Line #68 Webcomic/BoxerHockey


1	[[quoteright:342:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/team.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:342:[[FiveManBand The Mekpens]], from left to right: [[SinkOrSwimMentor Coach ]] Tim [[Series/MagnumPI Selleck]], [[TheBigGuy Billy]] [[NoNameGiven "Burrito"]], [[TheSmartGuy Charlie]] [[CampStraight "Chuck"]] [[ButtMonkey Packer]], [[TheLancer Skip Matthews]], and [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist Rittz]] [[TheDitz Tibbits]].]]
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4	''[[http://boxerhockeycomic.tumblr.com/archive Boxer Hockey]]'' is a webcomic created by Creator/TysonHesse, starting in 2006. It updated Biweekly on Wednesdays and Sundays, and follows a team for a fictitious sport called Boxer Hockey. The comic mostly focuses on the team's lives outside the games, but also has the games in separate arcs.
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6	Since 2009 updates became more sporadic, going on frequent hiatuses. After its original hosting site went offline the comic in its entirety is currently archived on [[http://boxerhockeycomic.tumblr.com/ the official tumblr page]], with its last page being from 8/23/2014. As of 2015 Tyson Hesse has officially made it clear that the comic is no longer active, and unlikely to resume in the forseeable future due to his many ongoing professional projects.
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8	Note that any other links on this page will go to the down host site.
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10	----
11	!!This webcomic provides examples of:
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13	* TheAce: The [[MeaningfulName appropriately named]] Ace is shaping up to be this, as seen [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=175 here]] and [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=176 here]].
14	* AffectionateParody: Of ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'', starting [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/example.php?id=031_sonic1.jpg here]].
15	* AllJustADream: The "[[MisterSeahorse Chuck's baby]]" arc.
16	* AlliterativeName: Two of the all-girl Georgia Peaches: Crystal Kaning and Ryan Richards.
17	-->"That's a boy's name."
18	* AnimalAthleteLoophole: Averted. Tyson goes out of his way to explain that ''everyone'' can play Boxer Hockey. "Even good 'ole Fido". That being said the Sydney Screamers' goalie is a kangaroo.
19	* ArtEvolution: Compare an [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=3 early strip]] here to a more [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=130 recent strip]].
20	* ArtShift: To ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/example.php?id=011_peanuts_christmas.jpg style]] for one strip. And in the style of ''Manga/CromartieHighSchool'' [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=106 here]].
21	* BedmateReveal: Chuck [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=66 gets one of these]], much to [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=67 his delight]].
22	* BerserkButton: When Daisuke stepped on Skip's CoolShades. [[spoiler:They were one of the first gifts Rittz ever gave him, and this pissed him off so much that he ignored that he was paid by him to throw the game to pay him back for it.]]
23	* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=152 Billy when he saved Rittz from being killed by a ninja]].]]
24	* BigOlEyebrows: Rittz.
25	* BoxingKangaroo: The Sydney screamers' goalie is one of [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=60 these.]]
26	* BrickJoke: [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=108 The]] [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=154 Bear]] [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=169 and here]]
27	* {{Calvinball}}: Boxer hockey has rules, but they're so simple and vague it falls into this category.
28	* ChildhoodFriends: Rittz and Skip.
29	* TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: The coach's approach to everything. [[spoiler:Tragically, since Billy has tried to warn him ''twice'' that Skip is selling out the games, and he won't listen.]]
30	* CoolShades: Skip's original CoolShades are crushed in the Japanese game. Rittz buys him [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=58 a new pair]].
31	** The originals were later revealed to be a [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=151 gift from Rittz.]] He had them for YEARS.
32	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Rittz, [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=159 apparently]]. At least when it's [[TriggerPhrase "laundry day."]]
33	** Makes sense when you consider he's an international star of a VERY violent sport, and "laundry day" is probably a play; a straight-arm block like that is sometimes called a “clothesline”
34	* TheDandy: Chuck.
35	* DrugsAreBad: Eventually, [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=157 we discover that Rittz's mom death was caused by smoking]], which prompt Skip to refuse a cigarette.
36	* DuctTapeForEverything: How Skip and Rittz fix their couch after it was cut in half.
37	* EyesAlwaysShut: Billy.
38	* FanService: As a rule, competitors in the game are required to play in their underwear, regardless of gender. Some women opt to wear an apron over them, but modesty has no place on the field.
39	* FatalFlaw: Skip's is {{Greed}}. He's OnlyInItForTheMoney and has lost the sense of fun in playing the game. What humanizes him most is that he's entirely aware of it and fighting with regret about it.
40	* FictionalSport: The titular Boxer Hockey. The rules are given in the [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=1 first strip]] it would be possible but extremely dangerous to play in real life.
41	* FillerStrips: He tends to do a lot of non-story comics. He also gained much attention by making a [[http://www.pvponline.com/2009/12/30/guest-strip-by-tyson-heese/ guest strip]] for ''Webcomic/{{PvP}}''.
42	** Also did [[http://www.abominable.cc/2011/12/21/guest-strip-by-tyson-hesse/ one]] for ''Webcomic/TheAbominableCharlesChristopher''.
43	* FormerlyFat: Growing up as a child, Rittz was quite pudgy. He sheds it by the time he hits adolescence thanks in part to his training in Boxer Hockey with Skip and Ace, which stretches back to their childhoods.
44	* FreudianExcuse: All over the place in Rittz & Skip's backstory. Rittz was the fat kid growing up and Skip was the troubled, "criminal in waiting" kid who bonded because they had no other friends. Things like why Skip doesn't smoke or why breaking his glasses was a BerserkButton all tie back into their backstory.
45	* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Poor Chuck. Possibly because he's a replacement player for Ace, who was the coach's nephew and the childhood friend of Rittz & Skip.
46	* GenderBlenderName: Ryan.
47	* HomoeroticSubtext: Though most of the gay jokes are directed at [[{{Camp Straight}} Chuck]], it's [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/example.php?id=037_making_love.jpg Rittz and Skip]] with the most subtext.
48	** Rittz blurts out that at one point he work up with Ace kissing him on the mouth, to everyone else's surprise. Rittz is too innocent to understand what he just said.
49	** Rittz and Skip are more an example of {{Bromance}} than HoYay thanks to Rittz being an innocent.
50	* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne:
51	-->[[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=171 "This is why everyone hates you, Skip! You're a homophobic, egocentric, back-stabbing, racist asshole!"\
52	"Hey! I am not racist."]]
53	* ImprobableWeaponUser: A player's "stick" can be any kind of blunt object. Cue players using boards, boxing gloves, rainsticks, wooden swords, and paddles.
54	* InnocentlyInsensitive: Rittz, following along with the gay jokes about Chuck. He apparently thought they were making fun of him for having red hair the whole time.
55	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Skip. He [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=9 punches Rittz in the face]] [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=43 out of habit]], and most of the time acts like doesn't care about the [[TheDitz idiot]], but it turns out that Skip and Rittz have [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=150 been each other's only friends]] [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=151 for years.]] Plus, he [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=164 bought Rittz burgers.]] He can't be all bad.
56	** In some ways, that's also evident of Skip being a JerkassWoobie.
57	** The coach qualifies. He punches a stewardess in the face for telling him not to light up on the plane and brushes it off when everyone thinks he got one of his players killed doing it. However, he does care for (the rest of) his team and sees (most of) them as a surrogate family.
58	* {{Manchild}}: Rittz, an adult MouthyKid, and given the unrestrained violence of the sport he regularly engages in, he qualifies for PsychopathicManchild as well.
59	* ManlyGay: Ace, who was said to be the best goalie the team had ever had, and was a childhood friend of Rittz and Skip, whom Rittz mentions once tried to kiss him while he was asleep, and loved dancing to Music/GloriaEstefan.
60	* MistakenForGay: Chuck, fullstop. Even by people he doesn't know.
61	* MoodWhiplash: The most recent pages have taken a dramatic (literally) shift away from the typical humor of the comic.
62	** None of the recent pages can compare to [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=150 the last panel of this page.]] [[{{BlackHumor}} It's okay, you can laugh.]]
63	* MoralityPet: Rittz for Skip. [[spoiler:Subverted in that he keeps on committing crimes anyway.]]
64	* NoAnimalsWereHarmed: '''Averted'''.
65	** The game of boxer hockey uses frogs as the ball. Granted, they are somehow genetically altered to be more rubbery and resistant to harm, but they do get beaten up pretty badly, and one of the very few rules of the game is that you get a 5 point penalty for killing one, meaning that this happens often enough to need a rule.
66	** The team's pet cat and hamsters also don't fare well. The former nearly starves to death, and all of them end up suffocated to death by the team's [[TheDitz ditz]].
67	* NoMoreForMe: [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=133 Averted, hilariously, when Rittz takes a swig of cough syrup just as a NINJA decides to burst in.]]
68	* OnlySaneMan: [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]], [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/example.php?id=031_sonic1.jpg apparently.]]
69	** As for the Team Mecha Penguin itself, Chuck seems to come off as this.
70	* OralFixation: Skip often has a toothpick in his mouth.
71	* PosthumousCharacter: We haven't been told what happened to Ace and whether he's alive or not, but he fulfills the same role in the story and is only shown through flashbacks.
72	* RacialFaceBlindness: "[[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=14 Rittz, you and me take the dark haired one.]]
73	* ReadTheFinePrint: Not used storyline wise, but rather as a joke for people who are able to read the tiny text. [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=182 Here.]]
74	** First section reads "This is all just a bunch of placeholder text, none of this matters, and you won't be able to read any of it."
75	** The section 'Proud of Their Boy' reads "I'm only making all this up because I know there's SOMEONE who's going to go looking for something to read here. Well, are you happy? Did you get what you want? I HOPE YOU DIE!"
76	** Last section reads "And that's when I knew I had to kill her. True, she did nothing wrong, but the VOICES. THE VOICES TOLD ME TO. ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES BILLY A DULL BOY."
77	* RecycledInSPACE: [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/example.php?id=019_boxer_spacey.jpg Boxer Hockey]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin in SPACE]]!
78	* RuleOfSymbolism: Daisuke cuts couch in half. Skip and Rittz sit on opposite sides of the couch. Their relationship starts to falter after the night Daisuke cuts the couch in half. Symbolic?
79	* SantaClaus
80	* SceneryPorn: For a comic focused on humor, it's had some [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=53 fairly]] [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=93 spectacular]] [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=97 backgrounds.]]
81	* SelectiveObliviousness: [[spoiler:The coach isn't willing to see that Skip is throwing games because it would break up the "family" he has with the team.]]
82	* SickeninglySweethearts: Chuck and Ryan, [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=154 apparently]].
83	* SpoofAesop: The "Rittz learns a life lesson" strips.
84	* ThatNightFeltLikeMonths: [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=97 This]] strip.
85	--> '''Rittz:''' "Did anyone else feel like this week lasted like... three years?"
86	* ThrowingTheFight: [[spoiler: Billy believes Skip threw the game against the Australians.]]
87	** [[spoiler: It turns out that [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=157 he was probably right]].]]
88	*** [[spoiler: It's pretty much confirmed [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=158 he was right]]]]
89	* TooDumbToLive: Rittz. He's barely functional, really. He falls for tricks that only sometimes work on ''dogs''.
90	** The coach manages to destroy a plane and a life-raft both in the same day through smoking despite Skip telling him to knock it off.
91	* ToxicFriendInfluence: Skip, when he and Rittz were a child, until Rittz made him promise to be good if they were going to be friends. [[spoiler:He stops dragging Rittz into things but doesn't really reform, setting up the conflict within the team when Billy finds out.]]
92	* TriggerPhrase: Rittz reacts to play-calling like this.
93	* UnCancelled: For a while the creator was contemplating ending the official storyline comic after the Australia story arc wrapped up, but after a short hiatus came back to continue the story. It didn't last though, and the comics been laid back to rest for similar reasons as before.
94	* VirginityMakesYouStupid: Sexual naivety is just part of Rittz's general naivety.
95	* WebcomicTime: Lampshaded in [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=97 strip #97]]: "Did anyone else feel like this week lasted like ... three years?"
96	* WhatYouAreInTheDark: [[spoiler:Skip]] is forced to face this in a dream. [[spoiler:Billy is intent on making him face it in real life to destroy him for what he's done to the team.]]

Context Webcomic / BoxerHockey