out that most likely he killed [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0606.html both his parents]].]]

* SpannerInTheWorks: Performed by Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon on [[spoiler: Darth Maul]].

* StunnedSilence: Damn near ''everybody'' [[spoiler: when Naboo is destroyed]].

* ThatManIsDead: Darth Vader says this about Anakin, naturally. [[SubvertedTrope Except]] [[spoiler: psych! Anakin really is dead. Darth Vader is actually Padmé]].

** The reason for Palpatine's SanitySlippage in Episode VI is because [[spoiler: he's been haunted by Anakin's Force ghost.]]

** The [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Japor_snippet Japor Snippet]] amulet which [[http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0125.html Anakin hands over to Padme]] early in the campaign is lampshaded in TheRant as one of many minor plot devices the prequel trilogy tended to gloss over. [[spoiler: It was ultimately the MacGuffin responsible for Padme's [[http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/1154.html ridiculous]] [[http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/1155.html survival]] [[http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/1156.html rate]] during the Prequel campaign...which also led to her surviving her DeathByChildbirth and subsequently becoming Darth Vader.]]

** Jim is [[http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0946.html completely incapable]] of recognising the canonical solution to "Luke is freezing to death next to a dead tauntaun", no matter how much the DM spells it out. Even when he gets it, he thinks it's a stopgap measure until he can set the tauntaun on fire [[spoiler: which turns out to be foreshadowing of his true allegiance]].

** [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0495.html At one point]] Sally jokingly claims that Anakin is actually the Sith Lord. [[spoiler: Yeah [[DarkMessiah 'bout that]]...]] [[spoiler:Or not, given the RedHerring.]]

** The first hint [[spoiler: that Nute lives in and controls the Peace Moon computers]] is the trouble R2 has shutting down the trash compactor. [[spoiler:[[https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0821.html "It's like this Moon has a mind of its own."]]]]

** In [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/1097.html Episode 1097]], [=C-3PO=] [[spoiler: who is saying the opposite of what she means ever since her head was attached backwards, but the others haven't picked up on it]] directly says [[spoiler: that Han ''isn't'' the traitor]]. [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/1108.html Eleven strips later]], we learn she was "right".

** Pete, this time as Chirrut, probably would have survived [[spoiler: the fuel pump explosion]] if he hadn't been so min-maxed.

** It's also slowly revealed that Jim's campaign was [[spoiler:derailed into the plot of ''Film/{{Airplane}}'']], with Pete playing [[spoiler: Creator/LeslieNielsen]].

** [[spoiler: "Boba, [[IAmNotYourFather I am your stepfather]]." Boba is apparently the son of Zam Wessel and Darth Maul.]] Again, followed by a BigNo.
** [[spoiler: As early as ''Episode IV'' Vader reveals to Leia that [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0772.html she is his daughter]].]]

** Pete is another, though far more subtle example. [[spoiler: It comes from the scene in A New Hope where a Jawa shoots Artoo. After he keels over, the Jawa calls for his friends with this line: "Utini... Umm PETE!"]]

** Sally after [[spoiler:Mace decapitates Jango]], leading to a HeroicBSOD for [[spoiler: Mace]].

** Anakin after [[spoiler: mortally wounding Padme]].

** This is actually subverted- [[spoiler: Anakin actually survived there. Palpatine recovered him, took his Mediclorians to give to Padme, then killed Anakin.]]

* NoSell: [[spoiler: The rubber suits worn by Jabba's palace guards allow them to tank a Lost Orb-powered zap from R2's shock probe.]]
* NothingPersonal: [[spoiler: Used by the clones when they are ordered to carry out the ''Darths and Droids'' [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0568.html equivalent of the Order 66 scene]], along with a few more... ''[[HiddenDepths touching]]'' lines]].

* ThirteenIsUnlucky: At one point, R2-D2 (Pete) and Chewbacca (GM) play a [[ShowWithinAShow game within a game]], and R2 backstabs Chewbacca's character to loot his corpse. He finds 13 gold coins, [[spoiler: and a cursed item which forces him to pay for the resurrection of Chewbacca's character.]]

* AdaptationalBadass: Nute Gunray was little more than a BigBadWannabe under the thumb of [[ChessMaster Darth Sidious]] in the original movies, here he's completely independent from him and ends up being the true mastermind of the separatists and is essentially the BigBad of the first three campaigns. [[spoiler: This even goes to the point where he ends up surviving, in a way, past the prequel era. In fact, he becomes the ''BigBad'' of the Sequel Era, with Snoke reporting directly to him.]]

** Han Solo when played by Jim turns out to be [[spoiler: TheMole for Darth Vader, and to have attempted to murder Luke, who only just managed to distract his attention in time]]. Also, the "Did Han shoot first or did Greedo shoot first" scene when we first meet him is much darker than in the film; Jim's character isn't defending himself against an enemy who is getting ready to shoot him, but just murdering someone in cold blood in order to steal his ship. Ironically, [[WMG/DarthsAndDroids fans speculated]] that it would be more likely that Annie would play Han and Jim would play Leia than the other way round, given that Jim with his BlackAndWhiteMorality wouldn't have the subtlety to play a mercenary. In fact, Jim actually makes Han ''more'' mercenary than the film version - and yet somehow we still feel for him when bad things happen to him, even when we know he deserves them.

** The names of Greedo and Han Solo [[spoiler: are switched up: the green alien at the Mos Eisley Cantina is actually a shapeshifter named Han Solo, and the human con artist Greedo shoots him and steals his identity.]]

** And then in [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0774.html #774]], the moment you've been waiting for for the entirety of Episode IV: [[spoiler: the Peace Moon blows up Naboo.]]

*** That Snippet of Japor necklace that 9-year-old Anakin gives to Padme in ''Phantom Menace,'' is in reality an [[spoiler: artifact that grants immortality and invincibility as long as it is on the person in question.]] In canon it was just a piece of jewelry that Padme wore as a gift from Anakin.

* BizarroUniverse: A lot of characters from the Irregulars' take on ''Star Wars'' are 180-inversions of their more familiar selves. Qui-Gon is a moron, Jar Jar is well-liked and helpful, Palpatine is a WellIntentionedExtremist manipulated into making poor decision by Anakin, Chewbacca is articulate and sophisticated, Greedo and Han have swapped names, Grand Moff Tarkin is appalled by the Death Star, and Darth Vader is [[spoiler: actually Padmé]].

** Happens again to explain the reveal that [[spoiler: Vader is actually PADME]]. No. Really. [[spoiler: Not only that, turns out that "Out of Character" shouting done by a "dead" Padme wasn't so out of character after all]].

** The GM gives one when Pete calls him out on the the alliterative names of the Ewoks:

* CloningBlues: Inverted; clones are far superior to droids, at least according to Jango.

** One to the official versions of both Padme and Leia in [[https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/1912.html #1912]]:
--->'''Corey: ''(to Pete)''''' You just wanted extreme sympathy and [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/StarWarsPadmeAmidala nonsensical political power for one so young]].\\
'''Sally:''' Pete played [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/StarWarsLeiaOrgana a princess, whose entire planet got destroyed]].\\

** Annie's game is heavily implied to be a mix of ''Film/VanHelsing'' and ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', with a bit of TakeThat against the source materials to boot.

** Episode III: Jim and Annie have had a fight, somehow connected with a paranormal campaign that Annie ran. [[spoiler:The campaign was a mix of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' and ''Film/VanHelsing''; with the players wrongly assuming that the vampires were AlwaysChaoticEvil. It culminated in Jim and Annie [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0572.html having an embarrassingly public argument about it]], which Annie believed [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0573.html cost her her job]] [[ExplainExplainOhCrap until she really thought about it]].]]

** "[[Literature/{{Twilight}} ...and vampires do not sparkle in the daylight!]]

** Darth Vader, who kills any troops or officers that fail him even in the slightest. It even goes to the point that after capturing the Rebel Hoth base, he has his troops call in an orbital bombardment on themselves.

* TheRealMan (though arguably with a side-order of TheLoonie even stronger than Sally's): Jim, initially playing Qui-Gon Jinn, then, after the death of Qui-Gon, Padmé Amidala. In Episode IV, his early characters (including Captain Antilles) wound up being {{Mauve Shirt}}s, until he settled in as "Han Solo".[[note]]The Creator/HarrisonFord character, though in the strip his and Greedo's names were switched until Jim shot first and stole the Solo identity. [[BlatantLies This in no way came back to bite him eventually.]][[/note]] Those "early characters" were apparently all in ''Rogue One'', starting with "[[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Kyle Katarn]]" (Saw Gererra) before picking up "Bria Tharen" (Jyn Erso) and Bail Organa from the GM. In the sequels, he's Poe Dameron. He's a gung-ho, enthusiastic player, [[LeeroyJenkins often blindly rushing into danger]]. He's [[IdiotHero also prone to humorous misunderstandings of the setting, bizarre and obviously incorrect explanations,]] and creation of {{Plot Tumor}}s. His insane plan regarding the pod race must be [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0098.html seen]] to be believed (yet he's also pursuing a Ph.D. in geophysics; in Pete's words, he relaxes by doing things that let him turn his brain off and surprises the other players [[ObfuscatingStupidity when they realize that he's]] [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass not as stupid as his play style suggests]]).

-->'''R2-D2:''' ''[[BeatPanel ...]][[RammingAlwaysWorks Ramming speed]].''

** Pete scoffs at the superstition of "cursed" or "blessed" dice, and believes he is being scientific by [[EntertaininglyWrong completely misapplying]] [[ArtisticLicenseStatistics statistical probability]]. According to one of the editorial comments, he has a hugely time-consuming system for "pre-rolling the 1s out of" his dice. [[note]]He rolls all his assorted [=d20s=], selects those that rolled [=1s=], rerolls those, takes those that rolled [=1s=]] again and places them in custom padded containers that prevent them from rolling any further. Thus, the odds of those dice rolling a third 1 in a row are 8000 to 1 against.[[/note]]

* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Leia tries this on Luke to snap him out of his HeroicBSOD after Obi-Wan's death, though it looks more like [[TeachHimAnger unhealthy]] [[ManipulativeBastard manipulation]] than anything else. Luke [[WellExcuseMePrincess bluntly rebukes her]], exposing that he has every reason to be angsting.

* InterfaceScrew: For three strips, starting [[http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/1273.html here.]] When Boba Fett wouldn't stop monologuing about how he'd find and kill Obi Wan, Han got fed up and spat out that Darth Vader killed him in episode 4. The realization sent Fett [[SanitySlippage over]] [[JustForPun the]] [[DestinationDefenestration edge.]]

** An even better example [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0205.html is this strip]], where Jim, having forgotten [[MacGuffin the Orb's]] [[AccidentalMisnaming name]] drops the episode's ''in-universe'' title.

** Whatever Pete's job is, it involves a suit and a tie, but no one knows what exactly he works as. When Annie expresses surprise at this, he says "I'm a --" before demanding to know what ''she'' thought he's working as instead. Ultimately subverted in [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/1516.html Strip 1516]] with TheReveal that Pete is... a criminal defense lawyer. Which explains ''[[TheMunchkin so,]] [[LoopholeAbuse so]] much!''

** [[JustForPun But not for the definition of "failed me"]] [[http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0625.html that you would think...]]

* InAndOutOfCharacter
* IncomingHam [[http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0466.html General Grievous:]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Cyborgs. Under. MY. COMMAND!]]

* TheRealMan (though arguably with a side-order of TheLoonie even stronger than Sally's): Jim, initially playing Qui-Gon Jinn, then, after the death of Qui-Gon, Padmé Amidala. In Episode IV, his early characters (including Captain Antilles) wound up being {{Mauve Shirt}}s, until he settled in as "Han Solo".[[note]]The Creator/HarrisonFord character, though in the strip his and Greedo's names were switched until Jim shot first and stole the Solo identity. [[BlatantLies This in no way came back to bite him eventually.]][[/note]] Those "early characters" were apparently all in ''Rogue One'', starting with "[[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Kyle Katarn]]" (Saw Gererra) before picking up "Bria Tharen" (Jyn Erso) and Bail Organa from the GM. In the sequels, he's Poe Dameron and [[BackupTwin his "twin brothers" Allan and Edgar]]. He's a gung-ho, enthusiastic player, [[LeeroyJenkins often blindly rushing into danger]]. He's [[IdiotHero also prone to humorous misunderstandings of the setting, bizarre and obviously incorrect explanations,]] and creation of {{Plot Tumor}}s. His insane plan regarding the pod race must be [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0098.html seen]] to be believed (yet he's also pursuing a Ph.D. in geophysics; in Pete's words, he relaxes by doing things that let him turn his brain off and surprises the other players [[ObfuscatingStupidity when they realize that he's]] [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass not as stupid as his play style suggests]]).

* BackupTwin: Poe's twin brother Allan, who shows up after Poe dies in a PIE fighter crash. And then Allan dies in the big ship assault in ''Last Jedi'', leading to his ''other'' twin brother Edgar implausibly showing up to replace him in the same scene. [[spoiler:"Edgar" soon lets slip that he's really Allan and only pretended to die. The jury's still out on Poe.]]

* ChandlersLaw: The GM quotes it directly in [[https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/1914.html #1914]], using it to try and get the [=PCs=] moving in the right direction.

* CrossPlayer: Sally (as several characters), Annie (as Anakin and Finn), Jim (as Padmé), and Pete (as Rey). In other words, more than half the cast. The only ones that have yet to do this are Ben, who plays Obi-Wan, Chewbacca and General Hux, and Corey, who plays Luke and BB-8.

* CursedItem: [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0778.html When Chewbacca and R2-D2 play a tabletop RPG]], Chewie anticipates that R2 might backstab him for loot. So he carries a cursed item in his own inventory, to punish R2 for such treachery.
-->'''R2-D2:''' Heh heh heh. Let's see what loot I got from your corpse.
-->'''R2-D2:''' Only 13 gold coins? And what's this?
-->'''Chewbacca:''' You may find that your combat stats are no longer as impressive as you recall.
-->'''R2-D2:''' You put a cursed item in your own coin purse?! What sort of deviant would do that?!
-->'''Han Solo:''' I warned you.
-->'''Chewbacca:''' Let's discuss how you're going to pay for my resurrection, shall we?

* TheyKilledKennyAgain: This has been happening to Jim's characters. First Qui-Gon, then Padmé (though she was able to last a full two campaigns before passing). In Episode IV he went four-for-four, including Kyle Katarn and Captain Antilles, and they teased a fifth when Jim decided to name his new character "Greedo" [[spoiler:until it was revealed that "Greedo" was Han Solo by a different name.]] It looked like another death was coming when Lando said Han didn't survive the carbon-freeze at the climax of ''Empire Strikes Back'', but he was lying. In ''The Force Awakens'', Poe Dameron is killed off pretty quickly and Jim's next character is killed ''before he even appears'' thanks to the players going OffTheRails and having Niima destroyed in an air strike, forcing him to resort to using Han again. Han then dies at the end of ''The Force Awakens'', and Jim introduces Poe's BackupTwin only for ''him'' to get killed early in ''The Last Jedi'' (and replaced with ''another'' BackupTwin). [[spoiler:Subverted when it turns out the second twin is a fake identity; and that opens the possibility that the first twin is as well.]]

* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: General Dodonna's designated character trait, speaking entirely in overly verbose jargon.

* TalkingToHimself: In-universe, whenever the GM plays multiple [=NPCs=]. It's lampshaded after [[https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0308.html a lengthy scene]] where the GM switches between multiple {{Funetik Aksent}}s:
-->'''Ben:''' You know those improv classes Annie and I went to?\\
'''GM:''' Yes?\\
'''Ben:''' I just wish they could have seen this.

*** '''Wedge:''' ''(chasing the PIE fighter that's chasing Luke)'' Hold still just a second, I have to aim really straight here.\\

* UnfriendlyFire: It's heavily implied that Pete intentionally got the Death Star attack squadrons killed in order to try and force Corey into helping him take it over instead of destroying it.

* TheRealMan (though arguably with a side-order of TheLoonie even stronger than Sally's): Jim, initially playing Qui-Gon Jinn, then, after the death of Qui-Gon, Padmé Amidala. In Episode IV, his early characters (including Captain Antilles) wound up being {{Mauve Shirt}}s, until he settled in as "Han Solo".[[note]]The Creator/HarrisonFord character, though in the strip his and Greedo's names were switched until Jim shot first and stole the Solo identity. [[BlatantLies This in no way came back to bite him eventually.]][[/note]] Those "early characters" were apparently all in ''Rogue One'', starting with "[[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Kyle Katarn]]" (Saw Gererra) before picking up "Bria Tharen" (Jyn Erso) and Bail Organa from the GM. In the sequels, he's Poe Dameron and [[BackupTwin his twin brothers Allan and Edgar]]. He's a gung-ho, enthusiastic player, [[LeeroyJenkins often blindly rushing into danger]]. He's [[IdiotHero also prone to humorous misunderstandings of the setting, bizarre and obviously incorrect explanations,]] and creation of {{Plot Tumor}}s. His insane plan regarding the pod race must be [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0098.html seen]] to be believed (yet he's also pursuing a Ph.D. in geophysics; in Pete's words, he relaxes by doing things that let him turn his brain off and surprises the other players [[ObfuscatingStupidity when they realize that he's]] [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass not as stupid as his play style suggests]]).
* TheLoonie: Sally, playing Jar Jar Binks in Episode I. By the time the Episode II campaign started, she decided Jar Jar was stupid, and bounced around several characters before mainly settling on C-3PO and Yoda. She then played K-2SO in ''Rogue One'' and multiple characters in the sequels including Kylo Ren, Administrator Snoke, and Maz Kanata. She's Ben's kid sister, who he once brought to a game session when their parents weren't home. As she's grown up, she's matured into a social activist. Many of the wacky elements of the setting, such as the Gungans (including her own character), Toydarians, and an elected 14-year-old queen, are products of her wild imagination; the GM seems to have largely left the task of designing settings and alien races to her, in acknowledgment of the fact that she is more creative with such things than he is. Sally is also pure awesome in a can, given that she was able to accomplish the flat-out impossible feat of making Jar Jar Binks ''likable''.

* BackupTwin: [[spoiler:Poe]]'s twin brother Allan, who shows up after [[spoiler:Poe dies in a PIE fighter crash]].

* TheyKilledKennyAgain: This has been happening to Jim's characters. First Qui-Gon, then Padmé (though she was able to last a full two campaigns before passing). In Episode IV he went four-for-four, including Kyle Katarn and Captain Antilles, and they teased a fifth when Jim decided to name his new character "Greedo" [[spoiler:until it was revealed that "Greedo" was Han Solo by a different name.]] It looked like another death was coming when Lando said Han didn't survive the carbon-freeze at the climax of ''Empire Strikes Back'', but he was lying. In ''The Force Awakens'', Poe Dameron is killed off pretty quickly and Jim's next character is killed ''before he even appears'' thanks to the players going OffTheRails and having Niima destroyed in an air strike, forcing him to resort to using Han again. Han then dies at the end of ''The Force Awakens'', and Jim introduces Poe's BackupTwin only for ''him'' to get killed early in ''The Last Jedi'' (and replaced with ''another'' BackupTwin).

* TheRant: Each page comes with some roleplaying or GM advice that's tied to what happens in the strip. The campaigns based on Disney-made movies also have commentaries from two forum members who had never seen those movies (aurilee for ''Rogue One'', memnarch for ''The Force Awakens'', and Keybounce for both) in order to give a spoiler-free perspective.