Neopets / Tropes Plots And Events

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Tropes Plots and Events (you are here)

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General

• Almighty Janitor: The Yurble foreman eventually ended up as this. His temper followed, but not his toenail painting habit.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Between Brynn and Hanso. And Hoban and Linae.
• Big Bad: Dr. Sloth, Lord Kass, Galem Darkhand, Captain Scarblade, Razul, Mr. Krawley, and Xandra.
• Big Good: Plots often have their own Big Goods, such as Jeran and Lord Darigan from the Meridell wars; The Keeper of Time from Hannah and the Ice Caves; King Kelpbeard from Curse of Maraqua; the deceased King Coltzan from the Lost Desert plot; and King Altador from the Altador plot and The Faeries' Ruin.
• Bittersweet Ending: Some plots, particularly The Tale of Woe, The Curse of Maraqua, and The Faeries' Ruin.
• Bookworm: This applies to every single one of the Seekers, as well as King Hagan and the inhabitants of Brightvale.
• Camp Wackyname: The 2013 Daily Dare challenge featured a game development camp called "Camp Wannamakeagame".
• Chekhov's Boomerang: Two of them: The Darkest Faerie was turned to stone after being defeated in the PS2 game, and the Faeries as a whole are restored from being turned to stone in the Faeries' Ruin years later. The two collide and come back in the Faeries' Ruin epilogue (about a month after the latter) when it's implied that the Darkest Faerie was restored along with everyone else.
• Colony Drop: Intentional or otherwise— Averted for Darigan Citadel in the "Battle for Meridell" plot, and played straight for Faerieland in the "Faeries' Ruin" plot.
  • Faerieland has a history of this - The Darkest Faerie tried to drop it onto Meridell in the PS2 video game.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The Neggbreaker from the Year 14 Neggfest site event. Its Battledome difficulty rating is listed at one hundred thousand, but the Ancient Negg Amulet Battledome item (created specifically for the event) allowed it to be defeated without the weilder taking a scratch.
• Dark Is Not Evil:
  • Special mention goes to Caylis of the Curse of Maraqua plotline. In previews for said storyline she was heavily implied to be an Evil Twin of Isca who wanted revenge for being banished due to being suspected of bringing bad luck with her powers (it went so far as to have her card in the Trading Card Game be of a "villain" alignment and an avatar suggesting Isca was "good" and Caylis was "bad"). Once the plot kicked around, however, it transpired that if anything she was a Broken Bird Dark Magical Girl who, while being cynical and unwilling to help at first, ultimately helped save Maraqua with said powers.
  • Jazan after his Heel–Face Turn, as he is still explicitly stated to have great knowledge of dark magic, being a former practitioner himself, but is ultimately becomes a heroic example on the site.
  • Lord Darigan eventually becomes this after his defeat in the first Meridell plot as well, later becoming a Reformed, but Rejected Noble Demon. As does the rest of the Citadel.
• Deadpan Snarker: Sophie and Jazan qualify.
• Did Not Get the Girl: Tomos. And pretty much every other guy in Neopets' plots. Pretty much justified, considering how they usually avert the topic of love… that doesn't stop the shippers, though.
• The Dragon:
  • Commander Garoo, to Dr. Sloth.
  • Lord Kass was one of these who is hinted at being responsible for Darigan's defeat.
• Excessive Evil Eyeshadow: Jazan. "Jazan's Guyliner" was even a plot prize in the Faerie's Ruin.
• Family-Unfriendly Violence / Family-Unfriendly Death: Hellooooo, Ski Lodge Murder Mystery! (Then again, it was from when the site was intended more for college students…)
  • They manage to sneak this into the newer plots from time to time.
  • This◊ (huge spoiler, and you might need a new pair of underpants) Undoubtly a Moment of Awesome for, not only Xandra, but the entire site in general.
• Fictional C Onstellations: Altador has 12 constellations representing the city's heroes.
• For the Evulz: Usually averted; many plot villains have deeper motives. Razul seemed to be after Immortality and was willing to do ''anything'' to achieve it; Kass is driven by vengeance, ambition and Greed; Scarblade seems to have an unknown vendetta against Maraqua; Galem is after the Heart of the Mountain due to his own Greed; The Darkest Faerie is another overly-ambitious character... Honestly, Sloth and the Bringer of Night are the only ones who count. And maybe Krawley.
  • Subverted by Lord Darigan and Xandra, who actually have motives with some valid points. They are of the Well-Intentioned Extremist kind.
    • Lord Darigan is a rare example of a Well-Intentioned Extremist who got over his extremism and went straight into Big Good territory.
• Gone Horribly Right: The site event "The Coincidence" acted as an item sink for a large number of worthless items. Players were required to turn in up to fifteen "junk" items to an NPC to receive a prize, removing them from the site's economy in the process. Within two days, savvy users had bought up thousands of these items and begun to sell them for up to 100,000 times their original worth.
• Guide Dang It!: Some of the steps in the site plots fall into this territory, including:
  • The "Breaking the Code" step from "The Return of Doctor Sloth" - a confusing codebreaker puzzle that fansites were forbidden from posting the solutions to.
  • The entire Altador Plot, which requires players to (amongst other things) Pixel Hunt on complicated maps, map constellations in the night sky, purchase dummy items from shops and do things in a very specific order. It's nigh-impossible to get through without a guide.
• Heel–Face Turn:
  • In the Lost Desert Plot, Jazan was set up as the villain from the start, but does this towards the end thanks to The Power of Love. He returns in The Faeries' Ruin plot on the heroic side, playing a role akin to the Token Evil Teammate.
  • Subverted with Commander Gormos in The Return of Dr. Sloth Plot. He spares the heroes' lives, but does so only out of frustration of being reduced to Dr. Sloth's errand boy. The heroes assume that Gormos really did make a Heel–Face Turn, and so later on the Grundos make a golden statue in his honor. Gormos doesn't react very well to it.
  • Lord Darigan is a… complicated example of this. A fitting example of Dark Is Not Evil, Lord Darigan's people lived in peace and prosperity before Meridell stole the Orb. As a result, Lord Darigan became a Noble Demon, as did most of his people. Ultimately, the Citadel ended up winning the war due to an odd combination of Evil Is Cool, The Woobie and Good All Along.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: None of the Meridell heroes (side characters, Jeran, Tormund) seem to wear one. Brynn does wear one at the start of The Faerie's Ruin, but she loses it halfway.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: There are instances of this in plots such as Battle for Meridell and Hannah and the Ice Caves, but this is most clearly seen in The Faeries' Ruin.
  Hanso: You know, it's ironic. Xandra was undone by the same artifact that started it all.
• Hopeless Boss Fight: Mayor Thumburt, Razul, Oblivion, and... a lot of plot end-bosses are this. From the player's perspective, anyway - unlike most enemies, the bosses' health bars are shared among everyone in Neopia, so while a single pet has almost no chance of beating them, from the bosses' perspective they're suffering a Death of a Thousand Cuts via a Zerg Rush of them.
• Improvised Imprisonment: In "Ski Lodge Murder Mystery", the site staff is being murdered one-by-one while snowed in at a ski-lodge. After being stabbed with someone else's lightsaber, J. Boogie had just enough time to accuse Monster Boy of being the killer. Monster Boy was kept chained up in the library and guarded by other staff members, but Boogie's accusation was proven wrong when Monster Boy was killed a few days later, flattened with a giant Tiki idol.
• Interspecies Romance: Very common in the plots, with the aforementioned Jazan/Nabile and Hanso/Brynn being the most explicit examples. Others include Masila and Galem (or Kanrik) from Hannah and the Ice Caves, and Edmund and Alice from Tale of Woe. There was also the wedding between a Gelert and an Usul (designed to look like Kanrik and Hannah) that Garin and Jacques interrupted.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Some of the characters in the plots fit this trope perfectly.
• Karma Houdini:
  • Skarl, who as of today is still listed in the Gallery of Heroes and rules Meridell without any question from the people in spite of being at fault in the tragic transformation of what is now the Darigan Citadel back in Champions of Meridell.
  • Captain Dread, Captain Scarblade, Masila and Mr. Krawley all got away after their respective plots.
• Killed Off for Real: Lord Kass, possibly Galem Darkhand, Razul, King Coltzan, Hubrid Nox...
• Luck-Based Mission: From the Altador plot, the Punch Club and Water Plant parts. They both have several combinations, but only one will work.
  • In Yooyuball in the annual Altador Cup event, the balls in play alternate between a normal Yooyu and a random Yooyu other than normal. Scoring a goal with a Faerie Yooyu (which curves to the left or right at random, although at least relative to the direction you were facing) or a Darigan Yooyu especially (which flies off in a random direction, and only rarely in the direction you were originally facing) requires quite a bit of luck.
• New Job as the Plot Demands: The Angry Orange Yurble — a foreman (and later, a chef) in the Lost Desert plot, a janitor in the Altador plot and a Librarian in the Faerie's Ruin plot.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Plots introduce changes into Neopia. This is why the destruction of worlds, such as Maraqua and Faerieland, come as a shock. The area may be rebuilt afterward, but things are never quite the same.
• Official Couple:
  • Jazan and Nabile from The Lost Desert plot.
  • Brynn and Hanso from The Faeries' Ruin plot. One of the rewards for the latter plot even has a plushie supporting the pair.
  • Implied with Hannah and Kanrik.
• One-Winged Angel: Mayor Thumbert in the Tale of Woe plot and Lord Darigan in the first Meridell plot.
• Pirates vs. Ninjas: The theme of the 2012 Games Master Challenge.
• Pixel Hunt: Having to find the tiniest spots to click on the maps, but mostly? Constellation hunting with thousands of not-quites and even hints that can actually mislead you (such as giving three equidistant stars whereas the real deal has three collinear, but NOT equidistant, stars). You will need the patience of a Zen master and the eyes of a hawk. And for the annoyances of this plot, that's just for starters! Luckily, there are guides and HTML programs out there to solve those problems in a breeze! Good luck finding them first, though.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: When plot characters are made into Battledome challengers, their authority status always directly correlates to their combat ability. King Skarl, Lord Darigan, Lord Kass, Kanrik, King Kelpbeard, Captain Scarblade, and Mayor Thumburt were all far more powerful than their underlings.
• Recurring Extra: The Angry Orange Yurble.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something:
  • In the Faeries' Ruin plot, both King Altador and King Jazan actively got involved in investigating who turned the faeries to stone.
  • In Curse of Maraqua, King Kelpbeard leads his troops into battle against Captain Scarblade's army of pirates.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: The Darkest Faerie; Sloth in the Space Faerie's token. Xandra.
• Shipped in Shackles: How the Chia Police prepare to send The Ski Lodge Killer to prison.
• Ship Sinking:
  • A surprising number of people shipped Tomos and Nabile together, before, all of a sudden, Nabile decided she wanted to marry Jazan.
  • Razul did a veto of his own.
• Solitary Sorceress: Sophie the Swamp Witch and Edna.
• Stranger in a Familiar Land: Several plots end bittersweetly, with the objective accomplished but the more alienated or bitter characters unable to settle (back) into 'normal' life. See Sophie, Bruno, and Caylis.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: From the 2014 Desert Diplomacy event: 'Princess Amira and her advisors are considering your evidence. They are most certainly not finishing up a hand of Sakhmet Solitaire.'
• Take That, Audience!: As part of the minor Charity Corner event in late 2014, one of the characters was the Vandagyre in the Pound, a Vandagyre who was abandoned just a week after being adopted and was confused and upset because he didn't do anything to deserve it. This was a not-so-subtle What the Hell, Player? moment directed at the tons of users who did that very thing; adopting the brand-new pet species in droves, then later realizing they didn't want it, leading to mass abandonment.
• Terrible Trio: This can be seen with the Dark Faerie Sisters and The Drenched. However the normal command structure of this trope seems to be subverted.
• That Makes Me Feel Angry: Used for comedic effect with the Angry Orange Yurble.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Lord Kass, The Bringer of Night, Captain Scarblade, Emperor Razul, Alexander Krawley… Most plot villains are this, unless they're Dr. Sloth or Lord Darigan.
• Weaksauce Weakness:
  • The zombies that terrorize Sakhmet in the Lost Desert Plot can be destroyed by heavy blunt objects. The only ones who are able to figure this out are some scrappy street thieves (and a shopkeeper they were staying with), and they get an audience with the princess in order to pass on their discovery.
  • There's a bit of this as well as Hoist by His Own Petard with the villain of the Petpet Park plot; he has been foiled multiple times in his life (including in the plot itself) by his insistence on using pens instead of pencils. In fact, his frustration with this is what drove him to villainy (as opposed to driving him to, you know, just use pencils).
• Well-Intentioned Extremist:
  • Xandra. Surprisingly, she actually has some valid points. We eventually find out Lord Darigan is one, as well.
  • When contrasted with Meridell's excuse for a ruler, Lord Darigan looks like a Big Good. At least he doesn't make up stupid things like a Marrow Tax.
  • Most of the War of the Obelisk factions are presented as this in their Neopedia entries, wanting to take control of the Obelisk so others don't misuse it (the exceptions are the Thieves' Guild, who admit they're in it for personal gain; and the Awakened, whose Creepy Twins leaders seem to have gotten the undead involved just for their amusement).
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • Where did Hoban go after the Cyodrake's Gaze plot was finished?
  • As well as Captain Dread and his crew, who never appeared after the destruction of Old Maraqua.
• The X of Y: Most plot titles use the formula "The ____ of ____" or "The _______'s ______"

Sacrificers

• Cannibal Tribe: Mumbo Pango's followers are referred to as a tribe of "cannibal coconut people", though whether they are "truly" cannibalistic is uncertain as they appear to be neither human or Neopet.
• Devoured by the Horde: Dr. Monroe is plopped down into a tall wooden tube structure with a burlap bag marked by a skull, which opens to reveal a mass of scorpions that cover his body and eat him alive.
• Excuse Plot: Compared to fellow "Early Installment Gruesome Violence" event "Ski Lodge Murder Mystery", which involved a somewhat more complex plot, the setup for this event is largely an excuse to watch self-deprecative Black Comedy animations of the Neopets staff members dying.
• Human Sacrifice: The event's backstory claims that the 13 members of The Neopets Team involved were captured by Mystery Islanders as sacrifices to the god Mumbo Pango.
• Hurl It into the Sun: Mr. Plaid is sacrificed by getting catapulted into the Sun.
• Sole Survivor: Site co-creator Donna (AKA Pop Tart) is the only one of the 13 to survive, allowing her to escape from Mystery Island.

Ski Lodge Murder Mystery

• Chalk Outline: Multiple images feature chalk outlines of the deceased. Oddly, despite the trope originating from attempts to shield viewers from seeing corpses, other images for this event have no problem showing them.
• Cooked to Death: Mr. Plaid was found dead with his face cooking on the stove.
• Cut Phone Lines: After Bubbles's death in Week 3, it is revealed that the Lodge's sole phone line was cut.
• Dwindling Party: The entire premise of the event revolves around members of The Neopets Team being killed off one-by-one across 16 weeks.
• Haunted Castle: The titular Ski Lodge resembles a castle and is openly described as being haunted, being abandoned for "over 100 years" before TNT took residence.
• Never One Murder: The event proper starts off with Electric Blue Monkey's death by falling down the stairs, the rest of the staff then speculating whether it was accidental or someone deliberately pushed him. After Black Widow is found dead from strangulation, it immediately becomes clear that they are being targeted by a Serial Killer.
• Off with His Head!: Mister Pickles, the 20th death, was decapitated in the Cellar.

Brucey B and the Lucky Coin

• All or Nothing: In the invitational Cheat! game, Spectre offers to bet everything for Brucey B’s Lucky Coin, to which he accepts. Sadly, Spectre wasn’t cheating.
• Bullethole Door: Notably averted; when Dr. Sloth allows the Grundo minions to blast their way open, there is not a mark on the Sphinx’s stone door. It takes a coin being thrown into a slot for the door to open.
• Crossing the Desert: Brucey B, Capara and Fernypoo manage to make it through the Haunted Woods and head to the Lost Desert. Fernypoo is the worst affected by this, with her nails being cracked, her paws blistered and her shoes full of sand.
• Darkest Hour: Day 14 is full of this trope; Capara and Fernypoo are morphed respectively into a Wadjet and a mutant, while Sakhmet City is battered and the citizens of Sakhmet are rounded up by Dr. Sloth and the Grundo minions, with Horak being turned into a Mutant Aisha (notably the original version) when she failed to escape.
• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: In Brucey B and the Lucky Coin, Spectre had purple skin and a scar in place of the tattoo on his face. He was also presumably known as "R.S." during the story.
• Evil Laugh: Dr. Sloth lets out an audible laugh twice; first when he notices Brucey B’s medallion, and then when he finds the staff in the treasure room.
• Imagine Spot: Brucey B, Capara, Fernypoo and even her dog Muffy all have one, though in Muffy’s case - while the first three are all related to getting the coin back - he’s wholesomely hugging a tree.
• Inevitable Tournament: The story opens with Brucey B taking part in the Cheat! tournament and winning.
• MacGuffin: Brucey B’s gold medallion drives the plot of the story.
• Plot Hole: How Brucey B got his lucky coin back isn’t explained; Capara and Fernypoo weren’t able to find the coin, while Dr. Sloth admits point blank that he doesn’t have the coin in the finale.
• Rock Monster: Dr. Sloth summons the Rock Beast with his staff. Naturally, the Sakhmet citizens panic after seeing the Beast.
• Rule of Three: Brucey B wins the 3rd Annual Cheat Contest.
• Smart Ball: As two Desert Chias tries to barrier the gate with several items, including an Elephante, the mutant Grundos opted to blast down the wall next to the gate.
• Shared Universe:
  • Cheat! players Brucey B, Capara, Princess Fernypoo, Spectre and Agent 00 Hog appear in this story.
  • Characters from this story - such as Brucey B, Thiebos, Khadir, Ramset, Horak and Spectre (Billed as ???) - appear in both versions of the game Tug 'O' War.
• Spinning Paper: When Brucey B wins the contest, a newspaper spins in, reading Big Loser Brucey B. Turns Big Winner!!
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: With his minions outmatched, the Rock Beast defeated, and the staff destroyed, Dr. Sloth slaps Brucey B out of his way and escapes upward in an elevator to a rocket ship hidden in the tower, vowing revenge.
• Wild Wilderness: Brucey B, Capara and Fernypoo are forced to go through the Haunted Woods during night time, and moments later the following happens; Brucey B gets stuck in quicksand, Fernypoo is lifted up by a tree and Capara is seen tearing and thinking "I want my Mummy!" Despite this, they manage to survive the following day.

Champions of Meridell/Battle for Meridell

• Deal with the Devil: In the second Meridell plot, Big Bad Lord Kass makes a deal with a group of mysterious entities called The Three in exchange for his power, with the clear implication that Darigan had done the same thing the first time. It ends just as badly as you'd expect.
• Distracted by the Sexy: A G-rated example, obviously. The witch Morguss disguises her daughter as a beautiful Court Dancer and sends her to King Skarl's palace. She hypnotizes him with her dancing, making him so enamored with her beauty that he forgets to send soldiers to defend his kingdom against Darigan Citadel, leaving Meridell vulnerable to attack.
• Good All Along: The Darigan Citadel in the Champions of Meridell plot.
• No Macguffin No Winner: At the end of Champions, the orb that Meridell and Darigan were fighting over is destroyed.
• Reformed, but Rejected: Lord Darigan is a textbook example of this. Despite being an Obviously Evil Bat Out of Hell, he was in fact a Well-Intentioned Extremist who was trying to take back what rightfully belonged to his people from Meridell and their Jerkass ruler, King Skarl. However, even though his side won, their land wasn't restored, and he underwent a Face–Heel Turn out of nowhere. Then, when he returned, he defeated Lord Kass and saved Meridell. You'd think he'd be in the Gallery of Heroes now, right? Nope! He's STILL in the Gallery Of Evil and considered a villain, while Skarl is in the Gallery of Heroes despite being the guy who's at fault for all of that!
• This Was His True Form: In the Battle for Meridell plot, Lisha unmasks the seemingly-beautiful Court Dancer with a magic spell, revealing her to be a hideously ugly Darigan Aisha.

Hannah and the Ice Caves

• Bravado Song: The Hannah and the Ice Caves plot comic begins with Hannah singing about her adventures in a pub.
  They call me Hannah the brave, Hannah the quick
  I'll get you the gems and be out in a tick
  Pirates and ghouls are no match for me
  When they see Hannah coming, they all turn and flee!
• Delicate and Sickly: To trick Hannah into retrieving the Heart of the Mountain for him, Kanrik makes up a story about his sister being such.
  I have to get that cure, Hannah. For her sake.
• The Farmer and the Viper: Taelia finds a collapsed Neopet outside her door in the freezing cold and takes him in. He turns out to be Valin, a member of the Thieves Guild who attacks her, makes a mess of her home, and freezes her with her own ice wand.
• Find the Cure!: To get Hannah to retrieve the Heart of the Mountain for him, Kanrik makes up a story about a plague spreading in his village and his sick and dying sister who he needs to retrieve the cure for.
• Gory Discretion Shot: In the Hannah and the Ice Caves plot, when Kanrik kills Galem, the panel is shown in silhouette, but the placement of Kanrik's dagger and the blood spray makes it look like he ripped Galem's heart out. And keep in mind this was after the site became Lighter and Softer.
• Hostile Show Takeover: A fake ending for Hannah and the Ice Caves, where the cast of the then-Vaporware Return of Dr. Sloth plot attacks out of nowhere because their plot was canceled.
• In the Hood: The members of the Thieves Guild wear dark hoods, making them look sinister.
• Literally Shattered Lives: Once the Bringer of Night is frozen by the Heart of the Mountain, Armin finishes him by shooting him with a pebble from his slingshot, knocking him over and shattering him into pieces.
  Armin: Take that, you big bully.
• Rugged Scar: Kanrik, a ruthless (but not heartless) thief, has one across his muzzle. His leader Galem has three across the side of his mouth.
• Sealed Good in a Can: To protect the Bori tribe from the Bringer of Night, their leader cast a spell that sealed them within the mountain, with the Heart of the Mountain keeping them alive.

Curse of Maraqua

• Cassandra Did It: Caylis from the Curse of Maraqua plot was often a victim of this, since her powers of precognition came though nightmares. Her sister Isca, who foresaw pleasant events in her dreams, benefited from this trope.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Isca tries to summon her pet Goregas, a giant sea monster, to help rescue Jacques from The Drenched. Goregas never arrives in time, but the heroes still manage to escape due to the intervention of a different sea monster. Later on, Goregas finally arrives during the war and helps turn the tide against the pirates.
• The Dreaded: Captain Scarblade is said to be this in his Neopedia article.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Garin's rather loose lips is what allows the pirates to learn about the existence of New Maraqua.
• Villain Protagonist: Garin, of the Chaotic Neutral type, though he does protect an underwater city from being destroyed by a pirate lord once again. He is a born pirate and will not give up the life of piracy and thrill. He is even in the Gallery of Heroes, which lampshades its own entry.

Lost Desert Plot

• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: When Razul arrives and starts destroying Sahkmet, Jazan is initially unable to stop him. But then he presses his berserk button by harming Nabile...
• Resurrection Gambit: Razul was an Immortality Seeker with immense power. He cursed his own nation and his own son Jazan, leaving them in a monstrous state unless his son could marry the princess of Sakhmet. Unfortunately for Jazan, the marriage didn't break the curse, it only brought Razul back to life like he'd intended to hundreds of years prior.
• Suddenly Suitable Suitor: Near the end of the Lost Desert Plot, the street thief Nabile is revealed to have royal blood. This is thanks to her resemblance to a picture of a princess, which just happens to be on the wall in the room where Jazan and Princess Amira are about to be wed. Nabile then declares her love for Jazan and they get married instead.

Tale of Woe

• Abandoned Hospital: The Meepit Oaks Sanitorium for the Psychologically Fragile, a part of the Tale of Woe plot where you have to find the way through a creepy hospital building.
• Beauty to Beast: Bruno started out as a handsome, if gangly, Gelert. In an effort to impress his love interest, an Aisha named Lily, he took Hissi Oil from Mr. Krawley that made him even stronger... Unfortunately, it also came with the side effect of turning him into a grotesque monster. What's worse, at the end of the "Tale of Woe" plot, he is the only Neovian who is not able to return to their original form. It is assumed that this is because he's been under the effects of the Hissi Oil for too long.
• Body Horror: Happens to those who drink Krawley's potion.
• Broken Bird: Sophie, who was a sweet and innocent child, but Took A Level In Cynicism when her hometown was cursed and she was forced to flee into the woods. She was separated from her family for years afterward.
• Catch-22 Dilemma: In the "Tale of Woe" plot, Gilly suggests they (her, Sophie, and Bruno) ask the Brain Tree for the Spirit of Slumber's real name. When they did, he asked them to tell him when he died. Gilly then suggested the Esophagor, who told them to tell him his real name before he tells them when he died. Lampshaded. Thankfully, a third option was discovered.
  Gilly: That's not fair! We need the name to know when he died, but we need to find out when he died to know the name!
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Sophie in the "Tale of Woe" plot, though she doesn't defrost entirely as she is still a grumpy Solitary Sorceress, and she likes it that way.
• The Grotesque: Bruno in his present form.
• Humans Are Bastards: Neopets Are Bastards. The Haunted Woods Plot gives this trope, showing the local Neovians as morally-weak cowards, who only know to find a scapegoat to blame for a malicious potion's effect on their bodies and psychology. It is also the reason Sophie is determined to stay away from the town as a lone swamp witch for many years. Granted, Neopets is supposed to be a kid-friendly website!
• Karma Houdini: Mr. Krawley escapes at the end, and isn't seen physically.
• Knights and Knaves: The Two-Headed Hissi in the "Tale of Woe" plot. The solution? Poke one of the heads with a stick.
• Never My Fault: The townspeople quickly blame Bruno and Sophie's family for the potion, when they all drank it by their own choice.
• Noodle Incident: Sophie had a bad experience with the Brain Tree. Gilly asked about the incident, and was blasted for it. After visiting him, Gilly suggested asking the Esophagor, and Sophie says she had a bad experience with him as well.
• Rustproof Blood: Averted/subverted with a red-splattered asylum door in the Tale of Woe plot. In the walkthrough released after the plot ended, the door was explicitly described as rusty. The associated plot prize was actually called the Rusty Asylum Cell Door, and its description reads "Repeat after me: The red stuff is RUST."

The Return of Dr. Sloth

• Expy: The Robot Yurble from the Return of Dr. Sloth plot, an expy of the recurring Angry Orange Yurble.
• His Name Really Is "Barkeep": The Resistance scout from the Return of Dr. Sloth plot turns out to be named Scout.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Gorix does this when he finally meets Dr. Sloth. Subsequently lampshaded.
  Sloth: How dare you interrupt my "Resistance Is Futile" speech!

Cyodrake's Gaze

• Non-Mammalian Hair: Anshu from the Cyodrake's Gaze plot, a Ruki, has thick eyebrows and a very long mustache. Then again, Neopet biology may not work the same as IRL animals, so...justified?
• Too Much Information: In the "Voyage of the Cyodrake's Gaze" plot, the "interrogator" (you?) cuts off Linae just as she was about to explain what she and Anshu were discussing about.
  Linae: Anshu and I were discussing how awful the food's been lately. That anchovy casserole did a number on my—
  You: Whoa! More than enough information. Moving on...

The Faerie's Ruin

• Anger Born of Worry: Brynn calls Hanso a jerk after he pretends to be getting hurt by an artifact.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: Brynn, but she doesn't get to finish it.
• Badass Longcoat: Hanso wears one in the Faeries' Ruin plot.
• Batman Gambit: In the Faeries' Ruin plot, Hanso's false betrayal to Xandra. He even drags his conflict with Brynn into it as a fake motivator.
• Beneath the Mask: Xandra in the "Faeries' Ruin" plot initially appears helpful, nerdy, and innocent with anger issues. She even wears glasses to heighten the effect (pictured here◊). However, she is revealed to be a Well-Intentioned Extremist with a completely "Machiavellian" and egomaniacal personality. She even makes Faerieland crash!◊
• Colony Drop: Faerieland's fate thanks to Xandra. No one is worse for wear, though, and is in the process of restoration after the plot is finished.
• Criminally Attractive: Brynn, a Brightvale guard captain, has a burgeoning Odd Friendship and Ship Tease with Hanso, a thief she has a history of apprehending.
• Exact Words: All faeries that were turned to stone are returned to normal. They didn't specify only the faeries turned to stone by Xandra... and the Darkest Faerie's petrified statue is missing.
• Face Palm: Brynn does this in the first comic of The Faerie's Ruin.

• The Glasses Come Off: Xandra loses hers when things go bad and she reveals herself as the villain. Lampshaded by Hanso when he's taunting her, saying she might be able to aim better if she put them back on. And then again when they're offered as a prize, where the item description says that Xandra and the villain can't be the same person because one wears glasses and the other doesn't.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Hanso lets themselves be Taken for Granite to stop the Big Bad.
• How Did You Know? I Didn't: Brynn asks Hanso how he knew that Fyora would be able to reverse his petrification. Said character answers that they didn't; it was a "lucky break."

• Mythology Gag: Rife in The Faeries' Ruin arc.
  Jazan: What now, Altador? More star-gazing?
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Well done, Brynn and Hanso (plus all the players who participated in the plot). You just helped Xandra crash Faerieland into Neopia.
• Not So Stoic: After the others are freed from stone, they happen upon Brynn crying next to a petrified Hanso. Of all people, Jazan is the one who appears to be the most upset.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Despite Hanso and Brynn defeating Xandra and saving the day, Faerieland is destroyed by the end of the plot. However, though grounded, it is in the process of repairs to this day. Hubrid Nox remains dead and, perhaps just as serious, the statue of the Darkest Faerie is missing.
• Old Master: The Ogrin Master in the Faeries' Ruin plot is quite elderly, but extremely wise and quite capable of defeating the wraiths with his bare hands.
• Portmanteau Couple Name: 'Brynnso' for Brynn/Hanso, later used by TNT in the name of one of the plot prizes (Brynnso Plushie Set), making it an in-universe example.
• A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: Xandra, who becomes a Well-Intentioned Extremist, with emphasis on extreme.
• Sequel Hook: The epilogue of the Faerie's Ruin mentions that the Darkest Faerie statue went missing in the chaos.
• Smooch of Victory: Brynn gives Hanso one on the cheek in Chapter 17 of The Faerie's Ruin.
• Stab the Scorpion: Done in The Faeries' Ruin when Hanso tells Brynn that she can stay in Brightvale to fight the wraiths and die for all he cared in order to get her to follow him. She then calls after him and he turns around to see her chucking her sword at him. Turns out she was impaling the wraith that was sneaking up behind Hanso as he was leaving.
• Taken for Granite: The Faeries' Ruin started when the Faeries were all turned to stone during their festival. Other characters were also petrified as the plot progressed.
• Those Two Guys: The Draik and Skeith guards from The Faeries' Ruin.
• Vampiric Draining: The creepy glowing purple wraiths in The Faeries' Ruin plot drain the Life Energy of their captives.
• Visionary Villain: Xandra, who believes the Faeries don't do enough good with their power and thinks everyone else is worse off for depending on them.
• We Can Rule Together: The Faeries' Ruin plot villain Xandra, almost word for word.
• Wham Episode: Chapters 13 was a truly shocking one as Xandra betrays Hanso and Brynn, allowing Faerieland to crash onto Neopia.
• Xanatos Gambit: In the Faerie's Ruin plot, Xandra's second plan. The heroes try to get a special artifact to reverse the spell that transformed the faeries into stone. It doesn't matter if they succeed or not. Because the artifact is an Amplifier Artifact and thus useless by itself. Even if the heroes get the artifact on time Xandra will simply use the artifact to transform the heroes into stone too.
• You Fight Like a Cow: One of the steps in The Faerie's Ruin involves Hanso (you) insulting Xandra. One of the achievements for this step even has this as the description.
• You're Insane!: Hanso to the Big Bad.
  Hanso: I see it now... you are completely out of your mind.

War of the Obelisk

• Ambiguously Evil: The Oracle's true motives have never been made clear. She was introduced at the end of the War of the Obelisk as a seemingly benevolent ancient spirit. However, her actions are rather questionable. All she has done so far is to involve the six factions who originally fought for the right to open the Obelisk in perpetual battles simply for her amusement. She grants boons to the winning faction that last for one week, until it's time for yet another battle. It seems doubtful that a spirit who delights in watching frequent violence (and has multiple groups of powerful Neopians under her spell, constantly striving to gain her favor) could really mean well. Then again, those same groups have been able to invoke Look What I Can Do Now!, so it's not as though it was all bad.
• Anti-Villain: The Sway are described as a Type III in their Neopedia entry, their primary goal being keeping peace in Neopia at the cost of free will of others.
• Ascended Meme: The Helpful Zafara Digger from the Obelisk War that was mercilessly lampooned and pasted over many images was made into a wearable plot prize for users to do the same to their pets.
• Creepy Twins: The Awakened, twin Wocky girls who can apparently control the undead.
• The Dandy: Sandro is most definitely this. He is dressed to the nines and his love for style and need to keep his clothes tidy is made apparent through his dialogue:
  Sandro: Gah! I have some dirt on my sleeve!
• Fantastic Fireworks: The leaders of the Awakened, Lanie and Lillie, use fireworks to summon their army of the undead. They're operating under the pretense that they're throwing a party, rather than preparing for war.
• A Fête Worse than Death: This could apply to the Awakened, as their leaders, Creepy Twins named Lanie and Lillie, seem to believe they are throwing a party. A party with cake, ice cream... and undead monsters going on rampages and attacking the living. It is strongly hinted that, despite being children, Lanie and Lillie are not as innocent as they let on, and that they know full well what the War of the Obelisk is and what they're getting into.
  "It's a nice day for a party. The sky is bleak and grey."
  "The air smells of decay and raspberry candy floss."
• Finishing Each Other's Sentences: Lanie and Lillie, the twins who lead the Awakened, constantly do this.
• For Science!: This is why the Seekers are interested in the Obelisk.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Katie, also known as the Genius Inventor of the Seekers.
• Grande Dame: The Duchess of the Sway.
• The Grim Reaper: At the end of the War of the Obelisk, the army of the undead known as the Awakened were pitted against Death. Ironically, this Neopian version of the Grim Reaper appears in the form of a cherubic baby Ixi.
• The Illuminati: One of the factions in the 2013 plot are the Sway who seem to be the Neopets version.
• Iron Lady: The Duchess of the Sway.
• Left Hanging: Though the "War of the Obelisk" plot was introduced in epic fashion, the supposed ending was very anti-climactic and raised more questions than it did answers. While it was hinted that the power of the Obelisk could potentially change Neopia dramatically, the only thing that happened when it was opened was the appearance of a mysterious being made of light known as the Oracle. Her origins and motives have never been explained, though she now oversees bi-weekly skirmishes between the factions that originally fought for the right to open the Obelisk. As such, it is suspected by some that she could have nefarious intentions by pitting them against one another in an endless cycle. However, as the aforementioned skirmishes have since become a feature on the site, it is unlikely that the storyline will ever be continued.
• Magical Society: The Order of the Red Erisim, which is comprised of many powerful magic users scattered throughout Neopia.
• Mêlée à Trois: The War of the Obelisk has six different sides fighting for the Obelisk itself.
  • Evil Versus Evil: No faction comes off as entirely heroic or good, with all of them being motivated by the idea that the Obelisk is rightfully theirs for varying reasons. Even worse since it appears the Sway's victory (the original event-oriented one) and advantages were only temporary.
• Nerd Glasses: Professor Lambert and his niece Katie wear these.
• The Professor: Professor Lambert, leader of the Seekers.
• Proud to Be a Geek: All of the Seekers have this attitude.
• Seven Deadly Sins: The endgame bosses for each different faction in War of the Obelisk, which also represent the fears of their leaders. However, this is not played completely straight; due in part to Neopets being "family-friendly". Lust is understandably excluded, but Gluttony is oddly replaced as well. Though the "Death" boss that takes the place of Gluttony also has elements of Cupid as well, so you never know…
• Undead Child: Though it's never outright stated, it is heavily implied that the twin leaders of the Awakened, Lanie and Lillie, have risen from the grave themselves.

Spooky Food Eating Contest

• Butt-Monkey: You during the Spooky Food Eating Contest plot. During the Magic Melody phase, you keep falling to sleep after arranging the plants correctly (which is the intended effect). And during the Perilous Catacombs phase, whenever the group winds up with a curse, you are hit with it while Kell and Corbin are always safe.
• Interface Screw: During the Perilous Catacombs step of the "Spooky Food Eating Contest" plot, some of the curses the game can give you are like this, ranging from changing the words to Tyranu and Evavu, whiting the text, shrink the map, put a "blinking eyes" overlay on the screen, cause a lag when processing your choice, turn the map upside down, or even make it do a "BARREL ROLL!".
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: Corbin from the "Neovian Spooky Food Eating Contest" plot, to the point that several users actually formed a fan club for his chin on the Neoboards.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: During the catacombs phase in the Spooky Food Eating Contest plot, you can end up saving some kids from a flooding room. You are able to stop the water flow, only for a curse to hit you.
• Noodle Implements: During the Perilous Catacombs step of the Spooky Food Eating Contest plot, the text from one "wrong" result from choosing how to enter a room where there's chanting includes this: "You crash the door and find the chanting was coming from a circle of cultists. They are in the middle of a secret ritual involving an ancient tome, a spork, and a lot of strawberry slushies."

The Wraith Resurgence

• Clear Their Name: This is Malum's ultimate goal.
• Word-Salad Horror: There's a lot of cryptic phrases on the paper in front of Kaia at the HQ.
• Fainting Seer: Kaia, with some shades of Mad Oracle thrown in given that you have to decipher the name of the place she's dreaming about during her trances.
• Grand Theft Me: The wraiths that you fight in the Battledome are actually neopets who were turned into wraiths by The Darkest Faerie. Reizo also counts.
• Impersonation Gambit: Used by The Darkest Faerie to impersonate Kaia.
• Kudzu Plot: Big time. We know that the Darkest Faerie's ultimate goal was to poison everyone but there's very little answers concerning the purpose of the methods she used and the ones you find are likely just going to raise more questions. The same can be said for the plot in general.
• Sealed Evil in a Can:The Darkest Faerie was trapped in an orb.

Faerie Festival 2023

• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: The heroic Illusen and the villainous Jhudora attempt to get information from Monty, but he gives dodgy answers. Jhudora has Illusen step outside so that she can scare Monty into telling the truth.
  Jhudora: If fear is what motivates him, then let me have a private chat with Monty. Just the two of us.
  Monty: Hold on there, Illusen, let's not be hasty now! You seem like the levelheaded one here to me, so maybe just hang back with us-
  Illusen: Buh-bye, and good luck Monty! *Steps outside*
• Enemy Mine: Illusen and Jhudora, who are normally at odds with each other, end up teaming up to investigate the cause of the pollution.
• Good Cop/Bad Cop: Illusen and Jhudora approach Monty — Illusen to try and reason with him, and Jhudora to grill him. After their initial attempts fail, Jhudora tells Illusen to step outside so she can have a "private chat" with Monty. At this, Monty tries to convince Illusen to stay, saying she seems like "the levelheaded one", but she cheerfully brushes him off and lets Jhudora take over.
• I Was Just Passing Through: After Jhudora saves Illusen from Balthazar (who had bottled her) by blasting him, she claims she was just in the neighborhood and didn't know Illusen was there.
  Illusen: I still have enough magic to break free of your bottle Baltha… Jhudora! What are you doing here? I had him just where I wanted him!
  Jhudora: Oh, were you in there? I just happened to be in the neighbourhood um… shattering random bottles.
  Illusen: And spontaneously blasting Neopets?
  Jhudora: Only those who deserve it.
• The Man Behind the Man: Monty is the initial antagonist, but admits that he was backed by Malkus Vile. Malkus Vile, upon being confronted, admits that he's taking orders from someone else, but won't say who, even after being defeated. The Stinger comic reveals that it was Vira working with a mysterious figure.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Jhudora saves Illusen from Balthazar, declaring herself the only one who would be defeating her.
  Jhudora: Paws off! If anyone is going to end her, it'll be me.
• The Stinger: The day after the event's conclusion, a comic appeared on the event's main page, revealing the villain behind Malkus Vile and hinting at events to come.

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