The Runaway Guys / Super Mario Series

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New Super Mario Bros. Wii

• Angrish: Josh for the latter half of part 10.
• Apologetic Attacker: Whenever Tim gets in the crossfire of Chugga and Jon's attempts to kill each other, they tend to tell him they're sorry for that.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: In a sense. During parts of a ghost house involving a descending platform surrounded by Boos, the group paired up and faced back-to-back to look at the ghosts and keep them away. They weren't really doing anything other than that (aside from the time Josh decided to just throw fireballs randomly).
• Bash Brothers: Josh and Jon when not trying to kill each other. They both even give the killing blow to Roy, tag teamed Lemmy, Jon launched a star empowered Josh at Boos, worked together to get several of the Star Coins, and seem to be the ones to pull off the combo ground pound most of the time.
  • It was even discussed in LPCatchPhrases' interview with Jon: the man himself says he thinks of Josh as "a younger him" and they tend to team up like brothers a lot, particularly Josh backing Jon up when he calls out Chugga for certain things.
• Big "NO!":
  • When Steve was brought up, Chugga responded as expected.
  • In episode 14; Josh lets a huge one out when they learn they'll have to repeat the entirety of 7-6 after going through hell to get all the star coins, then die right before the end.
  • In episode 16, Chugga dies just before hitting the second switch in the final castle, forcing them to restart the level. Chugga, NCS, and Josh let out several of these.
    • Big "YES!": Jon, on the other hand, cheers, since that meant he had another chance to be the one to hit the switch. He lets out another when he actually does hit it.
• Bookends: A subtle example, but it's there. NintendoCapriSun's first death? The first Goomba of the first stage. His last death? The last Goomba of the last stage.
• Buffy Speak: From World 2-4:
  Josh: That thing did that stuff that I hate!
• Call-Back:
  • Tim's the first to say "D'oh, I missed!", the ever-popular line from Mario Party.
  • In World 2-3, Jon grabs six Starmen, which prompts this exchange:
  Chugga: Think you have enough, Jon?
  Jon: Nope; making up for Mario Party.
  • In Episode 5, a reference is made to Steve the Red Pikmin. Of course, Chugga doesn't like it.
  • The intros to each video, as mentioned in Running Gag below, reference each players' intro styles in their own videos... and in one special case:
  Jon: Alright, guys, welcome back to ano- the next romhack. We're gonna be playing a four-player Mario romhack sent to us by S. Miyamata, I dunno... I can't read his name, it's kinda weird. Um... it looks... looks pretty good, actually, it's got a lot of work done to it, it's got a pretty big map...
  • "DINOSAURS ARE PEOPLE TOO!" "No, they're dinosaurs."
  • Episode 11 has the Guys bring up 'Rapanese'.
  • Josh finds out that Chugga never saw Indiana Jones or Back to the Future, and reacts pretty much the exact same way that Jon and Tim did.
• Captain Obvious: Jon has a moment.
  Jon: For those of you who have never played this game before, you can obviously tell this is a four-player game, it's the first—
  Chugga: NAAAAAWWWW!
• Casting Gag: Probably an unintentional example, but NCS plays as Luigi. Both are Ensemble Darkhorses and Butt Monkeys.
  • Also with NCS, just like in Mario Party, he plays a green character. It's not easy being green.
• Character Catchphrase: Jon tends to cheerfully call, "Bye guys!" while rushing ahead of everybody.
• Chekhov's Gun: Remember those two lives Chugga got in episode 17, part 1, around the 7 minutes and 30 seconds mark? Had he not gotten those lives, he would almost definitely have used a continue as Jon wanted, as later on there was a period where he had only two lives remaining.
• Crack Pairing: Invoked, sort of. In the beginning of Episode Two, The Jetsons theme, sung by Chugga, has himself as Elroy, Josh as George, Jon as Judy, and Tim as Jane.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Episode 11 has Josh dying the least while also finally managing to earn 1-Ups.
  • Tim, of all people, seems to lead the group through most of World 8, save for the final boss.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The third attempt at Bowser.
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Remembering too late that there is no 'awesome spin jump' like there was in Super Mario World.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: This LP sees Jon constantly running ahead and leaving the others behind with his cheerful unashamed cry of "Bye guys!" In later LPs (including the sequel to this game!), it's Chugga who runs ahead and leaves the others behind, and Jon who complains about it.
  • To be fair, Jon tends to give warning for it with his "Bye Guys!" so the others can bubble, whereas when Chugga does it, he gives no warning, runs past things that they need to get/do, and it usually results in one or more deaths.
• Epic Fail: At the end of World 6-1. Josh was about to reach the flag pole and bubbled. Jon pops him, getting knocked away from the top in the process. This sends Josh high enough to reach the top of the flagpole, but Josh bubbles again. Chugga pops on his way to the flagpole, only for Josh to bubble a third time.
  • Episode 14. They even had to change the ending format, because the causes of death wouldn't all fit on screen. And the death count at the end: Jon 19, Josh 29, Chugga 43, and NCS 47.
    • Levels 7-4 and 7-6 especially.
  • Episode 17. World 9-3. That one Star Coin. It took 12 tries to get it.
  • At the end, both NCS and Josh's most common causes of death were self-induced pitfalls.
  • NCS died on the very first Goomba.
• Evil Tastes Good: During World 9-6, when Jon keeps trying to kill Chugga:
  Jon: Seriously! You're so close, I can taste it.
  Chugga: You can taste my death?
  Jon: Yes, and it's delicious! ... And nutritious!
  (roughly two seconds later, Chugga dies, and Jon gives a predictable response)
• Failed a Spot Check: Happens a lot to Josh and Tim. Notably, Josh fails to spot an incoming Bullet Bill during Episode 14, causing all three of the others to yell.
  Jon: How did you not see that?!
• Fan Myopia: invoked Jon becomes a victim of this after learning that he's the only one of the Runaway Guys (including guest player Josh) who has played Metal Gear.
• Foregone Conclusion: It's either going to be Jon or Chuggaconroy winning in almost all of the categories; if not for making sure (more) levels don't have to be replayed due to multiple stupid deaths, Tim and Josh might as well not even be there.
  • They actually Lampshade this in episode 9.
  • It comes true; they are the two that defeat Bowser.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Inverted. In the first episode, Chugga points out that the Blue Toad dies first in the demo play, which doesn't bode well for Jon (who will be playing as Blue Toad). Ultimately, Jon dies the least times out of everyone.
  • In episode 11 at 9:10, Chugga sings the main theme of Super Smash Bros. Brawl (though it's hard to tell, because it's so bad). Their next LP turns out to be that very game.
• Forgot About His Powers: In the game, whenever two or more players ground pound at the same time, it causes a shockwave that functions like a POW Block. The four of them use this ability all the time in those balloon-collecting minigames to kill everything right off the bat and make it easier, but they never think to use it to knock down Star Coins floating in the air, and frequently complain about missing coins and having to revisit the level later if they lose the POW Block that would be required to knock them down in single-player.
  • Chugga points this out during the coin cleanup in episode 12, but it didn't get a passing acknowledgement from anyone else.
• The Gadfly:
  • In episode 14, while both Josh and Tim are out of lives and Chugga is stuck in a bubble, Jon starts farming 1-Ups.
  Jon: *singing* "I am an asshole, I am an asshole, I am SUCH an asshole!"

  • He also actually says "I haven't been trolling enough."
  • HEY GUYS LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!
  • On his Formspring, Jon said a few days before the video came out "Actually, video spoilers, for the last levels I just put the controller down to see how well they do without me." Which turned out to be Blatant Lies.
• A God Am I: Chugga declares himself to be Amaterasu. He also points out when another guy is God, usually when they're mini and running across water.
• Good Bad Bugs: invoked In Episode 15, Tim jumps on the flagpole, gets a 1-Up, then bubbles, and is suddenly not in the bubble. To add greatness, they got fireworks.
• Heh Heh, You Said "X": In Episode 11, Jon said the phrase "number 2", and Josh, Chugga, and Tim all said this.
  Jon: I'm glad to see I'm playing with such mature people.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Sometimes someone will have to die in order to get a Star Coin. This can often double as a Funny Moment, or fail and end in a Senseless Sacrifice.
  Chugga: I SACRIFICED MYSELF FOR MONEY! I REGRET NOTHING!
• Hey, That's My Line!: In episode 12, Jon and Chugga get into an argument because Chugga keeps saying things Jon said.
  • In Episode 15, Chugga starts using Josh's catch phrases. Jon is not amused.
  • Inverted in the Episode 7 intro; Jon's upset he DOESN'T have a line to steal.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: The bubble mechanic gets abused — a lot. This occasionally comes back to bite the guys in the ass whenever they fail a level because three of the players are stuck in bubbles — voluntarily or otherwise — and the last guy dies. Episode 14 is the shining example of this trope in this LP.
  • The finale stated that they knocked themselves out of the level by all bubbling at the same time 20 times. Yes, you read that right — Twenty.
• Human Shield: Chugga does this to Jon in episode 12. Jon was less than pleased, mostly because everyone had just picked up an item that grants invincibility.
  Jon: *After dying* Argh! Thanks for using me like an umbrella, guys; while you had Starmen!
• Hurricane of Puns: Episodes 4 & 9.
• Hypocritical Humor: Jon pulls this off and attempts to justify it:
  Chugga: *throws Jon off a platform*
  Jon: "YOU. ARE A DICK." *throws Josh off a platform*
  Josh: "Why'd you do that?!"
  Jon: "Because I'm a dick too!"
• In-Series Nickname: The finale had Chuggaaconroy as Thomas Jefferson, NintendoCapriSun as Wart — rather, Thomas Jefferson as well — ProtonJon as Pedro Martinez III Esq. — rather, John Adams (or John Quincy Adams, ProtonJon couldn't make up his mind) — and JoshJepson as... well, himself.
• Interface Spoiler: In Episode 15, Chugga says "What did I ever do to you, honey?" at which point Jon declares the video to be over and it cuts to the ending screen before switching back to the video. Probably would have been more effective if it didn't happen around six minutes in.
• It's All About Me: Jokingly, on various occasions; one of the guys will say that everything is all right because they survived something, even though the other three are perfectly fine as well.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Near the beginning of World 1-4, ProtonJon acquires two Ice Flowers from a ? Block, and proceeds to taunt everyone else, only to get hit by a fish almost immediately thereafter, losing his powerup. Subverted when he picks up another ice flower that had fallen below the bottom of the screen, then doubly subverted when he gets hit by the next fish. All of this happens in the space of about thirteen seconds.
  • Jon's attempted Taking You with Me. During Episode 4, Chugga eats Jon with his Yoshi. Jon promptly escapes, and steals Chugga's Yoshi with a ground-pound. As Chugga protests, Jon immediately eats him, while he's falling into a pit, trying to kill them both. Chugga manages to escape and bubble to safety, while only Jon falls to his death.
  (After Jon falls into the pit, and he jumps out)
  Chugga: YEEESSS!! DESERVE!! DESERVE!!
  • Zigzagged: Chugga manages a role reversal in episode 6, and it worked.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: In Episode 7, Chugga references the ending of Mario Party. The others immediately Lampshade this, and proceed to discuss it in greater detail.
• Late to the Punchline: During the send-off for episode 6, one of the guys doesn't understand the pun in "join us next time for World 4," and has to have it spelled out.
• Leeroy Jenkins: Chugga will often cry this when anyone utters the words, "All right, let's do this." Sometimes he cuts himself off, saying he won't make the joke, only to fully do so a few minutes later.
  • The trope actually occurs in the finale; while the others discussed how to get a particular star coin in World 9-5, Josh rushed ahead to claim it while they weren't looking. Subverted, though, because he succeeded.
  • The constant "Bye guys!" incidents count as well, though they tend to end more disastrously for everyone else than for Jon.
• The Medic: NCS, in a way. He usually doesn't do too much during the actual stages, but when the other guys die, he avoids traps so he can pop their bubbles and bring them back into the game. Ironically, he'll often die immediately after saving someone.
• Mondegreen Gag: After failing 9-7, when Jon says "It's a good thing I didn't bet with you, Josh." Josh mistakes this statement as "It's a good thing I didn't go to bed with you."
• Not Me This Time: In World 1-5, Josh accuses Chugga of killing him. Chugga protests and points out that he was nowhere near him when he died.
  • Later, Chugga claimed that he never kills Jon on purpose. Jon didn't buy it.
• No, You: Whenever Jon says "What is WRONG with you?!" to Chugga, he replies "You are!"
• Orphaned Punchline: Due to the way they cut to deaths and Star Coin collections, this is rather common.
  "Aaaand you're a homicidal maniac."
  "My mommy always said to say "You're welcome" whenever anyone says "Thank you", so I was being polite!"
• Press X to Not Die: At about the 5:18 mark of Episode 12, Chugga says "That's a smart thing to do. Press A to not die".
• Power of Friendship: After repeated deaths in World 7-6, the Guys only succeed when they start working together. They immediately go back to trying to kill each other afterwards. Often after cooperating, Chugga will say "The real superpower of teamwork!", furthering this.
  • Discussed in episode 16:
  Jon The superpower of teamwork isn't going to save us this time!
• Real Men Wear Pink: Chugga's choice of Yoshi, the "fabulous" pink Yoshi.
• Running Gag: Josh's eternal quest for 1-ups and Jon stealing them.
  • Also, Jon's tendency to run up ahead of everyone else with a cheerful "Bye guys!"
  • For the first few episodes, each episode is introduced by one member of the group in turn in the style of their usual LPs. Particularly funny when ProtonJon (referring to his reputation for LPing Mario romhacks) acts as though the game is an unusually good romhack sent to him by "someone called S. Miyamoto".
  • The yellow Toad sounding like a chicken.
  • NCS keeps accidentally pausing or hitting the home button on the controller.
  • NCS bubbling right before the flag.
  • Chugga admitting to not seeing certain popular/classic movies, and the others' reactions.
  • Comparing the look of the Propeller Shroom suit to a jogging suit, and when all four of them have it equipped, saying how they're going to go jogging.
• Sadist Show: Definitely became this by the end. For the funnier.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Jokingly, of course.
  Chugga: I, Chugga, am going to be Mario.
  Tim: I will be Luigi... 'cause I'm green!
  Josh: I'm gonna be yellow Toad, and I'll be the best yellow Toad you've ever seen!
  Jon: And I'll be leaving, thank you.
  • Jon attempts this later during their Star Coin collection run through Roy's castle, by trying to take a different path than the others. Key word being 'trying'.
• Sir Swears Alot: Josh compared to the others.
• Status Quo Is God: Despite Jon saying in an interview he's willing to stop deliberately killing Chugga during the next recording session, he gets worse if anything.
  • Josh had a Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass episode, finally getting some lives and doing the best. However, right after, he goes back to being the 1-Up needing Butt-Monkey.
• Stealth Pun: Most likely unintentional, but at the end of episode 3, we have this exchange.
  Jon: Thank you Encyclopedia Brown.
  Tim: In the bathroom!
  Jon: And on that note.
  • In Episode 8, at around the 2:30 mark, they enter a pipe and find Big Bertha. This leads to this conversation.
  Chugga: IT'S BIG BERTHA!
  Josh: RUN AWAY!
  Chugga: Guys!
  • They pull off another accidental pun when they accidentally use Mini-Mushrooms before 9-7, but decide to do the level anyway. The person who gets the farthest while Mini'd is NCS: Tiny Tim.
• Strange Minds Think Alike: Chugga resists making a pun, only for Josh to make it immediately after Chugga said he didn't want to say it.
  • During 9-3:
  *Tim grabs the Star Coin just in time*
  Chugga: Yes! Tim! Go Tim! Man, Tim's kicking ass!
  Josh: Kickin' ass and takin' names.
  Everybody: TAKIN' ASS AND KICKIN' NAMES!
• Take That!:
  Josh: *falls into the poison water* Again? I hate the lava!
  Chugga: That's not lava, it's Kool-Aid.
  Josh: Close enough!
  • It also doubles as a Call-Back to Jon's LP of Mario's Wacky World.
  • A few times, they make jokes about the fanboys in their fandom and the kinds of comments they'd leave.
• Taking You with Me: Jon tries this in Episode 4 with Chugga. It ends badly.
• Team Killer: Most commonly, Jon and Chugga.
• Tempting Fate: In Episode 5 during the ghost house:
  Tim: It is not moving!
  (Platform starts falling really fast.)
  All: AAAAAAAAAAAAH!
  • Before then, in the same level, there's a more subtle variation...
  Josh: When [the Boos] laugh at me, it lowers my self esteem.
  (Platform starts falling really fast.)
  All: AAAAAAAAAAAAH!
  • And in episode 17, during World 9-3. "I LOVE this level! I want to do it a... FIFTH time!" ...Well, let's say that the second star coin grants this wish.
• That Came Out Wrong: Jon has been carrying Tim around for a bit, but there's a star coin on the other side of a lava stream. Jon says to Tim, "The question is, if we're going to go for that coin, you gotta get off my head, so flip off."
• That One Level: invoked
  • NCS refers to World 2-4 as "the worst [level] in the first five worlds." Indeed, the Runaway Guys collectively lose 22 lives in that level, not counting murders.
  • World 7. So many deaths...
  • Level 9-3, so, so much. It wins for the most times they've had to repeat a level.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: In Episode 5, after not gaining anything in the first 1UP house they visit, Josh manages to snag four in the second one.
• Token Evil Teammate: Though generally everyone in the group has bouts of sociopathy, Jon is especially dedicated to making his teammates suffer. See the Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds entry on YMMV for details.
• Took a Level in Badass: Tim and Josh actually seem to improve as the game goes on, and by the end, during the harder stages, they end up helping out quite a bit.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Jon in the second half of the LP towards Chugga, particularly trying to kill him more and more. ^note As stated in LPCatchPhrases' interview, the reason for this is because they were cracking jokes before recording the second half of the LP, and Chugga playfully threw a hard cylindrical pillow in Jon's direction, which nailed him right in the face and gave him a black eye.
• Too Many Cooks Spoil the Soup: They often end up sabotaging themselves by accident just by getting in each other's way. It's especially bad in levels that require precise jumps, where they end up bouncing off each other and knocking each other around.
• Villainous Breakdown: Depending on how villainous you see Jon in this game, the last world (where plenty of lives are dispensed) can be seen as this; you can hear the misery in Jon's voice when it's clear that he's not going to give Chugga a game over. He spends much of the end of the video saying how depressed he is that he didn't achieve his goal and signs out as "Depression Incorporated".
• Vitriolic Best Buds: A selective example.
  Jon: No, you guys don't need to kill me more. Chugga needs to to kill me more. You guys are fine.
  • Guess what was Jon's and Chugga's most common death cause at the end... EACH OTHER.
• Waxing Lyrical: The guys speak a "Weird Al" Yankovic song at one point.

New Super Mario Bros. U

• Accidental Public Confession: In episode 22, Josh is tricked into admitting AttackingTucans is his best friend.
• Ax-Crazy: Denied in Josh's case, averted so far with Jon, and Played With by Chugga.
• Bile Fascination: In-Universe, Chugga claims in episode 12 that this is the reason he went to see Twilight; the others decide not to believe him.
• Bookends: Episode 16 begins and ends with Jon and Josh chanting, most notably "You messed up!" to Chugga.
• Big "NO!": After defeating Bowser, everyone except Jon has this because he threw them into the pit.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: Three examples in episode 5; Chugga borrows Jon's "Bye guys!"; Tim borrows Josh's "Swiiiiirly!" (to do a pun on 'Squirrrrly' for squirrel); Tim also borrows Lucahjin's "MAH BALLS" when someone mentions horses.
• The Bus Came Back: JoshJepson returns for this one.
• Butt-Monkey: Josh, much to his chagrin.
  • What Josh is in gameplay, Chugga is in commentary.
• Call-Back:
  • Lots of them to the New Super Mario Bros. Wii LP.
  • In episode 12, Josh also makes a couple to his co-ops with Super Jeenius, such as referring to 'sacrificing your bodies'.
  • Like in the New Super Mario Bros. Wii playthrough, Chugga's and Jon's most common cause of death is once again each other.
• Captain Obvious: In episode 4:
  Josh: "Fire Snake Cavern". I don't like the sound of this.
  Jon: Yeah, it's 'cause there's...fire snakes...
  Chugga: NAAAAWWW!
  • Amusingly, Jon then mentions how he was flagged for spoilers on Miiverse for saying the level "Perilous Pokey Cave" has Pokeys in it.
• Character Catchphrase:
  • Whenever NCS falls into the poisoned water in Soda Jungle, he will often say, "I love that stuff! It tastes so good!" or some variation. This later gets a reprise in New Super Luigi U.
  • Take a shot every time Josh goes, "Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait!" ...Actually, don't.
• Character Development: Not really, since he's an actual human being and not a character, but Chugga starts the LP with his usual obnoxious troll persona, but by the end, he's openly more cooperative and owns up to mistakes more often.
• Chekhov's Skill: In the last episode, Chugga tries to apply this trope to his habit of running ahead of the other players. Jon calls BS.
  Jon: Look at him. He's trying to justify his running ahead all the time.
• "Everybody Laughs" Ending: Episode 6 has everyone laugh at the end for no apparent reason.
• Everybody Lives: There are absolutely no deaths in Episode 3, surprisingly.
• Everyone Has Standards: In episode 9, Josh threatens to reference Steve the Pikmin to torment Chugga, and Jon says not even he does that to Chugga anymore.
  • Also a Call-Back to New Super Mario Bros. Wii, when Josh referenced "MOVE FASTER POKEY!" and Chugga said even he doesn't do that to Jon anymore.
• Evil Feels Good: As Chugga discovered in Episode 8.
  • And Jon after beating Bowser.
• Evil Laugh: Tim, of all people, lets out a quiet one in Episode 8 after he causes Emile to be knocked into a spike trap by jumping on his head.
• Face–Heel Turn: Chuggaaconroy, in what ranks as one of the most mild examples, completes this by about episode 8. By the point where he's giggling about how fun it is being evil and calling himself "Evil Chugga," it's become this trope.
• Follow the Bouncing Ball: Chugga's "Meet the Timstones" song in episode 2, using the Runaway Guys logo as the ball.
• A God Am I: Played for Laughs in Episode 8.
  Jon: Stop assuming Tim is not good at games! Jesus! I'm sorry for taking his name in vain, but seriously!
  Tim: Thou shalt take the name of the Lord in vain... oh.
  Chugga: Tim is the Lord.
  Tim: Yes I am.
  Chugga: Tim lost a 1-Up for your sins.
• Godzilla Threshold: Jon seems to have no problem letting the P-Acorns clutter up the inventory, and is at the time arguing with Chugga to save them up for difficult levels... and then the group sees that the next level is Painted Swampland. Jon immediately says to use one. They all die anyway, get kicked out of the stage, and have to restart.
• Hero Killer: Evil Chugga has no problem with killing Josh.
• Hypocritical Humor: In "Superstar Road - Part 2," Josh chides Chugga for cheaply using the Bubble function instead of playing the game properly. It is then pointed out, in editing, that Josh has statistically bubbled more times than Chugga.
• Interface Spoiler: In the second episode of Superstar Road, Chugga and Jon get into a brief argument over whether or not to keep going and finish the world or finish it off in the next video. When they decide to finish it off after a coin flip, Jon points out how people could have just looked at the video timer to see whether or not they would do it.
• Lost in Transmission:
  • Episode 3's outro: "Find out ne—"
  • Episode 7's outro: "Help us, please. Our address is—"
• Mondegreen Gag: Discussed when the Guys randomly start singing "Barbara Ann" and Chugga admits that he thought it was actually Bobber Ann (or Bobert Ann).
• Noodle Incident: At the end of episode 18, after Josh accuses Chugga of being a necrophiliac...
  Jon: This was the "we learn too much about people" convention, to be fair.
  Chugga / Tim / Josh (together): It really was / Oh boy! / More than you know!
  Jon: Pink underwear. That is all.
  • This incident gets a callback in the final video.
  • Early in to Peach's Castle, the commentary suddenly stops because of something Jon was saying to the others. Given what it comes back to, it's possible it may have been some kind of joke about religion, which was probably for the better.
• Oh, Crap, There Are Fanfics of Us!:
  • Discussed in episode 2, and even forms the punchline of Chugga's "Timstones" song.
  • Chugga also has a Running Gag of mentioning embarrassing details, whether true or not, about the guys and then saying something to the effect of, "There you go, fanfic material."
  • Episode 13 begins with the discussion of gender-bending. The fanfic potential is immediately pointed out.
• Only Sane Man: Tim, even moreso than in the previous projects.
• Overly Narrow Superlative: In episode 1, when Josh does a Call-Back to his introduction in the earlier LP and says he's "the best Yellow Toad you've ever had!", Chugga points out that he's also the only Yellow Toad they've ever had.
• Overly Preprepared Gag: Chugga's "Meet The Timstones" intro. Jon mentions that he actually had the lines written out beforehand.
• Pandering to the Base: invoked Often when Chugga is doing something silly or mean (or just plain annoying Jon), he will claim that he's "doing it for the fans!"
• Planet of Steves: In a Call-Back to them mixing up the Koopalings and saying two different ones were Iggy back in the previous LP, they now decide that all the Koopalings will be called Iggy.
• Poke the Poodle: Jon's mischief in the early episodes involve... not telling the rest of the Guys that a block doesn't contain power-ups, and generally not being overly helpful. Chugga indulges in a bit of this as well come episode 8.
• Portmanteau: In episode 6, Josh refers to the Toad Bros. as "Broads" (rhymes with toads).
• Quip to Black: Jon's "Dancing with the Stars" pun in episode 23, though with a Collective Groan rather than a "YEEEAAAH!"
• Running Gag:
  • Josh is not a true Runaway Guy. He is Four.
  • Tim is getting all of the Star Coins.
  • Every time someone gets a Starman, Josh will shout, "Hug me!" to the point that it's practically a catchphrase. An acceptable case, however, as he's always either trying to get the Star power or trying to give it to the others.
  • Josh rapidly ducking over and over while he makes a club rave beat in time with it.
  • At various points through the playthrough, Josh (playing off of how astounded he was when he discovered that the only person who can unpause the game is the one who paused it) will suddenly pause the game and shout, "SO MUCH POWER!"
  • Chugga checking out the Miiverse comments and the other Guys mocking them, especially how people use Two Words: I Can't Count.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Chugga does this in Episode 6 right before he's crushed by an ice block.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Joked about by Tim in Episode 5:
  Jon: I'm bottling it all up as no-one has killed me yet...
  Tim: Okay, I'm getting out of here then.
• Serious Business:
  • When Chugga comes across as insulting Star Trek in episode 20, Josh promptly throws him in the lava.
  • In episode 22, Chugga gets so outraged about a different host on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? that he actually swears about it.
• Speak in Unison: Chugga and Josh both say "Get rid of a star!" at the same time in episode 14.
• Spoonerism: In episode 15, Chugga turns Breaking Bad into "Baking Brad".
• Tempting Fate: In Episode 11, Chugga comments on how easy they've had it so far. Jon calls him out on this; Chugga's defense is that he wants to jinx them to make it more interesting. "You're welcome, viewers!"
• That Came Out Wrong: After the Guys are told to concentrate, Josh attempts to do a joke about them all going to a summer camp dedicated to concentrating. A concentration camp. This actually prompts Chugga to join Jon in his sarcastic clapping.
  Chugga: Speaking of offensive in Europe...
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Josh ends up getting the final hit on the Final Battle against Bowser, getting a kiss and 13 STDs from Peach as a reward.
• Token Good Teammate: Tim, following on from the above.
• Tomato Surprise: Joked about in Episode 9 when everyone (including Jon himself in a Dull Surprise fashion) claims that Jon's dark secret is that he's actually a hat.
• Too Awesome to Use: They argue about this with respect to the P-acorns filling up their limited inventory space.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • NCS and Josh contribute a lot more and die only a fraction as much as they did in Mario Wii. In fact, they both manage to reach 99 lives, which they never even got close to in Wii.
  • Everybody in the first video of Superstar Road. The normally disorganized team essentially Zerg Rushes their way through the entire first half of the bonus world, collecting all of the Star Coins in a single run, not the least of which is "Run For It", where everyone contributes to a nigh-perfect playthrough.
  Chugga: TRG for the mothereffing win!
• Total Party Kill: During one of their attempts at Bowser's first phase, Jon's the only one to reach the switch behind Bowser and destroy the bridge, which the other three were on, meaning that Jon sent the other Guys to their deaths alongside Bowser.
  Jon: I HAVE MURDERED YOU ALL!!! IT IS ALL COME DOWN TO THIS MOMENT!
• Troll: Jon promises in the first episode to not do this...unless someone draws first blood on him. (First blood is drawn in Episode 6, and all bets are off.)
  • Exact Words: He only said that he wouldn't kill people; nothing about verbal trolling or ninjaing powerups was mentioned.
  • In Episode 8, Chugga begins trolling, and now understands why Jon loves doing it.
  • In the finale, Jon kills people EIGHT times. Including a Total Party Kill (minus himself) when he drops the bridge out from under Bowser and the other Runaway Guys.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: Inuniverse, Chugga claims he thought Shigeru Miyamoto was an old woman when he first saw a picture of him, which baffles the others.
• Vocal Dissonance: The pink baby Yoshi is given a Boisterous Bruiser voice. "YO-SHI!"
• You Are Number 6: In episode 5 Josh brings up the fact that the other three Guys have microphones with their names on, but his just has the number '4' on it and he acts as though it's this trope.

New Super Luigi U

• Angrish: Mentioned by name by Jon in episode 12 after Tim comments on him doing it.
• Being Good Sucks / No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: A running theme for Jon.
  Jon: The one playthrough where I decide not to kill anyone on purpose is the one where I just get steamrolled by everyone.
• Big "WHAT?!": Jon is in rare form during this entire LP, to the point that it almost seems like he's back in his Mario RO Mhack days. Justified by his absolutely abysmal luck, an unfamiliar controller, and the game mechanics and frame-rate issues consistently screwing him over.
• Bring It: Chugga shouts this as they near the end of Episode 5. Then followed by NCS referencing his Kid Icarus Uprising LP.
• Call-Back:
  • Chugga plays as Yellow Toad this time, prompting both him and Jon to point out that Josh now actually has competition for being "the best Yellow Toad we've ever had!"
  • For the third Mario platformer LP in a row, Chugga opens episode two by singing a cartoon theme song with TRG appropriate lyrics, this time for Animaniacs.
  • Chugga asks Jon if he can finally start tracking who goes through doors first, Jon shuts him down, then adds that he lost anyway in U, since the fans kept track for them.
  • Just as in the earlier levels of New Super Mario Bros. U, Tim keeps sniping the star coins.
  • Once again, in episode 2 Jon mixes up Iggy and Lemmy Koopa.
  • In Episode 17, Chugga says the same thing to Boss Sumo Bro. that he said in New Super Mario Bros. U: "You only have dots for eyes! You can't be a boss!"
• Character Catchphrase: Jon has "SLIPPERY SHOES!" for every time he gets screwed over by every character having Luigi's traditional poor traction. "PAUSING!" and "I HIT BUBBLE!" are almost as common.
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Zigzagged for Jon, who initially has trouble bubbling due to using an unfamiliar controller. He adjusts to it in Episode 3, but in Episode 5 he goes back to using a Wii Remote and thus does horribly again.
• Everyone Has Standards: Even Chugga groans at Tim's "Foreshadowing" pun in episode 15.
• Follow the Bouncing Ball: This time, the ball is ACFan10's design for Chugga for "The Runawayniacs".
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Jon's anger and frustration reach new heights throughout this LP, to the point where there's a semi-serious discussion about it in the final episode.
• Mondegreen Gag: In episode 22, Chugga turns Jon's "What comes up must come down" into "What comes out must come down".
• Negated Moment of Awesome:
  • In Episode 24, NCS finally gets to take charge as the hero of the story (since he is playing as Luigi) by dealing the killing blow on Bowser. He misses; Jon deals the hit instead.
  • This was the first of the three NSMB games that they've done that NCS made it all the way to the end without getting a Game Over, until the very end of the very last level^note not including the bonus level which is basically coin collecting. Everyone is sad.
• Oh, Crap!: During Episode 3, there's this:
  Chugga: You know Jon, you're like Viridi, you can be really nice when you try.
  (Beat)
  Jon: Yea, that's gonna help the shipping stuff we have to deal with when you compare me to Viridi.
  Chugga: OH NO! And people compare me to Pit, dang it! I didn't even think before I spoke!
  Jon: You not think before you speak, WHA?
• Out-of-Character Moment: After finally completing Superstar Road 6 after so many deaths... nothing. The guys didn't shout or celebrate like they normally do. Jon even Lampshades this.
  Jon: This is the most mellow reaction we've ever had at beating a hard stage
• Overly Narrow Superlative: In Episode 2...
  Chugga: It's actually kind of quiet for a Mario game without Josh, I'm gonna admit. Or, not a Mario game—a Luigi game.
  Jon: For all those Luigi games we play normally.
  Chugga: Yeah, I know. All...two of them.
• Put on a Bus: JoshJepson, the guest player for Mario Wii and Mario U, is absent this time due to the skewed mechanics for Luigi U's four-player mode.
• Running Gag:
  • Mostly involving Interface Screw: SLIPPERY SHOES, the dodgy bubble button, the framerate issues...
  • Jon's snarky Miiverse posts. And Tim not seeing them and starting the level without reading them, making Jon and Chugga sigh.
  • Chugga saying "There's Luigi, by the way" almost every time they find the hidden Luigi in a level.
• Tempting Fate: In Episode 13.
  Jon: Okay, so if we all lose our flying squirrel suits by the time we get to the Star, then I'm gonna say that—
  (All three of them lose their suits within the next five seconds)
• That Came Out Wrong: The guys try to figure out how many lives they got from a 1-up minigame. They guess two or three, but after it turns out to be six...
  Chugga: Two or three-up my ass!
• That One Level: invoked Level 9-6, Fire Bar Sprint, has the most deaths of the whole project, as well as being the level where Jon rages the most.
• Took a Level in Badass: Jon in Episode 15. After several consecutive episodes of his life count hovering around 50, Jon manages to shoot up to 70 lives, drastically narrowing the gap between him and Chugga.
• Wrong-Name Outburst: When Tim hits Chugga with a Koopa Shell, Chugga immediately blames Jon, before shifting to Tim.
  Chugga: Woah, Jo-Tim!
  Jon: I like how you immediately went to blame me.

Super Mario 3D World

• Anticlimax Boss: In-universe, Chugga complains that this is the reason why he doesn't find the fight against Meowser enjoyable. On top of being unusually easy and short, he also complains about the god-awful slow auto-scrolling that prevents them from moving faster than they would like.
• The Apocalypse Brings Out the Best in People: After a series of That One Levels in World Castle quickly eating away at their spare lives, the band starts out Episode 22 with eight lives in the bank. The sheer possibility of getting a Game Over causes them to actually coordinate properly for the next few levels. They still get a Game Over at Castle-Castle. After they get restocked with 20 Lives, they all go back to their usual, uncoordinated selves.
• Bait-and-Switch: When the group gets to Searchlight Sneak, Chugga hypes it as a "stealth-type level"... and when they actually start playing it, he doesn't even try to avoid the searchlights because he's good enough to dodge the Bullet Bills regardless.
• Berserk Button: Downplayed as they simply get extremely irritated as opposed to outright angry, but the entire group has a major beef with Nintendo's poor button mapping in making the "run" button the same thing as the "pick up" button, which often causes the Guys to accidentally pick each other up and sometimes kill each other^note Which is very bad with the shared lives system by tossing the character they're holding into a pit. Chugga in particular is especially upset because while he understands the Wii Remote's limited button scheme, he claims that there is no reason they couldn't have changed it for the Gamepad, what with its higher number of buttons.
• Call-Back:
  • When the group reached World Bowser, revealed to be a gigantic Vegas-style theme park, Chugga noted the following.
    Chugga: Bowser Land, the happiest place on Earth!
  • Chugga tries to invoke this for Jon in Episode 31. It doesn't quite work out.
    Chugga: I think you're all familiar with this catch, Jon.
    Jon: ... 30 seconds. Nice try, I knew what you were going for.
• Combat Stilettos: Masae as Peach when Peach isn't using a Suit-type power-up. Emile later joins in after they unlock Rosalina. (Outside of certain power-ups, Peach and Rosalina platform in their usual gowns and high heels.)
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: During the stage in Mystery House Marathon where there are three switches and two Brolders, everyone's first instinct except Jon's is to attack the Brolders and toss them on the switches. Jon, savvy as he is, guns straight for the button knowing full well that they don't even need the Brolders since there are at least three players. The other Guys subsequently repeat the same mistake several times on repeat plays, something that Jon lampshades when Masae does it the sixth and seventh times.
• Follow the Bouncing Ball: Still Chugga's head, but this time to the tune of Tiny Tim Adventures. But he's not alone in singing along though...
• Hope Spot: During Level Castle-Castle, Tim manages to make it to the battle with Bowser after the others have all fallen and used up all the lives. He doesn't make it through the fight, netting the four their first Game Over in the Lets Play.
• Large Ham: When Jon asks Chugga to yell into the Gamepad's mic to remove some enemies, the Guys get an unexpected response.
  Chugga: STEVE THE TROOPER!?!?
  Masae: ... Are you really bringing that back?
• The Load: invoked Tim comes off as this often, due to his overall lack of contribution compared to everyone else and tendency to either lag behind or run ahead, causing the camera to pan away from what everyone else wants, which is either progression or a collectible. Though, he did get his Day in the Limelight when everyone else died on the way to the boss fight of Castle-Castle and they left it to Tim, who also died when he failed to long jump across a gap during said fight.
• On Three: When the four do the bonus slots, this is in play in order to have everyone hit their block at the same time. Sometimes, though, someone messes up, lessening the coin reward.
• Overly Long Gag: When Jon gets killed in Mystery House Throwdown and no one notices how, they play back the footage in slow motion post-level to show what happened^note Masae accidentally swapped her baseball for Jon and tossed him into the pit, but they keep rolling the footage in slow-mo way after they show the death anyways for the following reactions, still in slow-mo.
• Race Against the Clock: Most Mario levels are like this, but the episode "100 Second Hero" has the guys exhaust one level's time limit. With only 100 seconds to spare and 0 lives left, Emile makes it to the goal pole with one second remaining on the clock. Everyone loses their minds.
• Running Gag:
  • Jon messing around with his airhorn app.
  • Masae wanting the crown.
  • After Chugga reveals that he thought the word "vernacular" referred to a sexual organ for the longest time, he begins intentionally using the word "vernacular" to refer to a nonexistent body part for the next few episodes. The second time he does it, Masae pretends to slap Chugga by clapping her hands, and Jon, not noticing that she faked it, reacts accordingly.
  Jon: Ooh, that was a good one!
  • Masae's strategy of waiting on the spots where Green Stars spawn and letting others complete the challenge to get it so she can nab it at the source for no effort. The rest of the group start imitating this strategy, and this later leads to a huge cooperative mess when, in one level, Jon as Toad is the only character who can hit a button for a Green Star...so everyone runs over to the spawn point. Not only does Jon get frustrated because this moves the camera so the button is offscreen, but the unsportsmanlike conduct makes him refuse to hit the button until they all come over to him. Reluctantly, they do...and in the rush to grab the star, Jon falls off the level.
• Sarcasm Mode: In true Jon fashion, he reacts this way when he spots the Comet Observatory in the game's ending.
  Jon: What is that in the SKY? Dun dun dun! I've never seen that before in a Mario game!
• Tempting Fate: This gem from World Star:
  Jon: I'M WINNING THE RACE NOW, GOAL POLE! *Long jumps straight into the side of a Donut Block and falls to his death*
• That One Level: invoked "Champions Road". The level is so tough that the four only get a few screens before dying at the same obstacle, and they spend three videos trying to get through it.
• The Smurfette Principle: Masae as Peach.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: After his performance in New Super Luigi U, Jon makes a return to form; although he has less opportunities to kill everyone due to the shared lives system, he's overall very unhelpful in this installment.
• Tsundere: Masae acts this way when people tell her she's cute. Jon assumes it's because it's Emile, but after testing it in the name of science, turns out it's not.

Super Mario Bros. 3

• The Ace: Tim is very much in his element in this project compared to the other kinds of games the Guys typically work on.
• Bookends: At the start of this game, Chugga gets World 1-1. With the way they've set up the ordering, Chugga winds up being the person to get the final castle.
• Broken Win/Loss Streak: In the LP itself, after dying at least once a stage every time it's his turn, Chugga finally winds up completing World 3-2 without a single death.
• Butt-Monkey: Chugga is this for once, who winds up dying on numerous stages due to inexperience, as opposed to Jon and Tim, whose (rather few) deaths are due to either forgetting the control scheme or simply bad circumstance. Jon even admits he partially wanted to do this LP just to watch Chugga suck at a game.
• Call-Back:
  • Episode 3 has a moment when Jon shouts "You got an EARD!", referencing his legendary "Super Mario Bros. 3 — Nightmare Edition" stream highlight.
  • In Episode 6, Chugga shouts "Move faster, Mario!", but Jon is too busy discussing with Tim to notice.
  • In Episode 13, Chugga makes note of the same Panzer Dragoon Mondegreen Gag that he mentioned in Sonic Adventure, which was being recorded simultaneously alongside this game.
• Crazy Enough to Work: In Episode 4, Chugga accidentally takes the Frog Suit, a power-up with awful platforming ability, into a stage with heavy platforming emphasis. He winds up jumping into the water below, and begins Button Mashing the jump button in a panic to avoid the Cheep Cheeps chasing him, and thanks to the Frog Suit's proficiency in water, this mistake causes him to finish the stage faster.
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Jon and Tim spend some time adapting to the Pro Controller's control scheme, whereas Chugga, who is used to it, has no issues with the controls. Not that it helps him much, since he still winds up dying more often anyways.
• Day in the Limelight: Tim is very good at this game, and shines more than the others thanks to his combined skill and knowledge. Chugga even admits that Tim is great at 8-bit games.
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • Hits Chugga where it hurts. Mario's less-precise handling, Checkpoint Starvation, shorter Mercy Invincibility, and so forth tend to cause the majority of his deaths as a result of him being more used to titles like New Super Mario Bros. U and Super Mario 3D World. Jon even calls him out on this, saying that it's incredibly obvious that he's used to newer Mario games. Thankfully, he starts getting better.
  • This was the second single-player campaign played on the channel. While the intent is to teach one inexperienced Guy (Emile) while the other two help guide, the game is still being played on the relay system like their previous playthrough of Sonic Adventure.
• Funny Background Event: Tim, not really involved in most of the conversation going on, spends most of the second video quietly singing/beatboxing to the game music while Emile and Jon chatter.
• Guide Dang It!: Jon specifically calls the required method of summoning the Treasure Ship "pretty bullshit" because of this. He then proceeds to explain it for viewers not in the know.
• Hype Backlash: In-Universe example. Chugga admits he never beat Super Mario Bros. 3 because he played Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, and Super Mario World before 3. A lot of people hyped it to be "the best Mario game," but when he tried it, he just thought it was "okay". Jon explicitly said this LP was made so Chugga can experience the entire game. Come the end of the LP, he grew to like and appreciate for what it is, even getting motivated to finish the game on his own.
• I Hate Past Me:
  Chugga: I love 18 year-old Jon!
  Jon: I don't.
• Inherently Funny Words: In episode 9, Emile claims that "Canadian" is an inherently funny word and that this is why people love Canadian jokes. Jon disputes both parts.
• Irony: The Guys find it amusing how World 7-3, a stage where, if you're playing properly, you're supposed to be invincible throughout the majority of, costs Chugga 12 lives, a death count that hasn't been seen since World 3.
• Mondegreen Gag: Chugga thought the phrase "music soothes the savage beast" said "music sues the savage beast".
• Oddball in the Series: This series differs from the majority of their standard fare projects by being entirely single player with no competitive elements, and having a much more casual flair to it, with the goal of the project being getting Emile to play and finish a game he's never tried before. This style would later carry over into a subsequent project, Super Metroid.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Neither Jon nor Tim, or even Chugga will forget Chugga dying in World 1-1, twice.
• Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: In-Universe, Chugga recounts a time when he was young and a GameFAQs poster during a time when having a PS1 was unpopular at his school. When one of GameFAQs' character battle polls came around, the finals ran down to Cloud vs. Sephiroth. Chugga had no idea who either of them were, and decided to ask the internet. Internet backlash ensued.
• Running Gag: Chugga jumping into fireballs in Bullet Hell areas with Piranha Plants or Bowser.
• Seinfeldian Conversation:
  • Part of Episode 3 is dedicated to nitpicking at inconsistencies between English words.
  • After Chugga tells a Paragoomba to stop giving birth, he suddenly wonders how often birds lay eggs mid-flight. Awkwardness ensues.
• Self-Imposed Challenge: While he doesn't get much chance to do it during the LP itself, Jon talks about trying to play the whole game with a Frog Suit as a challenge.
• Tempting Fate:
  • Due to the number of lives Chugga's lost, when he gets a 1UP Mushroom Jon jokes that he'll immediately die and waste it. Seconds after he says this Chugga hits an enemy and reverts to Mario's small form, then nearly gets hit a second time. A panicked Jon quickly takes back what he said.
  • Before the first Hammer Bros. fight in World 3, Tim quietly quips that they're doing pretty good on lives, to which Jon tells him not to say. In the next full stage, Chugga subsequently loses a bunch of spares due to a variety of circumstances.
• That One Level: In-universe, Chugga claims 3-3 is this for him, as it was the reason he never saw past World 3 when he first played it.
• Too Awesome to Use: The Guys generally have a full or near-full inventory of items, including good stuff like Tanooki Suits and P-Wings, that they never use. Interestingly, some of the more usual Too Awesome to Use items in this game, such as Lakitu's Cloud, are useless as the Guys are playing all stages.
• Too Dumb to Live: Jon notes that eagles are this, since they procreate while divebombing.

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