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A series of platform Flash RunAndGun games created by Diseased Productions without a lot of the usual {{platformer}} tropes. You play as Project #154 fighting against the corporation who created him to control and use as a weapon. The [[VillainProtagonist "hero"]] uses a variety of high-powered guns and (in ''Thing-Thing 4'') a lead pipe.

The line of games can be found [[http://www.crazymonkeygames.com/Thing-Thing-Series.php here]], though with Flash no longer being widely supported the games have also found a home on [[https://archive.org/details/Thing-Thing-Collection archive.org]], albeit converted to executables.

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!!These tropes will not be slaves to some demented corporation:

* AbnormalLimbRotationRange: You can backfilp and sommersault in mid-air all you like but your gun will ''always'' be pointed where the cursor is. It kind of helps that thing-things have FloatingLimbs.
* AcePilot: The MysteriousWatcher leading Project 154 through ''Thing Thing 3'' is revealed to be one at the game's climax -- [[spoiler: or rather, he was ''designed'' to be one, as he's actually a loyal Systems Corp. experiment intended to be the ultimate pilot.]]
* AmbiguousRobots: Poseidon and Zeus look very much like robots due to their heavy armour and overtly robotic appearance. However, the games refer to them as "Alpha-Class Bio-Androids" in dialogue, and Poseidon appears to bleed when shot during the [[HowWeGotHere flashback opening]] of ''Thing-Thing 4''.
* AmmunitionConservation: In ''Thing Thing Arena 3'', the first two rewards for {{One Hit Polykill}}s are called "Ammo Efficiency" and "Ammo Conservationist", since killing multiple enemies with one shot means you use less ammo.
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: [[spoiler:Project 153 has shades of being this; they repeatedly boast about how they're superior to 154, even after being repeatedly defeated in both straight fights and ambushes. This eventually gets 153 killed during ''Thing-Thing 4'' - they order a Systems Corp. strike team to LeaveHimToMe despite having 154 dead to rights, with the subsequent car/helicopter chase ending with 153 being shot out of the sky.]]
* ArtificialStupidity: Particularly jarring in ''Thing-Thing Arena 3'', when mooks will rather try to shoot you through the wall/floor than walk around it to get a clear shot.
** Also, every time you see a mook with proxy mine launcher, expect him to blow up himself and/or his companions.
** Same with gas grenade launcher. Often its wielder first creates a large cloud of HollywoodAcid and then [[TooDumbToLive happily walks into it]].
* AwesomeButImpractical: The arrow gun in ''Thing-Thing Arena 3''. Sure, it shoots arrows. But they're about as weak as a standard pistol bullet, and you can't dual wield them.
* BadBoss: System Corps' [[CorruptCorporateExecutive CEO]] doesn't feel any remorse from treating his employees as a disposable garbage. Project 154 even remarks on this in ''4'''s opening, noting that Systems Corp. will keep on pursuing him no matter how many people die.
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:The fourth game ends this way, with Project 154 trapped in a gas-filled room (ensuring their health will not regenerate) and pitted against an endless onslaught of enemies until their eventual death. Naturally, the CEO of Systems Corp. gets away with his crimes scot-free, and 154 never even meets him face-to-face.]]
* {{BFG}}: As a result of the characters having weird proportions, the weapons they use are often larger than they are.
** If [[http://diseasedproductions.net/moronmarathon.html this game]] from the same producer is any indication, Thing-Things are about three feet tall, and their hands are the same size as ours.
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: The behaviour modification techniques (including {{brainwashing}} and behavioural suppressants) used by Systems Corp. enabled 154's transformation into a sociopathic mass murderer.
* BioweaponBeast: [[spoiler:Vahl Dreig, the Hades Prototype, is a massive reptilian creature genetically and cybernetically modified for combat. Unlike the other Alpha-class bio-weapons, he shows no sign of higher intelligence or even an ability to properly use his weapons.]]
* BlackAndGrayMorality: The protagonist is a ruthless, somewhat sociopathic PhlebotinumRebel who has no qualms with his purpose as a SuperSoldier and fights against Systems Corp. for his own selfish reasons. The main antagonists are an extremely amoral MegaCorp that specialise in creating {{Human Weapon}}s to be sold to the highest bidder, throw away their employees' lives by the hundred to capture an [[EscapedFromTheLab escaped test subject]] living in seclusion to avoid them, and condition their Projects to embrace their [[HumanWeapon purpose]] through a mix of {{Brainwashing}}, behavioural suppressants, and psychological abuse.
* BoringButPractical: Many of the best weapons in the games, mainly the pistols, shotguns and assault rifles, are not flashy or Systems Corp prototypes. Instead, they fire bullets, but they are solid, dependable and do reliable damage.
* BoomHeadshot: From ''Thing-Thing 2'' onward, killing an enemy exclusively with headshots causes their head to explode. (In ''Thing-Thing 2'' itself, body parts explode when destroyed, so their head will eventually pop regardless.)
* BraggingRightsReward: The N.U.K.E. from ''Thing-Thing 4''. [[SmartBomb One shot, and the entire screen is pretty much cleared of mooks]]. In order to even obtain it, however, you must get OneHundredPercentCompletion, meaning that you need every achievement in the game. By then, you've already seen most of what the game has to offer.
* TheBrute: The three main Alpha-class Bio-weapons of the series function as this to Systems Corp., acting as enforcers for the corporation and being charged with hunting down renegade experiments like 154.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Poseidon and Zeus both contrast [[spoiler:Project 153.]] While the former two are mostly {{Flat Character}}s with no personality to speak of, the latter is much more talkative and even egotistical, bearing a personal grudge against Project 154 for his choice to abandon Systems Corp. and a view that he should have embraced his purpose.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Systems Corp., as run by the unnamed CEO, is an extremely amoral company specializing in the manufacturing of super soldiers and other bio-weapons. To make things worse, they seem to be in charge of the setting.
* DefeatEqualsExplosion: Killing Zeus in ''Thing-Thing 2'' triggers a cutscene of him slumping over, then exploding piece-by-piece.
%% ZCE {{Determinator}}: ''Everyone''.
* DisposableIntern: In 2 the final boss, Zeus, doesn't care a single bit whether there are any other Thing-Things in his line of fire. In fact he blasts his gun completely at random with no regard for anybody.
** In a greater scope System Corps [[WeHaveReserves treats their employees like disposable garbage]].
* CriticalExistenceFailure: When the enemies in ''Thing-Thing 2'' die, their ''entire body'' turns into PinkMist. Even if they were ''punched'' to death. In addition, the enemies survive until either their head or their three midsection parts are destroyed, leading to situations where you can be chased by a dude consisting of a head, an arm and a pair of feet.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Project 154's HealingFactor is removed by a special gas, and your character puts up a futile LastStand against endless waves of elite Systems Corp. mercenaries. The CEO and Systems Corp. get away scot-free with their evil practices, with the ''Thing-Thing Arena'' series and ''Thing-Thing Classic/Pro'' heavily implying that Project 154 is resurrected as an obedient slave to the company for use in tests.]]
* EscapedFromTheLab: Project 154 was created by Systems Corp. as a SuperSoldier to be sold to the highest bidder, but he broke out of the lab and decided to make his own path.
%%* EliteMooks %% Zero context example
* EvilutionaryBiologist: Systems Corp. is a company which creates super soldiers and other bio-weapons, conditioning their Projects into being cold blooded killers.
* EvilVsEvil: Project 154 is a borderline sociopathic mass murderer who goes up against the evil, [[Franchise/ResidentEvil Umbrella-esque]] Systems Corp. Neither side could be considered heroic by any stretch.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler:The ending of ''4''. Not only is 154's HealingFactor removed, there's also an endless stream of {{mook}}s coming in to destroy him. The game's ending only occurs after they finally succeed in killing him.]]
* FalseFriend: [[spoiler:The MysteriousWatcher of ''3'' is actually a Systems Corp. loyalist [[LuredIntoATrap luring 154 to him so he can kill 154]] and prove himself the stronger bio-weapon.]]
* FlatCharacter: Poseidon, Zeus, Hades, and [[spoiler:Vahl Dreig]] are never really given much in the way of personalities, despite their nature as [[TheHeavy the Corp's main enforcers]] and {{Final Boss}}es for the games. {{Justified|Trope}} as they're all living weapons more than actual people, with the last of them being essentially non-sentient.
* FlawedPrototype: [[spoiler:Vahl Dreig]] is implied to be one to Hades, as 153 had to dig him out of a waste disposal chamber and reactivate him. ''4'' indicates his flaw was a highly-explosive power core that the company stopped using due to their instability.
* FloatingLimbs: Having these enables thing-things to [[AbnormalLimbRotationRange keep aiming at their target while performing stylish acrobatic stunts in midair]].
* {{Foil}}: [[spoiler:Project 153]] to 154. [[spoiler:They're a HumanWeapon just like Project 154, but they stayed loyal to Systems Corp. and are hell-bent on killing 154, who they consider a traitor for refusing to serve Systems Corp.]] By contrast, 154 hates Systems Corp.'s guts and is hell-bent on getting revenge against his creators, regardless of how many people he has to gun down along the way.
* FreudianExcuse: Considering the abuse that 154 suffered in the laboratory, it is hard to blame him for having such little regard for other lives.
* GameBreakingBug: Good '''''lord''''', the falling through the floor and teleportation glitch in the fourth one. It happens without warning and makes you have to reload the page.
* GoneHorriblyRight: Systems Corp. created Project 154 as a cold blooded killer. Unfortunately, he is too good at killing, and moreover is thirsty for vengeance regarding his mistreatment.
* GottaCatchEmAll: You really don't ''have'' to, but in ''Thing-Thing 4'', collecting every new gun you find makes it available in the armory for [[NewGamePlus future playthroughs]].
* HandCannon: ALL the guns are huge, but the Magnum is this compared to the rest of the pistols.
* HappinessInSlavery: [[spoiler:Project 153]] willingly serves Systems Corp. as a HumanWeapon; a major part of the reason he wants to kill 154 stems from this, as he considers the latter a traitor for wanting freedom.
* HealingFactor: Only in the second and fourth games; the first and third operates on HealThyself instead.
* TheHeavy:
** For the first two games, the {{Final Boss}}es Poseidon and Zeus fit this role, as the ones that 154 has to defeat to stop Systems Corp.'s latest effort to catch him.
** [[spoiler: Project 153]] takes this role from ''3'' onwards, as he becomes the effective field commander of Systems Corp.'s mercenaries and takes charge of the hunt for 154; this lasts up until his death in ''4'' when he [[spoiler: attacks 154 in a helicopter and is shot down]].
* HowWeGotHere: ''Thing-Thing 4'' opens with Project 154 recapping the events of the past three games, framed as him thinking to himself while [[spoiler:trapped in the Hades Prototype's containment chamber.]]
* HumanoidAbomination: Hades starts out looking like a regular (if sleep-deprived and ragged) Thing-Thing. [[spoiler:Damaging him enough causes him to turn into a monstrous spider-like {{cyborg}} with a trio of long, bladed mechanical legs erupting out of his torso.]]
* HumanWeapon: While technically not humans, it still applies.
** Project 154 himself is revealed in ''3'' to be [[SuperSoldier the ultimate infantryman]], with significant enhancements to his physical capabilities and a HealingFactor that lets him shrug off gunfire. [[spoiler:By contrast, Project 153 is the ultimate pilot, designed with an enhanced spatial sense and situational awareness.]]
** The {{Final Boss}}es of each game ([[spoiler:[[BioweaponBeast Vahl Dreig]]]] excepted) are all either heavily-augmented humans or "Bio-Androids," designed to serve as enforcers and top-shelf soldiers for Systems Corp. and its clients.
* InformedAbility: Poseidon is supposed to be a powerful HumanWeapon on the same tier as Zeus and Hades. ''Thing-Thing 4'''s HowWeGotHere intro shows 154 two-shot him without a scratch, using nothing but a stolen handgun and his natural skills. [[LampshadeHanging 154 even calls him "nothing but a bump in the road" after killing him]].
* InsurmountableWaistHighFence: In ''2'' and ''4'' especially. At certain points, a large number of [[{{Mook}} enemies]] must be killed in order to open doors. ''Thing-Thing 2'' has a kills tracker by the door, ''4'' does not.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Project 154 is not so much morally against Systems Corp's unethical practices as he is upset at the fact that he himself had to go through it.
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:The CEO is able to continue profiting off of the unethical experiments of his company.]]
* KarmicDeath:
** After two games of chasing down Project 154 while boasting about their supposed superiority and greater skill as a pilot, [[spoiler:Project 153 dies while piloting a helicopter against a car-using 154, with the latter managing to balance driving and shooting simultaneously to a much greater degree than 153.]]
** [[spoiler:After mowing down hundreds of Systems Corp. mercenaries, Project 154 dies by being trapped in a room and gunned down by the company's security forces.]]
* LeaveHimToMe: When 154 is attacked by a Systems Corp. fireteam in ''4'', [[spoiler: Project 153]] orders the team to cease fire and let them handle 154. [[spoiler:This gets him killed when 154 blows his attack helicopter out of the sky.]]
* LudicrousGibs: In 4 if you make a kill with sufficiently powerful gun the result will be a bunch of meat chunks and a fountain of blood.
* MadeOfIron: Project 154 can eat an entire clip from a rifle and keep fighting, despite most other Thing-Things going down to the same. Explained in ''Thing-Thing 3'' where [[MysteriousWatcher the stranger who contacts you]] reveals that you're the [[SuperSoldier perfect infantryman]], designed with a HealingFactor that lets you rapidly regenerate from gunshot wounds.
* MookMaker: Pretty much every area in ''Thing-Thing 4'' has one. It's never really described WHAT they are, but they nevertheless send wave after wave of Mooks at you.
* MoralMyopia: Project 154 kills numerous employees without remorse, and yet laments his original purpose as a bio-weapon. That said, they are trying to kill him, so his viewpoint is understandable.
* MoreDakka: The Jackhammer is an automatic shotgun which fires 5 pellets for every press of the trigger, and has the second highest fire rate of all the guns of ''Thing-Thing Arena 3'', only second to [[GunsAkimbo duel wielding]] the Glock 18c.
** Unfortunately, damage per shot is rather dismal compared to the other shotguns in [=TTA3=]. It won't stop you from hosing down everyone you meet however. The achievement for 100 kills with the Jackhammer is appropriately called ''"Buckshot Firestorm"''.
* MysteriousWatcher: ''Thing-Thing 3'''s core plot revolves around 154 being contacted by one, who wants to meet with him for an unspecified job. [[spoiler:When 154 actually meets them, they're revealed to be another Systems Corp. experiment who stayed loyal to the corporation.]]
* NeverMyFault: Project 154 refuses to take responsibility for all the employees he has killed in cold blood. Since Systems Corp. is an extremely unethical company that abused him, it's hard to blame him.
* OffscreenTeleportation: Particularly jarring in ''Thing-Thing Arena 3''. Enemies have to keep coming from somewhere to attack you, otherwise the game doesn't work. But it gets ridiculous sometimes, when enemies spawn behind you when you move the camera ahead a bit.
* OneHitPolykill: In 4 the ''Hades Rifle'' and to lesser mooks the [[FrickinLaserBeams Laser Cannon]]. Then [[spoiler:the aptly named N.U.K.E.]] can [[{{Overkill}} wipe the entire room regardless of enemies positions if you manage to hit anybody]].
* OneManArmy: Thanks to his durability and combat prowess Project 154 is capable of singlehandedly dispatching virtually infinite number of trained military personnel.
* PersonOfHolding: An unusual case. [[spoiler:Hades' mechanical legs are seemingly stored inside his torso, as they rather gorily erupt out through it when he's damaged enough. However, they're about four or five times his height and apparent bodily volume even when folded up, raising the question of how they fit in there.]]
* PeopleJars: Systems Corp.'s main genetics lab in ''Thing-Thing 4'' has these, with a series of glass incubation tanks numbered from 110 to 154 located throughout the building. Most of them are filled with what look like half-made Thing-Things, though Project 154's [[spoiler:and 153's]] chamber is notably cordoned off with hazard tape.
* PhlebotinumRebel: Project 154 was created as a super-soldier, but went berserk, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake.
* PunchPackingPistol: The starting pistol, the M1911, is pretty damn powerful on its own.
* RatedMForManly: The game is especially designed to appeal to men who like playing action games, between the selection of weapons and bloodshed.
%%* SelfImposedChallenge %% this belongs to YMMV tab
* ShortRangeShotgun: Played straight in ''Thing-Thing 4''. Unless the enemy is very close to you, most of the shot will miss.
* ShoutOut: The Skull Drill in ''Thing-Thing 4'' is basically the Cerebral Bore from ''VideoGame/{{Turok}} 2'', being a weapon that targets the enemy's head and fires a lethal homing drill into their brain which then [[YourHeadASplode explodes their head]].
* SmolderingShoes: In ''Thing-Thing Arena 3'' gibbing enemies tends to leave only shoes behind.
* TheSociopath: 154 has no moral qualms about butchering Systems Corp. mercenaries, expressing reluctance to do so only because it puts him at risk of discovery. He doesn't so much morally object to the purpose of his creation, as he does object for selfish reasons. Though after all of the abuse he had been put through, it's kind of hard to blame him.
* {{Spinoff}}: A [[BreakoutMookCharacter Stinky Bean]] got its own game with art that looks like it's straight out of ''ComicBook/JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac''.
* StrippedToTheBone: Effect of the gas grenade launcher in ''Thing-Thing Arena 3''. Surprisingly, the dead mook's weapon is unscathed.
* ThemeNaming: The three main bio-weapons facing 154 are all named for Greek gods - Poseidon, Zeus, and Hades. Fittingly, they are considered extremely powerful bio-weapons, with 154 beating them mainly due to him [[GoneHorriblyRight vastly exceeding Systems Corp.'s expectations.]]
* ThereCanOnlyBeOne: [[spoiler:Project 153]] strongly believes this, and repeatedly tries to kill 154 over it.
* ThrowAwayGuns: In 4 and Arena 3 you can only carry two guns, so dropping is necessary if you want to try more or completely run out of ammo for the ones you currently possess.
%%ZCE TooAwesomeToUse: Some weapons fall under this trope due to ammunition scarcity.
* TheUnfettered: Project 154 cares only about getting revenge on his creators, and is willing to do anything to get it.
--> '''Project 154''': "I'll have my revenge on whoever created me. Nothing is going to stop me."
* UnusableEnemyEquipment: ''Thing-Thing 3'' has your enemies using a wide assortment of guns, but you only get guns at the end of levels.
* VillainProtagonist: Project 154 himself shows a callous disregard for the lives of others, and has no moral qualms about going into an area where he knows he will have to kill others. The opening of ''Thing-Thing 4'' makes it particularly clear that he cares only about {{revenge}} on his creators, regardless of how many people have to die in the process.
* YouALLLookFamiliar: Averted in ''1'', ''2'', and ''3'', as the mooks have randomly generated appearances. In ''4'', they have templates.
* YouAreNumberSix: Systems Corp.'s bio-weapons are seemingly named in this fashion, with each of them simply being referred to by a number and the prefix "project."
* ZombiePukeAttack: The zombie mode of Thing-Thing Arena Classic features special green-tinted zombies which hurl a stream of acidic bile at you.
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