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A pair of Total Drama fanfictions by The Kobold Necromancer.

The plot is fairly common. The first story, Total Drama Comeback (TDC), is set about six months after the end of Total Drama Island, with the contestants back for a new season where two of them will win $10,000. The rules are different, with teams being formed and dissolved for individual challenges, making alliances and rivalries more complex. While the fic keeps all of the characters at least partially in focus, Ezekiel is clearly the protagonist, bitter about the events of the previous season and determined to do better this time around. The numerous subplots include Courtney seeking revenge on Harold for what he did to her in the first season, Katie having a crush, Tyler dealing with a past trauma and Izzy searching for the mysterious "Jellybean Smuggler", among others. This story reached completion February 2009.

The sequel, Total Drama Battlegrounds (TDB), is a similar story set six months after TDC. Here, however, the twenty-two original contestants are joined by twenty-two new ones, who can be found on the author's Deviantart page Total-Drama-Comeback-2 here. The story alternates between "normal" challenges and ones performed via a virtual reality machine, the latter involving tasks that would be impossible in the normal Total Drama universe, such as fighting vampires or zombies.

The Kobold Necromancer is also the author of TDWT Reducks Redux, a Fix Fic for season three and Love Ain't Easy, It's Ezzy, a Shipping fic about the adventures of Izzy and Ezekiel set during season two.

Has its own wiki.


This story provides examples of:

    open/close all folders 

    Tropes A-D 
  • Abusive Parents: Comeback reveals that several of the campers have unpleasant homelives.
    • Tyler has a Missing Mom, who came back after seeing him on TDI... just to berate his father with "I told you so"s and claims that this just proved that Tyler was absolutely hopeless at sports. She also got him barred from all of the teams at his school.
    • Meanwhile, Noah suffers from Parental Neglect, to the point that when he broke his leg at seven years old, he overheard his mother saying, "Well, at least it was only Noah; he barely moves anyway."
    • And Courtney's parents are both big on education as well as overdemanding perfectionists. They weren't too thrilled with how she lost on TDI.
    • Harold's folks don't approve of their relationship with Leshawna.
  • Action Girl:
    • Izzy takes out a serial killer and jellybean smuggler (much like Gwen a season before).
    • Heather is oddly adept at the VR challenges.
  • Added Alliterative Appeal : Chris was very fond of this trope in Comeback, but dropped it in Battlegrounds.
  • Ambiguously Brown: As well as the canon bunch, Daisy and Jasmine both qualify according to the drawings on the author's Deviantart page. Colin is Ambiguously Burnt Sienna.
    • Word of God says that Daisy and Jasmine are both black, Sebastian is Brazilian and Colin is just a tanned Caucasian.
    • Also played with in regards to the canon characters: Justin claims to not know his own race due to being a test tube baby (presumably meaning his mom used a sperm donor), while Sierra and Katie both get cut off before saying what race they are. Noah is apparently Indonesian in this universe, though, despite Word of God recently saying he's Indian and Justin being Hawaiian.
      • Justified as the announcement from the Word of God came after Kobold decided Noah was Indonesian and Justin was a testube baby.
  • Alpha Bitch: Heather, of course, as per canon, but in TDB Sandra takes this up to eleven.
  • Arc Words: "Everyone deserves a second chance" in Comeback
  • Armor-Piercing Question: After the end of Season 1, Eva is still angry about having been voted off second because of her anger issues, and primarily blames Bridgette for it, even though the other girl was only one of several Bass members who voted for her. In a flashback, she angrily rants to her mother about how it was unfair that her team voted her off early, and how they could have picked someone else, like Bridgette. When her mother asks what reason they would have to vote for Bridgette, Eva doesn't have an answer.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: "The landslide was a muddy crash of charging fervor, a slimy plow of terrible proportion, a tremendous stampede of slushy earth, and it was rather yucky too."
    • Mandy's rats are named Death, Famine, War, and Snowflake. It was a snowy day when she named that last one.
    • This line, also from Mandy:
    "Man, the airport security was as bad as my school, where they take my daggers, and my vial of poison, and my lighter, and my scalpel, and my whip, and my taser, and my pepper spray, and my razors, and my gum!"
    • How to kill a centipede, according to Xander:
    "Napalm, bazookas, pesticide spray, and maybe a really big meerkat."
    • The Pit of 100 Screams contains a number of randomly-generated holographic horrors, including slugs, scorpions, dinosaurs, hockey mask-wearing psycho killers, bats, pitbulls, clowns, and Cthulhu...and also lawyers, soccer moms, and a giant chicken. (Lucky for Tyler, he did not get the last one.)
  • Ascended Extra: Ezekiel. Kobold had an almost blank slate to work with. Other characters who are neglected by canon but have decent screentime, focus and development on this story are (but not limited to) Tyler, Bridgette, Eva, Katie, Sadie and Noah, among others.
    • In-universe, Cid-Vicious's OCs, Gil and Anita and TDI Charlie Brown's Alicia makes an appearance.
  • The Atoner: A major part of Ezekiel's motivation is making up for what he said last time and how it damaged his parents' reputations to the point that they almost lost their teaching jobs.
    • Villains of TDC who turned a new leaf are also this on TDBG.
    • Also Heather and Courtney in Battlegrounds.
  • Author Appeal:
    • The Bridgette/Gwen undertones.
    • The Ship Tease of the author's own preferred pairings, such as Bridgette/Harold.
    • The Zombie Apocalypse challenge. The Kobold Necromancer is on record as a big fan of that sort of thing.
    • Both stories are loaded with nerdy stuff. At one point, Chris even breaks the fourth wall to tell the readers that non-nerds will have a hard time reading the chapter.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Is a monstrous challenge!
  • Berserk Button: In TDB, how Heather acts whenever people threaten to vote Ezekiel off.
  • Betty and Veronica: In TDC, Cody is the Betty to Beth while Justin is the Veronica.
    • In TDB, Anita and Eva. They don't fit the exact model as well, though.
    • And Sierra (or possibly Sadie) might be the Third-Option Love Interest.
  • Black Comedy: If this trope was still called Black Comedy, the following would be a literal example:
    Colin:"Hey, wanna hear a joke about dead babies?"
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: Courtney and Heather during the first half of TDC.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: Chris Maclean is muuuuuuuuuuuch more antagonistic during Battlegrounds; Colin, Zachary, Valerie and Sandra are the new villanous contestants, since all the veteran villains had pulled a Heel–Face Turn by the end of Comeback, Alejandro (even if he isn't a contestant), a mysterious villain whose identity is unknown to the reader, and the producer.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: As seen during the RV Race, the producer.
  • Butt-Monkey: Colin. He talks and acts tough, but everyone else gets their chance to beat some sense or reality into him in some form or another at least once an episode (but he usually deserves it).
    • Chris, as in most Total Drama fanfics, gets this treatment too.
  • Canada, Eh?: Duncan is supposedly Canada’s third worst criminal, based on the logic that Canada doesn’t have that many criminals.
  • Captain Obvious: "Hey Zeke, there's an arrow in your butt."
  • Casanova Wannabe: Howard. Also Colin, in a far more nasty and perverted way.
  • Cast Herd: in battlegrounds, the contestants are divided into 6-9 teams before each challenge. This way the author ensures that every character will get some lines and make easier to follow the progress of each team.
  • Character Exaggeration: At the end of Comeback, Lindsay forgets her own name.
  • Chaste Hero: Yoshi believed that his fellow contestants should stop being Sickeningly Sweethearts and get their heads into the game, Daisy put a stop to that.
  • The Chew Toy: Surprisingly, Ezekiel suffers this to some degree. Deconstructed in that some of his injuries are taken very seriously.
  • Chekhov's Gun: The letter written by the eliminated contestants.
  • Chivalrous Pervert: Howard, who will hit on any girl unless she’s already taken. And of course Cody fills this trope, as per canon, not wanting to make out with Eva until he's decided which girl he'll officially date.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Heather sees Izzy and Bridgette as a threat to her relationship with Ezekiel (can't blame her though, the author ships them). In later episodes, she seems to get over it.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: Gwen swears quite heavily in Chapter 21 of Comeback.
  • Comically Small Bribe: During the fanservice cruise challenge, Izzy tried to convince Noah to make out with Cody by giving him...one dollar. She laters raises her bribe to the astronomically high amount of...five dollars.
  • Compressed Vice: During the final challenge of Comeback, Izzy develops Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!, which never had before nor displayed in Battlegrounds.
  • Cool and Unusual Punishment:
    Chris: "Your punishment is far worse than you could expect! Because tonight, before you discuss who you vote for and then actually do it, you are going to watch the film... Disaster Movie!"
  • Creator Thumbprint: The author dedicates time to all the characters, but his favorites (Ezekiel, Izzy, Bridgette, etc.) usually get the most time, and were the final three in the first season.
  • The Cuckoolander Was Right: Izzy was right about the jellybean smuggler.
  • Darker and Edgier: Not always, but scenes like Ezekiel’s concussion and the Jelly Bean smuggler certainly qualify.
  • Day in the Limelight: Everyone gets this a bit, but in TDC Ezekiel’s part was huge.
  • Dead Fic: While Comeback is complete, Battlegrounds has not been updated since October 2015, and appears to have been abandoned.
  • Demoted to Extra: Some characters who get a lot of focus in canon receive very little in this story:
    • While Owen gets a lot of screentime in every season he's been in and always ranked among the first seven, in both TDC and TDBG gets eliminated very early. In fact, other characters comment how odd is for somebody who did so well the first season to be eliminated so soon. It's worth mention that the author does like Owen, but eliminates him early because he doesn't like the Toilet Humor that comes with him (that and probably to make room for other characters)
    • Duncan, another character accused of being a spotlight stealer, gets a much reduced role in TDC than in canon (he's basically Courtney's dragon), and is eliminated right after Courtney's revenge plot ends. In TDBG, he's eliminated even earlier.
  • Deus Angst Machina: Parodied with Clive.
  • Don't Try This at Home: In the "Screams of the Thirteen" challenge, Leshawna's challenge for the contestants involves shaking a vending machine to get a soda can out. She asks Chef to deliver a message to the audience before the challenge is aired.
    Chef: (reading the note in the confessional) "Please do not, under any circumstances, shake a soda or candy machine. It will fall on you and crush you, and you will die a stupid fool. Please do not die as stupid fools."
  • Door Stopper: Do not try to read the entire thing in one day. This is, of course, a testament to the quality of the writing; the author doesn't skimp when it comes to the challenges.
  • Drama Bomb: Episode 9 of Comeback (Chapters 27-29) serves as a major one: thanks to sabotage, Harold suffers an allergy attack that leaves him temporarily paralyzed (after nearly killing him), and Courtney and Duncan's alliance with Heather is exposed during the ensuing investigation.
  • Dramatic Ellipsis: Done right, imitating the dramatic pauses in real elimination ceremonies.
  • Dream Sequence: One chapter of TDC shows all the remaining contestants (plus Chef) dreaming, and other characters’ dreams are scattered throughout. Variants include:
    • Dreaming of Things to Come: Sort of; Heather and Ezekiel share dreams that hint about their eventual romance and character development.
  • Drives Like Crazy: Izzy is definitely the worst example. Katie's a close second, but it's usually because she doesn't get the concept of looking ahead of her.
    Noah: BRIDGETTE! KART! ROAD! KART GOES ON ROAD!
  • invokedDude, Not Funny!: Chris did not think through his use of Xtreme Kool Letterz for the Kool Kids' Klub.

    Tropes E-L 
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Joel appears several times in TDC.
    Chris: "Ahhhh, that's how to sell your audience, folks. Show them a preview of what is in store next season, and they'll eat it up. Works well for Pokémon, I hear."
  • Easily Forgiven: Played with during Comeback after the Drama Bomb episode: some of the contestants are able to forgive Courtney's actions more easily than others, which makes those who don't forgive them so quickly even angrier. Katie, for example, holds a grudge even into TDB.
  • Expy: Joel might seem kind of familiar
  • Fandom-Specific Plot: The "new/alternative season" plot is a staple of Total Drama fanfiction.
  • Fanservice: There are challenges that (in-universe) are ''built'' on this.
  • Fix Fic: Although Comeback wasn’t intended to fix anything, the poor reception to Total Drama Action led many readers to think of the fanfic as a rewrite of Season 2. Alternatively, the similarities of Comeback to its source material, Total Drama Island (same cast, same venue, and some of the same challenges) give Comeback a "TDI 2.0" vibe.
  • Flanderization: Arguably Owen. Also, many of the new contestants conform strictly to their stereotypes.
    • At least at first; they tend to become more rounded if given their own subplot to develop in. Hannah, for example, pretty much didn't have a line in the early chapters that didn't relate to her religion, but this ended when she started her romantic subplot with Joel.
  • Flat "What": Duncan and Heather both deliver one in Comeback when Katie is voted off.
  • For the Evulz: Colin seems to enjoy upsetting people for no particular reason other than he finds it fun.
  • Freaky Thursday: after reading both stories, one may think in Owen as somebody who always gets eliminated early into the game (as opposed to canon), and think in Ezekiel as a great player who always manages to get really far in the show (again, contrary to canon).
  • Freudian Excuse: Courtney, see Abusive Parents. Also, the fact that her school life became miserable after she got the boot (being insulted with names like Crazy In Training) and being beaten for the Student Council President by a guy who's rebuttal was essentially a giant poster of her being dragged down the dock of shame screaming.
  • Fun with Acronyms: During the Superhero challenge, the contestant must retrieve the Gemstone of Power Amplification.
    • The official name of the Rock Star Challenge is the Terrific Wawanakwa Outstanding Battle Of Our Bands challenge, which is later extended to Terrific Wawanakwa Outstanding Battle Of Our Bands Based On Invented New Golden Oldies challenge.
    • And who can forget the Kool Kids' Klub...
  • Genki Girl: Naturally Izzy, but Carol and sometimes Jasmine or Mandy can also fit.
  • Groin Attack: Used quite often, to the point that a challenge in Battklegrounds features one at the beginning (Anita kicking Colin) and one in the end (Bridgette kicking Alejandro.
    Noah: ... Oh... there goes... any chance... of Noah Junior...
  • Heel–Face Turn: Courtney after the Drama Bomb episode of Comeback, and Heather after hooking up with Ezekiel.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: TDC, Episode 4: when he realizes DJ is hanging onto him despite his fear of heights, Noah unlocks his handcuffs and willingly drops from his grasp so that DJ won't be dragged down with him.
    • And in Episode 9, Katie volunteers to be voted off instead of Harold, so he won't have to leave just because of his allergy attack.
  • How We Got Here: Episode 9 of Comeback opens In Medias Res, then retells the morning's events and challenge via Flashbacks. Lampshaded by one of the interviews:
    Tyler: "...I wonder what Chris meant when he said he'd show these confessions earlier in the show to bring up tension. That'd be mean to the poor viewers."
  • Hypocrite: Courtney criticizes on Gwen, Leshawna, and Tyler continuing to hold a grudge against her from her actions in Comback despite her own pathetic grudge she held against Harold as well as anyone else who considered him as a friend (IE Leshawna for being his girlfriend, Geoff for simply inviting him to a party, and Gwen for telling her off), so she was in no position to lecture them about it since their grudges against her was due to her own grudge against Harold.
  • I Call It "Vera": Joel's VR machine is called Vera.
  • I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: Heather tries to use her "assets" to get Ezekiel to do as she says. It doesn’t work.
  • Improbable Infant Survival: No matter how bloodily the other contestants die during the virtual reality challenges, Rodney will somehow survive. When this protection fails in the last part of the alien invasion challenge, the remaining players know they're in trouble.
  • Innocent Fanservice Girl: Izzy gets a stint of this in TDC; though her 'innocence' might be questionable, she does deliver this line:
    Izzy: "Hehe, silly Cody! I was just a girl his age with no top on while we were alone at sea with no cameras around. What could be so..." Beat. "Oh. Oh my."
  • Is This Thing Still On?: During the ninja challenge, when Chris and another campers discussed about Ezekiel's crush on Bridgette:
    Lindsay:"Most of them are just walking around. Look, Zachary and Belinda are just sitting down next to each other.
    Katie::Ooo, what are they talking about? I knew he had a crush on her!
    DJ:Guys, c'mon,It's not nice to spy on people and(Ezekiel and Bridgette turn red)... aww, how cute, they're blushing!
    Katie:He likes her, I knew it! Why are they facing away, though?
    Owen:They seem upset about something. Maybe they're uncomfortable with what you guys are saying.
    Chris:They cannot hear us, you big lug.
    Owen:Yes, they can, you left the intercom on.
    Katie: Oh sh-
  • Irony: Before the start of the "All-Star Athlete Alliteration", Ezekiel contemplates having he, Bridgette and the rest of their team (minus Heather, of course) throwing the challenge so Heather can be voted off, only changing his mind when Bridgette points out Heather's annoying habit of gaining immunity; come "The Clone" follow-up challenge, Heather bombs at doing her impression (of Bridgette, for a doubled sense of irony) and comes in last, meaning that if Zeke's team had thrown the game, Heather could've been eliminated much earlier in the game.
  • Jerk Jock: Discussed/defied with Tyler.
    Tyler:(talking about the Super Hero challenge in the confessional)I'm pretty glad I wasn't made a villain. I mean, I know a lot of people think of jocks as jerks, but I like to think I get along with everyone. Even the really out there ones here, I'm down with them!
  • Just Friends: Ezekiel and Bridgette, though he clearly had a crush on her early on.
  • Keet: Alfred, the American version of Owen, takes this up to eleven.
  • Large Ham: Everyone in the superhero challenge, bar Gwen.
  • Last-Minute Hookup: Noah and Katie, Justin and Beth, and Joel and Hannah all hook up right before the girl gets voted off. The first one got almost no setup within a chapter.
  • Leet Lingo: Chico the Racoon. One of his original prototype names was even "Racroll."
  • Like Is, Like, a Comma: Katie and Sadie, as part of their Valley Girl characterization.
  • In a sense, Noah (with Katie) and Justin (with Beth) both become nicer after their hook-ups. At least, until Katie gets voted off TDB...
  • Love Dodecahedron: Izzy broke up with Owen and quickly entered a Love Triangle with Alfred and Mandy, after Alfred lost Daisy to Yoshi (although that might have been faked) and accepted that Bridgette was taken, and Mandy lost her friend/ Les Yay partner Hannah who ended up with Joel. In addition, Izzy might have feelings for Ezekiel, who's with Heather although he's experiencing some Ho Yay with Tyler (who's still dating Lindsey) and Ezekiel also still has a slight crush on Bridgette who's having trouble with Geoff and possibly crushing on Harold who is having problems with Leshawna. Owen and possibly Alejandro have feelings for Sierra who has her canon crush on Cody who's in a Love Triangle between Eva and Anita, and let's not forget Gwen/Bridgette undertones and Courtney seeing Gwen as a threat to her relationship with Duncan (despite still being with Trent in this fic).
    • Valerie is attempting to seduce Arthur who may have a crush on Sadie, who has a crush on Zachary, who's stringing her along while he has a secret relationship with Valerie, much to the disapproval of Katie, who's trying to set Sadie up with Clive or DJ (or really anyone), although DJ's also got some ship teasing going on with Eva. Eva, Valerie, Mandy, and especially Izzy think Xander's pretty attractive, although he's more interested in romantic Crystal, but Crystal will only enter into a relationship once she's paired everyone else up, and besides that is mostly just trying to avoid the attention of bully Colin, who may or may not have something going on with Sandra who is crushing on Alejandro and who Owen is hitting on repeatedly.
    • Howard went through a Love Triangle with Belinda and Jasmine, and Belinda has stated she has another crush in the game, rumored to be Clive, who gets ship teased with just about everyone, including Carol (who had a short-lived romance with Billy the Intern) and Sadie (who is described above).
    • And to top it all off, Noah's worried that Rodney or Justin will steal Katie from him but Rodney's really more interested in Anita and Justin's still dating Beth, and Katie's lately been a bit worried about Lindsey stealing Noah. Of everyone, Sebastian and Sakaki's (possible) relationship is the least interconnected. Whew.

    Tropes M-Z 
  • Mindlink Mates: A minor variant, with Ezekiel and Heather having very similar dreams.
  • Missing Mom: Actually, Tyler probably wishes his mom had stayed missing...
  • Mistaken for Gay: Noah (and Cody, to a lesser extent), Mandy (and Hannah, to a lesser extent).
    • Howard apparently fears this trope.
  • Morality Pet: Cody for Courtney and to a lesser extent Duncan in Comeback (see Chapter 26)
    • Rodney for Courtney in Battlegrounds
    • Katie for Noah, in a way. He's at least less cynical with her around.
  • Ms. Fanservice: The TDB producers hired Anita specifically for this reason, ordering her to wear revealing outfits. Since her motive for joining the show was to prove she was more than just an empty-headed pretty girl, you can imagine she’s not pleased with the situation.
    • However, Izzy is usually more than happy to provide (see any trope that involves full frontal shots).
  • My Greatest Second Chance: this trope appears quite often in both stories, and in different conetexts:
    • The more obvious situation is Ezekiel. Not only did he manage to get much further than in his disastrous TDI run, but managed to make some friends, get a girlfriend, and what he thinks to be most important, redeem himself in the eyes of everybody from his sexist comments in Season 1 that caused a massive backlash against his parents.
    • Courtney and Heather are now trying to redeem themselves from their actions of past seasons (though they still have winning in mind), though Heather seems to be doing better. Competition wise, they're still in the game, though there ar plenty of challenges ahead.
  • Named by the Adaptation: The characters that appear without last names in canon are given last names The Kobold Necromancer comes up with. These include:
    • Beth's last name is Yensten.
    • Bridgette's last name is Summers.
    • Courtneys last name is Satella.
    • Devon Joseph "DJ"'s last name is Benson.
    • Duncan's last name is Tarun.
    • Eva's last name is Garren.
    • Ezekiel's last name is Miller.
    • Geoffrey "Geoff" last name is Algolen.
    • Gwendolyn "Gwen" last name is Ingrid.
    • Heather's last name is Kasuga.
    • Izzy's last name is Connelly.
    • Justin's last name is Batofel.
    • Katie's last name is Uratu.
    • Leshawna's last name is Olongola.
    • Lindsay's last name is Top.
    • Noah's last name is Sterecra.
    • Owen's last name is Waterflower.
    • Sadie's last name is Unda.
    • Trenton "Trent" last name is Cooper.
    • Tyler's last name is Kenard.
  • Never Accepted in His Hometown: The reason Cody isn't aware of his popularity after TDI is that he avoided any mentions of the show online. Why? Because everyone at his school harassed and teased him about being mauled by a bear. Eeesh.
  • Noodle Implements: We never did find out what Katie did with those soy beans...
  • Noodle Incident:
    • During the shop class challenge in Comeback, Eva mentions in the confessional that her high school teacher banned her from shop class due to an incident involving power tools.
    • Chapter 17 of Comeback details everyone's dreams after drinking the oombulb tea that Bridgette's mom sent. Except for Chris's, which is apparently too disturbing to be described.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: Gwen gets warned about the potential of becoming too similar to Courtney and Heather in Comeback.
  • Official Couple: Every canon and non-slash fanon pairing from the first series. With the exception of Owen and Izzy, they're all still together.
  • Oh, Crap!:
    • Chris, using the confessional, points out that Duncan and Owen are the only reasons the majority of their audience watches the show (which may well be true for the real show). He then remembers that both are long gone at that point.
    • Chris also gets one upon realizing his Epic Failure with Xtreme Kool Letterz.
    • The camper responsible for the Drama Bomb gets one after being eliminated and discovering that Leshawna is still pissed about what they did.
  • Ostentatious Secret: Katie’s crush in TDC.
    • In TDB, how Xander got his scars and limp.
    • Not to mention whoever the hidden "villain" is in both seasons. More for the fans, although TDC characters speculated about it. Expect lots of shadowed faces and question marks whenever the person makes a confessional.
  • Pair the Spares: As per Word of God, every contestant will hook up with somebody by the end of the fic. The only two exceptions are Rodney (because he's just 8) and Colin (because he's an obnoxious Jerkass).
  • Pet the Dog: While he mostly Took a Level in Jerkass, Chris does occasionally show a softer side, like in Comeback after Harold's allergy attack, or stepping in and showing everyone confessional footage to prove that Cody's didn't help vote off Trent.
  • Pretend Prejudice: Though he’ll constantly whine about white people, Zachary seems to quickly click with Owen and Colin, and joins forces with Valerie after only slight hesitation.
    • Well he only seems to hate racist people, which he views almost everyone as, but Colin hates everyone and Owen's way too nice.
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "I! HAVE! A! SWORD!" - Chapter 28
  • Real Life Writes the Plot: More that the events of the actual show write the plot. Some elements are played straight (Courtney being a Clingy Jealous Girl is inspired by Action), but most are a way to subvert or correct the "wrongs" done by the show that Kobold doesn't like (Duncan and Owen, the supposed "fan-favorites" getting voted off very early in TDB and the general treatment of Ezekiel and Bridgette, especially as of the events in World Tour).
  • Retcon: Originally, Total Drama Comeback was supposed to be a season set between Total Drama Island and Total Drama Action, referred to as season 1.5. Later, TDC just became the second season in this continuity, and TDA never happened. Both Lampshaded and Handwaved by the contestants and Chris respectively.
  • Self-Deprecation: Probably an unintentional example: when fans tried to guess who the mystery villain was, many guesses went to Arthur aka "The Schemer", as labelled by Kobold himself, and next chapter basically saw him upset at being labelled as such, complaining the entire time that he was no schemer.
    • During the MMORPG challenge, Noah advised against rolling a Kobold Necromancer, since it's the worst race-class combination possible.
  • Sensory Abuse: In-universe, during the Screams of the Thirteen challenge, Courtney and Heather have to play "Who's the Phone For". They are presented with an old-fashioned phone that rings incredibly loudly and have to endure the noise without being told whether the goal is to answer the phone first or not. They last about 25 minutes before Courtney picks up the phone and gets an air horn blasted into her ear.
    Izzy: Answer it, answer it, I beg of you! Don't you know that listening to a phone for an indefinite period of time can cause your eardrums to bleed out?
    Ezekiel: Stop it, stop it, leave us alone! I cannot stand it, answer the pho-oooooone!
    Beth: I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I wanna die at thith point, I wanna die.
    Harold: Answer the phone, answer the phone, I beg of you I don't care if it's the Grim Reaper calling to set an appointment, answer it! Idiots!
  • Series Continuity Error: In "Snow More Bad Puns," Cody laments that he has yet to pass a follow-up challenge. However, he has already passed the follow-up challenge in "Zed Theft Ceremony."
  • Serious Business:
    • Izzy applies this trope to MMORPGs (and, by extension, everything).
    • The Royale Threads, an incredibly expensive clothing store whose dresses and tuxedos are so in demand that it can take more than a year to reserve an outfit from them. Heather knows a girl whose father murdered someone to get her a dress from Royale Threads, and she still didn't get it.
  • Shipper on Deck: Pretty much Crystal’s whole point.
    • Which makes even more sense if we consider she's an Expy of WinterRae (everybody believes that Shout-Out was a coincidence...).
    • Also in Comeback, Courtney shipped Cody/Beth while LeShawna shipped Beth/Justin.
    • More recently, different characters have recently started taking sides in the Eva/Cody/Anita Love Triangle. So far Beth, Izzy, Bridgette, Sadie, Gwen, Courtney and Heather are rooting for Eva (Despite Eva yelled at Heather for supporting her, she didn't switch sides) while Ezekiel, Tyler, Harold, Noah and Rodney favor Anita.
  • Ship Tease: Oh dear C'thullu, where to begin. It doesn't help that Kobold is known for writing Crack Pairings, so just about any male/female interaction can plausibly be seen as this. (Not that all the teases are male/female...)
  • Shoe Slap: Crystal seems to be adept of this when wonders if "throwing shoes could be a super power."
  • Shoo Out the Clowns: Variant in TDC: Owen, Sadie and Geoff are the first three out, with the last elimination leading to the Courtney/Duncan/Heather alliance that drives the drama until the Drama Bomb episode. Lampshaded in the fourth episode with Chris complaining about the last elimination making the island "less of a party". Subverted, however, in that Owen becomes an intern after his elimination. And even that is played with, as despite his internship, Owen doesn't appear in the third episode because he went to ensure the second one eliminated wouldn't be lonely.
  • Shout-Out: There are many references to things The Kobold Necromancer likes, especially Mystery Science Theater 3000, zombie movies, anime, "Weird Al" Yankovic, etc. Averages about five a chapter.
  • Shout-Out Theme Naming: Bridgette's friends from home are all named after Pokémon characters—Bugsy, Norm, Sabrina, Gardenia, and Dawn.
  • Spaghetti Kiss: Heather and Ezekiel are tricked into doing one as part of a dare-themed challenge.
  • Spanner in the Works: Courtney's plotting in TDC was foiled because they never anticipated that someone like Katie would deliberately leave the game so that Harold wouldn't have to go due to his allergies.
  • Spotlight-Stealing Squad: It's not like all the characters don't get decent screentime in Total Drama Comeback, but it's pretty obvious that Ezekiel's the main character.
    • Chris lampshades the fact that Duncan and Owen get this treatment in canon.
  • Strawman Political: The rampant "picking on Christians" by Chris and the producers starts to sound a lot like a persecution complex after the first few times.
    • TKN has stated that he avoids specific politics for Valerie, so people will not think he is trying to make one side of the political structure is wicked (since Valerie is a villainess).
  • Strip Poker: The campers do it to kill time in Comeback, though they agree beforehand to only go as far as their underwear.
  • Stop Being Stereotypical: The reason of Hannah and Anita auditioned for TDBG was to prove that not all Christians are fundamentalists zealots and that not all attractive girls are airheads, respectively. You can expect how much they succeeded.
  • Strange Minds Think Alike: ...or oppositely similar. Cody describes him and Gwen as being like chocolate sauce and steak—two delicious foods that ultimately just don't go together. Immediately afterwards, Owen comments about Courtney and Duncan being all over each other "like chocolate sauce on steak."
  • Stupid Evil: Colin repeatedly backstabs his teammates during challenges for no useful reason.
  • Take That!: A few examples:
    • The vampire challenge in TDB, which is basically meant to parody/bash The Twilight Saga.
    • At another point in TDB, the losers of a challenge had to watch Disaster Movie. Carol was catatonic afterwards. Zachary and Colin seemed to like it, though.)
    • Against bad fanfics:
      Carol: "Heck, I wrote one on Duncan and Courtney, and I got about a hundred reviews! And I didn't even have a plot!"
    • Izzy's battle cry in chapter 30: "DEVIANT ART SUCKS!"
  • That Came Out Wrong:
    • Often when Chris tries to explain some challenges:
    (during the Prom Night challenge)
    Gwen: How can you win then?
    Chris: Well, first you need to know how to score—
    (the girls start to glare at him)
    Chris: What? Oh, you weirdos, I didn't mean that! I meant how to score points for your team so that you can win this contest!
    • Also, Owen thinks white is always best (white chocolate, that's it).
  • Throw the Dog a Bone: The reason why Kobold made this fic in the first place was to do this for Ezekiel, but also to an extent Harold, Tyler and Cody (The latter more so in Battlegrounds)
  • Throwing Off the Disability: Harold manages to do this in TDC. A type two variation, i.e., it’s established as something he could recover from.
  • Time Skip: Six months passed between TDI and TDC, and another six pass between TDC and TDB. This is important, since events that occurred in several of the contestants' normal lives effect their actions in the game. Ezekiel, Tyler, Harold and Courtney are among those most affected in TDC.
  • Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Ezekiel/Heather stands as the only couple where the girl is taller than the guy.
  • Weaponized Allergy: Courtney gets ahold of a list of Harold's allergies in chapter 28 and spikes his soup with gummi slugs, which almost kill him.
  • Yuri Fan: Several of the guys, especially during the fanservice challenge.
    • The author himself has a thing for Gwen/Bridgette.
  • You Were Trying Too Hard: For the snow sculpture challenge in Chapter 20 of TDC, one team's sculptures are judged by Chris and the other team's are judged by Chef. Having very high standards, Chef doesn't give a passing grade to most of the sculptures (some of which are very elaborate), but one he does like is Beth's—a classic snowman with sticks for arms and coal for eyes.
  • Zerg Rush: At the VR alien challenge, by the aliens

Alternative Title(s): Total Drama Comeback

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