- pipes!: Let me tell you about my D&D character. [...] He's from my favourite animes! [...] He has a red trenchcoat and he has a gun, but he only shoots the gun to hurt things, 'cause he doesn't believe in killing.
It was an ordinary day for the Freelance Astronauts. Maxwell Adams was playing F-Zero GX's Story Mode, while his best friends Evek, pipes!, and Ferr watched. Of course, as Maxwell's friends were unable to pick up a controller and harass him the direct way, they decided to use the old-fashioned technique of distracting him with interesting conversations. By the time that Maxwell reached Chapter 6, pipes! had decided to talk about a D&D character of his based on his favourite anime and manga.
What came out of his mouth (though the other Freelance Astronauts, even Maxwell, helped contribute parts) was The Tale of Sephiroth Goku the Stampede, which in a few minutes went through as many tropes related to the medium as could fit. Being a tropeable story, albeit an abbreviated one, it was worthy of a page of its very own here on TV Tropes.
The Tale can be viewed here.
Tropes present in the Tale of Sephiroth Goku the Stampede:
- Angst: Sephiroth Goku the Stampede suffers from this after his girlfriend's death.
- The Aristocrats: The Reveal at the very end shows that the entire Tale is this.
- Badass Longcoat: Sephiroth Goku the Stampede has a red trench coat similar to another Stampede's...
- Big Bad: The Evil Buff CEO Vampire Wizard.
- Bishōnen Line: The robot's final form is nothing more than a slightly different robot.
- Captain Obvious: "And the big robot said 'I am a big robot'..."
- Clap Your Hands If You Believe: "...And then a big laser burst out of his chest because he believed in himself!"
- Collateral Damage: Explicitly referenced and averted, as the city can go underground during the robot fights because it needs to not get exploded.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: The Buff CEO Vampire Wizard and his Board Of Directors.
- Death by Irony: Because the Evil Buff CEO Vampire Wizard had turned Sephiroth into a vampire in the future, Sephiroth survived an attack to the heart (because Vampires don't have hearts) and killed the past Vampire Wizard with a Wave-Motion Gun that's like the sun but eight hundred times worse.
- Empathic Weapon: The time-travelling Humongous Mecha that Sephiroth finds under a rock want to be his friend, and tells him that he believes in the power of him.
- Funny Background Event: While the Tale of Sephiroth Goku the Stampede is being told, Captain Falcon is racing through a busy street with a bomb strapped to his car.
- Future Me Scares Me: Averted; Sephiroth and his past self become best friends instantly.
- Goldfish Poop Gang: The Board of Directors working for the Buff CEO Vampire Wizard may be this, as their only purpose in the story is to oppose Sephiroth on behalf of their boss.
- Happily Ever After: After the Big Bad is erased from the timeline and Sephiroth's girlfriend is brought back to life, they go on a picnic together.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: In the finale, Sephiroth reveals that his robot can also transform!
- Interspecies Romance: Averted; Sephiroth used to be an Angel, and then he was a Demon, but he gave up his powers to be with a mortal girl at the beginning of the tale. Sadly, he then gets turned into a Vampire, and accidentally kills the girl.
- The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: The reason Sephiroth's girlfriend died is because he couldn't control his vampiric urges and accidentally killed her for blood.
- Motor Mouth: The delivery of the story is rather quick.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Or in this case, the "vampire wizard angel demon" who may or may not have been a buff wizard. From the past-future.note
- Older Than They Look: The human girl looks eight years old but is actually a really smart high schooler.
- One-Winged Angel: The Buff CEO Vampire Wizard is also part-demon by the final battle.
- Our Time Machine Is Different: They're also Humongous Mecha! And the villains' are made from the clones of the dead mothers of past vampires!
- Our Vampires Are Different: The main character and the Big Bad, given that they lack hearts and might also have inherit wizard powers. Sephiroth is also an example of Our Angels Are Different and Our Demons Are Different, as he was both at once and could willingly give up those powers to become mortal.
- Plot Hole: After his vampiric instincts lead to his girlfriend's accidental death, Sephiroth is a "vampire wizard angel demon". How did he regain his angel and demon powers, and did the Big Bad make him a wizard in addition to being a vampire or not?
- Really 700 Years Old: Sephiroth is originally from "thousands of years ago".
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Sephiroth's goal is to kill the Evil Buff CEO Vampire Wizard in the past, so he won't turn Sephiroth's past self into a vampire that'll accidentally kill his girlfriend.
- Shout-Out: Numerous anime series naturally get referenced throughout, Gainax mecha seeming to be a favorite.
- Sphere of Destruction: Sephiroth uses one to take out the Board Of Directors' robots "because his robot's better". There's no shock wave, but that's okay.
- Technical Pacifist: As the quote at the top states, Sephiroth shoots things to prevent killing them.
- Testosterone Poisoning: Sephiroth and the Board of Directors yell quite loudly when fighting.
- Theme Music Power-Up: When Sephiroth's robot changes into a slightly different robot, it's accompanied by the sound of trumpets.
- This Cannot Be!:
- The Board of Directors' reaction to learning that Sephiroth travelled back in time with his own giant robot.
- The Evil Buff CEO Vampire Wizard's reaction to a Wave-Motion Gun.
- Transforming Mecha:
- The Big Bad's Board of Director's robots can transform into separate companies.
- In the final battle, Sephiroth's robot changes into..a slightly different robot!
- Wave-Motion Gun: Sephiroth uses one that comes out of his robot's chest to kill the Evil Buff CEO Vampire Wizard Demon.