You Have to Burn the Rope - Television Tropes & Idioms

1. There's a boss at the end of this tunnel.

2. You can't hurt him with your weapons.

3. To kill him, you have to burn the rope above.

-You Have To Burn The Rope

4. Also, you can't really die.

You Have to Burn the Rope is a parody of Puzzle Bosses, Platform Games, and possibly video games in general, created by "Mazapan." It may also be considered to be the Mirror Universe version of I Wanna Be the Guy.

Saying anything more would ruin the experience, so just play it here

(originally hosted here

). It's free. GO FORTH, TROPERS! And if you want to listen to/download the end credits song, here's the link

, but don't do so until AFTER you finish the game. Trust us. Many, many spoilers.

Oh and... um, you have to burn the rope. Just sayin'...

Has no relation to the similar-sounding games Cut The Rope and Burn The Rope, other than the fact that ropes are involved.

You Have To Add The Trope:

Achilles Heel: Chandeliers.
All There Is To Know About The Crying Game
An Axe to Grind: The player character's main weapon. though it does nothing of importance.
Ascended Meme: Given a shout out in the World Of Goo level "You Have To Explode The Head".
Awesome, but Impractical: The axes. You can't kill the Grinning Colossus with them, and they can't cut the rope.
Awesome yet Practical: You get to drop a chandelier on someone, and it works.
Ax Crazy: By repeatedly hitting any button other than the directional keys or space.
Battle Theme Music
Benevolent Architecture: Lampshaded, just like nearly every other trope on here.
Blank White Eyes: The player character.
Boss Arena Idiocy
Chekhov's Gun: The torch you pick up halfway through the game plays a vital role in defeating the final boss.
Collision Damage
The Computer Is A Lying Bastard: While the instructions claim that you cannot hurt the colossus with your weapons, it is in fact possible. You cannot, however, kill it in this manner.
Closing Credits
Credits Gag: You'll see.
Easter Egg: After you read the instructions, right-click.
Exactly What It Says on the Tin
Expository Theme Tune: A rather strange version of this is seen in "Now You're a Hero," the end credits song. It doesn't explain anything; rather, it just reviews the entirety of the game. Then it asks you So What Do We Do Now? that you beat the game.
Expy: The player character is seemingly an Expy of Kirby...and Indiana Jones.
- Which means...Kirby ate Indiana Jones!
Eye Beams: The Grinning Colossus's signature attack.
Falling Chandelier of Doom: What happens when you burn the rope.
Final Boss: The Grinning Colossus. Then again, he's the only boss.
Flechette Storm: The main character can do this if you type fast enough.
Floating Platforms
Foregone Conclusion
Gameplay and Story Segregation: For some reason, you cannot simply cut the rope with the infinite axes the player character carries around.
- But of course! You have to burn the rope. As for why, that is the realm of Fridge Logic and Epileptic Trees.
Girly Run
Gratuitous Panning: In the end credits.
Hammer Space: You can pull billions of axes out of nowhere in sequence.
Healing Factor: The Grinning Colossus will take damage from your axes, but regenerates faster than you can keep up damage. By hacking the game it is possible to deplete the entire HP bar using only axes, but the Grinning Colossus still won't die.
Improvised Weapon: The chandelier.
Jump Physics
Kill It with Fire: You have to burn the rope.
Life Meter: The boss has a certain amount of health, but the player has infinite health.
Ludicrous Gibs: Well, some gibs, anyway.
Meaningful Name: The title. No points for guessing how to beat the boss.
Montage / Credits Montage
Necro Non Sequitur: Well, sort of.
No Arc in Archery: Averted, though with thrown axes.
Non-indicative Name: The Grinning Colossus never grins or even smiles.
Painting the Fourth Wall: The instructions and credits are printed beneath the floor of the first level, visible to the player but not the characters.
Point of No Return: The Boss Room has the hall seal as soon as you get to the end. In addition, at the end of the hall there is a drop from which you cannot jump back up.
Precision F-Strike: "You've manage to beat the whole damn ga-ame"
Puzzle Boss
Rule of Three: At the start, there are three instructions printed below the floor.
Saving the World: In the expository theme ("Now you're a hero, you burned the rope and saved us a-all." This seems to be the only place in the game where this particular plot-point is mentioned, however.)
Shoot the Rope: Averted; your normal weapons will have no effect as you have to burn the rope.
Shout Out: The ending song seems to shout out to the ending credits tune from Portal, Still Alive. The lyrics actually scan to the Same tune.
So What Do We Do Now?: The end of the credit song.
Spoiler Title
Strategy Guide: The game's site links directly to the official strategy guide.
Storming The Castle: The entire game.
Stuff Blowing Up: How the Grinning Colossus dies after you drop the chandelier on him.
That's All, Folks!: After the credits.
Title Drop: "3. To kill him, you have to burn the rope."
Variable Mix: The music changes the further down the tunnel you go. When you get past the Point of No Return between the third sign and the boss, the music is reduced to a low rumble.
Video Game Cruelty Potential: Jump Indy Kirby into the Eye Beams! Jump Indy Kirby into the creature! Jump Indy Kirby into the ceiling! It's got less Ludicrous Gibs than IWBTG, but also far less punishment.
Viewers Are Morons: The entire game can be viewed as a parody of this.
Walking Head: The protagonist.
Weaksauce Weakness: A boss you can't harm with infinite axes without healing is totally dominated by a falling chandelier.
You Have to Burn the Web: Trope Namer.