| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/style_3972.jpg]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:But ''[[TakeThatAudience you]]'' can play, too!]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''"Please stop trying to handle my style\ |
| 5 | 'Cause you can't, no you can't\ |
| 6 | Uhn! Handle my style!\ |
| 7 | Seriously, quit trying to handle my style\ |
| 8 | Unless you're a lady,\ |
| 9 | then you're cordially invited to have a giant slice of my style!"'' |
| 10 | |
| 11 | A spin-off of the wildly-popular Flash cartoon series ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', ''Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People'' (or [=SBCG4AP=] for short) is a [[EpisodicGame five-episode]] adventure game developed by [[Creator/TelltaleGames "the people who made that game]] ''[[VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Rabbit-Dog and Bunnyman]]''" and released on a monthly basis starting in August 2008. Each episode features a different adventure starring BreakoutCharacter Strong Bad as he goes about a typical day of checking e-mails, writing ''WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad'' comics, committing arson and petty larceny, perpetrating {{Zany Scheme}}s, tormenting his neighbors, and/or playing video games. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | The episodes are: |
| 14 | * ''Homestar Ruiner'' -- In which Strong Bad sets out to "beat the snot out of Homestar", but instead ends up impersonating him at the Free Country USA Tri-Annual Race to the End of the Race, humiliating him in the process... which wouldn't be a problem, except that Homestar takes refuge in Strong Bad's house and refuses to leave unless Strong Bad can fix Homestar's shattered reputation. |
| 15 | * ''Strong Badia the Free'' -- In which Strong Bad rebels against the King of Town's new e-mail tax, and tries to rally his neighbors (who have all set up their own countries) to overthrow the Of Town's "fat-thority". |
| 16 | * ''Baddest of the Bands'' -- In which Strong Bad organizes (and then attempts to win) a Battle Royale of the Bands in order to fund repairs for his beloved Videlectrix Funmachine. |
| 17 | * ''Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective'' -- In which Strong Bad finally completes his latest "cine-magic masterpiece", where a routine mission to save the rainforest traps Dangeresque and Renaldo in a web of treachery, lies, heartbreak, and bad action movie cliches. This is a unique installment in that you play in-character as Dangeresque, trying to solve your way through the movie's plot. |
| 18 | * ''8-Bit Is Enough'' -- In which Strong Bad's malfunctioning Trogdor cabinet leads to Free Country USA merging with the world of video games, forcing Strong Bad to team up with his favorite video game characters and take out a rampaging Trogdor. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | Strong Bad also appears in ''VideoGame/PokerNightAtTheInventory'', using the model from this game. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | The games were released monthly between August and December of 2008 for Wii and PC, with a [=PS3=] port released in 2010. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | ---- |
| 25 | !!Tropes featured in this game include: |
| 26 | |
| 27 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 28 | [[folder:General tropes]] |
| 29 | * OneHundredPercentCompletion: Each game has a ranking that goes up for completing the game's puzzles, but to get it to 100% you'll also have to complete bizarre optional objectives, find every item in different sets of collectibles, and get a high score in that episode's retro minigame. |
| 30 | * AndYourRewardIsClothes: If you [[OneHundredPercentCompletion complete everything in an episode]], your reward is a shirt for your wardrobe. |
| 31 | * AwesomenessMeter: The meter progresses for full completion of all five episodes. |
| 32 | * BigRedButton: During "Homestar Ruiner," the race's tape is ruined by pushing a red button labeled ERASE. There's a post-it tacked to it warning "DO NOT PUSH." Also makes an appearance during "Baddest of the Bands," when one is supposed to reveal Strong Bad's stage prop. |
| 33 | * BlandNameProduct: For legal reasons, Strong Bad's lighter doesn't have a BMW logo, the Swiss Cake Rolls were renamed to "Creamy Ding Snack Cakes", the floppy disk container next to the Lappy doesn't have any real-world games in it, and the bit where Strong Bad mumbles the name of a random video game was changed to a Videlectrix game, ''Rhino Feeder'' (he originally mumbled ''Super VideoGame/PunchOut''). |
| 34 | * BootstrappedTheme: "Handle My Style", the intro song from the first episode, has more or less become the series's theme song. |
| 35 | * BreadEggsBreadedEggs: |
| 36 | ** In "Homestar Ruiner", Strong Bad can accuse Pom-Pom of being on steroids, a robot, or a robot on steroids. |
| 37 | ** Also from "Homestar Ruiner", Homestar complains about the contents of Strong Bad's kitchen while trying to cook up a token of apology for Marzipan. |
| 38 | --->'''Homestar:''' Marzipan's vegan, and most of the food in here contains meat, milk, milky meat, or... meaty milk.\ |
| 39 | '''Strong Bad:''' Hey, don't be dissin' my meaty milk! |
| 40 | ** In "Strong Badia the Free", as part of his RousingSpeech that Strong Badia is now its own independent nation, Strong Bad declares... |
| 41 | --->"We should all live in a place where we are free! Free to pick our friends, free to pick our noses, and most importantly, free to pick our friends' noses!" |
| 42 | ** In "8-Bit Is Enough", Strong Bad can respond to an e-mail about [[HypocriticalHumor video games where you can't die]]. |
| 43 | --->'''Strong Bad:''' What are you supposed to do in a game where you can't die? Pick up things? Talk to people? Talk to people about things you just picked up? |
| 44 | * BrickJoke: |
| 45 | ** In "Homestar Ruiner", the episode begins with Strong Bad getting an email asking why he hasn't "beat the snot" out of Homestar yet. Strong Bad thinks it's a good idea, but his intention gets derailed. [[spoiler:In the end, when Homestar crashes out of the window in the conga line, he yells out, "Ow, my snot!"]] |
| 46 | ** When the game was first announced on the Homestar Runner website, the Brothers Chaps made [[http://homestarrunner.com/sbcg4ap.html an animation]] where Strong Bad presents his interpretation of what he should look like in the game, featuring [[HeroicBuild bulging muscles]], [[ArtificialLimbs robot legs]], and an AwesomeButImpractical sword. [[spoiler:This design is finally used in the last episode when Strong Bad faces off against a 64-bit rendition of Trogdor. Strong Bad even points out that this meant the developers listened to him]] |
| 47 | ** In the Extended play of "Dangeresque 3", Strong Bad offers Homestar a quarter to re-paint the fence in Strong Badia, and Homestar expresses hopes that his new "lucky quarter" will taste like butterscotch. Near the start of "8-Bit Enough", Homestar denies eating his "lucky quarter", saying it didn't even taste like butterscotch. |
| 48 | ** The first Episode, "Homestar Ruiner", featured the VillainSong "Handle My Style," which was all about how people couldn't handle Strong Bad's style. In the first phase of the Trogdor Fight in "8 Bit Is Enough," when you hit and defeat Trogdor, he yells "No! Your style! I couldn't handle it!" |
| 49 | * ButtMonkey: Strong Sad gets ridiculed, pummeled, conned, humiliated, and otherwise tormented throughout each episode (though he does get to dish some abuse back to Strong Bad in "Baddest of the Bands"). |
| 50 | * CollectionSidequest: Each episode features two or three different sets of collectibles, like Coach Z's trophies in "Homestar Ruiner" or the miniature flags in "Strong Badia the Free". |
| 51 | * ColorCodedSpeech: Every character's subtitles are colored according to who is speaking (Strong Bad's text is a pale red, Homestar's text is white, Marzipan's text is purple, etc.). |
| 52 | * CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: It's a game based around [[{{Jerkass}} Strong Bad]], so naturally the solution to several puzzles involves doing dickish things to his friends and neighbors, like decapitating a ''papier maché'' sculpture of Homestar, making Strong Sad think he has a terrible disease, and tricking Coach Z into throwing a rock through Marzipan's front window. |
| 53 | * DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: |
| 54 | ** "Homestar Ruiner" has the Tri-Annual Race to the End of the Race. |
| 55 | ** In "8-Bit is Enough", Stinkoman insults Strong Bad this way. If Strong Bad asks Stinkoman if he can have the [=TrogSword=], the latter refuses: |
| 56 | --->'''Stinkoman:''' One day you'll get your baby turn, for babies who have a turn! |
| 57 | ** Or when Strong Bad thinks that Stinkoman sounds harsh for a name, Stinkoman asks Strong Bad why he is called Dumb Face: |
| 58 | --->'''Stinkoman:''' Is it because your face is dumb and at the same time you have a dumb face?\ |
| 59 | '''Strong Bad:''' No one calls me that.\ |
| 60 | '''Stinkoman:''' Maybe they should call you Dumb Butt-Face, because your face and your butt are both dumb! |
| 61 | * EmptyRoomPsych: Several episodes have rooms that contribute nothing but a few gags. |
| 62 | * EpisodicGame: The game has five episodes total. |
| 63 | * FictionalVideoGame: In addition to the various mini-games on Strong Bad's Funmachine, a number of fictional games appear in "8-Bit is Enough", such as Lady Crate Ape, Spirits of '76, and Halfathalon. |
| 64 | * FloatingAdviceReminder: |
| 65 | ** In ''Baddest of the Bands'', whenever Bubs suggests Strong Bad could pay for repairs to the Funmachine by [[WorkOffTheDebt working at his store]] rather than [[StatingTheSimpleSolution jumping through elaborate hoops to arrange, sabotage, and win a battle of the bands]], a floating pixelated head of Limozeen's Larry Palaroncini appears over Strong Bad's shoulder and says "Rock and Roll, Strong Bad!" |
| 66 | ** In ''8-Bit is Enough'', Strong Bad ponders a way to distract the rampaging Trogdor machine so he can repair it, and recalls Strong Sad telling him "[[WhoWouldBeStupidEnough You'd have to be some kind of idiot]] to take on Trogdor alone!" in this fashion. [[InadvertentEntranceCue Right on cue]], Homestar Runner blunders into the scene. |
| 67 | * {{Frameup}}: On Numerous occasions. |
| 68 | ** In "Homestar Ruiner," Strong Bad (accidentally) frames Homestar Runner for destroying Marzipan's garden party decorations. He also plants Total Load Total Body Energy Enhancement Powder in Pom Pom's locker to get him disqualified from the Race to the End of the Race. |
| 69 | ** In "Baddest of the Bands," Strong Bad frames Coach Z for several crimes in order to convince Bubs he's still "hardcore" so the two will reform the Two-O Duo for the Battle of the Bands. Later, he frames Limozeen for doing all the things Marzipan is getting preachy over, resulting in her writing a song dedicated to trashing them, which hurts her band's position in the contest since ''Limozeen are the judges''. |
| 70 | * GameBreakingBug: |
| 71 | ** A number of the [=SBCG4AP=] episodes have some bug some which freezes or causes trouble for the game. The PC and [=WiiWare=] versions have different bugs between them. |
| 72 | ** In-universe, taking advantage of one is needed in 8-Bit Is Enough - to recruit Gel-Arshie, you have to break his Pro Fruitboarder game by scoring over a trillion points. |
| 73 | * GameWithinAGame: There's one of these in each episode, some of which even factor into the plot. |
| 74 | * GeographicFlexibility: A LampshadeHanging is applied on this by the map system. You can move all the notable locations around on the map and put them wherever you want. Very amusing when doing this to a ''world'' map in Dangeresque 3. Nothing's stopping you from placing Tokyo in Africa, for starters. Averted in Strong Badia the Free, where Strong Bad uses the board from a ''TabletopGame/{{Risk}}''-like game as his map to replace the one eaten by the King of Town at the start of the game but that doesn't mean that's really where they are in relation to each other, just the order Strong Bad decides to conquer them. |
| 75 | * GoodAngelBadAngel: A variation: when Strong Bad interacts with someone, often he has one of two choices of how to speak to them, represented by an angel and a devil, respectively. Choosing the "angel" choice causes Strong Bad to say something nice, while the "devil" choice causes Strong Bad to say something mean. However, when Strong Bad is explaining this system in a tutorial, he says that choosing the "devil" option will cause him to "say something ''I'' would say," while the "angel" implies being him being a kiss-up. Most of the time it's recommended that you choose the angel option in order to make progress in the game, though at least one occasion does require choosing the devil. Getting the Nuisance achievement, however, requires using the Bad Devil twice in many situations. |
| 76 | * GuideDangIt: [=SBCG4AP=] has its moments, especially when it comes to finding collectibles and other 100% completion achievements. The worst one is probably one of the Expressions of Affection in "Baddest of the Bands": To get it, you have to have hints turned up to maximum, sabotage two specific bands in the Battle Royale of the Bands, pick up an item used to sabotage the ''third'' band ''without'' using it, and then wander around a particular spot for a while until the hint drops. How the game makers expected anybody to figure this one out on their own is a real mystery. It doesn't help some of the Expressions are [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost for good]] if you don't do them before certain story beats. |
| 77 | * HintSystem: Depending on the settings, characters will drop hints on what to do next. Also, some of the messages from the Drive-Thru Whale in The Field are [[CrypticConversation incredibly cryptic hints]]. |
| 78 | * HypocriticalHumor: |
| 79 | ** In "Baddest of the Bands", Marzipan complains about people who destroy the environment... while she throws a piece of litter on the ground. |
| 80 | ** Strong Bad makes several derogatory comments about [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames licensed games]][[invoked]], and games where the player character cannot die. |
| 81 | --->'''Strong Bad:''' What are you supposed to do in a game where you can't die? [[KleptomaniacHero Pick things up?]] [[TalkToEveryone Talk to people?]] [[ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest Talk to people about things you just picked up?]] |
| 82 | ** Watching TV in '8-Bit is Enough', Strong Bad comments on a Saturday Morning block of Videlectrix cartoon adaptations: |
| 83 | --->'''Strong Bad:''' This is the one where some real-world kids get sucked into a video game. Ridiculous![[note]]That's the plot of this episode.[[/note]] |
| 84 | * KleptomaniacHero: This is Strong Bad (in an AdventureGame) we're talking about, after all. |
| 85 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' ''[singing]'' Taking Marzipan's balloons, and I don't know why. |
| 86 | * LicensedGame: A Telltale Games series based on the ''Homestar Runner'' web animations. |
| 87 | * {{Leitmotif}}: "Handle My Style" is used for the incidental music -- since the player is always controlling Strong Bad. |
| 88 | * MediumAwareness: "Who's the star of this game? That's right, you are!" |
| 89 | * MicrowaveMisuse: If the microwave is examined, Strong Bad claims that it is unusable due to the doors being stuck shut by nacho entrails and mangled action figures. |
| 90 | * NeverTrustATrailer: The "next episode" previews. While the lines spoken are from the actual games, they occur in scenes that never actually happen. For example, the trailer for episode 3, "Baddest of the Bands", has Strong Bad standing on top Bubs' Concession Stand and preparing to perform while asking if the audience is ready to rock. While the line is said in the game, Strong Bad never stands on top of the stand in this game, the bands perform at night (not middle of the day), and The Cheat and Strong Mad aren't in Strong Bad's band. |
| 91 | * NintendoHard: The Funmachine mini-games. |
| 92 | * NominalHero: Strong Bad's a light and soft version of one: he only does the right thing only because the alternative inconvenienced him specifically, as seen in ''Strong Badia the Free'', ''8-Bit is Enough'', and the second half of ''Homestar Ruiner''. |
| 93 | * OldSaveBonus: The PC version will add the costume items unlocked from versions prior if at least one other [=SBCG4AP=] episode is installed.. The Wii version skips this entirely, as it just unlocks all of them from the start. |
| 94 | * OwMyBodyPart: |
| 95 | ** At the end of "Homestar Ruiner", when Strong Bad has everyone slip on the banana peel so they fall out a window and thus out of his house, Homestar groans "Ow! My snot!" upon landing. |
| 96 | ** At the beginning of "Strong Badia the Free", Strong Bad is mercilessly pummeled by the Poopsmith while being placed under house arrest, and yells "Ow! My freedom!" |
| 97 | * PacManFever: While playing the Fun Machine games, Strong Bad shakes his controller around wildly and presses buttons in such a way that can't possibly match what you're doing. |
| 98 | * PermanentlyMissableContent: Getting collectibles and other 100% completion achievements in [=SBCG4AP=] can be difficult, because many of them can only be achieved in a small window of opportunity. Thankfully, the game averts UnwinnableByDesign, as anything needed to complete the game will always remain accessible to you. |
| 99 | * PlayableEpilogue: After you complete each episode, Extended Play becomes available. This allows you to pick up collectibles you might have missed, play the Funmachine mini-games, or simply hear some additional scenes and dialogue. |
| 100 | * ProductDisplacement: Strong Bad's lighter, which appears in episodes 2 and 3, does not have the BMW logo on it. |
| 101 | * {{Retraux}}: The games for Strong Bad's Funmachine range in graphical quality from Atari 2600 era to SNES Mode 7 Levels but all are at least fifteen years out fo date in spite of being new releases. |
| 102 | * RevisitingTheRoots: Strong Bad can check his emails and answer them, with the segments being formated like classic Strong Bad emails where his mouth is visible in the reflection and he answers the whole thing with no cutaways. |
| 103 | * ShoutOut: A number of these. "Baddest of the Bands" is simply ''loaded'' with rock and pop music references, while "8-Bit is Enough" references a number of video games. |
| 104 | ** In Dangeresque 3, when Dangeresque is beating up the Bear-Holding-A-Shark, he shouts, "And a boot to the head! And one for Jenny and the wimp!" in reference to "Last Will and Temperament" by Radio/TheFrantics. |
| 105 | ** The Trogsword looks a lot like the [[WesternAnimation/{{ThunderCats|1985}} Sword of Omens]]. Strong Bad even holds it like Lion-O did when activating its powers- namely, so that the curved crossbar frames the eyes of the user while the red gem with the animal-themed logo in it sits between the users' eyes. |
| 106 | ** Twice, (once in Homestar Ruiner, and again in 8-Bit is Enough) Strong Bad says versions of a [[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 familiar]] [[ByThePowerOfGrayskull phrase]]. The first is "By the power of, er, Brown-skull!" (uttered when Strong Bad picks up a plunger in the King of Town's Castle) and the second is "By the power of EGA!", (shouted when Strong Bad takes possession of the Trogsword). |
| 107 | ** The title ''8-Bit is Enough'' itself is a reference to an [[{{Series/Eight Is Enough}} obscure late 70s/early 80s sitcom]]. |
| 108 | ** Some of the Fun Machine games bear a close resemblance to classic games: ''Snake Boxer 5'' to Activision's ''Boxing'' for Atari 2600, ''Math Kickers'' to ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'', and ''Limozeen's Hot Babelien Odyssey'' to ''VideoGame/{{Defender}}''. |
| 109 | * SequelHook: Each episode ends with a preview for the next one: |
| 110 | ** Episode 1 — After Strong Bad falls asleep on the couch, the camera pans to the computer room where the Municipality logo is visible on the Lappy 486. |
| 111 | ** Episode 2 — As Strong Bad leaves the castle, he mentions that he wonders if his new Limozeen game was delivered. |
| 112 | ** Episode 3 — When Strong Sad says that the game sounds dangerous, Strong Bad says "No, sounds..." and hums the Dangeresque theme song, while the camera zooms in on the Dangeresque 3 poster. |
| 113 | ** Episode 4 — A direct continuation of the final shot. |
| 114 | * SchizoTech: In regards to the Fun Machine games. Sometimes they resemble Atari 2600 games, other times they resemble ones for the NES/Master System, which are from two different generations of video games. Physically, the Fun Machine resembles an Atari 2600 but appears to use an NES controller. |
| 115 | * SkywardScream: In "Homestar Ruiner", after Homestar hides out at Strong Bad's house, Strong Bad directs one at "IRONY!" He also pulls off a few in "Dangeresque 3". |
| 116 | * StylisticSuck: Much of the music in ''Baddest of the Bands'', the special effects and plot in ''Dangeresque 3'' and the retro video game graphics in ''8 Bit Is Enough''. |
| 117 | * TakeThatAudience: |
| 118 | ** Before the series was officially released, it was previewed by Strong Bad as being "for attractive people -- but ''you'' can play, too!" |
| 119 | ** Strong Bad also does this at the very beginning of "Dangeresque 3", which had been in development for a long time (originally intended to be released in June 2004, according to the Strong Bad Email: "stunt double"). |
| 120 | --->'''Strong Bad:''' ''[typing on his laptop computer]'' Dear all the annoying morons that have been bugging me about it for four and a half years... Yes, I finally finished Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective, so you can all EAT IT! |
| 121 | * TheThreeTrials: Spoofed in "Strong Badia the Free", when Homsar asks Strong Bad to perform "three ancient tasks of great boredom", then reveals he was just joking. Other episodes have legitimate three-pronged objectives: |
| 122 | ** In "Homestar Ruiner", Strong Bad has to clear Homestar's criminal record for indecent exposure, win him the trophy for the Race to the End of the Race, and repair his relationship with Marzipan to get him out of the house (which is undoing the damage Strong Bad did earlier while trying to get into the Race). The race in particular has three obstacles that Strong Bad needs to sabotage so he can cheat his way to victory. |
| 123 | ** In "Strong Badia the Free", Strong Bad has to convince Strong Sad he has the three main symptoms of "acute aphasic pretendicitis" so Strong Bad can get his brother's "pretendix" and trade it for a PlotCoupon. |
| 124 | ** In "Baddest of the Bands", Strong Bad has to find three bands and convince them to sign up for his Battle Royale of the Bands. Getting the Two-O-Duo to join requires framing Coach Z for a series of pranks to convince Bubs his old band mate is still "hardcore". Then, when Strong Bad is forced to join the Battle Royale himself, he has to sabotage the other three bands. Again, one of the bands requires three objectives themselves; sabotaging Cool Tapes leads to Strong Bad framing celebrity judges Limozeen for three things Marzipan is feeling preachy about (polluting wetlands, objectifying women, and abusing sea mammals) to turn her against the judges. |
| 125 | ** "Dangeresque 3" has the three ingredients Prof. Experimento needs to replicate the rainforest formula for Cutesy Buttons. |
| 126 | * UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Like in the source material, Strong Bad repeatedly antagonizes and insults people for his own amusement, especially Strong Sad. The first half of ''Homestar Ruiner'' in particular consists of him ruining Homestar's reputation for shits and giggles. When the tutorial introduces the nice and mean dialogue options, SB openly says the latter is "something ''I'' would say", while the former is about "kissing up". |
| 127 | * WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Parodied; Free Country's map is being drawn by Strong Bad on the fly, and while he knows exactly where things are and where to go next, this is represented by you being able to decide where different locations are on the map. Thus, the answer to questions like "Where is Homestar's house" is "Wherever you want it to be" |
| 128 | * WorkInfoTitle: The title contains the fact that it's a video game, and tells you that the target audience is attractive people (but ''you'' can play too). |
| 129 | * YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: Several occurrences, mostly as {{Continuity Nod}}s to ''VideoGame/ThyDungeonman''. |
| 130 | * YesNoAnswerInterpretation: In ''Homestar Ruiner'', one of the exchanges if you get caught by Strong Mad in the King of Town's castle is this: |
| 131 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' Hey, brother Strong Mad! Are you here to help me steal Homestar's record?\ |
| 132 | ''(cut to outside where a screaming Strong Bad is thrown out a window)''\ |
| 133 | '''Strong Bad:''' I'll take that as a no. |
| 134 | ** In ''Strong Badia the Free'', when Strong Bad first meets Homsar at the Homsar Reservation, this occurs as a result of his initial failed attempt to get Homsar to join Strong Bad's cause to overthrow the King of Town. |
| 135 | --->'''Strong Bad:''' Greetings, floatyman, my name is called Strong Bad. ''(speaks in a deliberately slow, halting, almost condescending tone)'' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis I need... to get through... your land... so I can clean... the Of Town's... clock. Do you understand?]]\ |
| 136 | '''Homsar:''' [[WordSaladHumor I'm a knock-knock joke about jogging suits!]]\ |
| 137 | '''Strong Bad:''' I'm no linguine-ist, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't a "yes".[[note]](It is later revealed to mean, "Hello, Strong Bad. What's the haps?")[[/note]] |
| 138 | *** And when Strong Bad tries further to convince Homsar... |
| 139 | ---->'''Strong Bad:''' I think your weirdo country could really use Strong Badia's resources. Think of what you could do with our dirt! Our tire! Our superior fence-building skills!\ |
| 140 | '''Homsar:''' Pucker up, Diceman! I'm as upholstered as I wanna be.\ |
| 141 | '''Strong Bad:''' Is that a "yes"?\ |
| 142 | '''Homsar:''' I'm as upholstered as I wanna be.\ |
| 143 | '''Strong Bad:''' You've made that bountifully clear.[[note]](It actually translates to "Why should my people risk open war for you and your considerable style?")[[/note]] |
| 144 | [[/folder]] |
| 145 | |
| 146 | [[folder:Episode 1 - Homestar Ruiner]] |
| 147 | * AirVentPassageway: Strong Bad uses one to sneak through the King of Town's castle. |
| 148 | * ChocolateOfRomance: Strong Bad, in order to mend Homestar's relationship (and get him out of his house), puts some free chocolates he got from Bubs on Marzipan's front porch. |
| 149 | * ComplainingAboutThingsYouHaventPaidFor: Bubs is distributing coupons for free samples of a candy called [=ChocoOpps=], which turn out to be nothing more than chocolate-covered organic packing peanuts. It's a justified example, as the resulting confection would be inedible: |
| 150 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' Chocolate-covered organic packing peanuts?! What kind of candy is that?\ |
| 151 | '''Bubs:''' The kind of candy that I give away to people for free, dummy! |
| 152 | * CurbStompBattle: Strong Bad's most physically challenging activity is his daily e-mail check while Homestar and Pom Pom are athletes who've spent weeks training for the race. So when Strong Bad takes Homestar's place in the race, he performs abysmally. The first time works to Strong Bad's advantage, as he's trying to discredit Homestar. When he has to actually do well in the race, he's still no match for the athletically-superior Pom Pom even after blatantly rigging everything in his favor, forcing him to get Pom Pom disqualified. |
| 153 | * CutawayGag: Marzipan asks Strong Bad if he remembers "what happened the ''last'' time" she invited him to one of her parties. Cut to a flashback of Strong Bad (AKA "Lord Barglebroth") about to leap off the roof of her house into a large cake. Just as he's about to hit it, it [[SmashCut immediately cuts back]] to Strong Bad saying "No, not really". |
| 154 | * DisqualificationInducedVictory: {{Invoked}}, where the goal during the first part of the game is to win a race. However, Pom Pom is much faster than Strong Bad, so you must get him disqualified by [[spoiler:putting some performance-enhancing powder in his locker, making it seem like he won only because of it.]] |
| 155 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The metal detector and shovel are separate items in this episode, forcing you to use both to dig up buried objects. Initially, all you could do was go to places and put down a little flag to dig up later. Future episodes cut out the middleman and combine the two into a single item. |
| 156 | * GameplayGuidedAmnesia: Subverted. As Strong Bad (posing as Homestar) is about to begin the Race to the End of the Race, he stops to ask Coach Z if he gets some instructions first. Coach Z tells "Homestar" he shouldn't need any instructions, as he's been training for weeks. |
| 157 | * GiantFootOfStomping: In the Teen Girl Squad minigame, if you attach a cockroach image to an image of any of the girls, that girl will transform into a cockroach monster herself, confidently predicting that [[TemptingFate she can survive anything now]] -- whereupon she gets killed by a foot wearing a shoe labeled "AIR KAFKA" that stomps down on her, with Narrator Strong Bad even saying, [[SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud "STOMP!"]] |
| 158 | * IRegretNothing: Inverted at the end, when Strong Bad ousts the other characters, who are doing a conga line, from his house by placing a banana peel in their path so they slip on it and fall out the window. In Coach Z's case, when he slips on it, he cries, "I regret ''everything!''" |
| 159 | * JustifiedTutorial: [[InvertedTrope Or lack thereof.]] Coach Z won't give you any instructions for the Race to the End of the Race, because you're running as "Homestar," and he's been training for the race for weeks. |
| 160 | * LaserGuidedKarma: For ruining Homestar's life in the first half of the episode, Strong Bad has to deal with Homestar staying in his house until his life is pulled back together. |
| 161 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' ''[[SkywardScream IRONY!!!]]'' |
| 162 | * LookADistraction: |
| 163 | ** Strong Bad uses this tactic to distract the Cheat so he can kick him into the dryer in "Homestar Ruiner." |
| 164 | ** Also see LookBehindYou below. |
| 165 | * LookBehindYou: How Strong Bad tricks Homestar into thinking he won the Race to the End of the Race: |
| 166 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' Hey, look at that... thing... over there.\ |
| 167 | '''Homestar:''' A thing? Where?! |
| 168 | * NakedPeopleAreFunny: After Strong Bad steals his clothes, Homestar is forced to run home naked, to the shock and horror of his friends and neighbors. It gets him a criminal record that Strong Bad must expunge. |
| 169 | * NoPeripheralVision: Fortunately for Strong Bad, Strong Mad's lack of a neck prevents him from looking up when Strong Bad tries to hide from him in the castle air vent right above him. |
| 170 | * NobodyCallsMeChicken: This episode opens with Strong Bad checking an email from Eddie M. of Frenchtown, CA, who asks him why he hasn't beaten the snot out of Homestar and questions if he is chicken to do so, which Strong Bad takes as well as you would expect. |
| 171 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' I don't think [[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys a Frenchy like yourself]] is in any position to be calling anyone "chicken", ''(pronounced French accent)'' comprende-vous cordon bleu? |
| 172 | * NoodleImplements: When Homestar is moping about his "scandalous downfall and nationwide manhunt": |
| 173 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' Dude, it's a public nudity charge. I've done more scandalous things while buying a pair of brown and tan socks. |
| 174 | * OverlyLongName: This episode features the Free Country USA Tri-annual Race to the End of the Race and the Free Country USA Tri-annual Race to the End of the Race Silver Trophy of Ultimate Destiny, both of which are almost always said in full, and almost always accompanied by an overly-dramatic fanfare, though they do start saying "The Free Country Race Yadda Yadda Yadda" ''(quick fanfare)''. There's also Total Load Total Body Energy Enhancement Powder, a dietary supplement that's almost always called by its full name. |
| 175 | * PaperThinDisguise: Strong Bad manages to convince everyone he is Homestar simply by donning Homestar's clothes and using the head from a destroyed Homestar Runner float (and mimicking Homestar's speech impediment). It matters not one bit that Strong Bad is quite a bit shorter than Homestar, nor that Strong Bad's face can clearly be seen underneath the papier mache Homestar head. [[InvisibleAnatomy Nor that Strong Bad has visible arms.]] In fact, the only time anyone noticed in that whole game that something was amiss is when Marzipan thought "Homestar's" voice sounded funny over the phone, and when Coach Z noticed that Homestar's head was bigger than usual. If he talks to Bubs at the Concession Stand while wearing the costume, Bubs will recognize that it's Strong Bad. But he doesn't seem to either notice or care during the Free Country USA Tri-annual Race To The End Of The Race. |
| 176 | * ParrotExpowhat: "Bubs, ''please'' tell me you've got my Snake Boxer 5 manual!" "Snake what now?" |
| 177 | * PrankCall: Strong Bad can use Homestar's cell phone to prank call several characters, including Homsar and himself. |
| 178 | * RemovingTheRival: Strong Bad plants Pom Pom's locker with a fitness supplement in one part of the episode, in order to cheat in the race. |
| 179 | * SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud: When the Poopsmith alerts Strong Mad, he runs up while randomly bellowing, "FOOTSTEP! FOOTSTEP! FOOTSTEP!" |
| 180 | * SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: Strong Bad ends up turning Homestar Runner into a publicly humiliated criminal fugitive without a girlfriend, but this also results in Homestar moving in with Strong Bad until he gets his life back together. This forces Strong Bad to go out and resolve the "publicly humiliated," "criminal fugitive," and "without a girlfriend" parts in order to get Homestar out of his house. |
| 181 | * SideEffectsInclude: Attempting to use the Total Load on Strong Bad will have him note the side effects include "Fits of rage, excessive back hair, and mysterious pants issues." |
| 182 | * SpoofAesop: From the Extended Play mode: |
| 183 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' I think we've learned an important lesson today... that messing around with people's houses and private property is a really bad idea. Unless it's me mess-arounding. Then it's hilarious. |
| 184 | * TapOnTheHead: Strong Bad doesn't just give the trophy for the Race to the End of the Race to Homestar. He distracts him and knocks him out with it first. |
| 185 | * UnusualEuphemism: Marizpan doesn't like to use the word "hate", so after some teasing from Strong Bad, she tells him "I really chonk you, Strong Bad. I chonk you with the passion of a thousand exploding whales." |
| 186 | * VillainSong: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13BCyblKYk8 Handle My Style]]" by Strong Bad. |
| 187 | [[/folder]] |
| 188 | |
| 189 | [[folder:Episode 2 - Strong Badia the Free]] |
| 190 | * ActuallyPrettyFunny: When the gang has set up an effigy of the King of Town outside Strong Bad's house, consisting mainly of an old stick. |
| 191 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' Why'd you bring that ugly, misshapen stick?\ |
| 192 | '''Homestar:''' She organized the protest rally!\ |
| 193 | '''Strong Bad:''' Not Marzipan! ''[to himself]'' Though that's a pretty good one. Gotta remember that. |
| 194 | * {{Anticlimax}}: Surprisingly enough, subverted. [[spoiler:The siege of the Of Town's castle lasts five minutes and takes place off-camera. And then it turns out that being King of Town is the lousiest job in the world, and that the Of Town set the whole thing as part of a BatmanGambit. The ''real'' challenge turns out to be Strong Bad ''directing the Of Town's coup against him''.]] |
| 195 | * {{Antidisestablishmentarianism}}: Upon inspecting his large collection of Edgarware software titles, Strong Bad remarks that they include "anti-virus", "anti-malware", and "anti-disestablishmentarianism". |
| 196 | * BatmanGambit: In this episode, [[spoiler:the King of Town levies an intentionally unfair email tax and then places Strong Bad under house arrest for not paying it. Strong Bad is so infuriated that he decides to rebel and stages a coup to overthrow the KOT's authority. Turns out that this was exactly what the KOT was anticipating -- he was tired of being the King of Town and set up the whole scheme just so he'd be dethroned.]] When Strong Bad realizes this, he becomes even more infuriated and turns the tables by [[spoiler: using the King of Town's own scheme against him, levying an intentionally unfair tax on Creamy Ding Snack Cakes in order to provoke the KOT into staging a coup and taking his old job back. Then he throws in some BriarPatching to make the King repeal the e-mail tax.]] |
| 197 | * BigWhy: After Strong Bad defeats the two-headed tarantula controlled by Strong Mad, the latter wails in his usual guttural half-shout, "WHY, STRONG BAD, WHY?!?" |
| 198 | * BreakThemByTalking: Strong Sad uses this at the end, depressing anyone he encounters into retreating. [[CloudCuckoolander This doesn't work on Homsar due to his randomness.]] In Homsar's case, it ends in a draw, with neither him or Strong Sad able to move- much to the player's advantage, of course. |
| 199 | -->'''Strong Sad:''' Doesn't it depress you to know you're doomed to failure?\ |
| 200 | '''Homsar:''' No thanks, officer, I've got a big round one.\ |
| 201 | '''Strong Sad:''' What does that even ''mean''?\ |
| 202 | '''Homsar:''' I'm the long way back from naptime!\ |
| 203 | '''Strong Sad:''' I don't understand you! |
| 204 | * ContinuityNod: Tons, but a plot-relevant one would be to the e-mails "Armies" and "More Armies," where the armed forces as portrayed play major factors. The Municipality (the King of Town's faction) are the bad guys, the Home Starmy is instrumental in his takedown (while the Battle of Strong Badia plays an important role in the Draft), and Strong Badia's lack of an army proves a major hindrance to Strong Bad's plans. |
| 205 | * {{Egopolis}}: In addition to Strong Badia, an existing location from the web series, this episode features all the other characters, and some inanimate objects, forming their own countries, most of them named after themselves (such as the Homsar Reservation (Homsar), Pompomerania (Pom Pom), Coachnya (Coach Z), and Marzistar/Homezipan (Marzipan and Homestar)). Surprisingly given the abundance of this trope, Bubs' is named "Concessionstantinople" after his stand, Strong Mad's is named "Country," Strong Sad's is "Bleak House," and the Of Town's is named "The Municipality." |
| 206 | * EdutainmentGame: In-universe, the Fun Machine game ''Math Kickers'' claims to be educational. It bears much more resemblance to ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' than anything even remotely educational, aside from random algebra equations being scattered all over the game.[[note]]The gameplay actually ''does'' integrate the algebra in a remarkably clever way. The equation appears on screen with [[GratuitousNinja a bunch of ninjas]]. Dex can kick the ninjas and disintegrate them, while Ryu can fire energy blasts that duplicate them. Adding or subtracting a specific amount of ninjas will solve the equation. It's only the boss battles that really don't bother; there, Dex and Ryu have to whale on an equation box; hitting it enough times will causes it to explode while displaying the correct solution.[[/note]] |
| 207 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: In the extended play, Strong Bad is disturbed by Coach Z's [[StalkerWithACrush stalker behavior]] towards Marzipan. |
| 208 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' [[SarcasticWellWishing Congratulations, Coach!]] I just spent the last few hours carrying my brother's [[OrganTheft internal organs in a jar]] and you ''still'' managed to top that on the creepy scale! |
| 209 | * ExplosiveLeash: Strong Bad gets fitted with one at the start. Fortunately, all this does is blast him back into the living room and cover his face with ash. |
| 210 | * FictionalFlag: After Strong Bad declares Strong Badia an independent nation, everybody puts together their own countries in their respective places. Each one of them even has their own flag with souvenir copies that can be collected. |
| 211 | ** Strong Sad's country "Bleak House" has a flag that is many shades of gray with an emblem that has bats and a haunted house on it. |
| 212 | ** The Cheat and Tirerea is a green flag that features The Cheat high fiving the Tire. |
| 213 | ** Strong Mad's country, simply called [[ShapedLikeItself Country]], has a white flag that is simply the word [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Country]]. |
| 214 | ** The Homsar reservation is a blue flag that features a chipwich, a cup of coffee, and Homsar's hat. |
| 215 | ** Marzistar (or Homezipan if you prefer) has a split flag. One half is yellow and features a green peace sign with Marzipan's hair. [[MythologyGag The other half is blue with a duck.]] |
| 216 | * ForeignerForADay: Everyone runs off to form their own countries after Strong Bad declares his independence from the Municipality, and Strong Bad has to convince (or force) the other nations to join his side. Highlights include [[HonestJohnsDealership Bubs']] neutral city-state of Concessionstantinople, the [[CloudCuckoolander Homsar]] [[MagicalNativeAmerican Reservation]], and [[DumbMuscle Strong Mad]]'s country of... [[ShapedLikeItself Country]]. |
| 217 | * GoneHorriblyRight: After escaping house arrest, Strong Bad advises the other characters that Strong Badia is now a free nation and that they should be free as well, declaring war on the King of Town in the process. He suddenly stops his speech, however, when he notices that everyone else, except The Cheat, is gone. |
| 218 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' ...Where'd everybody go?\ |
| 219 | '''The Cheat:''' ''(The Cheat noises)''\ |
| 220 | '''Strong Bad:''' ''Seceded?!'' They can't do that! ''I'm'' the only who gets his own country! |
| 221 | * HypocriticalHumor: Marzipan does this to Strong Bad when she makes it clear that Marzistar won't join Strong Badia in its battle against the King of Town: |
| 222 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' What if Homestar ''made'' you join Strong Badia?\ |
| 223 | '''Marzipan:''' Homestar can't ''make'' this country do anything. We're completely equal co-rulers of Marzistar. And what I say goes. |
| 224 | * InducedHypochondria: Part of the solution to a puzzle is tricking Strong Sad into thinking he has "acute aphasic pretendicitis". |
| 225 | * InsistentTerminology: In this episode, enraged by the King of Town's unjust actions, Strong Bad vows to only refer to him as "the Of Town". |
| 226 | * KnowWhenToFoldEm: The second fight between Homestar and Coach Z in the Maps & Minions game consists solely of the latter saying, "Fair enough, I'll go," and walking away. |
| 227 | * LighterAndSofter: In-Universe, Strong Bad emails when they're taken over by [[spoiler:King of Town]] near the end, who avoids all the usual conventions of making fun of the sender and simply politely writes back. Strong Bad is horrified at this and vows immediately to get his life back. |
| 228 | * {{Newsreel}}: A variation: as Strong Bad conquers each new land, the screen turns slightly sepia-toned like a newsreel, and a newsreel announcer is heard providing commentary on the conquest, while an old-timey fanfare is heard in the background. |
| 229 | * PretentiousPronunciation: This is parodied when the newsreel reporter comments on Strong Bad conquering Country, describing Strong Bad as a "Red Menace", which he pronounces "men-ah-chay", before the reporter [[VerbalBackspace quickly corrects himself]]. |
| 230 | -->"Sorry, thought that was an Italian word." |
| 231 | * PyrrhicVictory: At the end, [[spoiler:the Of Town manages to "overthrow" Strong Bad and retake his old job and castle. Unfortunately for him, this means he has to go back to being...the King of Town.]] |
| 232 | * SanitySlippage: When Strong Bad starts talking like Homsar, Strong Sad thinks he's gone insane. |
| 233 | * SarcasticWellWishing: In the extended play, this is Strong Bad's response to Coach Z [[StalkerWithACrush creeping over Marzipan]]. |
| 234 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' The war's over, Coach Z. You can go back home now.\ |
| 235 | '''Coach Z:''' Yeah, I ''should'' go back to that musty gym. Instead of out here in a nice garden... behind Marzipan's house... where I can watch her... always...\ |
| 236 | '''Strong Bad:''' Congratulations, Coach! I just spent [[OrganTheft the last few hours carrying my brother's internal organs in a jar]], and you still managed to top that on the creepy scale. |
| 237 | * TheSomethingSong: The protest song Marzipan composes in this episode was originally officially titled "Protest Song", though the Strong Bad Twitter account would later rename it to "Justice Combo Meal". |
| 238 | * StartMyOwn: Strong Bad's revolution against The Of Town inspires the other characters to form their own countries, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard much to Strong Bad's annoyance.]] |
| 239 | -->'''Strong Bad''': Seceded?!? They can't do that! I'm the only one who gets his own country! |
| 240 | * TearUpTheContract: In order to break Strong Sad's spirit so Strong Bad can take over Bleak House, you need to burn the constitution, bill of rights, and flag of Strong Sad's nation. |
| 241 | * ThisMeansWar: Strong Bad is mad enough about being placed under house arrest for failing to pay the King of Town's "email tax", he has Strong Badia secede from Free Country, USA and plots to overthrow the King of Town. |
| 242 | ** Then, after Strong Bad succeeds in taking over the King's castle (but not enjoying it much), he issues a tax of his own, on Creamy Ding Snack Cakes. In response, the King, now in Strong Bad's home, launches a war against Strong Bad to reclaim the castle. |
| 243 | --->'''King:''' This means WAHR! Er, war. |
| 244 | * TitleDrop: {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d after Strong Bad escapes house arrest. |
| 245 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' Onward to Strong Badia! Strong Badia the Free!\ |
| 246 | '''Homestar:''' Hey, that's the name of this--\ |
| 247 | '''Strong Bad:''' Shut up. |
| 248 | * TodayXTomorrowTheWorld: After conquering Strong Sad's Bleak House, Strong Bad says, "Today, Blecch House! Tomorrow, the world!" However, he doesn't quite finish saying the line when Strong Sad interrupts, asking if he can at least be Strong Bad's cultural adviser. |
| 249 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' As long as that doesn't mean you follow me around everywhere and waste my time trying to talk to me.\ |
| 250 | '''Strong Bad:''' [[BrutalHonesty Actually, that's]] ''[[BrutalHonesty exactly]]'' [[BrutalHonesty what it means.]] |
| 251 | * TranslatorMicrobes: In the form of a Mysterious Pylon on the Homsar Reservation. |
| 252 | * ViolationOfCommonSense: You can ''light a smoke detector on fire'' if you want to. It's lampshaded by Strong Bad, who comments "Whoa! ''That'' doesn't make me feel very safe!" He also reasons that "To be fair, that fire's not actually smoking." |
| 253 | * WorthlessCurrency: Subverted. When Strong Bad finds that The Cheat had drawn all over fake money from a board game, he takes it, calls it Strongbadian currency "Quesos", and trades 100 in to Bubs for a Broken Strong Bad figure listed at half off. Despite it being board game money, Bubs considers the amount that Strong Bad is paying to be more than a million "Poopees". |
| 254 | * YourMom: After taking over the King of Town's castle, Strong Bad wants to be let out and asks Homestar to replace him, but Homestar refuses, insisting that there would be nothing to do except sit around the castle. He then follows it up thusly: |
| 255 | -->"You'd have to be some kind of idiot to want to be King of To-- ''(stops as he realizes what he's saying)'' Oh, I forgot. Your mom was the King of Town, wasn't she?" |
| 256 | [[/folder]] |
| 257 | |
| 258 | [[folder:Episode 3 - Baddest of the Bands]] |
| 259 | * AllAbusersAreMale: Averted. If you have Strong Bad tell Marzipan to make an autograph out to Homestar, she'll instantly assume (from something ''[[ConsummateLiar Strong Bad]]'' said no less) that Homestar was too lazy to actually see her himself, and so she writes something that we don't see extremely angrily on the band photo. Whatever it was she wrote, [[EvenEvilHasStandards Strong Bad]] is so horrified by it that he wonders if there's such a thing as "Written Domestic Abuse". |
| 260 | * AndThatsTerrible: Strong Bad's frame-up job inspires Marzipan to write a song called "Limozeen is Not Very Nice". |
| 261 | * BaitAndSwitch: One of the puzzles looks like you have to get Homestar, who is trying to improvise lyrics for Pom Pom's song "Food-Related Love", to rhyme with one food item when the actual solution is another. [[spoiler:You have to use the bottle of wine (which is "Bouncy Boy Merlot"), and not the escargot ("Plate of snails? That... doesn't rhyme!") Zigzagged, as if you’re paying attention, Homestar is describing the food you need to be near.]] |
| 262 | * TheChewToy: One of the things necessary for 100% completion of this episode is finding all the ways Strong Bad can get hurt. |
| 263 | * ComplexityAddiction: How the whole game gets started. Strong Bad needs money to get his console fixed. Bubs offers him a (crappy) job to raise it, and Strong Bad replies "No, there has to be a more convoluted way..." |
| 264 | ** He does it again when the funds for the Battle of the Bands won't make up the price of repairing the Fun Machine. Bubs again offers him a job, but Strong Bad decides to instead create his own band and ''win'' the battle! |
| 265 | * CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: As it happens, [[spoiler:the Funmachine wasn't broken. Strong Bad just failed to notice his Limozeen game cartridge had a wad of spray cheese jammed in it]]. |
| 266 | * CreatorCameo: Mark Darin appears as a sender of one of sbemails. |
| 267 | * {{Dissimile}}: Talking to Homestar in the extended play leads to this exchange. |
| 268 | -->'''Homestar:''' It's not over 'til some fat lady sings, Strong Bad! ''Oh, smooth charaaade...''\ |
| 269 | '''Strong Bad:''' The fat lady sang over a month ago... only, it was a guy, and he wasn't singing so much as he was eating bats... |
| 270 | * TheDogBitesBack: Strong Sad completely abuses his power of security guard on Strong Bad. |
| 271 | -->'''Strong Sad:''' I prefer to keep the peace through rational discourse... backed up by ''ten thousand volts''! (''tazes Strong Bad'') |
| 272 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: If you pay attention at the start of the episode, you can see [[spoiler:the lump of aerosol cheese that turns out to have caused the Funmachine to malfunction all along.]] |
| 273 | * AGoodNameForARockBand: The first part of the final act lets you name Strong Bad's band, [[HeavyMetalUmlaut DÖI]] (or rather, pick from choices provided by SB, the King of Town, and Homsar... which all spell out DÖI anyway and hence don't matter in the end). |
| 274 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: Because Strong Bad's band is so terrible, he has to sabotage the other acts in the Battle Royalte of the Bands to have any change of winning. Which unfortunately means the audience for his big performance is mostly composed of people who aren't inclined to like his act. |
| 275 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' Hmm, tough crowd... of people in bands I just sabotaged. |
| 276 | * LeaningOnTheFourthWall: the King of Town, when first seen as one of the only options left for Strong Bad's Band, is eating a Wiimote. While in character for the King to eat anything not nailed down and[=/=]or on fire (except peas), and sometimes even then, the Nintendo Wii was the system that the game debuted on. |
| 277 | * MeetTheCelebrityContest: Subverted. When Strong Bad finds out about a contest where contestants can submit their own album cover designs to rock band Limozeen for a chance to meet them, he creates a cool album cover of his own and ends up winning. However, the real members of the band don't appear in person and a cardboard cutout of them with some speakers, a microphone, and a webcam attached to it shows up instead. |
| 278 | * MetalScream: Strong Bad gets a "Squealin' Larry Limozeen Microphone" that can be used to make hidden boxes containing collectibles appear. Using it causes Strong Bad to make some sort of rock-themed exclamation (like "Yeeaahhh!" or "Hello, Pantsburg!"). |
| 279 | * PhotoshopFilterOfEvil: Parodied when Strong Bad sees "that inverted negative photo thing" in a depressing rockumentary and notes that it means "somebody's going to rehab". |
| 280 | * PickedLast: After setting up the competition, Strong Bad learns that the proceeds from the event will not be enough to fund the Funmachine repairs; he'll need the prize money as well. Forced to set up his own band at the last minute, he immediately recruits the only people left: King of Town and Homsar. |
| 281 | * PlayingCyrano: Strong Bad does this for Homestar during his singing audition. Later Pom Pom continues to do so via a radio headset when they perform as Pom Star. Inverted when Strong Bad gets the Drive Thru Whale to send Homestar [[WordSaladLyrics terrible lyrics]], ruining their concert. |
| 282 | * PunctuatedForEmphasis: The King of Town exclaims, "Did someone say? Bleached? Buttered?! BATS?!?!" |
| 283 | * ReusableLighterToss: [[spoiler:Tossed on a car that remains on fire for the rest of the episode.]] |
| 284 | * SandInMyEyes: After framing Limozeen for pouring bleach in a pond, Strong Bad sheds a tear for the dead fish, though he blames it on getting "bleach fumes" in his eyes. |
| 285 | * ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler:Played for laughs at the end. Strong Bad gets his Funmachine back from Bubs and discovers that it still won't work. Upon further inspection, he discovers that the machine's failure to run properly is being caused by a glob of cheese inside the cartridge - which could have been removed at any time, making the entire ordeal unnecessary.]] |
| 286 | * StalkerWithACrush: Coach Z toward Marzipan. He has one in the web series as well, but here, it's cranked up to eleven. |
| 287 | * StealingFromTheTill: Bubs openly admits to "skimming off the top" with regard to the proceeds from Strong Bad's band contest. Strong Bad either doesn't notice this, or accepts it as a standard part of doing business with Bubs. |
| 288 | * TakeThat: In-story example: after Strong Bad turns Marzipan against Limozeen with some staged evidence, she composes a song called "Limozeen is Not Very Nice". |
| 289 | * UndisclosedFunds: Repairing Strong Bad's Funmachine will cost him "one big sack of cash". This is apparently a valid unit of measurement for money, since setting up the Battle will give them funds for "Half a big sack of cash," necessitating Strong Bad form his own band. |
| 290 | [[/folder]] |
| 291 | |
| 292 | [[folder:Episode 4 - Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective]] |
| 293 | * ActingForTwo: In-universe, Marzipan plays Cutsey Buttons and Sultry Buttons, Homestar plays Dangeresque Too and [[spoiler:Uzi Bazooka]], and Strong Sad plays a bunch of minor characters and the CGI monster. |
| 294 | * ActorAllusion: [[spoiler:Uzi Bazooka's final words have him asking Dangeresque if in another life they could be partners. Dangeresque shuts him down by stating that his only partner is Dangeresque Too, who is also played by Homestar.]] |
| 295 | * AerithAndBob: [[spoiler:Uzi Bazooka and Craig.]] Admit it, Strong Bad could have thought of a better name for The Cheat's villain than that. |
| 296 | * ArtShift: The "trailer" for Dangeresque 3 at the beginning of the episode of the same name features more realistic graphics than the series normally has. [[spoiler:If Dangeresque takes a nap in his office chair, he wakes up in this version of his office.]] |
| 297 | * AwesomeMcCoolname: [[spoiler:Homestar's villain is named Uzi Bazooka. Strong Bad breaks script a few times to admit that that's a really cool name.]] |
| 298 | * BadBadActing: During the tutorial, and a few times in "Dangeresque 3" (chiefly from Coach Z as Renaldo). |
| 299 | * BigBadDuumvirate Perducci [[spoiler:and Uzi Bazooka]] in the "movie". [[spoiler:However, this appears to be vague at best- there's no interaction between the two, and the only idea that they might be working together is their actions in the first half of the episode. The true Big Bad Duumvirate is Uzi Bazooka and Craig.]] |
| 300 | * CaliforniaDoubling: In-Universe example. The Stone Bridge acts as Ireland, Tokyo, Egypt, Venice, ''and'' Paris. |
| 301 | * {{Calvinball}}: Perducci's card game of Rock, Paper, Baccarat, whose rules state that the best card wins, and nothing beats Rock. Except paper. |
| 302 | * CharacterFilibuster: Parodied, when Strong Bad fast-forwards through Cutesy Buttons' lecture on the environment, which apparently runs for about eight minutes. At the end of the game, Marzipan calls Strong Bad out for doing this. |
| 303 | * ChewingTheScenery: Strong Bad [[spoiler:when mourning the death of his father, Dadgeresque]]. |
| 304 | * ColonCancer: ''Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People: Episode 4: Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective''. |
| 305 | * DevelopmentHell: In-universe: Dangeresque 3 was released four and a half years after it was supposed to be. |
| 306 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' Yes, I finally finished ''Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective'', so [[TakeThatAudience you can all eat it]]. |
| 307 | * DisproportionateRetribution: Dangeresque considers Baron Diamonocle forcing him to eat stale ranch-flavored potato chips a heinous enough act to frame him for endangered puppy trafficking and murdering several presidents. |
| 308 | * TheDogWasTheMastermind: The mastermind behind Uzi Bazooka turns out to be [[spoiler:"Craig" (played by The Cheat)]]. |
| 309 | * DroppedABridgeOnHim: In-universe, Renaldo dies offscreen when the stace spation is destroyed, much to Coach Z's dismay. |
| 310 | * DVDBonusContent: The Extended Play for "Dangeresque 3" is done in the style of a "behind the scenes" featurette. |
| 311 | * EsotericHappyEnding: [[invoked]] Everyone complains about Strong Bad's ending for ''Dangeresque 3''. |
| 312 | -->'''Coach Z:''' What happened to the part where Dangeresque swoops in, rescuing me from danger and carrying me off into the sunset?\ |
| 313 | '''Strong Bad:''' Oh, yeah... Renaldo dies now.\ |
| 314 | '''Coach Z:''' ''(shocked)'' [[BigWhat WHAT?!]] Oh, but I only had two weeks 'til retirement!\ |
| 315 | '''Marzipan:''' ''(upset)'' Yeah, and you fast forwarded through the eight minutes of educational content I provided!\ |
| 316 | '''Bubs:''' ''(upset)'' And what happened to my nude scene?!\ |
| 317 | '''Strong Sad:''' Where is the artistic noir cinematic stylings you promised?\ |
| 318 | ''(Everyone crowds in close to Strong Bad, who climbs up on the couch to elude them)''\ |
| 319 | '''Strong Bad:''' Now calm down, people! Every great film has to make some creative editing decisions in order to make me look better. |
| 320 | * EvilTwin: Arguably Sultry Buttons to Cutesy Buttons in "Dangeresque 3". Not to mention [[spoiler:Uzi Bazooka for Dangeresque Too]]. |
| 321 | * ExactWords: ''Dangeresque 3'' is in 3D, in that it's rendered in 3D graphics. |
| 322 | * FemmeFatale: Sultry Buttons. |
| 323 | * FixItInPost: Parodied by Strong Bad who says this phrase in an incredulous tone while chastising The Cheat for not adding in a CGI monster over Strong Sad, who plays said monster. |
| 324 | -->'''The Cheat:''' ''[[IntelligibleUnintelligible (The Cheat noises)]]''\ |
| 325 | '''Strong Bad:''' [[RepeatingSoTheAudienceCanHear "Fix it in post"]]?! This ''is'' post! |
| 326 | * FixingTheGame: Perducci does this during his card game. Unlike most examples, he gets away with it and doesn't lose at all, and the only reason he loses the plans was due to a mistake on Killingyouguy's behalf. |
| 327 | * FourthWallGreeting: This episode's "Extended Play" is treated as Strong Bad going around filming material for the DVD's behind-the-scenes documentary sections. |
| 328 | * FramingDevice: Dangeresque 3 is presented as the gang sitting down to watch the premiere of the titular movie, with the player controlling the actions of Dangeresque during the course of the film. [[PlayableEpilogue Extended Play]] is framed as the DVD extras, with each map location playing the role of a different feature (bloopers, deleted scenes, etc.). |
| 329 | * GenreBlind: Despite the exaggerated foreshadowing of {{Retirony}} for Renaldo, Coach Z is ''shocked'' that he died in the final cut. |
| 330 | * GreenAesop: At one point in the movie, Cutesy Buttons gives an eight-minute Green Aesop to Dangeresque, in which she says that she has given away the formula to the scientific community at large to use to care for the environment. [[DefiedTrope Her speech was filmed, but it's largely skipped over at the premiere.]] Marzipan is not amused. |
| 331 | * LeftItIn: The movie includes some very obvious errors that should have been edited out but weren't, likely because of laziness or incompetence on the part of The Cheat, who was in charge of editing and post-production. On top of it all, some of these errors can be ''collected'' for HundredPercentCompletion. |
| 332 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' The Cheat, what happened? You told me this was gonna look like some kind of giant T. rex with tentacle arms and laser beam eyes.\ |
| 333 | '''The Cheat:''' (''The Cheat noises'')\ |
| 334 | '''Strong Bad:''' "Fix it in post"?! This ''is'' post! |
| 335 | * TheManBehindTheMan: The BigBad of the "movie" turns out to be [[spoiler:The Cheat, AKA Craig]]. |
| 336 | * MexicanStandoff: One occurs after Dadgeresque's death scene. Your objective is to get Cutesy Buttons to the launch codes without Killingyouguy, [[spoiler:Craig, or Uzi Bazooka]] bumping into her and forcing her to return to her starting point. |
| 337 | * MoralEventHorizon: In-universe, Uzi Bazooka's "murder" of Dadgeresque. However, the moment is kinda ruined when Senor Cardgage just walks offscreen. |
| 338 | * {{Narm}}: In-universe, with Senor Cardgage walking out of the set during Dadgeresque's death scene. |
| 339 | * NinjaPirateZombieRobot: At one point, Strong Bad as Dangeresque and Coach Z as Renaldo, while traversing the treacherous jungles of Strong Borneo, have an encounter with "a Western Lowland Grizzlysharkasaurusbot -- and it's holding a shark!" |
| 340 | * OneSteveLimit: Dangeresque's partner, Dangeresque Too. |
| 341 | * PhraseCatcher: People keep telling Dangeresque "But you're not gonna like it" in this episode. |
| 342 | -->'''Strong Bad as Dangeresque:''' [[LampshadeHanging Why do people keep telling me that?]] |
| 343 | * PressXToNotDie: The gameplay of the Fun Machine game ''Space Circus Catastrophe''. |
| 344 | * ProductPlacement: Parodied. Bubs goes off-script to launch into a sales pitch for a sports drink being sold at the concession stand. Strong Bad warns him, "No product placement!" |
| 345 | * {{Retirony}}: Exaggerated to the point of parody with Renaldo: the film opens with a party to celebrate two weeks until his retirement, and piles on a bunch of additional death flags on him. Sure enough, [[spoiler:he gets kidnapped by Uzi Bazooka. Apparently a scene where Dangeresque saves Renaldo was shot in-universe, but it got cut and Strong Bad proclaimed Renaldo died.]] |
| 346 | * RightHandCat: The Cheat is used as such, being stroked by a hairbrush, which is only used because that [[spoiler:Uzi Bazooka]], who is doing the stroking [[InvisibleAnatomy has no arms]]. |
| 347 | ** [[spoiler:Later subverted- the Cheat reveals he's the real villain, named Craig.]] |
| 348 | * RoboticReveal: [[spoiler:Uzi Bazooka]]. |
| 349 | * RunningGag: Several characters tell Strong Bad, "But you're not gonna like it!" |
| 350 | ** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when Strong Bad, after hearing this phrase spoken to him, says, "Why does everybody keep telling me that?" |
| 351 | ** Also, "It looks like I'm going to have to juuuump!" |
| 352 | * SayMyName: "PERDUCCCCCIII!" and "[[spoiler:BAAAAZOOOOOKAAAAA!!!]]", both from Dangeresque. |
| 353 | * ShowWithinAShow / StylisticSuck: "Dangeresque 3". |
| 354 | * SpecialEffectsFailure: In-universe. A monster in the catacombs is played by Strong Sad covered in motion capture balls; The Cheat forgot to add the CGI. |
| 355 | ** Really, [[StylisticSuck everything in Dangeresque 3 qualifies]]. |
| 356 | * ThrowItIn: In-universe. Marzipan insists on having her potted plant Credenza onscreen in "Dangeresque 3", over Strong Bad's objections. He does end up finding a use for it later, though. |
| 357 | * ThrownOutTheAirlock: This is the fate of TheManBehindTheMan during the final scene of the movie, which takes place on a space station. Due to the movie's terrible production values, the villain is just shoved into a dryer covered in aluminum foil. |
| 358 | * YouKilledMyFather: |
| 359 | ** Homestar as Uzi Bazooka kills Senor Cardgage as Dadgeresque. When that happens, an anguished Strong Bad as Dangeresque confronts Homestar/Uzi, brandishing his nunchuck gun, and says... |
| 360 | --->'''Strong Bad/Dangeresque:''' [[Film/ThePrincessBride You killed my father.]] [[PrepareToDie Prepare to have a bullet from my nunchuk gun pierce your flesh, causing internal injuries and bleeding, which, if left unchecked, could cause you to die.]] |
| 361 | ** Dangeresque doesn't actually shoot him, mind you; it's a MexicanStandoff scene. |
| 362 | * ZergRush: In the end, everyone is so upset with Strong Bad at how the movie ends that they all try to rush him at once. He tries to elude them by climbing up on the back of the couch. |
| 363 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' Uh-oh, this is starting to turn into an unruly mob. And not the good kind like I start at Strong Sad's poetry readings. For real this time, looks like I'm gonna have to JUMP...!\ |
| 364 | ''(He starts to jump over the crowd [[ToBeContinued and the image freezes, ending the game]])'' |
| 365 | [[/folder]] |
| 366 | |
| 367 | [[folder:Episode 5 - 8-Bit Is Enough]] |
| 368 | * AllJustADream: [[spoiler:After defeating Trodgor, Strong Bad wakes up to find out it was apparently just a dream... except even though Free Country USA is back to normal, [[HereWeGoAgain Trogdor is still on the rampage]].]] |
| 369 | * AndYouWereThere: Strong Bad says this at the end, after he wakes up and sees everybody standing over him...[[spoiler:including [[HereWeGoAgain Trogdor.]]]] |
| 370 | * AnnoyingPopupAd: Parodied. When the video game worlds merge with Free Country USA, Homestar becomes a UI element, and at one point pops up saying "Congratulations! You won a free [=MP3=] player! Click here for low, low rates." |
| 371 | * AnticlimaxBoss: Used In-universe. At the end of the episode, when Strong Bad confronts Trogdor and simply slashes the dragon's body, killing him right then and there. Strong Bad then [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this by saying with disappointment, "Well, that was a little anti-climatic." [[spoiler:Turns out to be a BaitAndSwitchBoss when a much more powerful low-res polygon version of Trogdor appears. Then Strong Bad turns into a low-res polygon cyborg, [[BrickJoke based on concept art he submitted for himself in a promo video for SBCG4AP]]. And then, the REAL battle with Trogdor begins.]] |
| 372 | * BadassBoast: When Strong Bad gets his gloves on the Trogsword, he shouts out an epic one (also, see ShoutOut below): |
| 373 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' A-HA! By the power of EGA! Extended memory management! Raster interrupt 6! Hold and modify! And the mighty Mode 8! The power of the Trogsword is MINE! |
| 374 | * BigBad: Trogdor. |
| 375 | * BigBoosHaunt: After the real world and the video game world merge, Strong Bad's house becomes haunted by American Revolution-themed ghosts from a game called "Spirits of '76". It's up to Strong Bad to rid his house of the ghosts. |
| 376 | * BigNo: Spoken by Strong Bad after he catches Trogdor burninating Strong Badia. |
| 377 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' ''Trogdor''?! NOOOOO!!! Bad Trogdor! Heel! |
| 378 | * BringMyBrownPants: If you try to go outside without talking to Strong Sad first, he'll say "Where are you going? You can't take on Trogdor without calling product support first! You'll void your warranty! And maybe your bladder!" |
| 379 | * CallBack: |
| 380 | ** The Concession Stand is closed due to damages sustained during the filming of the previous episode. Bubs and Marzipan are fixing it, which leads into the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' gag that shows up later. |
| 381 | ** Trogdor's dying words after you finally defeat him are a call-back to the song Strong Bad sings at the start of the first episode (see page quote). |
| 382 | -->'''Trogdor:''' No! Your style! I couldn't handle it! |
| 383 | * ChekhovsBoomerang: [[spoiler:The arcade cabinet key]]. |
| 384 | * CopyProtection: {{Parodied|Trope}}. To get into Peasant's Quest, Strong Bad needs to solve a copy protection puzzle- after all, this is an adventure game. However, he doesn’t have the actual copy protection [[{{Feelies}} feely]], so you’ll have to find a way to improvise. |
| 385 | * DistressedDude: Strong Bad has to rescue Bubs from Marzipan (who's been possessed by Lady Crate Ape), and trick Rather Dashing into rescuing Strong Sad from the King of Town (who's become a scorpion monster named Munchox). [[spoiler:Strong Bad also ends up having to save Homestar from Trogdor's lair.]] |
| 386 | * EnemyRollCall: {{Parodied|Trope}}. All the characters are named during the credits, even the ones with little importance. |
| 387 | * ExpositionFairy: Homestar gets turned into one of these. Naturally, [[UnwantedAssistance he's not very helpful]]. |
| 388 | * FateWorseThanDeath: After saving Strong Sad from the scorpion monster, Rather Dashing is dragged off by Sad, who's all pumped to get the chance to hang out with a real video game adventurer. Strong Bad expresses pity, saying Rather Dashing would be better off having to fight Trogdor. |
| 389 | * FetchQuest: "Princess" Strong Sad keeps sending you on quests to find items like "The Sigil of Dark Dampening" and "The Shimmering Trinket of Endless Bargain-Hunting." The reward for each quest is another quest to fetch the same item (with a different name) that keeps respawning. This will go on forever, if you let it. [[spoiler:And you don't actually have to do ''any'' of them. All you need to do to make the story progress is get him to assign you the first quest; there's no need to actually complete it.]] |
| 390 | * ForInconveniencePressOne: When Strong Bad tries to call Videlectrix to get his Trogdor arcade cabinet fixed, he is told that he is at voice mail (a fake one, it turns out) and is advised to say "1" for the Videlectrix catalog, "2" to join the Good Graphicketeers Club, and "3" to reach the help line. In order to advance the game, [[TakeAThirdOption Strong Bad says "4"]], which throws the people at Videlectrix for a loop, as they don't remember having a fourth option, until they realize that Strong Bad is onto their act and give up. |
| 391 | -->'''Videlectrix Guy:''' All right, all right, you got me. You say you got a problem with your Trogdor cabinet? You're gonna need to put in a new logic board. |
| 392 | * GenreSavvy: This episode has its fair share of this. |
| 393 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' Say it with me, The Cheat: [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames Licensed video games are never good.]][[invoked]] |
| 394 | * HomelessPigeonPerson: [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Senor Cardgage]] is mentioned to be one of these after Trogdor goes on a rampage. |
| 395 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' You can usually find Senor Cardgage reading to the pigeons behind here, but now there's just all these burnt chicken bones. I guess Trogdor must've scared them-- [[ExplainExplainOhCrap Ohhh...]] |
| 396 | * HyperactiveMetabolism: One of the many video game tropes skewered. At one point, Homestar's eating tons of food items he happened to find lying all over the place. |
| 397 | * HypocriticalHumor: Clicking on the TV in Strong Bad's basement will get him to comment on the premise of a ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster''-type show. |
| 398 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' This is the one where some real world kids get sucked into a video game. Ridiculous! |
| 399 | * ImmediateSequel: The previous episode ends with Strong Bad jumping off his couch to escape being surrounded by the other characters, who were not happy with the changes he made to the movie compared to what he promised them. This episode opens with Strong Bad landing from that very jump, crashing into and damaging the Trogdor arcade machine, somehow bringing it to life in the process. |
| 400 | * InsistentTerminology: The characters in ''Peasant's Quest'' refer to the FetchQuest item as a "pixel", even though it's a cube, which would actually make it a voxel. |
| 401 | * KillScreen: To recruit Gel-Arshie, you need to trigger the kill screen on his game. |
| 402 | * LoadBearingBoss: Lampshaded. "Must've been a load-bearing dragon!" |
| 403 | * MythologyGag: |
| 404 | ** Strong Bad's visit to ''VideoGame/PeasantsQuest'' contains references to both the original game and the RealTrailerFakeMovie of the game, with Rather Dashing having the same voice he does in the trailer. |
| 405 | ** A small portion of Level 1.1 of ''VideoGame/Stinkoman20X6'' is playable, and Stinkoman himself, as well as some of the robot enemies, appear as [=NPCs=]. Strong Bad mentions that Sticklyman is "the secret hidden boss" in Level 10.5, referencing the infamous delay of level 10 (at that point, three years in the making) in the real world. In turn, when level 10 of ''Stinkoman'' finally came out ''twelve'' years after this episode, Sticklyman was included as an OptionalBoss fought during the credits, fulfilling Strong Bad's statement. |
| 406 | * NoInnerFourthWall: This episode features Strong Bad hopping in and out of several in-universe video games, as well as characters from other in-universe games showing up in Free Country USA. |
| 407 | * NoodleIncident: "The Cheat! Did you unleash vengeful spirits into the house again?" |
| 408 | * OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:Ultimate Trogdor.]] |
| 409 | * OrWasItADream: After the game ends, Strong Bad wakes up and it seems like none of his game adventures happened. Except then he looks past everyone else and sees Trogdor, who starts running around trying to burninate them. |
| 410 | * TheProblemWithLicensedGames: A rather ironic InUniverse example occurs in this episode with "Gel-arshie's Pro Fruit-Boarder". Doubles as HypocriticalHumor, since Strong Bad being able to play a licensed game ("Limozeen's Hot Babelien Odyssey") in ''Baddest of the Bands'' is the entire reason he puts himself through everything that happens in that game. Not to mention that ''this'' is a licensed video game. |
| 411 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' Say it with me, The Cheat: Licensed video games are never good. |
| 412 | * {{Pun}}: Strong Sad remarks that the Trogdor machine sounds like it needs its cooling fan serviced. Strong Bad replies "Where am I supposed to get {{fanservice}} around here?", which is [[TemptingFate immediately followed]] by the Trogdor machine coming to life.[[note]]Strong Bad is invoking the PanderingToTheBase sense of fanservice, since fans often clamored for a return appearance of Trogdor before the game was released.[[/note]] [[invoked]] |
| 413 | * PunnyName: One of the in-universe video games is called "Halfathlon". Strong Bad calls it "half-athed, alright". |
| 414 | * RandomlyGeneratedQuests: Parodied. Strong Sad has been [[TrappedInTVLand warped into the world of a video game]] that exists [[ShowWithinAShow within the series]] and when you find him, he has taken up the mantle of quest-giver. He'll ask for a randomly named item, which is always just the same cube, or "pixel" as characters within the game refer to it. After delivering the cube to him, he "rewards" you by giving you another quest, which is just to find the same cube, in the same place you found the first one, under a different name. This can be done infinitely many times, and nothing will ever be accomplished by doing so. [[spoiler:The real solution is to deliver a similar-looking cube of "scorpion bait", which causes the King of Town (who's been merged with a scorpion monster from the game) to attack him, letting you get him out of the way of the path he was blocking.]] |
| 415 | * RealityBleed: Strong Bad's malfunctioning Trogdor cabinet leads to Free Country USA being combined with the worlds of assorted {{Fictional Video Game}}s. |
| 416 | * SaveThePrincess: Parodied. [[VideoGame/PeasantsQuest Rather Dashing]] tells Strong Bad that he's gotten out of the dragon slaying business and switched to rescuing princesses. However, work is very slow because his game wasn't made with any princesses to rescue. He eventually has to settle for rescuing Strong Sad from the King of Town. |
| 417 | * SuperMode: Strong Bad transforms into a musclebound warrior version of him for his ''real'' battle with Trogdor. |
| 418 | * TakeAThirdOption / IDontPayYouToThink: Or rather, a ''fourth'' option, as that's what it takes to advance the game: in the opening, Strong Bad calls Videlectrix to get their help to fix his Trogdor arcade cabinet, [[ForInconveniencePressOne only to be hindered by an automated voice mail system]]. Instead of choosing options "1" through, "3", he chooses "4", triggering this exchange: |
| 419 | -->'''First Videlectrix Guy:''' You chose option "4". That's... er... ''(softly)'' which one was option 4?\ |
| 420 | '''Second Videlectrix Guy:''' You know, I didn't think we had a "4".\ |
| 421 | '''First Videlectrix Guy:''' ''(yelling over the phone)'' [[NoIndoorVoice YOU'RE NOT PAID TO THINK! HOW'M I SUPPOSED TO RUN A FAKE VOICE MAIL AND PUT UP WITH YOUR LIP AT THE SAME TIME?!?]]\ |
| 422 | '''Strong Bad:''' Four! Two plus two! Quatro! Double double deuce!\ |
| 423 | '''First Videlectrix Guy:''' All right, all right, you got me. |
| 424 | * TookALevelInBadass: [[spoiler:Strong Bad does (literally) near the end. And just in time, too, because Trogdor just transformed into [[OneWingedAngel Ultimate Trogdor]].]] |
| 425 | * TrappedInTVLand: Strong Bad enters the world of Videlectrix games. |
| 426 | * TryEverything: If Strong Bad tries calling the Videlectrix Help Line to ask for gameplay advice, this is what he gets told to do: use everything on everything else, until he gets a result. |
| 427 | * YouCantGetYeFlask: As a ContinuityNod to ''Thy Dungeonman'', there is a [[YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe ye flask]] on a shelf in the Peasantry level of ''8 Bit Is Enough''. No matter how hard he tries, Strong Bad cannot get ye flask. Since this game does have graphics, though, we can see the reason is [[spoiler:because his arms are too short]]. |
| 428 | [[/folder]] |
| 429 | ---- |
| 430 | -->''Q: [[TheStinger Why did you decide to release SBCG4AP for the Wii?]]''\ |
| 431 | ''Strong Bad: Because [[Magazine/NintendoPower you]] promised me [[Franchise/TheLegendofZelda 50 Rupees. And a pet Skulltula]].'' |
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FollowingContext VideoGame / StrongBadsCoolGameForAttractivePeople
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