Line #84 Webcomic/Nedroid


1	[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beartato-onlyadream_2618.gif]]
2
3	''[[http://nedroid.com Nedroid]]'' is the pen name of online artist Anthony Clark who draws silly pictures and comics "when there's nothing good on TV." You may recognize his work doing the colors for ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja''.
4
5	On his own site, Nedroid draws all kinds of interesting stuff--he has a special fondness for dinosaurs, ladies, and [[SceneryPorn lovingly rendered landscapes]] following his [[AuthorAvatar self-image character]], the Eternal Homeless Robot.
6
7	But the [[BreakoutCharacter most popular and recurring]] subject, and likely the reason you're here, is comics based around the adventures of Beartato, Reginald and their friends, officially titled ''Beartato Comics'' (also known as ''Beartato and the Gang''). Here are some of the characters:
8
9	* Beartato is half-bear, half-potato, all heart. He's naïve, and impossibly charming.
10	* Reginald is his best friend who is all bird, all muscle, all brain, and totally available, ladies! Ahem. Reginald is also [[ItsAllAboutMe all ego]], and rather desperate. He fancies himself a ladies' man [[CasanovaWannabe yet hasn't had much success so far.]]
11	* Harrison is... [[OutOfFocus who the hell is Harrison?]] Moving along...
12	* Gary is a towering humanoid thing whom Reginald considers his most hated enemy for no reason in particular; he's actually good friends with both Beartato and Reginald.
13	* Rudy is Reginald's dog. He is actually Reginald's most hateful enemy, whom Rudy considers the stupidest being in the world.
14	* Teddy The Phoenix is an on-fire [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Reginald]] with wheels for feet. Keen to cart off the wrong people to save some planet.
15	* Weirdo is a bearded man who wears all sorts of things on his head. An acquaintance of Reginald and Beartato.
16	* There's also an assortment of minor characters, that [[OutOfFocus don't usually get any attention]] these days. Don't worry about them for now.
17
18	Also of interest are his collaboration comics with [[https://twitter.com/EmmyCic Emmy Cicierega]] (Yes, sister of [[Creator/NeilCicierega THAT Cicierega]]) under the shared name ''Laserpony Studios''. There aren't any recurring stories or characters, but they're always a new, surreal and hilarious experience.
19
20	Not to be confused with ''{{VideoGame/Metroid}}''. Not even as a ShoutOut. Or confused with Toys/{{Nendoroid}}, either.
21
22	Compare with ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', which has a similar bird-and-mammal protagonist duo and absurdist sense of humor.
23
24	----
25	!!Tropes featured in ''Nedroid'' include:
26	* AbortedArc: Actual story arcs are rare but Nedroid is ''infamous'' for switching back to gag-a-day mode and never finishing the ones he starts.
27	* AccidentalMisnaming: Reginald takes this to the extreme when, at the end of an evening of romance, he accidentally calls his date Becky "Lord Voldemort."
28	* AffectionateParody: [[Webcomic/PicturesForSadChildren Pictures for Sad]] [[http://nedroid.com/2008/10/beartato-39/ Beartatoes]]
29	* AltText: Most comics have it (the first one, a one-off, is [[http://nedroidcomics.livejournal.com/153835.html July 2008]]; it became a more regular feature the [[http://nedroidcomics.livejournal.com/2008/08/22/ next month]]). When switching web hosts in May '09, however, converting all the alt text (and comic titles) from before that date was deemed unreasonable to convert. You can still get all that on the [[http://nedroidcomics.livejournal.com/ livejournal mirror.]]
30	* AndIMustScream: The AltText of [[http://nedroid.com/2009/06/interact/ this comic:]]
31	-->[[spoiler:"It grows from here. Reginald begins reducing more and more actions to simple lines of dialogue: "nod", "dance", "laugh", "love". Eventually his muscles atrophy; his body wastes away. Only the left hemisphere of his brain remains alive, the spoken word itself reduced to mere thought. And once Beartato earns his master's degree and invents a brain-to-speech synthesizer, that final thought is at last heard: [[TearJerker "Weep a single tear for the life I have wasted".]]]]
32	* AprilFoolsDay: In 2010, ''Webcomic/DinosaurComics'' replaced the entire cast with Nedroid characters (Reginald in place of T. Rex, Beartato in place of Utahraptor, etc). Not just in the latest page, but in the entire archives. You can still see it [[http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1686&butiwouldratherbereading=nedroid here.]] The newspost at the bottom shows you where to find some other cool ones.
33	* ArtEvolution: Over time, the art style got more simplistic, yet more polished. In contrast, the older comics had a bunch of artistic experimentation, ranging from sketchy to finely touched.
34	* AuthorAvatar: The Eternal Homeless Robot.
35	* AwesomeButImpractical: [[http://nedroid.com/2012/01/deadly-weapons/ INVISIBLE SWORDS!!!]]
36	-->"Probably the best and worst thing about invisible swords is that they are invisible
37	%%* AxCrazy: [[http://nedroid.com/2012/04/mindreader/ This comic.]]
38	* BaitAndSwitch: All the time. For example, in the origin stories comic, we see a robotic shark-man being assembled in a lab...only for baby Harrison to toddle in a few panels later.
39	%%* BearsAreBadNews: [[http://nedroid.com/2009/07/doorway-to-your-inner-self/ I CAN NEVER STOP SCREAMING]]
40	* BrickJoke: The AltText in [[http://nedroid.com/2010/10/robotginald-8/ the last page of the Robotginald story arc]] references [[https://nedroid.com/?288 Reginald's supposedly full name]].
41	* ButHeSoundsHandsome: A common gag with Reginald.
42	* CarnivoreConfusion: Addressed by the AltText of a Thanksgiving strip, which states that no, the bird and half-potato do not eat turkey and roast potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner.
43	%%* CerebusSyndrome: Parodied in [[http://nedroid.com/2010/05/webcomics-am-i-right/ Webcomics Am I Right]].
44	* CombiningMecha: [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Combined]] with DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: [[http://nedroid.com/2010/06/battle-ready-extra-ready/ BATTLE-READY BATTLE DRACULA, BATTLE READY!]]
45	* ContrivedCoincidence: DoubleSubverted in the [[http://nedroid.com/2009/10/celebrate-harrison-stories-monday-with-harrison-stories/ Harrison Adventures story arc]]. Harrison runs into what look like Beartato and Reginald underground and is surprised that they happened to be there at the same time. "Beartato" replies he is actually an IdenticalStranger called Buttfranklin. Harrison asks "Reginald" ''his'' name...and he turns out to be the actual Reginald, who had fallen down a hole shortly before.
46	* ADayInTheLimelight: It rhymes with “Schmarrison Stories”
47	* DecoyProtagonist: The site calls comics featuring Beartato or his friends Beartato Comics. If you read from the beginning, he definitely seems to be the focus. However, as time goes on it becomes increasingly clear the main focus of the comic is Reginald as most of the jokes are about his insecurities or negative qualities and a lot more information is revealed about how he lives and thinks, with Beartato only there to play the StraightMan. He even appears later on in [[ADayInTheLimeLight Harrison's Adventures]] while Beartato is absent.
48	%%* DemBones: Ethan
49	* DisproportionateRetribution: Reginald kicks Beartato out of his house because he [[http://nedroid.com/2012/09/unforgivable/ loaded the toilet paper the wrong way.]]
50	* DoomedHometown: Beartato was born on one, according to the SECRET ORIGINS comic.
51	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The art style was all over the place, and Beartato and Reginald weren't even the main characters!
52	* EnhanceButton: Parodied in [[http://nedroidcomics.livejournal.com/265654.html Crime Lab]]. [[spoiler:Luckily, the killer's face just happens to be a 4x5 clump of pixels and compression artifacts.]]
53	* EpicFail: Played with. [[http://nedroid.com/2016/04/mr-fix-computer-2/ In attempting to fix Beartato's printer driver]], Reginald ends up deleting all the files on Beartato's computer, the ''backups'' of those files, and ''the computer itself''. But he also somehow manages to get the printer working anyway.
54	* EscalatingPunchline: The AltText often functions as another layer of this.
55	* {{Flanderization}}: Inverted, interestingly. Beartato's earliest appearances implies him to be dim-witted and un-popular. As time goes on, he starts seeming more like a normal person, plays the StraightMan to Reginald what with having more common sense and apparently having more friends than Reginald. One comic even calls Beartato cool while Reginald is uncool.
56	* FlingALightIntoTheFuture: Beartato's parents sent him off in a rocket before their planet was destroyed, playing the Superman origin story straight. Parodied with Reginald, who ended up in a similar rocket, but his father just wanted to get rid of him.
57	* FromBadToWorse: [[http://nedroid.com/2007/11/1243-baddayatwork/ Exaggerated in this strip]].
58	* FrozenFace: Reginald very rarely closes his beak.
59	* FuneralCut: One strip subverts this trope. Harrison tempts fate by asking what could possibly go wrong with a particular plan. The next panel cuts to Harrison's tombstone. Then in the last panel, we see Harrison thanking his friends for buying a full-sized novelty tombstone.
60	* TheGenericGuy: Occasionally minor character Gary fills this role.
61	* GiftOfTheMagiPlot: [[http://nedroid.com/2008/12/beartato-135/ Linky.]]
62	* HarmfulToMinors: [[http://nedroidcomics.livejournal.com/102718.html Reginald says something bad]], traumatizing Beartato... and himself.
63	* HeroicWillpower: [[http://nedroidcomics.livejournal.com/283442.html Reginald has it.]]
64	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Beartato and Reginald. There's even a RunningGag that they're MindlinkMates.
65	* HurricaneOfPuns: [[http://nedroid.com/2010/03/wea-puns/ Linky.]]
66	* HypocriticalHumor: In "[[http://nedroid.com/2011/02/advice-about-comics/ Advice About Comics]]."
67	* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: [[http://nedroid.com/2011/04/nice-try-though/ This strip]].
68	-->'''Beartato''': You might as well give up, Reginald. You see...[[WhamLine I knew your plan all along]].
69	-->'''Reginald''': Ah, but you see...[[WhamLine I]] '''[[WhamLine knew]]''' [[WhamLine you knew]].
70	-->'''Beartato''': But what you failed to realise is that I '''knew''' that you knew that I knew.
71	-->'''Reginald''': Sweet, naive Beartato. I knew from the '''start''' that you knew that I knew that you knew.
72	-->'''Beartato''': [[OverlyLongGag Ah, but you see, I knew that you knew that I knew that you knew that I knew]].
73	-->'''Reginald''': [[BigWhat WHAT?!!]]
74	* InconvenientSummons: [[http://nedroid.com/2012/01/side-job/ This strip]]. More inconvenient for Reginald, though, as he was in the middle of a story when Beartato was summoned away.
75	* InelegantBlubbering: [[http://nedroid.com/2011/12/ghosts-of-youth/ Beartato, after reliving his "rough" childhood.]]
76	* InsaneTrollLogic: [[http://nedroid.com/2010/08/no-pain-no-gain/ This strip]]. Reginald's advice on working out, given that it's better to do fewer reps with more weight, is to take it to its logical conclusion and do ''zero'' reps of a million pounds.
77	* InsistentTerminology: Referring to vampires as "draculas".
78	* InternetJerk: Implied in the AltText of [[http://nedroid.com/2011/11/whats-in-a-name/ this strip]]--Beartato's new name will be chosen by internet poll, and turns out to be "Fartballs".
79	* ItsAllAboutMe: Reginald.
80	* ItsBeenDone: After [[http://nedroid.com/2013/02/long-distance-call/ this strip]] ran, apparently tons of ''{{Webcomic/xkcd}}'' fans sent emails saying the joke had [[http://xkcd.com/875/ been done already]]. The [[http://nedroid.com/2013/02/scandal-of-the-century/ next strip]] hangs a lampshade on it, and adds a ''{{ComicStrip/Garfield}}'' parody to the mix.
81	* LiteralMetaphor: [[http://nedroid.com/2011/11/whats-in-a-name/ That's my name, don't wear it out!]]
82	* MathematiciansAnswer: Answers to questions on the Nedroid tumblr are rather obtuse.
83	-->'''spiderholic:''' is reginald purple or blue\
84	'''nedroidcomics:''' He’s #555eaa
85	* MetaphorIsMyMiddleName: He's "Reginald Danger Safety", apparently.
86	-->"I guess it balances out."
87	%%* {{Metaphorgotten}}
88	* MindScrew: A storyline revolving around Reginald's "brain problems".
89	* MissedTheCall: Harrison constantly pines away to be swept up in some big heroic adventure like Beartato and Reginald often are. He's offered several chances practically on a silver platter, but turns his nose up at all of them until recently. Then he comes across Beartato[[note]]Well, actually just a Beartato {{doppelganger}}, Buttfranklin[[/note]] and Reginald, who literally ''fell'' into the same thing he was chosen to do.
90	%%* MixtapeOfLove: In the "[[http://nedroid.com/2011/01/memories-of-youth/ Memories of Youth]]" strip (January 13th, 2011), Reginald is about to commit {{Seppuku}} when Beartato stops him. Reginald explains, "...I just remembered all the embarrassing things I did as a teenager." Beartato tells him to move on from the past, but a thought balloon pops up in Reginald's mind wherein he sees himself as a teenager at his school locker. This younger Reginald optimistically proclaims, "This anonymous mixtape will surely win Becky's heart!" Present Reginald then [[spoiler:attempts to drink poison]].
91	* NegativeContinuity: Characters have went missing, been killed, turned into vampires or humans, or generally had about a dozen different backstories. It never sticks. "Everything I draw is canon, even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff."
92	* NoodleIncident: [[http://nedroid.com/2009/08/harrison-in-space/ Pool closed because EELS]]
93	* OddballDoppelganger: Show up with a surprising frequency: [[http://nedroid.com/2007/02/beartato-105/ One strip]] involves both Reginald and Beartato encountering strange, and monstrous facsimiles of each other. [[https://nedroidcomics.tumblr.com/post/148833938280/he-is-ragnol In another]] Beartato and Reginald have [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial totally not been kidnapped and replaced by crude imitations of themselves...]]
94	* OutOfFocus:
95	** Harrison, though acknowledgement of this has become a sort of RunningGag.
96	---> '''Nedroid:''' When I was originally drawing [[http://nedroidcomics.livejournal.com/270559.html this]], I was trying to think of as many characters as I could that had appeared in Beartato strips. I honestly forgot about Harrison until I was about halfway through the coloring process.
97	** When [[http://nedroid.com/2012/02/stones-for-bones/ Beartato and Reginald pre-bought tombstones]] for the three of them, Harrison's says "Always there [[LampshadeHanging when we needed him]]".
98	%%** Quickdraw.
99	%%** Merlin.
100	%%** Meatball.
101	* PokeThePoodle: [[http://nedroid.com/2009/04/beartato-146/ Trash Talk!]]
102	* RunningGag: Among the others listed across this page is "I guess I got X problems" where X will be anything.
103	* SadisticChoice: Made fun of in [[http://nedroid.com/2007/01/2315-badlythoughtout/ a strip]] where the chooser asks if he can shoot the bad guy instead. The bad guy pretends he can't be shot.
104	* SeriousBusiness: [[http://nedroid.com/2011/03/pinch-me/ St. Patrick's Day]] and [[http://nedroid.com/2011/04/wont-get-fooled-again/ April Fools' Day,]], apparently.
105	* ShapedLikeItself: "Can you describe your bag, sir?" [[http://nedroid.com/2013/05/airlines/ "I don't know, it was... luggage shaped"]]
106	* ShoutOut:
107	** To ''Fanfic/MyImmortal'' [[http://nedroid.com/2008/04/beartato-84/ here.]]
108	** The [[TheMenInBlack MiB]] referring to the pair as "Bear and Bird" in their censorship [[http://nedroid.com/2011/06/the-outer-limits/ here]] may be a reference to 'VideoGame/BanjoKazooie''.
109	** [[http://nedroid.com/2013/04/by-any-other-name/ This comic]] has one to ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}''.
110	-->'''Beartato''': Naturally, I can't tell you my '''true''' name, as you would then have power over me.
111	* ShowWithinAShow: Reginald's comic strip "Bartholomew", which is essentially a ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' ripoff drawn by somebody who knows nothing about real cats.
112	* SpaceX: In space, Beartato runs into an alien who looks like Reginald with antennae [[spoiler:at least at first]] and calls him "Space Reginald", to which the alien replies "[[StrangeMindsThinkAlike How did you know my name?]]"
113	* StarSpangledSpandex: [[http://nedroid.com/2011/06/pickup-artist/ Space pants.]]
114	%%* StoryArc: [[http://nedroid.com/2010/10/i-am-a-robot/ Robotginald]].
115	* SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion: Beartato's [[http://nedroidcomics.livejournal.com/201898.html#cutid1 Night Before Christmas]] pastiche:
116	-->The stockings were hung by the chimney with care\
117	Except for Reginald's,\
118	And Beartato also forgot his.
119	* TemptingFate: [[http://nedroidcomics.livejournal.com/114462.html Beartato counted his problems and came up short]].
120	* TomatoInTheMirror: [[http://nedroid.com/2006/07/beartato-99/ Linky.]]
121	* TonightSomeoneDies: [[http://nedroid.com/2007/03/beartato-106/ This teaser]] reveals that in the next strip either Beartato, Reginald, a guy with a mustache, or Harrison will die!
122	* TypewriterEating: [[http://nedroid.com/2012/07/summer-corn-guide/ hormf snarmf DING!]]
123	* UnfortunateNames: Beartato's underground doppelganger Buttfranklin Buttwhistle. It's mentioned that he finds the above-worlders' names to be equally silly to him.
124	* TheUnreveal: This [[http://www.nedroid.com/beartatoparty/rightbug-beartato2.gif fan art]]. For those interested, Nedroid himself later answered this question on [[http://nedroid.com/about-2/ his "about" page.]]
125	* TheVoiceless: The Eternal Homeless Robot.
126	* VoodooShark: [[spoiler:Beartato and Reginald don't wear safety equipment]] because they wished for a genie to make them invincible while skateboarding.
127	* WhatsAHenway: Subverted in [[http://nedroid.com/2010/08/whats-that/ this comic]]:
128	-->'''Reginald''': "Hey Beartato! Boy, it sure smells like updog in here!"
129	-->'''Beartato''': "Yeah, he's staying with me for a few days"
130	-->'''Updog''': "My house burned down!"
131	-->'''Updog''' (AltText): "It was my own fault though. I left the henway on."
132	* XCalledTheyWantTheirYBack: Subverted in [[http://nedroid.com/2013/02/long-distance-call/ a strip]] where Reginald wears nineties clothes and Beartato begins the stock joke, but then Reginald says:
133	-->'''Reginald:''' Did you warn them about what happens?!
134

Context Webcomic / Nedroid