Line #47 WebVideo/VlogBrothers


1	[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/VlogBros_6236.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:280:Creator/{{John\|Green}} and Creator/HankGreen: Epic Nerdfighters!]]
3
4	->''DFTBA!''[[note]]Don't Forget To Be Awesome. Or, if John is sick of people asking what it means, it's Dinosaurs Fail To Beat Asteroids. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0VnI1dI7zw It can also be a lot of other things.]][[/note]]
5
6	[[https://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers Vlogbrothers]] (sometimes stylized as [=VlogBrothers=] or vlogbrothers), as the name implies, is the Platform/YouTube channel and vlogging project of brothers Creator/{{John\|Green}} and Music/{{Hank\|Green}} Green.
7
8	Vlogbrothers was originally a one-year project starting on January 1, 2007 under the name Brotherhood 2.0. The project consisted of the two brothers swearing off textual communication with each other, only corresponding through video updates -- one after the other, every weekday of the year, and no more than 4 minutes in length[[note]]Punishments were also handed out each time a brother failed to meet their obligations of uploads, time limits, and[=/=]or textual abstinence[[/note]]. After the year was up, the enthusiastic reception from the fanbase they had accrued -- with the [[ColbertBump massive bump in traction]] they received from Hank's song "Accio [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]" making [=YouTube=]'s front page being no small factor -- led them to continue uploading videos.
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10	Since then, their fanbase has grown extensively, due not only to the success of their videos, but also their music, books and various charity works. Fans are known as [[FanCommunityNickname "nerdfighters"]][[note]]derived from John [[JustForFun/IReadThatAs misreading the name]] of an ''VideoGame/AeroFighters'' arcade cabinet in a Brotherhood 2.0 video[[/note]] (nerds who fight, not people who fight nerds), and the fanbase and its surrounding subculture have collectively been dubbed [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerdfighteria "Nerdfighteria"]]. They even have a signature hand sign (two crossed-arm tucked-thumb [[Franchise/StarTrek Vulcan salutes]], as demonstrated by Hank in the page image), a motto ("Don't forget to be awesome", or "DFTBA" for short), and an ongoing mission: to decrease "world suck" (generally unfavorable things in the world) through social activism.
11
12	Further projects the brothers have been involved with include [=VidCon=], the world's first and only convention dedicated to internet videos (which they co-founded); ''WebVideo/CrashCourse'', a channel where each brother gives lectures on subjects they're knowledgeable about; and the [[https://www.youtube.com/user/MentalFlossVideo/featured YouTube channel]] of the magazine ''mental_floss'', which gave John his first-ever writing job, on which once a week either John gives a nerdy triviatastic list video or Hank gives a quiz video. Hank also individually hosts ''WebVideo/SciShow'', a channel filled with various science news videos, and produced ''WebVideo/TheLizzieBennetDiaries'' and WebVideo/TheBrainScoop, respectively a modern adaptation of ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'' and a show about museum taxidermy.
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14	[[foldercontrol]]
15
16	[[folder:Related Articles]]
17	* Music/HankGreen
18	** WebVideo/SciShow
19	** Pemberley Digital VlogSeries (co-written with Bernie Su)
20	*** WebVideo/TheLizzieBennetDiaries
21	*** WebVideo/WelcomeToSanditon
22	*** WebVideo/EmmaApproved
23	*** WebVideo/FrankensteinMD (a co-production with PBS Digital Studios)
24	** ''Literature/AnAbsolutelyRemarkableThing''
25	* Creator/JohnGreen
26	** ''Literature/AnAbundanceOfKatherines''
27	** ''Literature/TheFaultInOurStars''
28	** ''Literature/LetItSnow''
29	** ''Literature/LookingForAlaska''
30	** WebVideo/TheMiracleOfSwindonTown
31	** ''Literature/PaperTowns''
32	** ''Literature/WillGraysonWillGrayson''
33	* WebVideo/CrashCourse
34	* WebVideo/TheBrainScoop
35	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tonPbdR1Krs The Art Assignment]]
36	* [[https://www.youtube.com/user/thehealthcaretriage Healthcare Triage]] (not produced by the brothers, but the team behind this also work on Crash Course and Mental Floss)
37	* [[https://www.youtube.com/user/anmlwndrs Animal Wonders]], as of May 2014, is partnered with Hank
38	* [[https://www.youtube.com/user/GamesWithHank Games With Hank]]
39	[[/folder]]
40	----
41	!!The Vlogbrothers provide examples of:
42	* AbandonedCatchphrase: The brothers have a variety of inside jokes and catchphrases that have fallen out of favor over time. Examples include:
43	** French the Llama.
44	** I am a giant squid of anger!
45	** Who the eff is Hank?
46	** Even their motto, "Don't forget to be awesome," has been drastically downplayed as of late.
47	* ActuallyPrettyFunny: In [[https://youtu.be/lFORQHJpwdg one video]], John brings up a Facebook group called "JOHN GREEN IS FAT." that had been made several months prior to the video and which works to, in John's words, "find every picture of me in which I look as fat as possible." He calls it "one of the great Facebook groups of all time", the video's description further calls the group "brilliant and hilarious", and he ''thanks'' the Nerdfighters who started the group since it provided genuinely effective motivation for him to get into dieting and exercise.
48	* AndCallHimGeorge: John would name his puppy-sized elephant Louis, and they would be the best of friends.
49	* AngryDance: "5 STARS FOR [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4CIh3DdWJE ANGER DANCE]]!!"
50	* AluminumChristmasTrees: In-universe, Hank made a video (and song) about the demolition derby in response to incredulous comments from people who thought derbies were fictional.
51	* AntiLoveSong: Hank sings "Florida" like a regular ballad love song, but it's actually about how much Florida sucks.
52	** "The Adorable Cannibal" may also be an example because it is actually a love song, but a really weird one that overlaps love and sexual attraction with food cravings, and eating with making out.
53	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking:
54	** In "Why are Barns Red and Kardashians Famous":
55	-->'''Hank''': It's now time for me to tell you what I'm thankful for, which is a wonderful brother who is a brilliant writer, an awesome bunch of people who watch me make a fool out of myself on [=YouTube=], an amazing family and a loving wife who will carry my dead weight through all of ''[[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii Super Mario Brothers Wii]]''.
56	** In "Literally Hitler", when asking when the "Golden Age of America" was, he lists out several dates in history (and notes the problems present in each era) before getting to 1985, where "unemployment was higher than it is today, median household income was lower, and you were more than twice as likely to be murdered. Plus there was no Snapchat."
57	* ArtifactTitle: The Hankgames channel is as of now converted into John's [[VideoGame/FIFASoccer FIFA]] channel starring the AFC Wimbly Womblys.
58	** Eventually, Hank decided to make a new gaming channel for himself called "Games with Hank"...which is now on an indefinite hiatus.
59	* AsianAndNerdy: Deconstructed by Hank in his "Why are Barns Red and Kardashians Famous" video (he's answering Google's top most-asked questions starting with "why are [insert letter of alphabet here]", and A happened to bring up "why are Asians so smart") by explaining that Asian-American culture has been shown to value intelligence. In spite of this, he still says that "positive stereotypes are still stereotypes, so you should be ashamed of yourself."
60	* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: The basis of one of Hank's jokes in "51 Jokes (in Four Minutes)".
61	-->'''Q''': How many kids with ADD does it take to change a light bulb?\
62	'''A''': Let's go ride bikes!
63	* AwesomenessIsAForce: The official definition of a Nerdfighter is someone who is composed of pure awesome instead of tissue, bones, etc. Also, the mission of Nerdfighteria, to increase awesome and decrease worldsuck. What more could you ask for?
64	* BigBrotherInstinct: It's rare, but John has occasionally shown himself to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYskPILyQ-c possess it.]]
65	** This comes up whenever he discusses health care reform, as he gets noticeably angry talking about how it was hard for Hank to get insurance thanks to his ulcerative colitis.
66	* BlackComedy: Hank has a penchant for this, strangely.
67	** In "Top 7 Tips for LIFE", Hank demonstrates how to tie a figure-eight knot. He then shows how to tie a figure-eight loop...and realizes a little too late that he's just made a small noose.
68	--->'''Hank:''' Fatherhood's hard, but not ''[[DrivenToSuicide that]]'' hard.
69	** One of Hank's jokes in "51 Jokes (in 4 Minutes)":
70	--->'''Hank 1''': What's the difference between camping and molestation?\
71	'''Hank 2''': I-I don't know.\
72	'''Hank 1:''' Well, since you don't know...wanna go camping this weekend?
73	** Hank has a RunningGag of using "because (s)he's dead" [[AntiHumor as a punchline to jokes about deceased people]].
74	--->'''Hank:''' Why doesn't Julius Caesar ever use his cell phone? ''Because he's DEAD!''
75	** One of Hank's "nerdy pickup lines": "Hey, does this smell like [[BlackComedyRape chloroform]]?"
76	-->'''Hank:''' Yeah, that might've gone too far.
77	** Hank even wrote a song called "I'm Gonna Kill You" about his murderous and {{disproportionate\|Retribution}} anger with people who annoy him for fairly small things.
78	* BlatantLies: On "Question Tuesday, the day that I answer real questions from real nerdfighters!", John frequently answers the question "Who the eff is Hank?" (whether or not it was actually asked) with some wordy description of a person, thing, or phenomenon which is quite obviously not his brother. To make it even more BlatantLies, Hank himself has answered that question once:
79	-->'''Hank:''' "Hank is a sausage covered in cornbread batter and deep fried."
80	* BookEnds: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNnWZzBgl-U The Price of Fame]]", Hank's thoughts about the many comments on his ''Franchise/HarryPotter'', begins with the opening bars of the famous "Hedwig's Theme" from the ''Harry Potter'' movies and ends with the next few notes.
81	* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHm-RtWuT2I this video]]:
82	--> '''John:''' I'm a man, I'm a zebra, I'm a man-bra! Oh, wait, that's something else.
83	** Happens a few times, inevitably:
84	--> '''John:''' In your video on Wednesday, you talked about lexical gaps, like the fact that in Romanian there is no word for shallow, and in English we don't have a word for people who aren't virgins. Turns out, by the way, that there is a word in Romanian for people who aren't virgins.
85	** Hank likes funny stuff and nerdy stuff. Therefore, he made a video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrnd63DAH8o about funny nerdy stuff]].
86	** And in "50 THINGS!! That I'm Thankful For":
87	--> '''Hank:''' [21] Creator/CarlSagan. [22] AutoTune. [23] Auto-tuning Carl Sagan.
88	** In John's "Sell Outs!" video, he says that Nerdfighters that had commented on his at-the-time most recent video had noted the ads surrounding the video were about either Scientology or mail order brides. He then stated that he didn't want Nerdfighters to become Scientologist mail order brides.
89	* BreadEggsMilkSquick:
90	** In "CONCUSSED Question Friday", John lists several of his fears (besides heights).
91	--->'''John''': Geese, mice...'''''and oblivion'''''.
92	** In "December 27th: The Gig", Hank's description of the similarities between the peep-wine blended mix he made and the gig that he played to five strangers (and his wife) while drinking said mix.
93	--->'''Hank''': Loud. Uncomfortable. Hastily put together. Messy. Poorly planned. Sloppily executed. Sticky. Stinky. And the product was, more or less, er, similar to dog vomit.
94	** In Hank's video on the death of UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden (released a day afterwards), he notes how May 1, 2011 was a great day for him overall.
95	--->'''Hank''': Katherine and I went and got breakfast downtown, we ran into some friends who were filming a movie, and I got to be in their movie. We went to see ''Film/WinWin'', the new Creator/PaulGiamatti m- awesome, really good movie. I read ''[[Literature/AClashOfKings Clash of Kings]]'' on my back porch, Osama bin Laden was killed in a precision military strike, Katherine and I played ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii''...
96	* BrokenBase: Invoked by fans with the [[CavemenVsAstronautsDebate Zombies/Unicorns]] issue, a completely silly and non-serious break specifically because they decided there wasn't enough conflict. Defied in serious situations, as they make a point of avoiding topics they disagree on.
97	* ButIReadABookAboutIt: Mentioned [[SarcasmMode sarcastically]] in John's video "Should Hank and I ... box each other??", wherein he states that one of his main qualifications for being a boxer is that he read a lot of books on boxing as part of his job at ''Booklist'' magazine.
98	-->"So, I've read, like, over 100 books about boxing, and as many of the school administrators who have recently banned my books can tell you, reading about something makes you both want to do it and good at it. So, Hank, I think you and I probably have like similar overall boxing skills, but I can say things like 'switch to southpaw' and 'jab, jab, hook,' and being able to say those things is basically, you know, basically being able to do them."
99	* CatchPhrase: These are abundant.
100	** "DFTBA!"
101	** "The link is in the doobly-do." (borrowed from WebVideo/WheezyWaiter)
102	** "Best Wishes!"
103	** ...In your pants.
104	** "God, I love librarians!"
105	** "French the Llama!" (sort of)
106	** "I'll see you on Monday/Wednesday/Friday."
107	** "Dude... no edge."
108	** "It's Question Tuesday[[note]]despite the name, just over half (24) of the videos in the Question Tuesday playlist took place on a Tuesday. Friday came second with 11, followed by Wednesday (7), Saturday (2), Monday (1) and Sunday (1). The inaugural Question Tuesday on Thursday is scheduled to take place on 12 November 2015.[[/note]], the day that I answer real questions from real nerdfighters. Let's get right to it."
109	** "In a stunning turn of events" is a phrase commonly uttered by John, to the point where he named a video "A Stunning Turn of Events".
110	** "As you can probably tell from the gray speckled walls behind me..." John's in an airport.
111	** "Movie Magic!" John's way of calling attention to blatant edits in his videos.
112	** "[=[Falsetto whine]=] is the sound that my anxiety makes."
113	** John often starts videos by saying the following after his opening catchphrase: "Today's video is like X...it comes to you in one/two/three part(s)."
114	* CavemenVsAstronautsDebate: Literature/ZombiesVsUnicorns, which started in the community of YA novelists and has since spilt over into Nerdfighteria, dividing even the Green brothers themselves. Hank is pro-unicorn, and, while John is not exactly pro-zombie, he is definitely anti-unicorn.
115	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLcF_1STyKI&feature=channel&list=UL This video.]]
116	** John. A common joke among nerdfighters is to say, "remember, this man is an award-winning novelist."
117	* ContinuityNod: Occasionally bringing back old jokes.
118	* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: The brothers have a longstanding rule that they have to keep their videos under four minutes or face punishment. For example, Hank once went two seconds over the time limit [[DisproportionateRetribution and was forced to]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSffsb5ztRo spend fifteen hours in a local Target store]].
119	** They have, however established a rule that videos CAN be longer than four minutes as long as they are educational videos, videos with montages, or videos that are exactly 4:01 long[[labelnote:*]]since Youtube adds a second at the end[[/labelnote]]. For example, John's video on the history of the political situation in the Ukraine and Hank's video on the Egyptian coup and history of Egypt's political parties. In addition, while the punishments themselves are generally suggested and chosen by the community, there is a standing rule that Sarah and Katherine both have veto power over the punishments selected.
120	* DadaComic: Hanklerfish Comic, a Nerdfighter-made Tumblr host to comics and sketches of flesh-colored anglerfish bearing the Green brothers' faces that is also rife with references to Vlogbrothers content and various Nerdfighter community memes.
121	* DifferentInEveryEpisode: The past couple of years, Hank's videos will feature a different poster in the background in each episode.
122	* DisproportionateRetribution:
123	** Basically the gist of the punishments. For example, going two seconds over the time limit will score you a ''15-hour'' stay in a local Target.
124	** Hank's song "I'm Gonna Kill You" deals with him getting murderous anger over small annoyances.
125	* DoWrongRight: John feels this way, saying that if you're going to insult him and/or people he cares about, you ought to at least do it "with some reverence for the English language."
126	* DrunkWithPower: John [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz-sF57otRk got drunk with a very nerdy kind of power in one of his videos]]. "I will have the teaching power. I am the English teacher! I am mad with power!!! [violent camera shaking]" It was closely followed with a more toned-down comment:
127	-->''People in the neighborhood look at me funny when I scream into the camera while walking.''
128	* EpicFail: Hank made a video recounting the top 7 epic-est fails in history, with most of them involving cases of AndYouThoughtItWouldFail.
129	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: [[SarcasmMode Who would guess]] that the Vlogbrothers are a couple of brothers who vlog?
130	* ExactWords: Near the start of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmi1wxG9_vQ this video from Hank]], he says "I'm not gonna dump a bucket of ice water over my head", referring to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Later on in the video, two people dump two buckets of water over his head, so technically Hank stayed true to his original statement.
131	** A caption does [[LampshadeHanging lampshade this]].
132	* ExpospeakGag: John referring to kissing as "monogamous face-licking".
133	* ExpressiveHair: John's hair gets puffy when he gets anxious (because of a nervous habit of running his hands through it). "Puff Levels are unusually high today." Sometimes the Puff Level will steadily increase over the course of a video.
134	* FaceYourFears: John is afraid of heights, but he faced his fear and stood up on top of a table to raise money for his favorite charity. It took a long time for him to muster up the courage. He also later rode the Frog Hopper as a punishment.
135	* FanCommunityNickname: [[invoked]] Nerdfighters. The name came from an early video in which John encountered the game ''VideoGame/AeroFighters'' and, upon misreading the title as "Nerd Fighters", wondered what he could do with an army of nerds. The nickname is widely and officially acknowledged.
136	* FanDisservice: John's "Fitness for Nerds" video, which contains an amount of belly that is far above the margin of comfort.
137	* FlippingTheBird: In "November 14th: Florida (from LA)", Hank states that despite being "dizzy" with all the stuff that he has to do, he can do one thing...flip off a red Hummer.
138	* FollowTheLeader: InUniverse; the series as a whole stemmed from the two falling in love with the archetypal VlogSeries structure [[TropeMaker pioneered]] by Ze Frank.
139	* ForcedMeme: John has been trying to make "French the llama" a ''thing'' since the 2009 Project for Awesome. Even among the nerdfighters, though, it's not particularly common.
140	* AGoodNameForARockBand: [[https://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers#p/u/176/xocKCimxwQU John has several prepared]].
141	* GrammarNazi: John, although he often likes to pretend that he isn't because he believes the purpose of grammar is good communication and not to be an excuse for pedantry. Still...
142	--> '''John:''' "You should probably know that in that context, 'you're' is a contraction, and any time you're contracting 'you are', it's spelled Y-O-U-APOSTROPHE-R-E. Omigod, youtube, before you click 'submit comment', ''read your comment'' and ask yourself, 'DO I MEAN ''YOU ARE''?'. And if you do, ''you need an apostrophe''."
143	* HappyDance: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxYNUu_2egM A whole montage of them]].
144	* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with the Evil Baby Orphanage. They plot to take all of history's evil figures and not kill them but instead raise them from birth as awesome people in a secluded orphanage.
145	* HurricaneOfPuns: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZx5UPr4mPU&list=PL30E188D6D5930BF4&index=44&feature=plpp_video Mules Are So Half-Ass]]".
146	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Every video from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPlyf9OqsNY "hey now"]] to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od6CN3Faaxc "How 'bout yours?"]] are named after lyrics of the song [[Music/SmashMouth "All Star"]]. The video right after "How 'bout yours?" contains all the words not put into a title, resulting in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d6vqlLM3Hw "I ain't she was with well and I so and it's and but so and I'll and"]].
147	* InherentlyFunnyWords: From John's travelling on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPAoaWCMabw February 1st, 2007]].
148	-->"Okay, we're gonna walk through the airport and see if we can find anything funny. The word 'choate' is funny."
149	* IncestSubtext:
150	** Not usually, but when Hank names his favorite part of John ([[spoiler:his right cheek]]), they mention the fanfiction they may very well have just inspired.
151	** Jokingly defied when the brothers are doing a joint video, and agree not to end it by saying good-bye, because that would require them turning to each other and staring into each other's eyes.
152	--->John: Not today, slash fiction writers!
153	--->Hank: [laughing]: No, not today!
154	* InJoke: Tons. Often confuse or are totally lost on new viewers -- or in fact John himself, due to how long they have been vlogging for. Best wishes!
155	* InsaneTrollLogic: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLWNXlVcVPM If you like unicorns, you killed]] [[Franchise/HarryPotter Tonks.]]
156	* InsistentTerminology: DFTBA is not an acronym because it doesn't spell anything. It is an initialism.
157	* InsultBackfire: Both John and Hank have mentioned in several videos the [[https://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers#p/u/149/xy1M5VHF3no stupidity of negative comments]] that accuse them of being nerds/geeks ([[ProudToBeANerd they take it as a compliment]]) or "gay" ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsVgk9oMyx8&feature=relmfu this is not an insult anyway]]).
158	* KubrickStare: Hank throughout "I'm Gonna Kill You".
159	* LawOfDisproportionateResponse: Used heavily in Hank's song, "I'm Gonna Kill You", which threatens gruesome deaths on people that irritate him by slowing down the grocery store checkout lane, owning a giant SUV, and throwing a loud party late at night. "[[BewareTheNiceOnes I'm usually a very peaceful person]], [[DisproportionateRetribution but I'm gonna kill you]]."
160	* LighterAndSofter: They have their moments, but on the whole, they're the lighter and softer alternates to most of the other vloggers on [=YouTube=].
161	* {{Metaphorgotten}}: John has done this once or twice. After a nice, undecipherable one: "I'm a novelist. I make up metaphors for a living!"
162	* MomentKiller: OK, so they're already married and there's no AbortedDeclarationOfLove here, but in the "Fifth Anniversary with the Katherine" video, Katherine deftly assassinates a moment and keeps things from getting sappy: Hank starts stroking her hair. When she asks why, he replies "[[HappilyMarried Because I love you!]]" She then asks him to do it again... [[SchmuckBait And when he obliges]], she ''licks his hand.'' Complete with "BLEAAAURG" sound.
163	* MotorMouth: Both of them, big time, but John far, far more. After a few of John's videos, Hank's speech sounds downright leisurely, unless he's been given caffeine. Their motor mouth tendencies are heightened by the video editing with {{Jump Cut}}s to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf3nwJgEFC0 get rid of any and all non-amusing pauses.]]
164	* MuppetCameo: During the 2016 Project For Awesome charity livestream, Big Bird made an appearance, even shouting off-camera "don't forget to be awesome!"
165	* MurderBallad: Hank's [[BlackComedy "I'm Gonna Kill You"]] song, expressing his murderous discontent with people that tick him off for fairly small things compared to his reactions.
166	* NerdsAreSexy: This trope has come up several times.
167	** Many viewers have commented on how appealing they find both John and Hank, and Hank has appeared on several blogs in lists of "certain people [the blogger] would like to do certain things with" (also known as the "celebrity do list" or "guilt-free three").
168	** Both brothers have talked about the hotness of nerd girls, John in response to a young viewer's question about dating (calling them a great untapped resource), and Hank, in usual Hank fashion, in a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHT5eEjkfLE song]].
169	** As shared on the effyeahnerdfighters Tumblr, [[http://instagram.com/p/bLc-5sq59f/# Hank got lucky with knuckle tat]]. The two words people associated with him through writing them on his knuckles were "sexy" and "geek", in that order.
170	* {{Nerdcore}}: Several of Hank's songs, including ''DFTBA'' and ''The Man Who Throws The Tetris Piece'' (especially the Dr. Noise cover).
171	* NerdGlasses: Both wear glasses, but John has a special pair that are extra-nerdy. He chose them on purpose after realizing that his previous glasses didn't have many nerd points.
172	* NightmareFace: Ladies and gentlemen, [[http://youtu.be/EfKolpFOZLk?t=3m33s demonic Hank]].
173	* NonindicativeName: Just over half of the Question Tuesday videos are actually on Tuesdays.
174	* TheOner: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u90dGnKhhlk John's video on bullying]] is composed of a single shot of John riding a train and staring into the camera for the whole 3 minutes and 20 seconds, overlayed with narration.
175	* PaintingTheMedium: Hank's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifqv1wheDa8 Kill your TV]]" video does this twice: once to display the 5 second gap between channel changes, and once to complain about aspect ratio mismatching.
176	* PantsFree: In the episode aptly titled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkKLANmUbF4 "Nerdfighter MARRIAGE PROPOSAL"]], John was asked by a fan to propose to the fan's girlfriend for him. He decided that an occasion like this necessitated nicer clothes than the t-shirt he started the episode in, then jump-cut to him adjusting himself in his seat, wearing a nice suit jacket and a dress shirt. When he called the girlfriend, did the proposal, and she said yes, John began cheering, and sprang out of his seat to reveal that he was still in his boxer shorts.
177	* PokeThePoodle: In "[[http://youtu.be/2O9BkGxWBVY Positive Prank Calls]]":
178	-->"Hi, this is Hank Green of the Vlogbrothers, and I just wanted to let you know that global poverty rates have dropped 30% since 1990, and they're on track to drop another 10% before 2015. She was talking and I just hung up on her. Ha! Ha, ''pranked!''"
179	* ProudToBeAGeek: John, Hank, and Nerdfighters in general. John [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy1M5VHF3no once talked about]] how "nerd" wasn't an insult, instead meaning that one prefers intelligence over stupidity and thoughtfulness over vapidity, and believes that there are things that matter more than the arrest record of Creator/LindsayLohan.
180	* PsychoticSmirk: At the start of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8sM_9wSul0 this video]], John does one for a half-second after ramming Hank out of frame with his chair. [[http://troll.me/images/john-green-smile/im-john-green-i-see-you-when-youre-sleeping-thumb.jpg Still managed to turn into a meme, though.]]
181	* PunnyName:
182	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-cekUpsoPQ In this survey, Hank plans to avert this trope.]] Any potential child of his will not be called Hunter, Olive, Forest, Lime...
183	** The brothers also named their childhood dog, a dachshund they got for Christmas, Red Green.
184	** And another pet (a snake) was named Blue Green.
185	* QuizzicalTilt: Bubbles the Nerdfighting Puppy was prone to this upon hearing new sounds. Once he stopped, the Nerdfighting community at large attempted to get him to do it again. Because it was eye-meltingly cute.
186	* RaiseHimRightThisTime: The Evil Baby Orphanage. The idea is that, instead of going back in time and assassinating famous dictators and other evil people, time travelers should abduct them when they're infants and bring them to the orphanage to raise them to be good people instead.
187	* ARareSentence:
188	** In "Top 10 Animal POWER MOVES", John describes how baby potato beetles compensate for their lack of a shell (which makes them easier targets) and ends up saying, "Fortunately, they have poisonous poop." He immediately lampshades the strange nature of the sentence afterwards.
189	--->"It's so rare in life that the word 'fortunately' precedes the words 'they have poisonous poop.'"
190	** In "Top 5 Zombie Apocalypses OF ALL TIME", John praises ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudiceAndZombies'' on its first sentence alone, describing it as "one of the great first lines in American literature".
191	--->"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."
192	* RunningGag: "Who the eff is Hank?", tiny chickens, airports, sock puppets, peep-eating contests, among many, many others.
193	* [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen She Who Must Not Be Seen]]: John's wife, The Yeti... until the end of the Evening of Awesome. Her very nickname is because she isn't caught on camera.
194	** Becoming a full-fledged [[ArtifactTitle Artifact Nickname]] with her hosting ''The Art Assignment''.
195	* {{Shoutout}}: ''Lots and lots.'' To authors, poets, musicians, and scientists living and dead, to movies and books, to other video bloggers. For just a couple examples, see Hank's guitar, which is painted with the words, "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodie_Guthrie this machine pwns n00bs]]", and John's laptop that has a sticker with the original words "This machine kills fascists".
196	* SiblingTeam: Obviously. They were very amused by some speculation as to whether Hank was just a paid actor and the initial project was faked to get publicity for John's books.
197	* SoundEffectBleep: Used occasionally whenever Hank and John find themselves swearing. Emphasis on the word "occasionally".
198	* SoundtrackDissonance: In Hank's video on UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden's death, he notes that he saw President Obama's address on bin Laden's death with music from ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii'' playing in the background, and he promptly cuts to exactly that.
199	* StalkerWithACrush: While Hank's [[https://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers#p/search/0/wP1q5lo1cTo Helen Hunt song]] is supposed to be funny and non-serious, when the real Helen Hunt heard it, she thought it was this trope and took out a restraining order against him. A restraining order [[http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkqn61Hy1d1qdv0bro1_500.jpg covered in flowers and smiley faces]]. (The restraining order is fake though, just so you know.)
200	* StopMotion:
201	** Hank [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSEfK0UYz48 had fun with this in Denver Airport]], through doing very basic stop motion animation with himself as the moving object. Somehow, nobody seemed to notice him lying on the chairs in various abnormal positions. He then set the animation to some music.
202	** In "15 Hours in Target", there's one segment where Hank splices frames together to make it look as if he's holding onto and riding his cart while he's in the air.
203	* TakeAThirdOption: In one of John's Question Tuesday videos, someone asked if he could do the "peanut butter face". Unfortunately, the question was asked while John was in an airport, [[http://youtu.be/g_FzrUXOZEc?t=1m23s but he did what he could.]]
204	* {{Telethon}}: [[http://www.projectforawesome.com/ The Project for Awesome]] is a, well, awesome subversion of this.
205	* TemporarySubstitute: YA author Maureen Johnson (no, not [[Theatre/{{Rent}} that one]]) fills in once in a while.
206	* TemptingFate: John mentions that waxing your legs can't hurt that much, [[InsaneTrollLogic because otherwise women]] [[FashionHurts would stop doing it]]. Whooops.
207	%% * ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: INTERNET SENSATION BITCH!!
208	%% * TrademarkFavoriteFood: Corn dogs and occasionally Hot Pockets for Hank, pizza and Marshmallow Peeps for John.
209	* UnusualEuphemism:
210	** French the llama! Asshat. Warner Chilcott.
211	** And there are several videos in which John uses the names of famous poets in place of swear words.
212	--->'''John:''' I'm a William Blake gangster, so of course you want my Samuel Taylor Coleridge. You're gonna wanna be all up in this William Wordsworth - Like oh Percy Shelley! Oh oh Percy Shelley! I'm the Lord Byroning Samuel Taylor Coleridge - WILLIAM BLAKE!
213	** When Hank explains to "Henry Hank" how babies are made. Double points for SesquipedalianLoquaciousness.
214	-->'''Hank''': Ummmm...well...when a male member of a species loves a female member of the same species, he...[[MotorMouth deposits his uniphalangear haploid gamete on top of her much larger stationery haploid gamete]].
215	** Hank's "nerdy pickup lines" in "31 JOKES FOR NERDS".
216	* ViewersAreGeniuses: While both John and Hank often take time to explain what they are talking about, for the most part they assume that the majority of viewers are Nerdfighters and, therefore, smart enough and nerdy enough to understand and be interested in the topics mentioned. Hank and John both make casual references to people, works, and terms many casual viewers might not understand. Also, John can go into literary-sounding musings or descriptions, often filled with quotes from his favorite authors as well as his own books.
217	** Also, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrnd63DAH8o Nerd Jokes]]. You have to be pretty familiar with scientific theories, literature, computer science, comics, psychology, anime, sci fi and fantasy, politics, math and physics, and/or famous historical scientists and scholars to get the jokes at all.
218	* VomitDiscretionShot: From the "Eating a FAT SANDWICH" video:
219	-->'''John''': Uh... I'm just gonna freeze it right there, Hank, because a lot of young people watch our videos and they don't need to see a thirty-one year old man having what is known in competitive eating circles as a "reversal of fortune".
220	* WackyMarriageProposal: One nerdfighter asked John to propose to his girlfriend for him. John appeared to be just as nervous before the proposal (and as [[spoiler: elated and relieved]] when she said [[spoiler: yes]]) as an actual groom-to-be would be.
221	* WaxingLyrical: In "People Who Love Giraffes", John answers the question of "What's the most embarrassing song you know all the words to?" by dramatically reciting a snippet of [[Music/BritneySpears "...Baby One More Time"]].
222	%% * TheWorldIsJustAwesome
223	* WritersCannotDoMath: John has often had to call up "Resident Mathematician" Daniel Biss to do simple sums and even verify that one number is larger than another, and also infamously once calculated that there were 100 seconds in a minute.
224	* YourMom: Used a lot more often than you'd expect.
225	** Jokes 16 to 19 in "31 JOKES FOR NERDS".
226	** From "54 AWFUL JOKES":
227	-->'''Q''': What do you call a cow with no legs?\
228	'''A''': Ground beef.\
229	'''Q''': What do you call a cow with three legs?\
230	'''A''': Lean beef.\
231	'''Q''': Two legs?\
232	'''A''': Yo mamma!
233	** From "Sell Outs!":
234	-->'''John''': Telling me it’s selling out to try to share my books with an audience is like telling Derek Jeter it’s selling out when he tries to hit balls hard. Or telling your mom it’s selling out if she [[DoubleEntendre hits balls hard]]. (''cringes'') I guess "your mom" jokes don’t really work when your [Hank's] mom is also my mom.
235	----
236	->[-Links are in the dooblydoo. Hank, I'll see you on Friday.-]

Context WebVideo / VlogBrothers