Line #40 Fanfic/DarkChaoAdventures


1	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
2
3	->''"Living life... one step at a time!"''
4
5	''[[http://www.doolinx.com/dca Dark Chao Adventures]]'' was an eight-year-running ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' {{Fanfic}} series starring a bunch of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Dark Chao who go on adventures.]] Created by [[Tropers/DJay32 [=DJay32=]]] when he was but a wee ten-year old in 2005, DCA consisted of [[ArchivePanic eighty-eight episodes, two or three spin-off series, three Halloween specials, countless radio recordings, a forum RP and a half, at least three different development blogs, a Wiki, a Facebook page, a number of forums, two artists, tons of fan art, four sets of shorts, and a feature-length standalone script.]]
6
7	While it started off dealing with the Darks as they fought the Heroes, as the years, episodes, and seasons went on, the plots grew more and more complex, and the Sonic characters showed up less and less. To sum the plot up so far, there's these guys called the Beta Avengers who were from Season Two before it effed up and [=DJay=] had to redo it, and so they're all mad about it so they came in around Season Three to wreak havoc for a few seasons. In Season Six, a grey Dark chao named Shade had to go collect seven chaos emer--''drives'' so he could evolve into a Dark/Swim chao and.. beat the bad guys.
8
9	Then in Season Seven, TheScrappy (well, ''one'' Scrappy) gets turned into the new main protagonist, and ''he's'' gotta get seven drives so he can become a Dark/Run chao and beat the ''new'' bad guys. See, the new baddies are the Veteran's Committee, and they want to end the show for various surprisingly logical reasons. They bend the script, itself, and make the Season last three times as long as it should. TheScrappy, a green Dark chao named Shadow, goes through some pretty awesome (and sometimes scary) stuff in his journey.
10
11	The series concluded with Season Eight, where [[spoiler:all the antagonists and protagonists realized [[AlwaysABiggerFish ending the show was much better than the many alternatives.]] They banded together and tried to set things up so that [[AuthorAvatar the Writing Writer]] could properly end the series. In the end, it took at least two tries.]]
12
13	You can find DCA at [[http://www.doolinx.com/dca the official website,]] [[http://darkchaoadventures.blogspot.com/ the official development blog,]] [[http://darkchaoadventures.wikia.com/ the official (but not up-to-date) Wiki,]] [[http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dark-Chao-Adventures/176786259587 or the official Book of Faces (Facebook page).]]
14
15	In 2022, [[https://archiveofourown.org/users/DJay32/series the bulk of DCA got uploaded to AO3,]] with some clean-up edits and author notes for every episode. This is the Definitive Edition. Starting with Season Seven of the [=AO3=] release, the plot itself has changed.
16
17	----
18	!!This series provides examples of:
19	* AccidentalMisnaming: Mephiles is usually called "Mister Phyllis."
20	* ActionSurvivor: Shade. Obvious with his future self, but he's really starting to show it in recent seasons.
21	* AlienGeometries: A lot of places, but most memorably the forest of Sancheria in the 2010 Halloween special.
22	* AlwaysNight: The Dark Garden. Just like in VideoGame/SonicAdventure2.
23	* AffectionateParody: There are a ''lot'' of "DCA Adaptions" of video games.
24	** Episode 39 is ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}''. 42 is ''VideoGame/HalfLife''. 43 is ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto''. 44 is ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''. The first half of 49 is ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption''.
25	** Season Seven has ''entire serials'' dedicated to affectionately parodying things. First, there's ''The Game-Maker Must Be Crazy,'' (54-58), which is of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''. Then there's ''Still Waiting for Half-Time'' (59-63), ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''. Then there's the bookends of ''Quinquenquoi,'' (64 and 73) which are of VideoGame/{{BioShock\|1}}. Episode 64 is of Nightmare House 2, a Half-Life mod. ''The Epic Quest in A Flat Minor'' is of a hodgepodge of [[ProgressiveRock prog albums.]] ..so ''yeah.''
26	** Episode 8 contains parodies of Sonic 3. 18 contains an expy-of-sorts of popular ''DOOM'' mod ''Sonic Robo Blast 2.'' Most of Season Four is a tribute to the "secretcity" maps in Half-Life mod ''Sven Co-op.''
27	** Then there's the special scripts. [=DCA09=] returns to the "secretcity" maps. [=DCAHall2=] is ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar''. [=DCAHall3=] Tale Two takes inspiration from ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' and Creator/StephenKing while paying a beautiful tribute to ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets''. Tale Three is the original "Nightmare House" mod for ''Half-Life 2''.
28	* AnachronicOrder: Averted in that the episodes follow a loose-yet-strict timeline, then played straight with the Future episodes, the spin-offs, the RP, and.. well, everything else.
29	* AuthorAvatar: The Writing Writer, [[spoiler:"Ulysses,"]] [=DJay32=], all the same character. He's as much a character as the rest of the cast, and despite very clearly being the one writing everything, he still has trouble keeping things orderly.
30	* AuthorTract: Inverted-- we find out ''all about'' the author, but not his morals or any general message. Other than "Always write a consistent narrative."
31	%%* ArcNumber:
32	%%** Thirty-two (32)
33	%%** [[spoiler:Eight and five. (8/5)]]
34	* ArcWords:
35	** "Stardust and Instability"
36	** "The Unwritten End"
37	** "Ulysses"
38	** "Unexpected developments"
39	** "The End Complete"
40	* AxeCrazy: Amy Rose's future self, in [=DCA710=], "Part Two of Fear."
41	* BackFromTheDead: Happens so much that you won't even be surprised the fiftieth time it happens.
42	** In Episode 85, [[spoiler:Everyone dies for real. Only for Shade and Shadow to find themselves alive and well three episodes later, when the show was supposed to be completely over.]]
43	* BeingWatched:
44	** Seasons Three, Four, Five, and Six show us the Beta Avengers are watching the protagonists at all times.
45	** In [=DCAHall3=], the ''other chao,'' [[WebVideo/MarbleHornets the Operator,]] and ''the Security.'' shudder
46	* BerserkButton: Never call a non-prog band "prog" when [=DJay's=] listening.
47	-->'''''"[COHEED IS NOT PROG.]"'''''
48	%%* BigEater: Dark.
49	* TheBlank: [=DCAHall3=] features not only [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos the slender man,]] but faceless chao!
50	* BlatantLies: Lampshaded on the main page of [[http://darkchaoadventures.wikia.com the Wiki.]]
51	* BreakingTheFourthWall: ''What'' fourth wall? [=DJay=] speaks directly to and responds to the characters so much that he's technically a protagonist in his own right. The various antagonists always make a point to take him down somehow.
52	* BreatherEpisode: A lot of episodes, or in the case of Season Seven, Breather ''Serials.'' Even though they're still {{Wham Episode}}s, they're just not.. quite.. as shocking as others.
53	%%* BrownNote:
54	%%** In [=DCAHall3=], "Hello?"
55	%%** From [=DCAHall3=] but still prominent later, [[spoiler:"Ulysses."]]
56	* BuffySpeak: Used a lot, especially in the earlier episodes written when the author was still ten, eleven, twelve.
57	* ButtMonkey: Quartz, the third-party chao made by one of the creator's best friends. He has never appeared once without being killed in some way.
58	* CerebusSyndrome: DCA started off as a comedy fanscript series about ''chao,'' made when [=DJay=] was ''ten.'' It ''continued'' like that for a while, but then Deej started experimenting with drama in Season Five. Season Six was a little more dramatic but still Narm-y. Season Seven? ''Holy fuck.'' There's still comedy, but the tension, plot, and the occasional horror are definitely more prominent than ever. Season Eight just goes further downhill up until the [[MindScrew multiple canonical endings.]]
59	* ChekhovsGun:
60	** Cham. His disappearance in the very first episode, [[spoiler:later retconned as his ''death,'']] comes back ''all the way in the Season Six SeasonFinale.''
61	** In [=DCAHall3=], [[spoiler:the aisle of trees, and the hole with a ladder inside.]]
62	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: The earlier seasons had a lot more chao. The later ones tend to stick with the main four (Shade, Dark, Red, Shadow).
63	* ComicTrio: The Poker Gang. [[note]]Sans fancharacter Dark Tails, who was killed off pretty quickly.[[/note]]
64	* CompanionCube: Episode 39 is the DCA adaption of Portal, so.. yeah. Also appears in follow-up Episode 40.
65	* CoolCar: In Episode 61, the protagonists get an Aston Martin [=DB9=] to aid them on their quest across ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''. Shadow soon wrecks it, though, and they are given a Fiat Panda as replacement, much to Shade's sulky chagrin.
66	* CoolShades:
67	** [[{{Pun}} Shade]] ''the Dark.''
68	** Played straight in Episode 17, when Shade's recollection of events gives Dark Tails really cool sunglasses.
69	* CrazyPrepared: Every Dark chao has one set of emergency dynamite.
70	* CreepyDoll: The Tails Doll in the earlier episodes and "Gears n' Roses."
71	%%* CuckoosNest: "Captain Curator."
72	* CuriosityKilledTheCast: Averted in [=DCAHall3=] in that [[spoiler:no one dies.]]
73	%%* DarkWorld: The various locales in the Sancheria Forest.
74	%%* DontGoInTheWoods: The ''Sancheria'' woods.
75	%%* DumbassDJ: ''[[{{Pun}} Averted!]]''
76	* EldritchLocation:
77	** Sancheria and everything around it, particularly [[spoiler:the Subway and the Manor.]]
78	** The city of Chao Talk. ''Period.''
79	** Episode 88 gave us the "impossible world." Not much is said about it, but there's something in the sea that winds up [[spoiler:taking over the entire show.]]
80	* ElmuhFuddSyndwome: Half the chao in the earlier episodes talked like this, the basis being that they were babies and unable to pronounce their 'R's.
81	%%* EvilLaugh: Used to occur a lot in earlier episodes.
82	%%* FakeBand: Rubber Goose, the band held by the main protagonists.
83	* {{Flanderization}}: Inverted. The cast was very cartoony, extreme, wacky, and caricature-like in the early episodes. As time went on, they started to get a ''lot'' more realistic, a lot more serious, their defining traits starting to lock horns and blend.
84	* FourIsDeath: Played with. For the majority of Season Four, the chao are in a city where they can respawn indefinitely. They take advantage of this and die a lot.
85	* FreezeFrameBonus: Actually pulled off in a ''text-based'' series. In [=DCAHall3,=] there are a lot of what look like typos. ''They're foreshadowing.'' Then, in Log Entry #33, "Forest Off-Limits," there is the occasional word that is slightly different (a "you" instead of "me," a "seize" instead of "sees").
86	%%* FutureMeScaresMe
87	* GrammarNazi: [=DJay's=] quite the, and it shows with his characters. For example, this is from Episode 51:
88	-->'''Shade:''' ''Now, I understand you had something with which to inform me?''
89	-->'''Zagu:''' ''Yeah. My mouth.''
90	-->'''Shade:''' ''NICE! hi-5 I'm glad to see SOMEONE here knows proper grammar.''
91	-->'''Red:''' ''..........oh, I get it! [[CaptainObvious "With which to inform me," instead of "OF which to inform me."]] [[DontExplainTheJoke You were referring to what he's using TO inform you!]]''
92	-->'''Shade:''' ''Heh... yes. That was the point.''
93	* HalloweenCosplay: Every Halloween special has the chao dressing up as something.
94	** For the first special, Shade was Evil Kirby from [[Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa the anime,]] Red was [[TakeThat an American Naruto fan,]] and Dark was a toaster.
95	** For the second, Shade was [[TakeThat a guy who thinks Rock Band sucks because it "copied Guitar Hero,"]] Red was [[TakeThat a Halo fan,]] and Dark was... [[RunningGag a toaster.]]
96	** For the third, the chao took on theme costumes: ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets''! Shade was Alex Kralie, Red was Brian, Shadow was Jay, and Dark was a toaster. ..that is, Tim, [[WhiteMaskOfDoom mask and all.]]
97	%%* HalloweenEpisode: Three of them, each considerably larger and scarier than the last.
98	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Shade and Dark, to the point of some pretty beautiful scenes where Shade is promising to Dark that they won't die, or where Dark is convincing Shade that he rocks, that he can get through the adventure [[spoiler:without getting viciously murdered by Metal Sonic.]]
99	* HumanoidAbomination: Wilson Constable Kilburn. Don't know the name? ''Good.'' [[BodyHorror shudder]]
100	* ICallItVera: The future Shade has a shotgun, and her name is "Shotty."
101	%%* {{Jerkass}}: Metal Sonic can be one, for sure, especially in the earlier episodes.
102	* JigsawPuzzlePlot:
103	** By the end of Season Seven, it gets to the point where every episode needs a full-on recap.
104	** The first spin-off series, Professor Shade-on, counts as this.
105	* LampshadeHanging: In a show with no fourth wall, this happens a lot.
106	%%* LivingShadow: There are armies of these in [=DCA09=].
107	* MeaningfulName:
108	** Most things in [=DCAHall3=]. "Scruple" and "Tenebrosity," for example, are synonyms of specific words.
109	** The 'cast' of "Bound to a Stream of Consciousness," too. "Captain Curator" is a reference to ''Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' as well as to the character's insisting on being treated like a leader. [[VideoGame/EarthBound1994 "Ness"]] is your average kid who battles his evil side at one point. [[Creator/StephenKing "Jim Rennie"]] is an overall selfish and passively oblivious character. [[ShoutOut "Logic"]] is the kind, calm, generous female character. And of course, "Ulysses." A protagonist who can't decide upon a name, who is the subject of ''many'' a lengthy story, who used to be "stuck in an endless war" but is now "sailing off on the usually-calm, sometimes-dangerous, always-monotonous seas."
110	* MetaGuy: Meta ''show.'' But, out of all the characters, Red is the one who does all the meta theories and speculation.
111	%%* MindScrew: Everything that has anything to do with the name "Ulysses." ...shudder
112	* MundaneMadeAwesome: '''''Poker is serious business.''''' People have lost lives over it.
113	* NothingIsScarier: What the hell happened to the climax of [=DCAHall3=]? It's pretty clear some serious shit went down, some serious traumatic shit, and after "Bound to a Stream of Consciousness" in the previous act, you'd think we'd get to see how traumatizing the script can ''really'' get. But no! There's nothing.
114	* OffscreenTeleportation: Happens a lot with the Veteran's Committee. They never just "appear." They always ''walk in.''
115	%%* OhCrap: Happens frequently. Hell, it happens ''a lot'' in just [=DCAHall3.=]
116	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: In Season Seven serial ''Still Waiting for Half-Time's'' fourth part, every character gets a codename. One new character, Adrian Ruthford, codenamed "Jack White," is rarely referred to by anything but "White."
117	%%* OntologicalMystery: [=DCA09=], on a very large scale.
118	%%* OutOfFocus: There are ''third-party chao?''
119	* PutOnABus: Dark Tails. Needless to say, he hasn't been a Poker Gang member in a very long time. Though he made an appearance in Episode 60, where he probably died. But he died fighting. In a fire. Laughing maniacally. He went out with honor.
120	%%* {{Prequel}}: ''[[http://www.atlantaspring.com/dca/missions.html DCRPG.]]''
121	* RealityWarper:
122	%%** Red Metal in [=DCA09=].
123	** Sancheria forest, although that's more of an EldritchLocation.
124	** The characters often bend the scripts, themselves.
125	%%* RuleOfFunny: Happened a lot in the earlier episodes. Still happens every now and then.
126	%%* RuleOfScary: [=DCAHall3=] really wanted us to see how scary it could be.
127	* RunningGag:
128	** Dark's love for toasters.
129	** "Wow, it's ''me!''" "It's not ''dark,'' it's ''shaded!'' Heavily shaded." "It's not dark, it's multiple heavy shades of ''red.''" "It's not dark, it's heavily ''shadowed.''"
130	%%* SceneryGorn: [[spoiler:Tenebrosity Factory]] in [=DCAHall3=].
131	* ShoutOut: If [=DJay=] has ever liked it, he will make a shout-out. See AffectionateParody above. Also see the third Halloween special's HalloweenCosplay.
132	* TheSmurfettePrinciple: There's the female Shade. There's sometimes Amy Rose. There's occasionally third-party chao Honey. And then there's ''tons'' of guys.
133	* SoWhatDoWeDoNow: The chao aren't too bright. They sometimes ask ''the antagonists'' what they have to do to progress the story.
134	* TakeThat:
135	** If [=DJay=] really doesn't like it, he probably won't ever mention it. If he ''really'' hates it, expect something like Red dressing up as an American Naruto fan, or George Bush getting killed in Chao Talk.
136	** "Bound to a Stream of Consciousness" might count as a subtle FridgeBrilliance example.
137	%%* TitleDrop: Well... there's a lot of meta-talk, if that counts.
138	* UnreliableNarrator: "Captain Curator," the narrator of "Bound to a Stream of Consciousness."
139	* TheUnreveal: Season Seven's subtitled "The End," right? So the end of the last episode is the end of the show? ..no, it's a ''cliffhanger.''
140	* VerbalTic: "I'm Mephiles, ''fool.''" "You know who I am, fool!" Lampshaded in Dark's recollection of events in RashomonStyle Episode 17:
141	-->'''MP:''' ''Fools, I am fool Mephiles fool so fool you'd fool better fool start running! [[OverlyLongGag Fool.]]''
142	* VillainProtagonist: The Darks are the star of the show, and in quiet episodes, they'll fight the Heroes. They soon met actually evil villains like the Poker Gang! ..who quickly became protagonists ''as well'' when the ''truly'' evil Beta Avengers showed up. ..who became more of recurring not-bad characters [[AlwaysABiggerFish when the]] ''[[AlwaysABiggerFish seriously really]]'' [[AlwaysABiggerFish evil Veteran's Committee showed up.]]
143	* WhamEpisode:
144	** Episode 48 gave us MILKMAN's identity.
145	** Episode 49 gave us JOE's.
146	*** No, Episode ''50'' gave us JOE's.
147	** Episode 55 gave us this beautiful whammy:
148	--->'''Raid:''' ....th..th....they're gonna [[spoiler:end DCA?]]
149	** Episode 73 gave us ''this'' one:
150	--->'''Ryder:''' We're not underwater.
151	** Episode 79, the SeasonFinale of Season Seven, gave us this:
152	--->"Hey there. [[spoiler:MILKMAN]] here."
153	** Chapter 30, "Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats," is a wham ''chapter.''
154	** Episode 81 had the Hiatus and more talk of Ulysses.
155	** Episode 85 was the end of the entire show, giving us [[spoiler:Metal Speedy]] and [[spoiler:Future Shade being possibly evil.]] And also the end of the entire show.
156	** Episode 88 doesn't even technically exist, yet its existence cancels out the canonicity of 85's ending. It's a WhamEpisode on a very meta scale, and then it consists of a ''lot'' of frequent whams. Like [[spoiler:EAT being the Instability and Red Metal and IT and 8 and 5, and the entire show being just a "passion play" put on by these eldritch creatures.]] And, of course, [[spoiler:Amphis is Red.]]
157	* WhiteVoidRoom: The Space/Time Rip Beyond the Planet of Pure Dooky, or "STR" for short.
158	* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:[=DJay32=].]] That's a spoiler in more ways than one.

Context Fanfic / DarkChaoAdventures