[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/criken.jpg]]
[=Criken2=] is a gamer and Youtuber who showcases him and a few of his friends playing games. They typically are in co-op, with all the shenanigans that entail. While he records the full gameplay of whatever he's playing (and usually streams it on Website/{{Twitch}}), the highlights only ever include the funniest and[=/=]or most insane parts of it. This has led to all of his videos being very humorous.

Criken usually works with game clips tied to a particular game, but also does a series called "Criken's Fun House", which have clips not tied to any particular game, and a side series meant to satiate the fans waiting for "Criken's Fun House" called "Criken's Quickies". They, nonetheless, [[ScheduleSlip seem to update rather sporadically as of late]]. Is affiliated with Creator/{{Rooster Teeth}} and sometimes collaborates with Broteam. After a long period of staying TheFaceless for his videos, he did a face reveal in the Pax Podcast of what was then [=TheGameStation=], which can be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60nnX_B28s0 here]].

In July of 2017, it was announced at a panel at RTX that Criken had joined the Lets Play network of Creator/{{Rooster Teeth}}, following this, Criken and two of his main cohosts Tomato Gaming and Bedbananas formed the subgroup [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqm3ics9Qro Sideshow]] in May 2018.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Games Criken and Company Have Played]]
* ''VideoGame/AllPointsBulletin''
* ''Videogame/{{ARMA}}''
* ''VideoGame/ChivalryMedievalWarfare''
* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike''
* ''VideoGame/CryOfFear''
* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls''
* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII''
* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII''
* ''VideoGame/DeadIsland''
* ''VideoGame/DeadIslandRiptide''
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''
* ''VideoGame/FarCry3''
* ''VideoGame/FarmingSimulator 2011''
* ''VideoGame/FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage''
* ''VideoGame/GarrysMod''
** ''VideoGame/ElevatorSource''
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''
* ''VideoGame/JediKnightJediAcademy''
* ''VideoGame/LANoire''
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead''
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2''
* ''VideoGame/{{Limbo}}''
* ''VideoGame/LittleInferno''
* ''VideoGame/{{Loadout}}''
* ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade''
* ''VideoGame/NaturalSelection2''
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5''
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6''
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilOperationRaccoonCity''
* ''VideoGame/{{Rust}}''
* ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2''
* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird''
* ''VideoGame/SCPContainmentBreach''
* ''VideoGame/SCPSecretLaboratory''
* ''VideoGame/SeriousSam: The Second Encounter''
* ''VideoGame/TheShipMurderParty''
* ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs2012''
* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic''
* ''VideoGame/SubRosaFPSGame''
* ''VideoGame/TwoWorlds 2''
[[/folder]]
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!!Tropes that appear in these videos:

* AbortedArc:
** Whenever he reaches the third video in a series (''Dark Souls II'' Co-Op, ''Dead Island Riptide: The Adventures of Sam B'', etc.) the preview for Part 4 will be shown at the end. ''And then never released.''
** Justified for ''The Adventures of Captain Andytrout'', as his hard drive was corrupted and the footage was lost. He plans on continuing the series someday.
* AchillesHeel: Thalassophobia, fear of the ocean and creatures in it. Dedicated horror games are relatively no problem, but even the sharks in a game like ''Wind Waker'' freak him out.
* AxeCrazy: Boon, who sometimes gets ''really'' into a game.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Criken is pretty much renowned for his wacky antics, but that doesn't mean he can't get dangerous when the situation calls for it. [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge Just ask ]] [[CurbStompBattle the Lords Of The Hunt.]]
* BookEnds: The first enemy that gives Criken and Tomato trouble during their ''VideoGame/{{Dark Souls|1}}'' Randomizer Challenge is the "walking stick" thing. Nineteen episodes later, what should they find in Gwyn's boss room but one last walking stick.
* BuffySpeak: Criken has not been exempt from this, displaying some traits in certain videos.
-->'''Criken:''' OH! HES A... A ASSASSINS CREED!
* ButtMonkey: Everyone has their moments of this, though Skippy is the most common victim. More specific examples include:
** [=VaatiVidya=] in the ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' playthrough, although [[TheDogBitesBack he does have his minor moments of revenge.]] [[DeadlyGame "Lore quiz,"]] anyone?
** Dave during his first round of ''Barotrauma''; after dying on the ship, he respawns several times but always fails to get the shuttle back to the main ship. At one point he states there are two dead bodies in the shuttle with him, both from his previous respawns.
* CanonWelding: Toward the end of the ''VideoGame/{{Dark Souls|1}}'' Randomizer Challenge, Criken decides that [[SdrawkcabName Dawde]] Wetpant will be transformed by his maggot infestation into Edwad Emberpants, protagonist of his earlier ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' playthrough.
* CatchPhrase: Criken and his friends have many of these.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Criken is signified via white text, Tomato tends to have red text, Oats (or the secondary character in a 2-player game) has yellow text, and game audio is black text. (Unfortunately for OCD viewers, these colors change very often.)
* TheCorrupter: [=BedBananas=] in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'', to the point where he leads Criken into [[spoiler:the [[DownerEnding "Usurp the Flame"]] ending]].
* ADayInTheLimelight: Certain videos are only Criken and only a single friend of his; examples of this include his ''VideoGame/AliensColonialMarines'' video, his ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' videos, and his ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' videos.
* TheDreaded: Criken and his hammer quickly became the bane of the enemy team during the 2012 Polaris ''VideoGame/ChivalryMedievalWarfare'' Battle Royale, as well as anyone in his way during the Free For All. Husky Starcraft referred to it as "[[Film/ClashOfTheTitans Releas[ing] the Criken]]!"
* EpicFail:
%%** ''[[VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird Saints Row 3]]: How to Lose at Everything''.
** In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r003HJgTLto the previous video]], ''The Wrath of Gimps'', Criken pulls out his parachute too late after doing a jump in the first Penthouse Crib mission, being totally unable to get on the building after a point, thus failing the mission. [[LampshadeHanging His partner calls him on it]].
** When Criken and his friends play ''Barotrauma'' things usually spiral into hilarious failure. Special mention needs to go to the round that opens [[https://youtu.be/EZZdAgbV2Vo this video]] as according to Criken they only played 20 minutes and somehow managed to all die ''before they even left the dock'' [[labelnote:*]]Tomato shot through [=MrLawlMan=] and accidentally killed Criken in the process. Then the sub started exploding due to a series of engineering failures injuring Tomato and [=BedBananas=], leading Tomato to declare the round a wash and drag Bed's injured body up with him into the fire to burn to death. Despite what Criken said, this all happened within ''ten'' minutes[[/labelnote]].
** In [[https://youtu.be/-WC1sbU2EhA "Terminator Mode: Sub Rosa"]], in their second match, Criken and the others think they've figured out who the [[WritingAroundTrademarks Eliminator]] is, and promptly shoot them dead. [[spoiler:It turns out the player that they killed, [=BrettUltimus=], was actually the Savior of humanity, the very person they were supposed to be protecting.]]
* EvilBrit: Waddy, with his noticeable accent and propensity to mess around with the others before killing them.
* TheFaceless: Until [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cowITozE4cE this]] video.
* FunWithSubtitles: His SignatureStyle, and possibly one of the [[TropeCodifier pioneers]] of using subtitles to humorous effect in gameplay videos.
* GoodAngelBadAngel:
** During [[VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII "The Adventures of Edwad Emberpants,"]] [=VaatiVidya=] tries to explain the setting's rich mythology to Edwad and the importance of his mission to rekindle the flame, while [=BedBananas=] whispers warnings not to trust Vaati and urges Edwad to "end the lore."
** Ironically flipped around in ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'', when Vaati has a more flippant attitude towards things like NPC deaths and [=BedBananas=] argues kindness, something the boys lampshade.
* LargeHam:
** Da Xing has a ridiculously deep voice and is usually screaming either profanities or screaming utter gibberish.
** Boon is a ScreamingWarrior more often than not.[[note]]May be explained by the fact he served some time in the army, damaging his hearing to a lesser extent[[/note]]
** Buck's incredibly odd and distinctive voice combined with his [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} eccentric behavior]] leads to this in spades.
* NiceGuy: Shayne Hawkins, a soft voiced player who's often bewildered by the games he's in and regularly pleads "don't kill me!" while running and hiding in multiplayer death matches.
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: All the members lean into this on occasion, but Buck is the most frequent offender due to how quickly he can shift between being unnervingly calm to screaming like a man possessed. BedBananas also likes playing the part, though he's usually calmer about it.
* OnlySaneMan:
** Criken in most videos, if not then its Skippy, who is still rather insane.
** Vaati begins the ''Dark Souls III'' as the StraightMan to Criken and Bed's antics, [[NotSoAboveItAll but by the end of the series is just as willing to goof around with the "Chameleon" spell as the others.]]
* ThePoorlyChosenOne:
** Criken's ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' character, Edwad [sic] Emberpants, spends most of the series as TheLoad his fellow champions [=BedBanana=] and [=VaatiVidya=] have to {{escort|mission}} to his destiny. Though Edwad does display flashes of competence, he never fully grasps his mission, [[spoiler:and at Bed's urging ends up seizing ultimate power for himself to rule over a world of darkness.]]
** [=BedBanana=] himself became this in ''[[https://youtu.be/TqlvHB6AepQ Warcraft 3: Literally the Lord of the Rings Trilogy]]'' when he was given the role of Frodo. [[spoiler: Near the end he decides to start repeatedly using the ring because he hadn't gotten many chances to use it throughout the campaign, only for his continuous spamming of it during the final battle with Gollum to summon ''[[EpicFail two instances of the Witch-King to them]]'' causing a total campaign wipe at the very end.]]
--->'''[=BedBanana=]:''' [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Everyone's going to be so mad D:]]
* ReligiousBruiser: We learn in the "90's Kids" LP of ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' that Da Xing is very religious, and doesn't appreciate people dissing God.
* TheReveal: For a long period Criken's face had been unknown to his viewers, until he made a live appearance at PAX East 2013.
* TheRoleplayer: Criken and his buddies, who can cause difficulty when a game calls for less improv and more gaming skills.
* SoundOnlyDeath: Expect to hear Criken and his friends to make wacky and outrageous noises when they die. It's even more hilarious when Criken actually has to subtitle the noises they make, and at one point he acknowledged that hes become somewhat of an expert at transcribing death sounds.
* SpecialGuest: Crackbone of the defunct Creator/JanusSyndicate at one point was in Criken's games. Criken stated that this was actually unintentional.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Buck and [=BedBananas=] tend to be on similar wavelengths and occasionally team up for weird roleplays, especially when playing ''SCP: Secret Laboratory''.
* ThrowTheDogABone: After suffering through he and Tomato's ''Dark Souls'' Randomizer run, Criken ''finally'' got the Lordvessel from, hilariously enough, its normal drop point, preventing a softlock.
* TooDumbToLive: Occurs many times in Criken's videos; see EpicFail.
* {{Troll}}: Criken and his friends like to mess with each other a lot. [[ButtMonkey Usually Skippy]].
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: If any game allows such, you can count on Criken to do it. [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment Consequences be damned.]]
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Criken is, in his own words, gravely afraid of water creatures. Naturally he must face several such creatures while playing ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunter3Tri Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate]]'' as well as ''VideoGame/{{Subnautica}}''.
* YankTheDogsChain:
** In ''[[https://youtu.be/2lJYFLvjkuo Board Game Night: YES MY GATEKEEPER]]'', Criken and his friends play so ineptly they reach the point in the game where there's less than five minutes left until the Gatekeeper wins. The Gatekeeper appears and announces a rolling contest where the winner takes all remaining keys, [[spoiler: but everyone's panicking too much and none of them hear him over their arguments causing them to run down the clock as they suffer extreme SanitySlippage in their panic.]]
** He and Tomato's Westerado playthrough hit this when in his fervor to kill the Murderer after discovering him, Criken barrels headfirst into his lair with no regard for preparation, leading to he and Tomato being underequipped to handle things and causing their entire playthrough to fail requiring them to start all over again.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: Discussed during a [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros SSB4]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU7xOCx--eU video]] on WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}}. Criken was apparently only 15 when he started making videos, and was well aware of how people would react hearing someone so young play the kind of games he liked. As a result, he stuck to using subtitles until he became older.
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