Line #11 Webcomic/FuzzyKnights


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fuzzy_knights.png]]
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3	[[LivingToys The toys have come to life.]] And they play TabletopGames.
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5	''Fuzzy Knights'' is the work of Noah J.D. Chinn, who made the initial strips as a one-shot homage to ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'', using stuffed animals, miniature paper props and a digital camera because "it was all I had". The strips ended up becoming very popular (praised by the late Creator/GaryGygax, even) and Kenzer and Company, the KOTD publisher, made a deal to host the strip officially, and later published two dead tree volumes and a Fuzzy Knights RPG book.
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7	Over time the concept evolved into a whole fuzzy underground keeping up TheMasquerade, with rules, a culture and villians of its own.. The focus remains the core group of four:
8	* '''Mossfoot''', a green bear, team leader and the GameMaster.
9	* '''Violet''', a purple bear and [[HotBlooded slightly violent chick]] who used to live on the street till she met Mossfoot and eventually moved in with him and became his girlfriend.
10	* '''Target''', a cat, whose owner mostly uses him as a punching bag. The group ButtMonkey, if only because he has trouble keeping characters alive for more than a few levels, and a bit of a coward, but generally honorable and logical.
11	* '''Ben''', a [[RascallyRabbit rabbit]] who [[FakeNationality swears he's Scottish]], and who is the bane of the group, frequently driving Mossfoot's campaigns OffTheRails and generally being a {{Munchkin}}. Once in a while though, his hair-brained schemes actually pan out.
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13	The original series ran from 2003 to 2008 and was available for reading for free at the [[http://www.kenzerco.com/index.php?cPath=22_51 KenzerCo website]] (where you can still get PDF versions of the two TPB collections of the comic.
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15	In November 2022, the series saw an [[https://tapas.io/episode/2691035 unexpected revival]] on Platform/TapasMedia, as a traditionally drawn comic rather than a photocomic. The revival sees Mossfoot, Violet, Target and Ben returning to the gaming table after having been dormant and packed away in storage for several years, and gaining a surprising new player.
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17	!!Tropes
18	* ActionGirl: Violet plays these sorts of characters, but give her something to hit with, a target and a provocation and she'll live up to it. She's also handy with jujitsu.
19	* AGodAmI: "'''I''' AM THE STORY!"
20	* AllMenArePerverts: "So, which of you guys is going to go in there and get your life experience drained?"
21	-->'''Target:''' OOOH! ME! ME! ME FIRST!
22	-->'''Ben:''' NO ME! OVER HERE! YO! ACH!
23	-->'''Violet:''' '''''MEN!'''''
24	* BrickJoke: The backwards Enya CD.
25	** Ben's [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Snoopy dance]].
26	** Ben's triangle and shouting, "COME AND GET IT!"
27	* BrownNote: [[Franchise/HelloKitty Kitty's team]] in F.I.G.H.T. is so incapable of adapting their playstyle to the Hackmaster game ("Do I see a unicorn?") that any [=REFs=] that hear their stream of inane questions burn out. [[spoiler:The Philosopher Kings and Teddy Bear Picnic later find a way to use it as a weapon against [=HamaEstra=].]]
28	* BullyingADragon: Ben to [=HamaEstra=] during their F.I.G.H.T. round together.
29	* CatchPhrase: "GHAH!" Used by several characters, but mostly Ben.
30	** "Hoody Hoot, Mon!" Used exclusively by Ben.
31	* ChaoticStupid: Ben in a nutshell. It's one thing that he plays his ChaoticNeutral characters this way; it wouldn't be half as bad if he didn't actually ''believe'' that his half-cocked ideas are good sense.
32	* ChristmasSpecial: The ''Little Bear Awakens'' storybook turns out to be this -- see the YouMeanXMas entry below.
33	* CollectiveGroan: [[http://www.kenzerco.com/images/periodicals/TTC/phpslideshow.php?directory=.¤tPic=79 "It's the same thing, right? Right?"]]
34	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Mr. Applebee, owner of the Fuzzy's online TV station Channel F, who does plenty of ExecutiveMeddling on Mossfoot's series.
35	* DeadlyGame: [[spoiler:[=HamaEstra=] turns his tournament match with the Fuzzy Knights into this. It's possible he did this with the other teams besides the Fuzz he played with as well.]]
36	* {{Defictionalization}}: Of sorts. The creator made a ''Fuzzy Knights'' tabletop RPG game that basically lets you tell your own stories in [[TheVerse the FK 'verse]]. Mossfoot [[ProductPlacement shows off the game]] as his own homebrew system in the first arcs of ''The L.A.R.P.'' and ''The Tabletop Crusaders''.
37	** Stats for characters in this system occasionally show up in the comic's margins.
38	* DemonicPossession: Ben by a cursed sourcebook in order to bring forth Kachooloo.
39	* DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: The RPG training scenarios Mossfoot runs with the Fuzz recruits includes Kachooloo. No one can understand what he's saying through.
40	* DomesticAbuse: Played with when discussing Target's owner. While he's just taking out his frustrations on a stuffed animal he doesn't know is sentient, from Target's point of view it's far less innocent and has left him with a few... [[BerserkButton issues]].
41	* FakeCrossover: Fuzzy versions of well-known characters occasionally make cameos in the comic, such as Bert and Ernie from ''Series/SesameStreet'' and Brian from ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'', but while they do look and act like the real characters (or in some cases as parodies of those characters), they're really just plush toys based on them. Kachooloo is an interesting variant, as it's heavily hinted that he's the spirit of the [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos real Cthulhu]] trapped in a powerless plush body thanks to a botched summoning by Ben.
42	* FakeNationality: Ben's Scotish-ness is an InUniverse example. The very first strip {{Lampshades}} it when Violent points out that he was made in China -- though Ben insists that his "heart and soul will forever be part of the Old Sod. That, and this bloody tamershanter is sewn onto my bloody skull." According to Crazy Al, he once had a ''Jamaican'' phase.
43	* FemmeFatale: Fembunny.
44	* FridgeLogic: In ''Tabletop Crusaders'', the group still mentions heading down to the pool hall despite the pool hall we've seen being in another country altogether (''Crusaders'' takes place in England while the hall is in Japan). Presumably, they've found a new one.
45	* FunWithAcronyms: The Fuzzy International Gamer's Hackmaster Tournament (F.I.G.H.T.)
46	* GratuitousFrench: Fembunny again.
47	* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Mr. Applebee, always behind his (relatively) huge office chair; he sees who he's meeting in his office by using the security cameras.
48	* HumansAreSpecial: In a way. Overall, Fuzzies exist as they do today because of the development of human imagination. Fuzzies lack the human ability to create Stories. [[spoiler:The purpose of [=HamaEstra=]'s experiments was to find a way to break that connection so Fuzzies could create their own Stories and become independent of humans.]]
49	* IdiotBall: Occasionally the characters pick it up, mainly because if an in-universe RuleOfFunny (the world of Fuzzies is dominated by the rules of NarrativeCausality, after all).
50	-->'''Mossfoot:''' You know, sometimes I get the feeling we're really, really dense.
51	* KillerGameMaster: [=HamaEstra=]'s claim to infamy is that [[DeadlyGame he's not joking on the "killer" part]].
52	* LawyerFriendlyCameo: The roleplaying games the gang plays, [[WordOfGod according to the FAQ]]. Hackmaster carries over from ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable''.
53	* LetsGetDangerous: [[spoiler:When [[FemmeFatale Fembunny]] is [[ChainedToARailway chained to a bomb]], [[ChaoticStupid Ben]] steps up and challenges [=HamaEstra=] to enter the game, ''[[PhysicalGod as]] GameMaster'', for a duel of tasks. ''And wins.'']]
54	* LivingToys: Fuzzies.
55	* LovableCoward: Target, though he sometimes slips into CowardlyLion territory.
56	* {{Munchkin}}: Ben will do anything for experience points. In the ''Tabletop Crusaders'' storyline he's been getting lessons from a fuzzy version of Brian from ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable''.
57	* NarrativeCausality: It's called "The Story." Because Fuzzies are created by human imagination, their world runs on stories and story rules.
58	* NoNameGiven: The FemmeFatale is known only in official material as "Fembunny;" her actual name has never been revealed, at least not in-comic.
59	** An e-mail to her from [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Mr. Applebee]] refers to her as "Ms. Bunny."
60	* NoodleIncident
61	-->'''Violet:''' I haven't felt this uneasy since the "Ochre Jelly Pie Fight" fiasco.
62	-->'''Target:''' That poor poor clown convention.
63	-->'''Violet:''' Actually, I feel sorrier for the children's party that watched it all happen.
64	* OffTheRails: The fate of most of Mossfoot's campaigns.
65	* OnlySaneMan: Er, sane bear. Mossfoot can be reduced to this when his players are being particularly tough.
66	* PostScriptSeason: ''Tabletop Crusaders''
67	* PyroManiac: Target likes his flamethrowers.
68	* PyrrhicVictory: The conclusion of the ''Tabletop Crusaders'' story. [[spoiler:Ben enters the Nexus and undoes Mossfoot's entire campaign world, scoring him all the experience points possibly available whilst [[AGodAmI proclaiming himself a god]]. Mossfoot manages to make it an AndIMustScream, a second-level bard trapped unaging forever in "cosmic lint" one point short of third-level with no way to get it, while pointing out that he can just make an AlternateUniverse.]]
69	* RascallyRabbit: Not surprisingly, Ben is the troublemaker of the group -- both in and outside of the game.
70	* SealedEvilInATeddyBear: Kachooloo, thanks to the botched circumstances of his summoning, is trapped in a powerless plush body. [[spoiler:Last seen stealing Santa Claus's bag (confirmed to have dimension-crossing properties) and confronting [=HamaEstra=] in his new laboratory. However, [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot we don't see how any of it plays out]] due to the series ending. Which is particularly painful, given the first event wasn't AllJustADream.]]
71	* TailorMadePrison: [[spoiler:Following his defeat to Mossfoot and Dog, [=HamaEstra=] (believed to be [[DeaderThanDead inert]]) is sealed in one of these, as seen in the first story's epilogue. He breaks out in the second story, using the needle they sewed him back together with.]]
72	* TheoryOfNarrativeCausality: Similar to ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', The Story is a tangible force which can be exploited by those trained to do so -- like a game master. When too many plot-convenient coincidences start happening, it stops being coincidences.
73	* TriggerPhrase: "Life's a game." [[spoiler:[=HamaEstra=]'s password to take full control of the [=REFs=]. Fembunny is capable of doing the same by imitating his voice. When he makes his move, he changes the password, though we never learn what the new one is.]]
74	* WeirdnessCensor: Fuzzies can get away with occasionally being sighted by humans with no consequence thanks to this. A line of Fuzzies to the front door of the house would be pushing it if the house wasn't condemned, though.
75	* WhamEpisode: Episodes 4 to 6 of the 2022 continuation has [[spoiler:Ben, having gone insane in storage and believing that humans aren't real, not even think of maintaining TheMasquerade when Rebecca, the Big Man's daughter, comes in, and speaks directly to her. This ends up resulting in her joining the game.]]
76	* WhosOnFirst: After arriving in England but before Ben and Target arrive, Mossfoot and Violet try a one-on-one game and Violet names the three characters she controls with shortened names Hoo, Whut, and Ida Kno. It quickly devolves into this when she needs them to stand on three tiles.
77	* YouMeanXMas: A surprisingly sweet and earnest parody of this trope happens in the ''Little Bear Awakens'' storybook. Here it's revealed that the Fuzzies (whose entire culture and society is based on borrowed concepts from the humans) celebrate "Newchristmashannakwanzaeidyear," a mash-up of Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Eid al-Fitr and New Year's, which is held on a randomly-chosen day in December.
78	--> "It's not about that Political Correctness crap. Fuzzies don't have their own religion, but all religions have good Stories. So we have this instead. At least until we find a way to shorten the name..."

Context Webcomic / FuzzyKnights