Webcomic / Ruby Quest

And what became of cat and hare?

Did they break free to purer air?

— The Metal Glen, William Murdoch Actually, by Weaver in the style of William Murdoch

Ruby Quest is a concluded Forum Quest created and DMed by a certain person nicknamed Weaver on the /tg/ board of 4chan. It ran from December 2008 to February 2009.

It begins when a rabbit named Ruby wakes up in a cell/locker. Together with a cat named Tom she soon meets, they perform puzzles, fight horrible abominations, and try to escape the massive underwater complex they're in. They also meet Red, a creepy but helpful enough fox with a truly awful Evil Laugh; Ace, a giant bird and servant to an unknown master; Filbert, the former head doctor turned delusional; and several unnatural abominations, all of whom used to be normal and innocent.

You can get more info on the plot, characters and also participate in discussions, making theories and guesses on possible plot developments here. For the story itself, look here. WARNING: Some of the threads there contain very NSFW fan art, as does the 1d4chan-article. There has also been both a Facebook fan-page and Tumblr site created for discussing, posting news, ect. for Ruby Quest and also its Spiritual Successor, Nan Quest. Weaver's own /tg/ Tumblr blog can be found here.

A mirror of the story is available at the MS Paint Fan Adventures page. A Flash retelling of the whole story, cutting out most of the discussion, fan-art, and additional jokes/threads/clues (but leaving in choice comments) can be seen on FurAffinity right here with a FurAffinity account (disabled Mature Content Filter), or on InkBunny right here, no account required if you meddle with the Allowed Ratings. The InkBunny version can also be read here, with no settings-fiddling required. You can also read the full story on evilcorporation in three versions: a slideshow-like sequence, a scene selection screen, and a long single page. And finally, there's the Let's Read version by Co Lab HQ (teaser), complete with full individual character voice acting when applicable.

A music album based on Ruby Quest has been made. It can be found here or downloaded here In addition, the artist has made an 8-bit version. High quality version of both albums can be purchased here. All the money made off of this album will go to Weaver.

Now has a character sheet. For additional details and those not directly related to the plot, see Trivia. For a list of quotations relating to the game, see Quotes. For a series of relevant images, see Image Links.

Compare to the white chamber, a Point-and-Click Game with several thematic overlaps (and which Weaver has acknowledged as an inspiration).

Weaver has started a "Behind the scenes" series on his tumblr.

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Tropes provided by the entire campaign:

Main Ruby Quest presentation:

"Time to begin.
It is very dark here. Hardly anything can be seen.

Please recommend an action."

—As Weaver first begins Ruby Quest on /tg/

• A-Cup Angst: /tg/ suggests that Ruby flash Tom to get him to help her. Weaver's response? "Oh no! Unfortunately for all parties involved, Ruby is flat as a board! That probably wouldn't work."
• Air-Vent Passageway: More like Pipeline escape, but it still counts.
• Alien Geometries: The Metal Glen, sometimes. First there's the metal shutter in Ruby's room, which sometimes opens to a window and sometimes to a room. Then half of the Brig turns upside-down, gravity and all. Then it gets worse.
• Already Undone for You:
  • It seems most everyone else can get around the facility just fine without solving all the elaborate, extensive puzzles like Ruby and Tom, apparently.
  • Probably Justified with Filbert, who as head doctor would likely have a High-Clearance Access Card.
• Ambidextrous Sprite: In some panels it's clear that Weaver copy/pastes or mirrors character models. For example, Tom's bandaged eye switches positions in these panels.
• Amnesiac Dissonance: Both Tom and Ruby were each murderously violent at some point before the story starts.
• Androcles' Lion: Since Ruby and Tom decide not to kill Stitches (again) and to leave the photo with him, he's able to break out of the locker and distract Ace just long enough to allow Tom to escape with the others.
• Anyone Can Die: Word of God said no one in the story was destined to live or die.
  • According to Weaver in the questions forum, Stitches and Jay were never meant to survive, Stitches was meant to be trapped in the locker and Jay was meant to be mercy killed, however when the players chose to give Stitches the photo and save Jay, Weaver had to do some quick rewriting for the "Good" ending.
  • Also according to Weaver, if the readers chose for Tom to smash open a certain secured case instead of unlocking it, it would have killed him immediately. Fortunately, the players were smart enough to heed the warning labels, and instead used the case's lethal trap against Ace during an escape sequence to stop him in his tracks, though it would also end up serving a second fuction of showing how much of an Implacable Man Ace is.
• Artifact of Doom: The eye disc; the Dummy; the Green Statuette; the fleshy, red growth; and possibly the the green staves.
• Arc Symbol: Multiple occurrences of this trope in the story.^note including Ace's ♠ and especially the "Barbed Wheel" symbol◊
• Art Shift: Weaver's works are very distinctive in such occurrences as when he shifts from simple, low color, MS Paint-ish sketches to highly-detailed◊, other-worldly◊, and amazing illustrations.
• Astral Projection: Apparently, the white-eyed black bird was this; created by Jay's infected blood running through the facility's water systems.
• Back from the Dead: Darn near everyone, although a few were luckier.
• Bears Are Bad News: Stitches. Subverted in his Big Damn Heroes moment
• Big Damn Heroes: Stitches, near the very end.
• The Big Guy: Tom is known for his MANLY PHYSIQUE.
• Bigger on the Inside: Ace's staff accommodations.
• Bilingual Bonus: The plaque underneath the trauma picture^note (where Ruby meets Stitches for the second time) reads "Ancient Wish, Eternal Sleep" in Latin.
• Black Bead Eyes: The eyes are just black lines, due to the simplistic art style.
• Body Horror: Many, increasingly horrible, and of just about every type. The simplistic drawing style actually makes it scarier in some cases.
• Book Ends: The final scene of the quest is Daisy waking up in a locker and turning on the lights, like Ruby at the beginning of the quest.
• Bottomless Bladder: Lampshaded, and justified by the "cure".
• Bottomless Pits: The chasm that forms as the Brig begins to separate.
• Brick Joke: The severed hand in the pneumatic tube makes an unexpected return.
• By the Lights of Their Eyes: In the beginning, the only things visible in the black screen are Ruby's eyes (drawn in white) and a red dot.
• Came Back Wrong: Everyone... whether they wanted to or not. On the other hand, it's also inverted, as dying and being reanimated sets back the mutations.
• Cargo Cult: The small fetus statuette.^note (Presumably)
• Chaotic Stupid: Mostly averted, as Weaver usually does not act upon /tg/'s sillier suggestions, but he does comply a few times, giving both Ruby and Tom their moments. Ruby has done stuff like put a severed hand up a pneumatic tube and lick an organic electrical wire (it tasted bad). Tom has smashed things up for no reason several times, and once grabbed a 'DO NOT OPEN' sticker for no apparent reason, and then wore it over his eyepatch on the chance it would prevent people from opening him.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • A few. One of the most obvious is the double-duty condom, which serves as both a solution to a puzzle, and implications that Tom was involved with sexual relations, possibly with Ruby.
  • Also the picture of the patients standing together happily, which she later uses To get Stitches to help them. Though it wasn't supposed to be used for that.
  • Ruby finds a severed hand at the beginning, and far later uses it to see videos of Ruby's Ax-Crazy behavior before the facility was abandoned. Although it probably wasn't supposed to take that long- Ruby prolonged it by putting the hand up a pneumatic chute, which removed it from the game for a while.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Filbert and Bella both have brief introductions long before they become important. Filbert is seen in the Dummy Room when Ruby first enters the Maintenance Room, and Bella is first seen in the monitor in the Holding Cell after Red's suicide. Jay, the Eleventh Hour Party Member is first seen in the group picture, and his existence is hinted at by the blood in the facility's water.
• Closed Circle: As long as Bella is alive, she is going to maintain the lockdown of the facility. Tom and Ruby have been in the facility for a year, and have gotten to Bella three times before, but never farther.
• Cluster F-Bomb: The players tended to swear a lot when confronted with the more horrifying things (like the Bear Zombie).
• Crossover:
  • [Warning: Somewhat Spoilers!] The symbols◊ from Weaver's World Eater campaign also play big role in Ruby Quest.
  • John Quest also makes a surprise appearance near the end, when Tom turns on the intercom and gets obscenities shouted at him, after John shouted obscenities into his intercom.
• Continuity Nod: When the connection between the poem and the facility the events are taking place in is established.
• The Corruption:
  • More than likely: DO NOT USE THE EYE.
  • This is what the "cure" did to everyone in the facility.
• Curse That Cures: The Cure is implied to be a cure for blindness, as the room with Bella displays a sign that says the Metal Glen is a medical institute for the blind. Side effects may include murderous rages, growing additional limbs, psychic abilities such as Astral Projection, Immortality, Lovecraftian Superpowers, and summoning an Eldritch Abomination through the process of dying and coming back to life.
• The Darkness Gazes Back: This happens during Ruby's first meeting with Subject #6, before Tom finds the light switch and reveals all the eyes are part of fleshy growths covering the whole room.
• Dark World: The alternate world Ruby sees when using her third eye.
• Deadly Gas: Averted once with Ruby's efforts, and another with Bella's.
• Deadly Rotary Fan: One room has a catwalk crossing over a pair of giant fans. They're proven deadly in a flashback, when Ruby shoves Stitches into them.
• Dramatic Deadpan:
  "Tom and Ruby pass through the door.
  Into the mouth of madness."
  "Moments later,
  Bella passes away."
• Dug Too Deep: The Metal Glen did so in excavating the Brig, which led them to discover the Cure, which in turn sent the facility to Hell in a handbasket.
• Early-Bird Cameo:
  • Bella gained the fan nicknames 'Monitorface' and 'Monitorhead' because she had a couple of cameos consisting of her face appearing on the monitors scattered throughout the building.
  • Filbert appears for one panel in the background when Ruby first enters the Maintenance Room (he's in the Dummy Room and visible through the window that Ruby was looking away from at that point).
  • Tom Nook and Jay both appear in the Group Portrait long before they show up in person.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: There are not very many Cosmic Horror stories that feature a genuinely happy ending, but Ruby Quest is one of them. And it's all because the players did things that weren't supposed to happen.
• 11th-Hour Ranger: Jay joins Ruby and Tom in the final thread.
• Eldritch Abomination: Its name has never been given, and an eye chart implies that it is "Cjopaze"^note (it comes right before "Fhtagn", which is a reference to Cthulhu Mythos "Cthulhu fhtagn"). It's sometimes also called "Perogra"^note (a reference to a campaign known as "World Eater", also DM'd by Weaver; the association is a result of similar symbols and mutagenic effects) or "The Barbed Wheel".
  • ...Ace. He has a face that looks like it's made of worms.
  • Tom Nook/Subject 6. Shriveled, eyeless, handless... but all those fleshy growths are him
• Eldritch Location: The whole facility to some degree, but especially Cold Storage. The brig also starts going this way hard towards the end.
• Escape from the Crazy Place: The entire premise^note (Though, it was more like "Escape from the Weird Place" until Stitches showed up...).
• Evil Feels Good Ruby feels this way when she sees the red glow with her third eye in the Dummy Room:
  A second echo suddenly comes through, piercingly.
  It's small, and it's just an echo, but it's still incredibly focused, overpoweringly potent.
  It hurts so badly, and yet...
  ...and yet it feels strangely good.
  It's like a feeling that deep down, Ruby wants to feel forever.
• Evil Is Not Well-Lit: Usually averted, but played straight with Cold Storage and most of Ruby's encounters with Subject #6 (although he doesn't get any better when the lights are on).
• Extra Eyes: Ruby has one. It allows her to see things differently, and keeps trying to kill her. And let's not even start about Subject 6...
• Eye Motifs: All over the place. Ruby's Third Eye, Tom losing an eye, Subject 6's dozens of eyes, the squishy eye of the dummy, the eye chart, and the Metal Glen itself is a medical institute for the blind, allegedly. It's implied that the Cure that caused all this is a cure for blindness.
• Eye Scream: Tom loses an eye early on.
• Eye Take: A recurring event in the game^note (Often when one of the characters experience something very alarming).
• The Faceless: Subjects 2 and 3 are mentioned and named but never seen. Subject 2 likely never will be, since it's a major plot point that she didn't come back from being killed like the others.
  • Ace. this is because he doesn't have a face, he has a writhing mass of tentacles.
  • Also, the top men who had retreated the facility and left Bella in charge of a lockdown.
• Faceless Goons: Ace. Ace is seen without his mask later on. All of /tg/ shits their pants.
• Face-Revealing Turn: Oh, it wasn't Tom after all.
• Fatal Family Photo: Inverted when giving Stitches the group photo after subduing him causes him to save Tom at the end.
• Foreshadowing: Early in the game, Red called a "survivor", though it was still not clear that there was any sort of major disaster.
  • Also pretty early on, Ruby has what looks like a hallucination of Tom with four arms. It's later revealed that Tom did indeed have four arms, although his second set were smaller than his first.
  • Later, Bella refers to 'The patient in Upper Lab B' instead of 'Subject #6' (who was the one imprisoned in Upper Lab B. Because Subject #6 was not imprisoned in Upper Lab B, and Bella knew this. The patient in Upper Lab B was Subject #5.
• Friend-or-Idol Decision: There was going to be one wherein either they escaped or Filbert told them about their past; however, by that point Filbert was dead.
• Furry Lens: Word of God is that the characters aren't intended to be specifically anthropomorphic animals; he just drew Ruby, Tom, et cetera because he was familiar with drawing them from his series of Animal Crossing comics.
• Genre Shift: The story quickly departs from its original relatively cheerful puzzle solving into the realms of unimaginable horrors, and doesn't turn back.
• Gone Horribly Right: The "cure". Totally worked, but it also turned everyone who took it Ax-Crazy and mutated them whenever they were injured.
• "Groundhog Day" Loop: Heavily implied by Bella and of course the ending, though somewhat nonstandard as it appears to relate more to death/resurrection with manual resets than an actual looping timeline.
• Hammerspace: Ruby and Tom's Inventories can store a maximum of 8 items so that they're invisible on the normal screen.
• Harmful Healing: The all-purpose 'Miracle Cure' has some... unfortunate side effects. Essentially, it's some sort of Eldritch Abomination that can heal any injury or illness or even revive the dead, but the longer it's applied the more horribly mutated the subject will become. Mild cases may result in an extra pair of hands, More Teeth than the Osmond Family, or a third eye; a severe case turns the afflicted into... well... this◊ or this.◊

• Hate Plague: The Cure drove everyone who took it to murderous violence.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Subverted when Tom attempted it, only to be rescued by Stitches instead. Then played straight with Stitches immediately afterwards.
• He Was Right There All Along: A large part of the horror depends on the art style. Since everything is black and white, with little shading, things may happen during the adventure in the background which take a moment to notice.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Filbert is going to cut the bad out of you.
• Hollywood CB: At one point, /tg/ tells Ruby and Tom to split up, but leave their radios on so that each can always hear the other. Two handheld radios broadcasting simultaneously would just mean that neither would hear the other.
• Honesty Is the Best Policy: Ruby for a long time keeps her (third eye) a secret from Tom, deadly scared of his reaction. Players at one point demanded that she reveals her secret.
• Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: As revealed by Bella near the ending, the last day of the game is October 31.
• Humanoid Abomination: Everyone in the facility is heading towards this, and Ace is already there. And then there's Filbert and Tom Nook...
• Improvised Weapon: The barbed wire glove, Ace's harpoon, and the BLUDGEONY CANESHOVEL.
  • Also, the JUNKOTRON MISSILE LAUNCHER, although it was only a short jest at another one of /tg/'s ridiculous ideas.
• Instant Sedation: Subverted; when tranquilizer is administered to Stitches, it takes about a minute of struggling before it takes effect.
• Interface Screw: "Red is TWO COINS fishtank."^note (Since Weaver's text is the closest this game has to an interface, it counts)
  • Also this part:
    >Ask him what he has been up to.
    Ruby shoves Stitches over the railing.
• Interspecies Romance: Ruby and Tom are a rabbit and a cat, respectively. Their relationship takes a backseat to all the action and horror, but it's still there. There was also, apparently, a romance between a raccoon and a pig, but the latter is now either escaped or dead.
• Implacable Man: Ace qualifies:He seemed to survive an explosion, wasn't even slowed down by a crowbar in his thigh, and walked away after getting impaled by a giant hook^note (Although, this part was not actually seen).
• Jigsaw Puzzle Plot
• Killed Off for Real: Bella, Maddie, and Red—in the end. Red came back once before figuring out how to make it permanent.
• Last Kiss: Ruby finally kisses Tom back right after Tom decides to stay behind and hold off Ace so she can get away. Subverted as Tom does not end up having to fight Ace at all.
• Last-Minute Hookup: Ruby and Tom, just before the latter's (subverted) Heroic Sacrifice.
  • Rule of Romantic: Tom could have had enough time to save himself too, but his heroic last stand invoked a very nice and romantic kissing scene, so everyone pretty much ignored it.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Near the climax, /tg/ finally got stuck and asked Weaver for a hint. An adventure UI popped up, hint button included, and he gave them one
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: Ruby eventually gets a Third Eye. But if you looked at most of the fanart involving her, you probably already know that.
• Little Bit Beastly: Weaver has stated that the characters' appearance as Animal Crossing characters was meant only to be a way of identifying who is who despite the aforementioned simple art style and that they are very specifically never referred to by their animal representations.
• Load-Bearing Boss: "It would seem Bella's death has also caused a minor systems/power shutdown."
• Lovecraftian Superpower: The Cure mutates those who've taken it whenever they get hurt, eventually turning them into horrific monstrosities like Stitches and Daisy. Death sets the mutations back, though. A list:
  • Red, who got a Glasgow Grin courtesy of Ruby, has the Elemental Plane of Teeth.
  • Ruby, after being scratched on the head by Daisy, gains a Third Eye.
  • Tom, who has two small extra arms on his abdomen.
  • Filbert, who cut his own hand off and was hit in the face by Ruby's barbed wire covered glove, has a giant arm with fleshy spikes, a giant mouth, and teeth stronger than steel.
  • Stitches remained alive even when reduced to a head, a spine, and a puddle of blood, and was able to be stitched back together again.
  • Daisy, along with legs fused together, an emanciated figure, and her spine poking out, had a mouth where one of her eyes should be and one arm turned into a giant claw.
• Madness Mantra: A written version: NEVER CATCH ME NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER
• Mad Doctor: Filbert. He's not infected. You're all infected, but he isn't. It's okay though. He's going to cut the bad out of you.
• MacGuffin: The cross-peg, for a time. Ruby eventually uses it to access Red's Room.
• Mature Animal Story: Cute anthropomorphic animals right out of Animal Crossing... in a setting that's basically H. P. Lovecraft meets Silent Hill.
• Meaningful Background Event:
  • Several: both Filbert and Bella are first shown like this, for instance. In either case, when the players tried to prompt Ruby in looking at them, they would be gone by the time she did.
  • Whenever past events are shown though some mannor, there are a few minor differences that have a big meaning; such as the horrific area of wall that Stitches body was bound to showed^note (or what looked like) a beautiful landscape painting^note (strikingly similar to that of the High Roller from Dive Quest).
• Meat Moss: The Metal Glen's builders find a lost room covered in this buried under the ocean. Guess what the "cure" was made from?
• Men Are the Expendable Gender: Almost averted: When it came for one sacrificing his or her life to save the other, a lot of players wished for Ruby to stay behind instead of Tom. Fortunately they were both saved.
• Mercy Kill:
  • Bella. After three opportunities for Ruby and Tom to end her life, and failing to do so, she finally snaps and gives them no other choice.
  • Subverted with Stitches. The players were supposed to kill him and get the key he had, but by then they'd bashed open the cabinet that the key unlocked. The cabinet had tranquilizer inside, allowing them to subdue him nonlethally and stick him in a locker. And then Ruby decided to give him the picture of the Metal Glen's patients together and happy, motivating him to come back and attack Ace to save Tom.
  • Also subverted with Jay, A.K.A. Emobird. By Weaver's own words: "His role was never originally going to be as an ally. He was in torturous pain and asked to die. I figured you'd kill him or leave him, but then like a billion people were like SAVE HIM, and I'm like "Well... I... OKAY!". I honestly couldn't think of any reasonable excuse not to let you save him: I mean, he wasn't locked up or anything."
• Mind Screw: The story's entire premise.^note (i.e. if one does not pay close attention to the details/rules of the story)
• Mood Whiplash: Despite being mostly rather horrific, the story has its occasional comedic moments: Often, when the players suggest something silly, Weaver is more than willing to comply.^note (Which sometimes tends to downplay the horror somewhat, when this is done at the wrong moment)
• Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: The facility in which the entire story takes place in—known as The Metal Glen—was, in a nutshell, built out of an odd, isolated, geological-formation from out in the middle of a secluded loch for the specific purpose of doctors and medical researchers practicing/ testing treatments^note (treatments that would likely be deemed as "unconventional" by most) without the need of the proper permits, license, or the possibility of criminal prosecution.
• Mundane Solution:
  Ruby/ Tom: But, if we just open the doors and leave everything gets out, too.
  Bella: You could just close it behind you.
• Nightmare Face: Red.
  • Also, many of the patients at one point or another.
  • Ace in particular is shown to be this with his mask off.
• No OSHA Compliance:
  • Narrow catwalk over huge fans... in a medical research institute for the blind. Granted, there are handrails, but still.
  • Also, the often deadly capabilities of the "Z-Hatch".
• Note to Self: DO NOT TRUST #7. Also, Filbert's note that he has recurring amnesia and is still clean.
• Official Couple: Ruby and Tom, by the very end.
• Off the Rails:
  • Played with. There was only a happy ending because the players, in essence, broke sequence.
  • Early in the game, the players sent a severed hand through a pneumatic mail chute, removing it from the game until much later on. The hand was meant to be used on a fingerprint scanner in the next room over. Because they couldn't activate the scanner, they were unable to see the video of Ruby murdering Tom in the past until well after the group had bonded, completely blunting its impact.
  • At one point protagonists escape Ace by crawling through a pipe they'd previously made a hole in. Weaver suspended the game for about an hour, drawing the new location at the exit of the pipe, which he didn't expect the players to reach this early.
  • When the players were confronted with a locked medicine cabinet, they had Tom bash it open with a crowbar. This gave them the Tranquilizer, allowing them to sedate Stitches (whom they otherwise would have needed to kill, as he had the key for the cabinet) and give him the picture of the facility's patients standing around happily. This leads to him pulling a Big Damn Heroes and saving Tom from a Heroic Sacrifice.
• Oh, Crap!: Numerous times, but especially:
  Filbert bites the crowbar in half.
  • Also, every single time Ace shows up.
  • Early on, upon discovering the head of the discovered zombie is missing, Ruby and Tom speculate on what could have happened to it. Tom suggests it simply dissolved upon contact with the blood... which both of them are standing in and surrounded by. It takes him a second to realize.
  Tom's looking a little uneasy again.
• One-Steve Limit: Subverted with Tom.
• Outrun the Fireball: Tom grabs Ruby and runs out of Red's room just before the bomb goes off.
• Poor Communication Kills: Defied. The players insist that Ruby and Tom share the disturbing things they learned, like Ruby being listed as deceased and Tom's mutation.
• Power of Trust: As said in the poem: "The flock that could not work together are sure still trapped in hell". It can be pretty safe to assume that unless Ruby and Tom trust each other and work together, they will stay down there.
  • Or the line could have possibly been a hidden joke by Weaver in reference to /tg/'s normally chaotic, uncompromising nature.
• Psycho Serum: Red discovered too late his "cures" had a few side-effects.
• Quest for Identity:
  • Neither of the characters know very much of their past.
  • Subverted in that they never actually find too much answers, either.
  • Weaver originally intended to have Filbert try to use the information about the characters' pasts to keep them from getting on the tram. When the time came this was impossible, for obvious reasons.
• Railroading: A common accusation by the trolls.
  • Used later literally (and justifiably) in a flashback, when Ruby completely ignored the players when they wanted to have a pleasant chat with Stitches and instead threw him into some deadly fans. Lampshaded at the end sequence, when Weaver describes the automated tram, including the phrase "CHOO CHOO".
  • For a long time, Ruby firmly refused to reveal her third eye to Tom, but under strong pressure from the players, she reveals her secret, which probably saves a lot of grief later.
  • Also, Word of God says that Red had rigged his riddle so that even if they had answered right, he would still not let them in.
• Reality-Breaking Paradox: Someone—it's hinted to be Red—had done this somewhere along the line using one of the Cjopaze's artifacts to break the space within the Brig.
• Reveal Shot: Ruby opens a door: the camera shows a close picture of her and a face of a bear, looking at each other. When it pans out, it is revealed that the head is the only good part of him, while the rest is just bloody chunks.
• Room Full of Crazy: Red's room, which was revealed to be almost normal when compared to Cold Storage.
• Sanity Slippage: Everyone, EVERYONE^note (well, almost) during the "outbreak of violence" before the events of the game.
• Scenery Gorn: Weaver's incredibly high-detailed illustrations of "The Barbed Wheel" and such.
• Scenery Porn: The beautifully painted, colored sunset seen at the end of the game.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: The 'can' in this case was a room buried under the ocean, which was discovered when the Brig was excavated. In the room, they found several artifacts, like a leatherbound dummy on a rotating pivot, a small green statue of a fetus-like creature, a dial with a picture of an eye on it, and several weird staves made out of green-stained wood, along with a red, filmy substance. Using that substance as a medicine resulted in the sealed evil being released into the Metal Glen.
• Sealed with a Kiss: Not the best possible example, as there was still some action after it,^note (no, not that kind of action; there is story action after the kiss) but counts.
• Sequence Breaking: Instead of searching for a key to a particular medicine cabinet, Tom smashes it open. This gave players the tranquilizer ahead of time, allowing them to incapacitate Stitches instead of killing him. In a similar vein, Tom kills Filbert in a Curb-Stomp Battle, preventing him from potentially halting Ruby and Tom's escape later in the campaign.
  • Also when the thread has them go up a pipe.
  "Give me a while to draw the next part. You guys weren't suppose to get here yet."
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: The cure to Tom's arsenic poisoning appears to be something called "Dimercaptosuccinic Acid" later called "Succimer".
• Sinister Scraping Sound: Happens when Ace pulls apart the Z-Hatch.
• Shout-Out:
  • All characters are based upon Animal Crossing characters.
    • This fact was directly referenced by Red while using one of his AC counterpart's famous lines.^note 
      "HOLD ON NOW, FRIENDS.
      RED CAN'T LET JUST ANYONE THROUGH THIS DOOR.
      YOU HAVE TO PROVE YOU'RE FAMILY.
      PART OF RED'S SPECIAL FAMILY."
  • It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts
  • Weaver has admitted that the white chamber was one of the main inspirations for Ruby Quest. Several scenes, in particular the fan scene, are taken directly from it.
  • An early command suggests carving a pumpkin into the shape of a keycard to solve a puzzle; Ruby, however, is stated not to be sleuthy enough to do so.^note (Given the similarity of the two projects, this reference was probably inevitable)
  • There is also a couple of System Shock references with a Body Horror shouting "Please kill me! and another inserting 0645 into a keypad. This was also probably inevitable.
  • Weaver references two William Murdochs in the game; as both the engineer^note (creator of the pneumatic tube) and the poet^note (to which he accurately mimicked the style of while writing his poem, The Metal Glen — Possibly a Literary Allusion Title).
  • "He menaces with spikes of flesh at Tom."
  • IA IA CJOPAZE FHTAGN
  • At one point, Ruby reassures Tom that "There's nothing wrong with her, and if there was, she's better now," a direct quote from The Thing (1982).
  • Tom's "radio crackers" at one point when Ruby calls the walkie-talkie.
  • Bella remarks how there is no infection; the only disease is the one the doctors made. This has a similarity to Stephen King's The Stand.
• Shovel Strike: The Bludgeony Caneshovel, made by wedging a shovel head onto the end of Red's Cane.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: since Filbert caused so many problems, the players imput prompted Tom to pull this before the lecture even started.
• Slasher Smile:
  • Red has pretty much perfected this.
    • Ruby helped.
  • And also #6.
• Splash of Color: Most of Ruby Quest is drawn in black and white, but a few things are in color, like the buttons in Ruby's coffin, splashes of blood, and the sunset seen at the end of the game.
• Spiritual Successor: One of Weaver's more recent quests, Nan Quest, functions as this to Ruby Quest.
• Super Loser: Tom and Ruby apparently had a possibility of escaping by breaking through a outside leading window; but unfortunately, neither of them knew how to swim.
• Surprisingly Happy Ending: It sure surprised Weaver, who hadn't expected the players to make the decisions leading to it.
• Take That!: Remember all those people calling "Railroading!"? The end has Ruby, Tom, and Jay ride a tram to safety. Weaver even threw in a "CHOO CHOO".
• Technically-Living Zombie: The horribly mutated patients of the Metal Glen were called zombies before /tg/ learned what they really were, although they were actually alive.
• Technology Porn: Many of the gadgets and workings of the facility give a big feeling of science/organic-tech fiction into the storyline.
• Thanatos Gambit: Red.
• Theme Naming: All of the characters are named after Animal Crossing characters.
• These Hands Have Killed: Subverted: Tom actually thought it was pretty cool.
• Tomato in the Mirror: Multiple times. In chronological order:
  • Ruby was once murderously violent, and killed Tom and Stitches.
  • Ruby and Tom are infected with the Cure, the substance that created the zombies. Also, every creature in the Metal Glen Was Once a Man.
  • Finally (although this is only revealed to the players), Tom Nook is not the 'extremely dangerous' Subject #6. Ruby's companion Tom is Subject #6, instead of Subject #5 as he believed. Tom Nook is the real Subject #5.
• Tom the Dark Lord: Filbert the Mad Doctor, and Tom Nook the insane borderline Eldritch Abomination. Oh, and Tom (Ruby's companion), the Ax-Crazy 'highest priority hazard'.
• Tragic Monster: Mostly everyone, except for Ruby and Tom, who aren't monstrous enough, and Ace, who's not tragic enough^note though he presumably Was Once a Man.
• The Unsolved Mystery: Everyone is still clueless of much of the stuff.
  • Weaver has answered most of the questions anyone cared to ask, however. Indirectly, of course.
• Unusual Ears: The only way most of the characters can be told apart, due to the simplistic art style.
• The Unpronounceable: "Cjopaze Fhtagn" (Apparently, most accurate pronunciation is Syo-pah-zay Ff-ha-tay-gen)
• Viewers Are Geniuses: Much of the controversy about the Twist Ending revolves around the fact that many readers mistook Daisy in the coffin for Ruby.
• Wham Line: "Isn't it obvious? You're dead."
• Wham Shot:
  • Early on, the person in the closet is a head, a skeleton, and a mass of blood.
  • The players enter the Holding Cell and discover Red has committed suicide by shoving sharpened stakes through his head. The wall behind him is covered with graffiti saying 'NEVER CATCH ME NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER'
  • Finally, the second-to-last shot reveals Tom Nook, who players thought was Subject #6, was actually Subject #5, meaning that Tom, who players thought was Subject #5, was actually the 'incredibly dangerous' Subject #6.
• White Mask of Doom: Ace's mask.
• White Void Room: The setting of one of Ruby's hallucinations. Red cuts it apart with what looks to be the Eye Disk.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: A bad side effect of the "cure".
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: As things are, everyone still inside the facility is being promised an eternal life as unholy mutants. Hopefully this can be averted.
  • Word of God (Weaver) states that Red's death was indeed a permanent one.
• You All Meet in a Cell: Well, Ruby meets Tom while he's in a cell.
• You Are Number 6: Each of the Metal Glen's patients had a number. In order, they were:
  • Stitches, #1
  • Maddie, #2
  • Lucy, #3
  • Jay, #4
  • Tom, #5 Actually #6. Tom Nook is the real #5.
  • Tom Nook, #6 Actually #5. Tom is the real #6.
  • Ruby, #7
  • Daisy, #8

Ruby Quest Discontinuity/ Additional Quests/ Jokes by Weaver

Along with the feature presentation, The Weaver also DM'd several other small adventures within the same campaign as Self Parodies and additional reference.

The archives to both God Quest and Daisy Quest can be found here.

• Happy Ending: Weaver's alternate "Good End" to Ruby Quest.
• Poe's Law: Many of Weaver's discontinuity gags and jokes appear to be actually half-canon to the story.

The Metal Glen

The poem which Ruby Quest was based on. In it, a young hare is taken away from her home in a glen to an underwater facility. All the rest of the animals there have lost hope, except for the cat, who's trying to break his bonds. In the end, the hare frees herself and the cat, and they both attempt to escape the facility.

• Alternate Continuity: Humans were the antagonists of the story, instead of just more animals.

John Quest

Has its own page.

Thursday Quest

Kid whines about Ruby Quest; raging, madness, absence of the fourth-wall, Thursday, and Orkz ensue.

• Character Title: ???^note (Averted... Subverted... Inverted. Hard to tell...)
• Easter Egg:
  • NotWeaver's blank image file is labeled "invisibleporn.png".
  • In addition, he uses .png as the extension of his image files instead of the usual .gif.
• Identity Impersonator: It was hinted that not only was Daisy impersonating Maddie, but also Lucy and Ruby, as well.
• Jerkass: Most of /tg/ are all bullying, taunting, swearing, and giving "Maddie" a vicious tongue-lashing by the fact that she is neither Ruby nor "Thursday?".
  • Pet the Dog: At least a few Anonymous treated her to a few nice words, and one was nice enough to comment:
  "Hey, don't listen to that guy! You're doing great, Maddie!"
  
  Keep your chin up, man, things are going to be great for you. You'll see."
  • Kick Them While They Are Down: Even after the "Maddie" confesses that Filbert had been sexually abusing her, as well as the rest of the patients; most of /tg/ are unsympathetic and still continue to taunt and harass her.
  "That's no cure.
  
  Enjoy your children by a homosexual faggot."
• Tempting Fate/ Sarcasm Mode: One Anonymous makes a remark referencing Maddie's monster-mouth mutation which had appeared in her right eye during Ruby Quest.
  "Nice pair of eyes. I sure hope nothing happens to ruin their symmetry."

Mushroom Forest

From left to right: Tom/Rover, Ace, Ruby (with the Lovecraftian Blunderbuss)

A baffling continuation of Ruby Quest?

• Adaptational Heroism: Ace is Ruby's companion, and is perfectly loyal (if a bit perverted).
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: The "Thing That Should Not Be" looks like a giant, slimy, freakish-looking beetle.
• Brofist: Ruby to some odd web-creature.
• Cargo Cult: The totem of the local "Goddess of Pleasure".
• Comically Missing the Point: Weaver has Ruby insert a set of stinkhorn mushrooms into a totem of the local Goddess of Pleasure, mistaking /tg/'s suggestions of "giving the idol what it wants" by having Ace... Well, you kinda get the idea...
• Eldritch Abomination: The "Thing That Should Not Be".
• Fanservice: Contained in liberal amounts, insomuch as anything in Weaver's style can be fanservice.
• It's Personal:
  "This one's for Stitches."
• Noodle Incident: Many of them — Lampshaded
• Save the Princess: Gender-swapped version with Ruby's boyfriend Rover.

Déjà Vu Ruby Quest

Stitcher^note (a /tg/ user) reposts the opening picture of Ruby Quest.

However, strange things happen as Weaver interferes with fate.

• The Cameo: Muschio^note (Or at least another volto) from Weaver's own Dive Quest, and a few other character from his other quests [that has yet to become identified].
• Fandom Nod: Weaver ends the gag with him suddenly integrating/re-illustrating the Angry Marine's retelling of Ruby Quest into it^note (much to the audience's bewilderment, amusement, and delight).
• Furry Fandom: Hordes of them^note (along with another few, odd anthro-creatures) are seen invading, scattering, and dispersing into the otherside of Tom's cell until Angry Marine Ruby punches through the floor and rescues Tom.
• Mad Doctor: Filbert is seen standing over Ruby while holding his signature bone-saw and the scalpel, uttering the classic "Trust me, I'm a doctor" line.
• Prequel: Sort of...^note (Apparently, the events are taking place sometime around November 1st)
• Slogan: Ruby dimly remembers some faint slogan:
  "Auto-electrocution is never the solution."

Daisy Quest

The long-awaited sequel to Ruby Quest!

• Crack Pairing: See Fan Disservice.
• Fan Disservice: "Daisy makes out with the... RED GROWTH creature?"
• Flipping the Bird: Hard to tell with those scrawny little appendages, but it's presumably what she is doing in the last image.
• Mind Screw: At one point, water begins to quickly seep in Daisy's cell through the small air-holes. Once she makes outside, there is not any water visibly seen near the locker for there to be seeping through.
• Take That, Audience!: "Happy April Fools Day" *bam!* ♥~Yatta~♥

---

Incense sweet, and cradled warm
Like lovers coddled, arm in arm
Two souls, nomadic, fleeing harm:
That wicked, metal glen.
Now coming morn drives off the curse
Too startled still to dare converse
Both praying they have seen the worst
So ends their tale —
Amen.