"There must be some trickery... in order to get the treat!"
TRICK
is an Alternate Reality Game where the users of the website Fantendo ask questions to a candy creature named Renninger, who is throwing a Halloween party that went terribly wrong. As the story progresses, they meet with other guests at this party, such as the gummy bear Jakob, the chocolate heart Catherine, the scarecrow Murphey and the primal creature Banter, and the mysteries of the party are exposed as they find out the true intentions of the host...
The series is divided into four main acts and one epilogue called TREAT. Each of these acts except for the first and second ones (which share a blog) are split into separate pages in order to promote interest. The creator of the series, YoshiEgg, is making a new series called Holly which takes place in the same universe as TRICK, but instead of a halloween-themed story, it is christmas-themed with a new character called "Ash". A second attempt at a sequel, titled CHUTLO: MIDNIGHT STORM, has started as of January 5th, 2014.
Both TRICK and HOLLY are a part of YE's Holiday Teather. Later, a user named SuperMarioBro64 created SNOWBOUND, inspired by TRICK and HOLLY.
The creator of the series, YoshiEgg, officially canceled HOLLY because he was having a lot of trouble with his real life and other stuff. He later posted a blog about the ideas he had for HOLLY.
Links to TRICK and the following stories:
TRICK
HOLLY [cancelled]CHUTLO: MIDNIGHT STORM
TRICK provides examples of:
- A Day in the Limelight: GOBBLE, a story centering around Chutlo, which was a mere cameo.
- And he's now starring in the aptly titled CHUTLO: MIDNIGHT STORM
- Arc Words: "DON'T LOOK NOW."
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Ascended Fanon: Two characters, Murphey and Elias were created by other users. Murphey was created by Spark01 and Elias was created by PabloDePablo. A third character named Chutlo was planned to appear, he was going to be a peppermint candy person and the one who would defeat Jackoren. He received a backstory by the author and made a cameo appearence in Act 3. - Berserk Button: Don't hurt Catherine in front of Jakob. Just don't. And if you value your safety, don't tell Ren his logic or his plans are flawed, or say emotions aren't flaws.
- Badass Normal: Daniel in Act 4. He manages to defeat Jackoren only using a magical bag that destroys him..
- Batman Gambit: Ren's plan.
- Bag of Holding: Daniel's magical bag. It's actually a gift from a quasi-corporeal being from beyond.
- Creator Cameo: Tucker, the author, appears at the end of the epilogue "TREAT", thanking everyone for reading and helping him on this project. He even has his own talksprite.
- Demoted to Extra: Chutlo. He was originally going to be the hero and would defeat Jackoren, but he later he was replaced by Daniel Duck and made a cameo appearance in Act 3. Now Subverted, though, now that the stars in the sequel.
- Darker and Edgier: As the story progresses, it becomes more darker and sinister, with characters such as Jackobel.
- Entry Point: Players surfing through Fantendo are bound to stumble upon a talking carved pumpkin called Renninger who can be asked questions about their ill-fated Halloween party.
- God-Created Canon Foreigner: Daniel Duck. He originally appeared in one of the other YE's works, named Volatown, when he appeared in TRICK, his character was completely reworked.
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I Knew It!: Some users predicted that Ren was an evil guy all along, the other users said that it was only stupid theories. Then Ren was revealed to be the Big Bad. Whoops. Helped by the fact that not long after Murphey showed up, he said not everything was as it seemed, leading to an influx of users trying to rush the story to a climax and figure out what Murphey meant. - Not Quite Dead: Jackobel was still alive, even after exploding in front of Jakob's eyes.
- One-Winged Angel: Jackoren.
- Oh, Crap!:
- The flashback in Act 3, wherein Jackobel is summoned and murders almost the entire party.
- Twice more, both by Ren in Act 4- first, when his witch hat teleports onto his head and he begins revealing his true self, and again afterwards, when he summons Jackobel and fuses with him.
- Running Gag: Asking characters to dance.
- Toilet Humor: One of the questions sent to Ren at Act 1 was: "how do you poop".
- Talk Like a Pirate: Elias.
- The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: During Ren's rant in Act 4, he points at the viewer, saying: "And don't even get me started on you; you're the worst of them all. You know who you are! You're sad all the time! Grow up and get something resembling a life, you bloody pathetic slime!".
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Elias can be considered this. Other than speaking like a pirate and looking like one, he doesn't really do pirate things.
- Took a Level in Badass:
- Murphey in Act 4.
- One could also argue that Jakob was badass in facing his social anxiety and dancing with Catherine. The same could be said for Catherine for doing the same thing.
- True Final Boss: Jackoren.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Jackoren was sealed inside Daniel's bag.
- Self-Deprecation: The author says Ren's rant after putting on the witch hat, while vague enough that it could be referring to the reader, was mainly directed towards himself.
- Shout-Out:
- In Act 1, Ren dances to Micheal Jackson's Thriller.
- Many other songs are used as well throughout the other acts. A playlist was created by Renninger, the songs of which posted publicly online, that played at the party; every song on the playlist was used in TRICK, as well as several that weren't.
- Some of the users have compared Ren to Gravity Falls' villian, Bill Cipher. It is easy to understand why.
- Elias nicknaming Daniel Dirty Dan.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Murphey gives this to Ren at Act 4. Instead of actually telling to shut up, he slams himself against Ren to make him stop. Just before this, Ren also gives one to all of his guests after putting on his witch hat, early in Act 4.
- The Stinger: GOBBLE's epilogue, considering its length and rather quiet addition.
- The Unseen:
- Two characters end up as this- Murphey's 'boss', and the quasi-corporeal being that gives Daniel his bag.
- Subverted in that if you look closely in one image, you can see a Primal-like face in the quasi-corporeal being's light.
- Villain Protagonist: Ren later become this.
- Villain Song: In order to summon Jackobel, you need a certain song to make him appear. The song is shown in Act 4, and it is a short and disjointed organ refrain with some background ambience.
- Wham Episode:
- Act 4 can be considered this.
- Act 3 can be seen as one in another way, finally explaining what happened at the last party even if Ren isn't being entirely honest about the events.
HOLLY provides examples of:
- Ascended Fanon: The protagonist's name, Ash, came from a user theory that says that Holly's protagonist hates holidays because that Jackobel killed his family sometime during the events of TRICK. While the holiday part hasn't yet confirmed in the plot, the name cames from this theory. His design is based on a sketch made by Sorastitch, one of the users of Fantendo.
- Jerkass: Ash. Oh my god, Ash.
- The Scrooge: Ash. Like Scrooge, he hates Christmas and he is a Jerkass with people who celebrates christmas.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Ash, compared to the other people that appeared so far.
- What Could Have Been: There was going to be a act retelling the story of Santa Claus, according to the creator, it was going to be pretty cute, with a scene of Santa hugging a giant bloody yeti, also Santa was going to be a part of a elf family, but he wasn't like the others and he was a son of a magician, and his adventure would be about him learning about the meaning of peace and good will at a young age.
CHUTLO: MIDNIGHT STORM provides examples of:
- Detective Drama
- The Bartender: Percy.
- It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: According to a newspaper in the corner of one shot, it's part of a winter front that's been going on (and will be going on) for a while.
