Kids these days. The very mention of the word "candy" will have them drooling for hours.
Cuphead is kicked out of the house after eating all of Mugman's secret stash of Halloween candy following a lapse in self-control. He soon finds himself in a land made of candy and is allowed by Baroness von Bon Bon to eat as much as he desires... as long as he follows her special rules.Tropes
- Arc Words: "Just a teensy-weensy bite..."
- Ax-Crazy: It doesn't take long for Cuphead to figure out something is obviously off about Bon Bon, but she really starts losing whatever restraint she had after Cuphead and Mugman break her rules.
- Big "NO!": At the end of the episode, Cuphead and Mugman (transformed into a gummy candy and a gingerbread cup) yell, "ELDER KETTLE, NOOOOOOO!" as he's about to eat them.
- Crapsaccharine World: Sugarland seems to be a harmless place made entirely of candy and desserts, with Baroness von Bon Bon acting friendly, albeit creepy. If anyone who visits Sugarland breaks either of Bon Bon's rules, they turn into living candy, and Bon Bon will try to eat them alive.
- Curse: Anyone who breaks the Baroness' rules turns into candy for her (and her enchanted castle) to eat. In fact, she blatantly exploits this to kids, via Reverse Psychology, because she is positive they have no self-control when it comes to delectable sweets. Plus, she can't leave Sugarland due to a curse of her own.
- Don't Look At Me: Mugman begs Cuphead this when the former is transformed into a gingerbread cookie.
- Downer Ending: Cuphead and Mugman escape Sugarland before Baroness von Bon Bon can eat them, though they are still stuck as living candy. To make matters worse, when Elder Kettle sees the brothers in their transformed state, he starts chasing them and trying to eat them.
- Exact Words: Bon Bon tells Cuphead, repeatedly, that she only eats "sweet treats", not "disgusting children". This doesn't mean she won't eat children who become treats for breaking the rules of Sugarland.
- Genre Savvy: Cuphead is initially suspicious of the Baroness on the grounds that he's read enough stories to know that these sorts of situations end with the kid (in this case, him) getting eaten.
- Gluttony Montage: When Cuphead and Mugman arrive in Sugarland together, we get a montage of them eating as much sweets as they can get their hands on.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: An unexplained ancient curse has prevented Bon Bon from leaving Sugarland, and it seems to have left a negative effect on her mental state. Cuphead notices how disturbing she is because of it.
- Here We Go Again!: The cup brothers barely manage to escape from getting eaten by the Baroness... Only for Elder Kettle to go after them instead when they get home.
- Idiot Ball: Rather than take some candy from Sugarland home to give to Mugman as compensation, Cuphead comes up with the not-so-bright idea of bringing Mugman to Sugarland despite Baroness warning him not to.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Downplayed, as Bon Bon eats sweets, not people or children. Said sweets include people turned into sweets.
- Inevitably Broken Rule: The Baroness allows Cuphead to eat as much candy as he wants in Sugarland under two important conditions:
- He cannot tell anyone else about Sugarland. Desperate to earn back Mugman's trust after taking his candy stash, he ends up telling him anyway.
- The only thing he is forbidden to eat is her candy castle. After gorging out on sweets, Cuphead forgets to warn him about said castle, which Mugsy takes a "small" bite.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: The Baroness's castle. When the chase is on, we get a disturbing view of the inside of the cake castle and it's got rows of candy-corn teeth.
- Nightmare Face: Bon Bon is already creepy and unhinged when Cuphead first encounters her, but she shows her true colors when the brothers turn into sweets, giving a Slasher Smile that would put Huggy Wuggy to shame.Bon Bon: Now you're DELICIOUS!
- No Ending: Despite escaping Sugarland, the brothers are still cursed into candy, with no way of turning back until next episode... if Elder Kettle doesn't eat them first.
- Noodle Incident: The ancient curse that keeps Bon Bon bound to Sugarland. Most likely it's a soul contract with the Devil like in the game, but we're never told one way or another. But she does emphasize that it is an ancient curse.
- Obviously Evil: Bon Bon gives off so many red flags that even Cuphead, who loves adventure and challenges, immediately tries to get away from her and ignore her offer. Even after giving in and enjoying himself in Sugarland, he never trusts her and hopes that Mugman can avoid interacting with her entirely.
- Properly Paranoid: Cuphead's first instinct when tempted to eat everything in Sugarland is to leave, believing that Bon Bon plans to eat him after. It turns out he’s right later, after he and Mugman break her rules and become candy.
- Schmuck Banquet: Sugarland is an entire land made of candy that visitors are encouraged to eat by Baroness von Bon Bon. She only has two rules, tell no one else of Sugarland and don't eat her castle. She fully expects these rules to be broken, which turns the guilty into candy for her and her castle to eat. Even if victims manage to escape, the Baroness also expects them to eventually return for more sweets.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The first thing Cuphead does upon meeting Baroness von Bon Bon is to hightail it out, having read too many stories about these types of situations.
- Sequel Hook: Despite Cuphead and Mugman escaping from Sugarland, Baroness, despite being displeased, knows that they or someone else will come back to Sugarland as she laughs evilly, meaning that this is not the last we will see of her.
- Shout-Out:
- Cuphead is all too familiar with fairy tales about kids becoming too greedy for their own good. Hansel and Gretel comes to mind.
- Baroness von Bon Bon says “rule number one!” and “rule number two!” the exact same way Genie did in Aladdin.
- When the Baroness' castle charges at Cuphead and Mugman, the camera enters its mouth revealing layers of rings of teeth. Paired with the roaring and static, it resembles Flumpty Bumpty's jumpscare from the third game.
- Sweets of Temptation: Sugarland is a separate dimension made entirely of sweet treats and ruled by Baroness Von Bon Bon. Cuphead finds it by chance after he had gotten into a fight with Mugman over stolen Halloween candy. Once there, Cuphead must abide by two rules: don't tell anyone about Sugarland, and don't take even a tiny bite of the Baroness's sugar castle. Of course, Cuphead being Cuphead, he immediately breaks the first rule by bringing Mugman, and Mugman breaks the second rule while there. As a result, both Cuphead and Mugman are transformed into sweets themselves, perfect for the Baroness to devour. They barely manage to escape with their lives.
- Would Hurt a Child: Baroness von Bon Bon has no problem of eating Cuphead and Mugman once they are turned into sweets.
