[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_skullkickers_6297.jpg]]

''[[http://skullkickers.keenspot.com/ Skullkickers]]'' is action/adventure comedy, swords-and-sorcery style. [[NoNameGiven No one knows who]] these two [[HiredGuns mercenaries]] are [[MysteriousPast or where they came from]]. The only thing that's clear is they're two of [[BoisterousBruiser the most ornery, trouble-making warriors]] who've ever lived.

It was originally published in print as an Image comic, but creators Creator/JimZub and Edwin Huang also put the entire run online, a few pages at a time -- finally reaching the end of the story in March of 2016. That version can be found [[http://comic.skullkickers.com/ here.]]

In 2020, a Website/{{Kickstarter}} campaign was held for ''[[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/skullkickers/skullkickers-caster-bastards-and-the-great-grotesque Skullkickers: Caster Bastards and the Great Grotesque]]'', a new comic and adventure for ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''.
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!!Tropes found in ''Skullkickers'':

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: [[http://skullkickers.keenspot.com/d/20120928.html Kill him! Mash him! Smash him! Blood him! Break him! Bust him! Bash him! Squeeze him! Crash him! Harass him!]]
%% * BashBrothers
* BlackComedy: What did you expect from a comic called "Skullkickers"?
* BlackMagic: Presumably the reason somebody in Mudwich is collecting corpses.
* BloodKnight
-->'''Shorty:''' Killin' can make some folks jittery, it's true. But after enough of 'em, tha death don't shake yu up...''it's a rush!''
* CrapsackWorld: Oh, in so many ways, to name a few: This world's fairies want to kill you (and they can, in an extremely gruesome fashion) if you live in a city; demons, zombies and necromancers are a constant issue; civilization is run by woefully incompetent nobility; there are eldritch abominations running wild, and, to top it all off, the two greatest [[NominalHero heroes]] in the land are a pair of [[HeroicComedicSociopath sociopathic]], [[PunchClockHero money driven]], [[DestructiveSavior extremely violent]] [[AntiHero assholes]].
* ColossusClimb: Shorty kills the worm-thing by climbing its sides, chopping his way ''into'' its head and [[http://skullkickers.keenspot.com/d/20120114.html rooting around in there until it dies]].
* CuteAndPsycho: The fairies. Most of their dialogue wouldn't be out of place in a children's fairy tale, except when they get angry or upset. And there's the fact they've murdered people in cold blood, and planned on killing pretty much ''everyone'' to restore nature.
* DueToTheDead: Fjalo is determined to get the Chancellor's body back for proper burial. [[HiredGuns He doesn't care how]].
** [[AmbiguouslyGay Though he may have other reasons...]]
** Five Funerals and a Bucket of Blood features, to everyone's surprise, five instances of this.
* EldritchAbomination: The giant worm-thing from the first arc. Oh, and after they kill it, all the people it's eaten come pouring out as [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombies]].
-->'''Baldy''': Woah. Now ''that's'' a leech.
%%** Later, Thool.
* EvilVersusEvil: [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Demon Lord Taxthalmus]] and [[EldritchAbomination Elder Horror Thool]], who both have [[BigBadEnsemble their own agendas and MOs]] come to blows in the final volume while trying to claim the same nexus of power. [[spoiler:For what it's worth, [[EvilerThanThou Taxthalmus completely whoops Thool in a fair fight.]]]]
* ExactWords: The Blood Curse of the Amazombies. They get paid to kill when a bunch of [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot amazon zombies]] are attacking a town, [[spoiler:realize these zombies can't be killed so they have to break the curse, toss their employer to the zombie leader who then breaks the curse by apologizing to her and turns all the zombies back into living amazons...who Baldy and Shorty then murder because "You paid." "We kill."]].
* EyesAlwaysShut: ''Every'' humanoid character, as part of the art style. When they occasionally open, they're depicted as [[BlackBeadEyes small black dots]].
%% * TheFairFolk: The fairies have some unsettling plans to restore nature.
* FantasyGunControl: Baldy's revolver is pretty much the only practical firearm in the world [[spoiler: because it's actually from Earth.]]
** Aside from him (and some secret group he's insinuated to be a member of) the rest of the world doesn't even know what gunpowder is. It's hilarious for him to keep pointing guns at people who don't get that he's threatening them.
* FastballSpecial: Baldy throws Shorty ''up a tower'' at one point.
* FunetikAksent: Shorty's Scottish accent causes this occasionally.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: the townspeople's screaming as the giant attacks includes gems such as "Throw prisoners and the homeless at it!", "My leg is on fire again!" and "Has anyone seen my pants?".
* GentleGiant: He's still a ruthless BloodKnight, but Baldy is the softer-spoken, more intelligent, and far more emotionally stable of the two.
* GlamourFailure: Usually, Baldy's gun, being a weapon [[spoiler: given to him by an EldritchAbomination]], is unremarked on by the people of this world. But, when Baldy points his gun in someone's face long enough, people start to question just what the hell it is he's pointing in their face. [[http://comic.skullkickers.com/comic/2012-06-04#.VuoZiJwrK70 Observe]]
* HeroicComedicSociopath: Both protagonists. They don't actually care why the problem exists, as long as they get their coppers.
** The "Tavern Tales" guest comics tend to derail them into straight up [[SociopathicHero sociopathic heroes,]] doing things like killing zombies even ''after'' they've been turned back into humans, since that's what they were hired to do.
* HookHand: Captain Cherry
* IdiotHero: Both of the protagonists, although Shorty more so than Baldy.
-->'''Readers:''' Why does the human [fill in the blank]?
-->'''Writers:''' Because he's not very smart.
-->'''Readers:''' Why does the dwarf [fill in the blank]?
-->'''Writers:''' Because he's stupid.
* ImAHumanitarian: They aren't really, but pretending to be is an excellent [[http://comic.skullkickers.com/comic/2012-03-09#.VuoZm5wrK70 interrogation tactic]].
* InnBetweenTheWorlds: The Gizzard.
* InstrumentOfMurder: In one side story there's a [[http://comic.skullkickers.com/index.php?id=398 whole band]] of those. Axe blades in a lute, hidden sword in a flute, harp doubles as a bow, and hurdy gurdy is a flamethrower.
* MushroomSamba: Shorty got [[http://skullkickers.keenspot.com/d/20120403.html a truly epic one]] from the poisoned stew.
* TheNapoleon: Shorty has such a HairTriggerTemper that Baldy often has to restrain him.
* NatureHero: Baldy is supposedly one, it's part of some vague prophecy he has no idea about. The fairies are this trope gone wrong.
* TheNeedForMead: The Skullkickers spend a lot of time in taverns. In "Eighty Eyes on an Evil Island", they visit The Gizzard, which is every FantasyTavern ever. Literally.
* NoNameGiven: Their names will appear when you're least expecting it. Until then, feel free to call them Baldy and [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Shorty.]] According the author, this is because in his experience, two close friends don't often call each other by name when it's just the two of them.
** We eventually learn their names. Baldy is [[spoiler:Rex Maraud]] and Shorty is [[spoiler:Rolf Copperhead]].
* TheNicknamer: Shorty tends to make up his own vaguely respectful titles for nobility he interacts with, such as [[http://skullkickers.keenspot.com/d/20120216.html "your richness" or "your formalness"]].
* {{Omake}}: There's almost always some sort of bonus at the end of the book, from D&D stats to paper cutouts to a tasty sounding stew recipe.
* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Shorty. Beard? Check. Axe user? Check. Scottish accent? Check. Loves booze? Double check. Name involving vaguely Norse origins and/or metal [[spoiler:Rolf Copperhead]]? Check.
** [[http://comic.skullkickers.com/comic/april-20-2015 They don't force the lady dwarves to shave their beautiful beards.]]
* OurMonstersAreDifferent: The creators have stated that if a monster isn't copyrighted, the Skullkickers world probably has some.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: "Yeesh! Whoever heard of a ''[[FatBastard fat]]'' werewolf?!" It also transforms at will, can still talk as a werewolf and bursts into green flames when it dies.
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: The corpse collectors have a huge zombie with TooManyMouths, known as Chop-Chop.
* PirateGirl: The mercenaries stow away on a pirate ship with an all-female crew in #13 of the comic book.
* RedOniBlueOni: Shorty and Baldy respectively.
* RevolversAreJustBetter: Baldy thinks so.
* SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud: Shorty takes the comic's ubiquitous [[UnsoundEffect Unsound Effects]] to the next level in [[http://comic.skullkickers.com/index.php?id=522 this]] strip: he ''says'' "Stagger, stagger... crawl, crawl..." as he staggers along a beach -- then stops mid-word when he spots something unexpected. (This may be a ShoutOut to ''Film/{{Yellowbeard}}''.)
* SignatureSoundEffect: KRAKOW! for Baldy's gun.
* ShoutOut: Sort of, the Q&A mentions that if you think a character comes from a book, movie, game etc., the answer is "Yeah, we like that game too".
** The third ''Tavern Tales'' comic has a scene where they fight zombified versions of the kids from the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' cartoon.
* StripBuffer: The comic started out in print, and still has plenty of strips waiting to be uploaded.
* {{Squick}}: Shorty manages to nauseate an entire royal court with his song about the ideal Dwarven woman. {{invoked}}
* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: Shorty is facing a half-dozen guards with swords, and proceeds to lecture and mock them on how his axe is a better weapon. [[spoiler:Then Baldy shows up behind them and kills them all with his handgun. After he rejoins Shorty, more guards show up with bows. The pair look at each other, and Baldy says what the soldiers ''really'' need [[HereWeGoAgain is a handgun]]...]]
* TitleDrop: Shorty kicks in a giant's skull. It must be seen to be believed.
* TrustPassword: When Shorty and Baldy make a stop in a tavern while hunting a doppelganger, Shorty suggests establishing a trust password, so that they will know if the doppelganger is impersonating the other. Baldy dismisses all Shorty's suggestions... [[spoiler:and kills the false "Shorty" on the spot. As it happens, they'd already established such a password.]]
* UnsoundEffect: All over the place. In fact, it's a minority of pages that ''don't'' have one somewhere.
** [[http://comic.skullkickers.com/comic/2012-12-27#.VuoZcpwrK70 This]] page is a particularly funny example.
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: [[DefiedTrope Defied]].
-->'''Writers:''' T'would suck, verily. Thine Englishe prof doth not read thee Skullekickerse.