Line #22 Webcomic/TheGaMERCaT


1	[[quoteright:253:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/b6131ccf655834a723004a9bf0cca7b5.jpg]]
2
3	''The [=GaMERCaT=]'' is a {{Gaming Webcomic\|s}} created by Samantha "Celesse" Whitten about [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a cat who is a gamer]]. The webcomic centers on the adventures of Gamercat, his sidekick the Annoying Fairy (a parody of [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Navi]]), and his protege Glitch, a stray kitten he brought home one day, to whom he wants to teach all about gaming. Later comics introduce a formed "gang" of gamer cats. Alongside Gamercat and Glitch are Sweet, the big tough guy, and Pixel, [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the only female gamer cat]] until Nano came along. When not simply hanging out with the others, Sweet & Pixel seem to fight over who should be the better influence for Glitch: Sweet wants him to play violent games to make him tough, while Pixel wants him to play cute friendly games to keep his innocence.
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5	Many of the strips are parodies of popular video games. Others are centered on Gamercat's difficulty interacting with humans while getting and playing video games, or interactions between the cats.
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7	It can be found on [[https://tapas.io/series/thegamercat/info Tapas]] and [[http://thegamercat.com/ the official website]] (though Tapas gets the new strips first, followed by the official website). The webcomic went on hiatus in March 2019 and around a year later the author confirmed the hiatus was indefinite.
8
9	Compare ''WebComic/VGCats'', another gaming webcomic with cats.
10	----
11	!!Tropes associated with Gamercat include:
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13	* AbhorrentAdmirer: Nano to Gamercat, who isn't ugly but is too young for him, is into really dark stuff like ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', can be [[StalkerWithACrush really super creepy]], and is [[TheGlomp suffocatingly affectionate]].
14	* AffectionateParody: Of various video games.
15	* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: [[invoked]] The Annoying Fairy, as she is meant to be a pastiche of [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Navi]].
16	* ArtEvolution: In the earlier strips, Gamercat was drawn in a more simplistic way and had a very chibi look. Later comics have a more detailed art style. Hilariously [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Pixel when Gamercat complains about the face lift that ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Pokémon]]'' [[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon received]].
17	** His eyes now also have color when they go wide. They are now green.
18	* ArtShift: "Stylistic" has them parodying the trend of ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu'' and ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020'' to hyper-render their cartoon characters to make them 'realistic' by having Glitch and Gamercat do it too, with Gamercat going "Yes. This is the future".
19	* BadFuture: When Glitch sets the 3DS clock to the year 2050, Gamercat's ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' town is filled with dead trees, torrential rain, weeds and dead grass everywhere, and the animals no longer remember he exists.
20	* BerserkButton: [[http://tapastic.com/episode/27637 Try to read a walkthrough to play a game under Gamercat's watch. Just try it.]]
21	** And don't ever tell him you're not going for all the trophies/achievements in your game.
22	*** Seems to be Pixel's trigger, too.
23	** Don't hit on Sweet's sisters.
24	* BigBrotherMentor: Gamercat to Glitch. Sweets and Pixel also sometimes act as mentors to Glitch.
25	* BreakingTheFourthWall: [[{{VideoGame/Undertale}} Sans]] doesn't so much as break the fourth wall as he does ''relax on it'', the lazy bum. [[http://www.thegamercat.com/comic/what-wall/ He uses the panel corners as a hammock and casually walks off-comic after jumping off the panel.]] Poor Gamercat is left hopelessly confused.
26	* CallBack: Gamercat reflects on his purchase of a [=PlayStation=] Vita when Sony announces two new colors for the system and Glitch asks if Sony gave up on the Vita too long ago for it to matter. For his part, Gamercat shoved his Vita into a drawer somewhere not long after buying it, but [[spoiler:it was also the thing he had just walked out of the store with when he first met Glitch, so if he hadn't bought it at all, the two might never have met]]. Gamercat concludes that although it was expensive and he barely played the thing, it wasn't a wasted purchase.
27	* CalvinBall: Their custom Monopoly rules which make no sense at all and were improvised when the cats discovered most of the game's materials were missing. They replace the Chance cards with {{TabletopGame/Pokemon}} cards & most of the player tokens with {{VideoGame/Skylanders}} figures, and they only move one space at a time since the dice are missing. Despite the chaotic mess, [[http://tapastic.com/episode/61546 it is freaking awesome]].
28	* CerebusRollercoaster: {{Downplayed\|Trope}}. The comic is mainly comedy, but there have been a couple episodes here & there that had no punchline or comedy to speak of.
29	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Anonymice haven't been seen in years.
30	* ClingyJealousGirl: Nano's quite clingy towards Gamercat, whom she considers her "future boyfriend" despite his clear lack of interest.
31	-->'''Nano:''' HUSSIE! THIS IS MY FUTURE BOYFRIEND AND IF YOU DON'T BACK OFF [[VideoGame/DarkSouls I WILL DESTROY YOU WITH MY SUNLIGHT SPEAR! PRAISE THE SUN!!]]
32	** DamselInDistress: {{Parodied\|Trope}}. As he argues with Sweet, Nano visualizes Gamercat as this by imagining him being held hostage à la Pauline in the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' arcade game (with Sweet as the big bad ape & herself as Jumpman/Mario, of course). She promises Gamercat she will rescue her "fair prince", even though Gamercat was even shown wearing Pauline's dress.
33	* CharacterDevelopment: Gamercat was once very critical of the way mobile games work compared to console games (paying to play as you go rather than buying the whole thing up front for the cost of a regular game), but as he explains the model to Glitch he doesn't seem to mind it too much anymore. He probably became more tolerant of it because of how Pixel introduced him to mobile gaming.
34	* CovertPervert: Gamercat, surprisingly enough. See DoubleEntendre below.
35	* CrushBlush: Gamercat the first time he sees Pixel.
36	** Nano to Gamercat.
37	* CuteKitten: Glitch is utterly adorable. This even kicks off an entire story arc, as when Gamercat realizes how much girls find Glitch adorable, he uses Glitch to his advantage to pick up girls.
38	** Played with in Nano's case.
39	* CutenessProximity: Pixel's reaction to Glitch.
40	* CuteAndPsycho: PlayedForLaughs with Nano.
41	* DeadpanSnarker: Sweet is pretty stoic most of the time, but can get pretty snarky.
42	* DoubleEntendre: When Gamercat tries flirting with a female cat he finds out she also likes videogames so he asks her if she wants to ''try out his custom joystick'' [[note]](in the first version of the strip he just said "joystick", but the line got [[{{Bowdlerization}} eventually toned down for being a bit too suggestive]])[[/note]]. Obviously, [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom she doesn't take it well.]]
43	* ExpositionFairy: Played with, "Annoying Fairy" is a parody of [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Navi]] but is a bad role model, as she once encouraged Gamercat to binge on junk food, (Mainly for the free game codes) and then insults him when he becomes overweight, and pressured Gamercat into buying a Zelda game (In which he didn't seem to want in the first place) as well as a strategy guide. And tried to corrupt Glitch by giving into Gamer Greed.
44	* FaceOfAThug: Sweet has this effect on Nano: when he randomly pops up to see what's going on, she runs away terrified by his intimidating appearance. Cue a perplexed Sweet and an extremely amused Gamercat.
45	* ForScience: [[https://m.tapas.io/episode/634838 This comic here.]]
46	* FormulaBreakingEpisode: One story arc is with Sweet and Pixel fighting over what games Glitch should play, in which Gamercat asks Glitch what he personally wants to play. Cue them playing Monopoly, with their own rules, cards, and representative tokens due to missing pieces.
47	* FluffyTheTerrible: Sweet.
48	* FurryReminder: The comic has this in spades. It's what makes the "cat" part of "Gamercat" relevant and keeps the comic from just being about some friends who play games.
49	** Gamercat [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda reluctantly accepts a subquest to rescue chickens]]... but brings them all back to their owner as a cat would bring his master prey: dead.
50	** Don't hog a demo kiosk for too long while Gamercat is waiting behind you for his turn. He ''might'' just run out of patience, hop up onto the kiosk in front of you, and start cleaning his... you know.
51	** When we first meet Glitch, he's playing one of the classic ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games on Platform/GameBoy. His entire team is Magikarps because he likes fish.
52	*** Later, he coaches Sweet, who never played the games when they were new, through ''Red''; Gamercat investigates only to find Sweet's team is nothing but Pidgeys and Rattatas. Apparently Glitch took the franchise's famous slogan at face value and thought it meant you should capture literally ''every single creature you come across in the game'', though again notice how they're still prey species for cats.
53	** When Gamercat shows Glitch and Nano the classic videogame ''{{VideoGame/Pong}}'', both instinctively run to the TV screen and try to catch the moving dot with their paws. Made even funnier by Sweet and Gamercat commenting on how today's "kids" have no self-control.
54	*** Even Gamercat himself isn't immune to this, though: In another ''VideoGame/Portal2'' parody, [=GLaDOS=] lures him into a trap with a laser pointer, and it works.
55	*** [[SubvertedTrope Neither Glitch nor Gamercat seem to care too much for other typical cat toys or catnip, though.]]
56	** Malcolm discovers a bunch of games he doesn't remember buying, and Gamercat & the Annoying Fairy quickly come up with a solution: Have Gamercat vomit on Malcolm's jacket, which will take long enough that Malcolm will get more worried about his jacket than the games he doesn't remember buying. What sets Gamercat off? ''E.T.'' for Atari 2600.
57	** Glitch embarrasses the hell out of Gamercat in front of a pretty girl cat at the park by saying the first thing that came to mind:
58	--->'''Glitch:''' One time Gamercat threw up his dinner in his food bowl then ate it again.
59	** When Gamercat and Glitch want Malcolm to preorder the Platform/PS4 & Platform/XboxOne, they try to motivate him the only way cats know how - by [[{{Squick}} bringing him the latest dead thing they found and shove it into his mouth]]. While he's asleep. For some reason, he doesn't appreciate it as much as a cat might have.
60	** After Pixel introduces him to the magic of taking selfies, especially selfies with friends, Gamercat decides to take his first selfie with Malcolm... who is using the bathroom at the time.
61	*** He also gets addicted to Instagram and jokingly says one of the pictures was taken at the beach... but it's obviously his litterbox.
62	** Outside of games, the cats can only be understood by each other. Everyone else hears what they say as different versions of cat sounds. Gamercat's speech as heard by humans consists entirely of "Mao"s, while Glitch's speech consists of "Mew"s.
63	* GuiltyPleasure: [[http://www.thegamercat.com/comic/06192011/ Very early on,]] Gamercat makes sure the coast is clear before playing ''VideoGame/RobotUnicornAttack''.
64	** Gamercat implied a microtransaction game is another one.
65	* ImpactSilhouette: When confronted by a spider, [[spoiler:Sweet makes one of these in Gamercat's home's wall with 'nope' above it in perfectly-formed letters]]. Gamercat is left [[LampshadeHanging wondering how that happened]].
66	* {{Jerkass}}: The fairy, who drives Gamercat to a nervous breakdown by telling him about all the various games coming out during a holiday season, and also driving Glitch to use the microtransactions in mobile games.
67	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Sweet is a considerably bigger cat who is almost about to beat up Gamercat for snatching his Platform/XboxOne, except Glitch enters the room, causing an awkward standstill. Not only does Sweet refuse to harm Gamercat in front of a little kid, but he also takes up Glitch's offer to play Wii U with them, which calms him down enough that he simply shrugs Gamercat's actions off. Before you know it, he becomes one of Gamercat's friends and is part of the group.
68	** Played with the Annoying Fairy. She worries that Gamercat is a bad influence on Glitch, but ignores the fact that she is much worse of an influence.
69	* HeroicBSOD: Gamercat undergoes this (with his mind ''fizzling'') when Pixel tries to snap him out of the mania caused of the fairy. Needless to say, it did not go well.
70	* HighOnCatnip: When Gamercat and Glitch start playing with cat toys containing catnip, [[http://tapastic.com/episode/92736 things go exactly as you'd expect]].
71	* IconicItem: Gamercat's red bandana (and red scarf in the winter).
72	* ImpactSilhouette: In [[http://thegamercat.com/comic/sweet-moves/ this comic]], Sweet leaves one in the wall after fleeing from a spider. Above his own silhouette are four others that spell "NOPE".
73	* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Glitch is this in spades.
74	* {{Irony}}: The comic jokes that the reason Captain Toad can't jump is that his backpack is too heavy. This is actually the canon reason, though not stated in-game.
75	* MassivelyNumberedSiblings: Sweet has eight sisters, and who knows how many brothers he has as well? Justified as a cat though it stands out given how he's the only one besides Glitch to have any family mentioned.
76	* MySisterIsOffLimits: Gamercat learned this when a female cat he was trying to flirt with called her older brother... turns out it is ''Sweet'' He also says this of the rest of his sisters.
77	* NearlyNormalAnimal: Gamercat is of the "Largely Normal Animal" variety. He's smart enough to play video games but whenever he tries to speak, humans only hear a bunch of "meows". Though, cats in this universe are capable of [[http://tapastic.com/episode/25613 writing]] [[http://tapastic.com/episode/74698 on paper]] and [[http://tapastic.com/episode/5296 running an online videogame support chatroom]]
78	-->"On the internet, nobody knows you're a cat."
79	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Pixel attempts to snap Gamercat from his addictive holiday gaming frenzy spurred by the Fairy by giving him some ToughLove in the form of telling him that he'd never be able to play all the games. The result is the above-mentioned BSOD.
80	* NotAllowedToGrowUp: Glitch is still a kitten more than a year after his introduction. [[CuteKitten Not that it's a bad thing]].
81	* OhCrap: After Glitch gets the hang of the "freemium" model of gaming, [[spoiler:he accidentally gets carried away and buys over a thousand dollars' worth of crap in the game]]. Gamercat only realizes this too late, resulting in this look.
82	%%* OpaqueLenses: Pixel does this sometimes.
83	%%** Most prominently [[http://www.thegamercat.com/comic/guitar-zero/ when she's about to play Guitar Hero]].
84	* ParentalAbandonment: In one comic Glitch goes to the store to get an Xbox One when a snowstorm starts. He starts to freeze when a female cat that looks a fair bit like him saves him and leads him to a trashcan to stay warm in. The cat stays with him but mysteriously vanishes right as the light from Malcolm's flashlight shines on the two of them implying that she wasn't real. Glitch asked for a "miracle" in a letter to Santa intending to get lucky and get a Xbox One for Gamercat, but his miracle was instead being saved by the female cat and being found by Malcolm and Gamercat. In a later comic, the female cat is shown hugging Glitch with the words "Happy Mother's Day" above the two of them. This implies that she was Glitch's mother and that she is dead, but continues to watch over him and protect him.
85	* PerpetualFrowner: Sweet tends to have a mildly bored frown on his face often.
86	* PrecociousCrush: Nano towards Gamercat.
87	* PunchedAcrossTheRoom: What Gamercat gets for his... not-so-subtle flirting [[http://tapastic.com/episode/108416 here]].
88	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Games creator Samantha Whitten is currently hooked on in real life get parodied in the comic while she's playing them.
89	* RealMenWearPink: When playing VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld, Sweet chooses to play as Peach.
90	* RunningGag: The mindless nature of ''VideoGame/CookieClicker'', of which Gamercat is a reluctant fan. It crops up from time to time, especially when Gamercat gets overwhelmed by the intense resource management aspects of ''VideoGame/StardewValley'' and decides ''Cookie Clicker'' is the most he can handle for right now.
91	* ShipTease: Quite a bit between Gamercat and Pixel, most notably in [[http://tapastic.com/episode/62880 Privy-See]] and [[http://tapastic.com/episode/237544 Enabler]].
92	** Taken a step further in [[http://tapastic.com/episode/240582 True Love]] and [[http://tapastic.com/episode/250069 Mistletoe Mayhem]].
93	* ShrinkingViolet: [[https://m.tapas.io/episode/41016 Pixel was pretty leery of Gamercat when they first met.]]
94	* SlasherSmile: Pixel pulls one off when she shows Gamercat what ''he'' used to look like.
95	* SleepCute: When Gamercat sees Glitch getting sleepy, he puts him to bed. Glitch climbs out of his bed and cuddles with Gamercat. Unfortunately, the moment is ruined (temporarily) by Glitch [[VomitIndiscretionShot vomiting on Gamercat]]. However, as seen in the next comic, Gamercat still allows Glitch to cuddle atop him after getting himself cleaned up.
96	* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Gamercat finds out that a stray kitten (who later is named Glitch) has a Game Boy because someone threw it in the garbage can he lives in. He proceeds to complain how sad that is... that someone threw away a perfectly working Game Boy. The kitten agrees.
97	** When Gamercat has gone bananas in organizing his plan for maximizing his purchasing and playing of all the new games coming out for the holidays, Pixel and Glitch recruit Sweet to help snap him out of it. Instead, Sweet comments Gamercat has done all of his work for him before asking Gamercat about playtime timespan between releases, something Gamercat has "an algorithm for."
98	* SpidersAreScary: Malcolm, [[spoiler:Gamercat, Pixel, and Sweet]] are all terrified of spiders [[spoiler:especially the one currently in Malcolm's house]].
99	** Subverted by [[spoiler:Glitch]], who barely even glances at the spider [[spoiler:before squishing and eating it. Nano also subverts this, as she gives Gamercat a Valentine's Day giftbox filled with them. She's later seen with Glitch, the two eating spiders while legitimately confused why Gamercat didn't like them]].
100	* TheBusCameBack: [[spoiler:Nano]] first appeared during the interviews for a fourth member of the gaming group. A year later in real-world time, she showed up again, and revealed that she never was [[spoiler:Nyan Cat]] to start with.
101	* TheComicallySerious: The running gag with Sweet is that he is pretty deadpan to most of the stuff going around him, which makes for great humor to contrast against the spazzy Gamercat. It's especially hilarious when he's shown running around dressed as Peach. However, there are moments of him being NotSoStoic, [[spoiler:he has the biggest reaction in regards to the spider]] and he's still prone to getting frustrated comically (such as his failing attempts to teach Glitch not to win by button mashing... and getting his tail handed to him.)
102	* ToughLove: Pixel tries this on Gamercat to snap him back into sense, comparing it to quickly ripping off a bandage. [[HeroicBSOD It backfires.]]
103	* VomitIndiscretionShot:
104	** Glitch vomits while he tries to look cute for Malcolm, Gamercat's owner. He still adopts him.
105	** It happens again in [[http://www.thegamercat.com/2013/08/almost-cute/ this strip]], ruining another attempt at cuteness.
106	** Another instance, with a [[http://tapastic.com/episode/37571 'special guest'.]] Kittens in this comic seem to have a bit of a barfing problem.

Context Webcomic / TheGaMERCaT