Funny / Meta Runner

Meta Runner is a much darker show than SMG4, but there's still plenty of humorous moments between all the drama.

Moment Subpages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.

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Season 1

• The bot boys are quirky little robots that parody advertising in almost all of their appearances. Their Establishing Character Moment? A PewDiePie meme.
  BotBoy: You've heard of chairs that go 180 degrees! But can yours do this? flattens itself with the chair.
  Tari: Are… are you okay?
  BotBoy: I can't feel my legs! Wait, I don't have any legs…
• When Afrobot lists off a bunch of products to Tari, the one thing that catches her interest seems to be a "gaming duck". ^note  This references Tari from Glitch Production's other Denser and Wackier series, who is seldom seen without her rubber duck.
  • Later, as everyone is evacuated from the store, one customer laments not being able to buy a gaming duck.
• Theo claims he needs to reach the goal post. Why? Because the Elder Tomato told him to do it. Cue Theo taking out the Elder Tomato, who begins reciting the game's backstory, and would have apparently gone on for about an hour if Tari didn't get them moving again.
• Pretty much all of Theo's lines throughout the majority of Season 1. Especially this one:
  Theo (to Lucks): Bye final boss! Be back to kill you later!
  • Another one, especially due to Tari's reaction:
  Tari: I saw a bright light... and then I was [inside Ultra Jump Mania].
  Theo: Sounds like you died.
  Tari: Yeah...
• Episode three has Tari and Theo trying to hide. So of course, Theo starts live-streaming.
• Belle initially tries to soften TAS Corp's blatant kidnapping of Tari by assuring her that they're just going to borrow her body for research before quickly realizing that that hardly sounds any better.
• In order to prove a point about how video games are all people care about, Belle tells one of the guards about how she fell of her bike and broke three bones, to which she receives a non-reaction. Then she tells him about beating her personal best on a game, which receives a thumbs up. In short, the guy barely reacted to the supposedly important news any more than he did to the unimportant news.
• Belle has Tari and Theo cornered, but as she’s in the middle of gloating about how nobody can hear her, Theo throws his coconut at her head mid-sentence.
  Theo: Take THAT, foul beast!
• When Tari gets in Lamar's car, she notices a rather... odd passenger.
  Tari: Is that a body pillow?
  Lamar: Huh? Oh yeah, that's Nova-Chan! Don't worry, she chill.
• Lucks got himself some... unorthodox help in chasing Tari.
  Masked Goon huffs his rifle
  Belle: Ew! Where do you find these people, Lucks!?
• Lamar barely manages to swerve around a truck coming into the intersection from the side. Belle confidently does the same, only to to smash into another vehicle coming in from the side, since her complete attention was on the truck. Belle's reaction really sells it.
  Belle: ...Oops.
• At the climax of the car chase, Theo manages to knock down a neon billboard, which Tari uses as a ramp to bypass TASCorp's blockade. This is so impressive, even one of TASCorp's goons applaud the display.
• When Masa asks her if she's played Battle Blaze before, she replies with "I've played Ultra Jump Mania once..."^note Once again, a likely nod to her SMG4 appearance where she went through a similar gag, summing up her shooting experience with "I played Time Crisis... once..."
  • Made funnier when you see Theo sitting next to her then you remember that he was from Ultra Jump Mania.
• Tari outright unloading her automatic rifle on Masa once he appears in range during their Battle Blaze match, only to end up panicking and somehow miss every single shot.
• For some reason, Masa has a fish head mask for his Battle Blaze avatar, startling Tari as he put it on while cycling through his head accessories.
• Theo trying to use chopsticks and failing miserably.
• After MD-5 discusses Operation Silent Demon, Lamar notes how crazy everyone is before walking off with a body pillow in hand.
• Tari and Theo take a while to get used to Tempest's variety of spells.
  • Tari accidentally incinerates Lamar with a fireball.
    Masa: I thought that was on purpose. I would have been impressed.
  • Lamar demonstrates the wind spell Tari's going to need to execute the deep mountain clip. Theo tries it, except he doesn't have the wind spell, but a spell that summons columns of rock. Theo accidentally ends up launching himself into the horizon with it.
    Theo falling to his death in the distance: Wheeeeeeeeeee!
  • When Tari tries to use the wind spell:
    Tari: How do you use it?
    Lamar: Just press the A button.
    Tari: I don't have an A button!
    Lamar: Uh... say the magic word?
• When Tari manages to get to the top of the mountain:
  Tari: I managed to get to the top!
  Sophia: Great! Now jump off.
• When Theo is defeated in the Tempest tournament, he tries to give a dramatic Final Speech, but he finds himself booted from the game before he gets past two words.
• Pretty much the entirety of "Fast Food Fight" where Tari gets in the middle of a sandwich-based scuffle between TheOdd1sOut and Egoraptor. Particular moments include:
  • Bland-Name Product is lampshaded and exaggrated to hell and back, from Tari getting confused when Odd mentions "Sooubway"...
    Tari: Don't you mean Subwa—
    TheOdd1sOut: Nope, I definitely meant Sooubway.
  • ...to "Definitely not Wendy" appearing in the "Wondy's" logo.
    Arin: (Shoving his face into the camera) Dammit, Wondy's, SPONSOR ME ALREADY!
  • Tari tries to de-escalate the situation.
    Tari: Hey, food based violence never solved anything.
    Arin: You're right... (pulls out a lightsaber) Let's go with real violence!
  • Theo was fully aware he was a video game character. Arin and TheOdd1sOut... um...
    Arin: Our existence is meaningless!
    TheOdd1sOut: Consciousness is a lie!
• The Meta Runner Soundtrack video features a side-view of Tari playing video games in a room packed with stuff and a view of Silica City behind her, a dead ringer for a "Lo-Fi Beats to Relax and Study to" parody.

Season 2

• While the first episode of season 2 is quite gloomy, the bot boys manage to lighten the mood, if only for a bit, by marking their first appearance in the season with another popular meme.
  BotBoy: Oh? You're approaching me?
• Belle's failed attempt to unlock Sofia's phone and access her backup files results in a chibi drawing of Sofia on the screen waving her index finger and repeatedly saying "Uh oh! Someone needs a timeout!". Also serves as a Shout-Out to Jurassic Park.
• As Theo Coconut Burst Jumps his way out of his cell, he has the audacity to flash Lucks a cheeky peace sign the last frame before he breaks out.
• As Masa, Lamar and Sofia reunite and discuss their plans, Masa's neighbor keeps barging in, asking for Masa to pay back some owed money. He does respectfully leave each time he sees that Lamar and Sofia are still there, though.
  • He's cited as "Annoying Neighbor" in the credits.
  • Becomes Harsher in Hindsight in the context of “Fatal Error”, where it’s revealed Dr. Sheridan is actually the innocent-seeming neighbor, and thus hijacked Masa’s Meta Runner arm to frame him for Lucks’ death.
    • This loops back around to being when you realize that he barged in the second time in response to his name, meaning that he forgot that he was supposed to be incognito for a second.
    • The implication that Dr. Sheridan has loaned money to Masa before.
• Evelyn's line to the dating sim playing scientist as she takes his phone in Firewall.
  Evelyn: Say goodbye to your waifus, they're mine now.
  • And right before that, Tari defending the integrity of Otakus, earning enthusiastic approval from the poor sap Evelyn was bullying.
• As Tari searches Evelyn's room for the scientist's phone, she has to repeat a mantra to herself so she doesn't freak out over the copious amount of pastel pink slathering the room.
  Tari: Get the phone, contact MD-5. Get the phone, contact MD-5.
• A little later, Belle walks in the room to find a sheepishly-smiling Tari with Evelyn backing her up against a bed post.
• Lamar forgets an important detail as Masa drives MD-5 away from the Rust Pit at the end of Unreal Engines.
  Lamar: ...I told you, Sofia, so long as me and my man work together, we can get through anything! (To Masa) Up top!
  Music stops as Masa stares at him.
• It takes a while for Theo to recognize Belle in S2E4.
  • When he hears another disembodied voice, he assumes it's God again.
    Belle: Close, but no.
  • Theo finally rememers her when she recalls the time he hit her in the head with a coconut. He spends the rest of the episode calling her "Angry Shouty Lady".
  • When he's trying to decide whether or not he should trust Belle, he sarcastically asks Elder Tomato for advice, even though the only thing Elder Tomato can say is Simpleflip Island's backstory. Theo plays along, pretending that he's thinking really hard about Elder Tomato's "wisdom".
• When Tari enters Pocket Gatsukei, she tries finding Lamar by asking AI-Chan to search for various usernames. One of which is a little... strange...
  Tari: xXbodypillowbossXx?
  unamused expression from AI-Chan
  Tari: ...Please?
• When Belle is breaking Theo out of his room, several of the scientists monitoring Theo gather around like they're watching a movie.
  • As this happens, one of the scientists tries taking a sip from their "World's Best Scientist" mug, only to realize that they're jabbing the mug into their mask, and awkwardly lowers it again.
  • Right when Belle propels Theo out of the room, he happens to go flying in the direction that the scientists are viewing him from. They brace themselves for impact, only to remember that Theo is not a physical construct.
• As Lucks is looking through the files where Theo is, we see that they have a dedicated folder for Duck Photos.
• S2E5 Opens with the epic manga-esque action of Tari offering a gift to Satsuki-chan.
  • It's a rubber duck.
  • Doubly hilarious since one of these fake-out action shots was in the intro (specifically, a montage of quick action shots near the end), meaning that for the past four episodes, viewers were most likely wondering what kind of action scene would take place in the mobile anime dating sim, only to get faked out.
• Tari tries to get in touch with Lamar from within Pocket Gatsukei. Persistently. Unfortunately for Lamar's dignity, he gets the hail of cutesy "Pocket Gatsukei!" notification sounds as MD-5 are seriously discussing their next move.
  Masa: WOULD YOU JUST ANSWER THAT ALREADY?!
• Lamar finally sees Tari for the first time in months... as a cutesy anime talksprite.
  Tari switches to a nervous talksprite.
  Tari: ...Is something wrong?
• Lamar decides to get Sofia and Masa to join in thanks to some spare phones, face-scanned models and VR. Masa is extremely reluctant to do so.
  Masa looks at his outfit in distain
  Masa: This looks like something my grandfather would have worn as a uniform...
  • And Lamar makes his entrance with a jojo pose.
• When Tari brings up Belle wanting to work with MD-5, Lamar's response is to quote the "say sike right now" meme verbatim.
  • Lamar also says they can't trust Belle because "she's Lucks' right-hand dragon lady." Belle, being Belle, thinks that's a cool title.
• After Masa initially refuses to let Belle work with them, Belle goes up to Tari's phone and starts giving him a passionate reason-you-suck speech. Masa just mutes her. In the following scenes, Belle can still be seen ranting in the background. It isn't until Tari gives a heartwarming speech to convince Masa to let Belle work with them that they unmute her. THEN she realizes that she's been muted.
• As Tari's trying to convince Masa to let Belle work with them, the game registers all of their emotional talk as a Heart-to-Heart, popping the icon in front of Tari. She awkwardly dismisses it as she continues her speech.
• Lamar and Masa engaging in friendly fire with the players opposing Tari and Evelyn earns them complaints from the players, which they brush off by doing ridiculous voices.
• In episode 17, as Sofia's blackmailing Lucks to stop him from interrupting their plans, she provides cartoony visuals of Lucks crying over flaming bags of money, and a dinosaur with a TV for a head eating him.
  Sophia: The media's gonna eat you alive!
• As Evelyn fights Tari, one of the approaching soldiers wonder if they're trying to do some kind of pro-gamer move.
• In episode 19, several quarantine bots pass through a data cube poking into the corrupted Ultra Jump Mania game. Cut to the TAS Corp labs, where one of the scientists is playing Pocket Gatsuki, and is about to receive a waifu's love confession before all of their save data is deleted. Cue dramatic violin and the scientist crumpling to the floor in defeat. Even funnier is the lack in audio, even as the scientist is evidently bawling his eyes out.
• Theo addressing Lamar's body pillow as "m'lady" in "Fatal Error".
  • He also has this gem right before the episode enters into its shocking ending:
    Theo: I don't understand anything that's going on right now, but I agree with everything they just said!

Season 3

Episode 1

• The MD-5 members who were captured by Marco try to plan an escape. When they try to abort the plan when Marco arrives at the cell door, Theo tries to attack them anyway, but only manages to knock out Marco's assistant.
• Tari and Sofia's statement towards Marco as well as the not so brave boys' response to that statement.
  Tari: Mr. gang leader, Marco, sir, we were really grateful you saved us from the police-
  Sofia: But we've been here for a week now! If you want to kill us THEN JUST KILL US ALREADY!
  Lamar & Theo (shaking heads): Noooo...
• Marco reveals to the MD-5 that Masa cheated at the game. Lamar claims that Masa would never stoop that low, then retracts his statement when Marco reminds him that Masa shot Lucks dead (neither knowing that Sheridan was in control).
• Sheridan gives Masa and Belle Tari's warping ability in hopes that he would be his new Meta Runners. When they refuse, he angrily says that he should've let them get sent to prison and leaves them locked in his simulation... then briefly comes back to ask for a second time.
  Sheridan: Wait just checking do you want to join my team?
  Masa & Belle: No!!!
  Sheridan: WELL I DIDN'T WANT YOU ANYWAY!
• Sheridan's A.I. clone of Lucks being an Extreme Doormat is both disturbing and hilarious at the same time.
  A.I. Lucks: Do you two want to put your feet up on me?
• Sheridan shuts Belle up by turning her into a Facepalm. When she turns back, she remarks that she feels bad for all of the Facepalms she defeated during her speedruns.
• Theo and Sofia are both hopelessly bad at playing Turbo Crash 9. An unamused Lamar asks Tari which one she wants to be her partner.
  Tari: Come on Lamar, they don't look that bad!
  [Theo is heard screaming, the car he and Sofia were piloting crashes into a rock, and then they shoot a flammable barrel which blows them up.]
  Theo: Oh, so that's what the red barrels do!
• The initial creepiness of the Coraline-esque Masa and Belle dolls is somewhat offset by the cheesy song they sing.
  Doll Belle: We've found a better team. Because now we’re with///
  Someone who's worth a thousand men!
  Doll Masa: Someone who’ll make us grin again!
  Doll Belle: She’s just the best that’s ever been!
  Doll Masa: Who is it?
  Both: It's Evelyn!
  A.I. Lucks: She’s much better than Tari!
• The Bot-Boy who simps for Evelyn.
• The A.I. versions of the TAS- er, Sheridan Corp employees are the same as ever.

Episode 2

• When Theo is trying to figure out how to reach Tari, he makes a catapult out of avatars. He has the common sense to test it out first, which he does by launching the Elder Tomato who splatters against the wall. Theo decides that it will work anyway.
• When Masa and Belle are trying to tell Theo what he needs to do, Sheridan notices that they mouthed his name and concludes that they want to be his employees after all. In order to allow Theo to save Tari, they just go with it. Cue Funny Background Event with Theo trying to fight Evelyn.
• Marco agrees to give Sofia her laptop back to find out where Tari and Theo are, but asks his henchmen to keep an eye on her. Why? Because according to Marco, Sofia once legally changed his name to "Hot Pants"
  Sofia (to herself): Technically it was Princess Hot Pants.

Episode 3

• Evelyn finally catches up to Tari in Skybreakers, and they talk a little too much, to the annoyance to the other players.
  KoolCutlass34: STOP SPAMMING THE SERVER CHAT, LADIES!
  Tari and Evelyn: Stay out of this!

Episode 4

• Tari's pirate linguo is as adorable as it is hilarious.
• The one guy who gets shot after exclaiming that he finally has a girlfriend... then he gets shot, and said "girlfriend" loots his stuff with a masculine "yoink."
  • The fact that the crossplayer doesn't even bother to question that someone was killed in a non-combat area.
• When Theo respawns after getting shot by Evelyn, he blames the incident on his top hat and blows it up.
• When Evelyn kills the dock master with cheats, the NPC expresses relief over finally having the "sweet release of death..." only to respawn because he's an NPC.

Episode 5

• At the beginning of this episode, Tari finds a chest during fishing on the Bluejay. When opened, she holds up... a coffee cup from Sheridan's server in an Item Get! pose!
• Marco remarks that, by law, every game needs to have a Fishing Minigame stating that Turbo Crash of all games has one and how he was impressed by how the developers were able to integrate it.
• Near the beginning of the episode, Theo and Marco's Robot Buddy are having a little fight. Later, everyone else notices this happening. They stop in their tracks and we get this:
  Theo: (Pointing to the Robot Buddy) He started it!
  *Robot Buddy shoots him*
  Theo: Ow! You little piece of--! *Scene cuts*
• When the crew of the Bluejay break into Scrapbeard's Fortress, this exchange happens:
  Lamar: Boom! Gottem!
  Marco: You didn't need to do that, I have the key for this dungeon.
  Lamar: Yeah and I have the key to every dungeon here. [Sits on and pats one of the cannons of the Bluejay].
• In Scrapbeard's fortress, the crew encounters a bunch of fish creatures.
  Tari: Watch out! There's a handsome blind attack!
  Sofia: Come on Tari, it's just a bunch of...kind of hot fish dudes...
  *After checking to make sure no one's looking, she takes a screenshot.*
• The crew enters a room with a bunch of traps, with another Petey recolor who ended up getting caught in one.
• To activate all the traps, Theo throws Marco's Robot Buddy.
  Theo: That's what happens to those who laugh at me! *Laughs manically*
  Marco (to Tari): After all of this, you should warp him to see a psychiatrist because he needs help.

Episode 6

• The first commercial for SHER-Corp definitely Crosses the Line Twice.
• Sheridan tries to incentivise the Meta Runners with achievements that have conditions which are just cruel. If you pause at the right time you can see that one of the achievements is titled "That's so meta: Unpause the video and stop reading these".
  • There's also achievements for completing the beta with your brain intact, avoiding overloading your Meta Runner arm, killing A.I. Lucks, and losing your mind in the Void.
• There are two duplicates of Petey who are stuck in an endless loop of introducing themselves as Petey to each other until Theo tells them to shut up.
• SMG4's cameo.
• Lamar swipes a gun from this world's equivalent of SMG4 and quietly announces that he's going to use it to help save the world... then questions what happened to his life with video games, which he used to do just to chill after school.
• Looks like being able to do amazing things while inside of a video game has kinda gotten to Lamar's head.

Episode 7

• When Marco is about to be defeated by the brainwashed Masa and Lucinia, Marco attempts to ominously go out with a threatening speech only for it to be downplayed by them cutting them off by needlessly shooting his avatar's dead body over and over again.
• The Stinger features Lamar and Evelyn back at Shipwreck Swamp, with Lamar tossing stones at the glass of a pouting Evelyn's mech, and Marco's game character lying limp just a short distance away from them. After a few moments, Belle respawns in the distance and is immediately greeted by Petey.

Episode 8

• When Sheridan despawns all of the other Meta Runners so that Tari and Lucinia can have their final showdown uninterrupted, the Elder Tomato reappears and makes an annoyed grunt, making this the first time the Elder Tomato has ever expressed any of his personality outside of his prerecorded dialogue.
• When pointing out that Tari is the one creation that Sofia actually likes, Sheridan also points out that he's like her dad.
  Tari: No you're not!
  Sheridan: Daddy?
  Tari & Sofia: Worse!!!
  • What makes this funnier was the fact that moments ago, Sheridan was literally scolding Tari like a father telling off his rebellious teenager for skipping school, especially with his hilarious choice of words.
    Sheridan: You are in SO MUCH TROUBLE, young program! Do you know what you put me through by running off!?
• Satsuki-chan's subtitles displaying "<pained anime noises>" when she's hit.
• While showcasing her new God Mode abilities to Theo, Tari attempts to coolly spawn a couch and sit on it similarly to how Sheridan would've done it... only for it to immediately despawn and leaving Tari to fall on her ass.

Other

• How was Belle's speedrun concept made? Luke made a little machinima involving SMG4 traversing a course of Minecraft blocks while dodging ugly trees.