Web Animation / Chikn Nuggit

Weird cartoons.^note Center: Chikn Nuggit. Clockwise from top right: Cofi, Sody Pop, Fwench Fwy, Iscream, Cheezborger, and Slushi. Not pictured: Bezel

An online cartoon comedy series about a weird, long-eared dog named Chikn Nuggit and his similarly fast-food-named pals.

— YouTube description page

Chikn Nuggit is a Webisode comedy series on both TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube, created by animator Kyra Kupetsky. It features small floppy-eared yellow dog Chikn Nuggit and his fast-food-named friends undergoing various kinds of antics and adventures through many web shorts.

The series first premiered on October 15, 2020. It is part of a few animated webshows that are owned by BuzzFeed, such as The Land of Boggs.

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Tropes in Chikn Nuggit include:

• Ambiguous Syntax: In one short, Chikn Nuggit asks Cheezborger "Y'all ever wish you could just... belong?" which Cheezborger is taken aback and says that "You DO belong". Chikn corrects her by extending his neck that stretches above and beyond the stars. Chikn Nuggit didn't meant "belong", he meant be long.
• April Fools' Day: In an episode posted on April Fools Day, it starts out with a silhouette of what appears to be an anthropomorphic deer character before suddenly cutting to black. When the lights turn back on, an elderly green character who looks similar to the blind box figures Sody and Slushi kept pulling in one episode shows up, introducing himself as Old Pea and telling the audience that he hopes they like him.
• Beach Episode: One short has Hawt Saus and Fwench Fwy on the beach.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Iscream and Fwench Fwy. Slushi having a Shipper on Deck moment about it at the end of one episode is the first time it's acknowledged... before a later episode sees the two having a straight-up Slap-Slap-Kiss moment detailed in that trope's entry below.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: One episode has Chikn realize Fwench Fwy's arm spikes are missing. Fwench Fwy tells him that sometimes their animator forgets to draw them.
• Cast Full of Gay: Fwench Fwy and Iscream are both Otherworldly and Sexually Ambiguous and in a relationship, Cheezborger and Slushi are both bisexual, Cofi has been hinted to like women as well, and Chikn Nuggit is pansexual. Fwench Fwy has also admitted to being gay in one short. In fact, all of the characters whose sexualities have been expressly revealed are LGBT.
• Cerebus Syndrome: Earlier episodes were mainly more comedic and heartwarming, and involved the characters getting into silly and relatable situations. However, while those episodes remain a regular occurrence, ever since the introduction of Bezel, the series has been taking a darker, more cryptic tone, with several episodes seemingly alluding to a world-ending event involving Chikn Nuggit and Bezel.
• Character Title: Chikn Nuggit is named for the adorable floppy-eared yellow dog character who features in most of the episodes, although the series has recently been moving in the direction of an Ensemble Cast.
• Characterization Marches On: Early on, Fwench Fwy and Iscream had an antagonistic relationship where the pure-hearted Fwench Fwy opposed Iscream for their demonic activities. Over time, their relationship became friendlier and more easygoing before they eventually ended up dating each other. Fwench Fwy still gets upset and won't talk to Iscream for doing blood rituals sometimes though.
• Cloudcuckooland: The series takes place mostly in empty voids, with characters having varying degrees of kookiness. May become exaggerated in the future, as Bezel points out here, if Chikn really warps reality to be so crazy that even the wacky cast of characters can't handle it.
• Color-Coded Speech: Each character has a different colored speech bubble. Chikn's is orange, Cheezborger's is green, Iscream's is red, Slushi's is light blue, Fwench Fwy's is purple, Sody Pop's is dark orange, Cofi's is pink, and Bezel's is black with magenta text.
• Cupid's Arrow: The Valentine's Day episode shows Iscream with half a quiver's worth of arrows in their chest, while they don't seem to notice Fwench Fwy suggests they go to a hospital.
• Edible Theme Naming: All the characters are named after some kind of fast food product, albeit misspelled. Except Bezel.
• Evil Cannot Stand Cuteness: When Sody Pop was first introduced, Iscream was terrified of him.
  Sody Pop: Look how tiny my face is!
  Iscream: A CHILD...
• Extreme Close-Up: Used to demonstrate why people close their eyes when they kiss, as seen from the perspective of Fwench Fwy and Iscream.
• Fanservice: A Running Gag concerning Fwench Fwy, mostly Played for Laughs:
  • The Beach Episode has Fwench Fwy showing off their "thiccness" in a one-piece swimsuit.
  • invoked Another short has Fwench Fwy invoke Hot as Hell by turning into a Darker and Edgier version of themself and act suggestively flirty with Iscream, complete with Sexophone.
  • Yet another one has them Shaking the Rump at the camera after telling Chikn Nuggit their favorite type of fries are steak fries, because they are "thicc" like said fries.
• Fire-Breathing Diner: After Iscream offers Sody Pop and Cofi some Deadly Reaper Hot Chips in one short, the both of them belch out flames that burn the unwitting bunny's head to a crisp.
• Fleeting Demographic: Discussed in one short, where Sody Pop claims that he's too old to find fart jokes funny. Chikn Nuggit plays a fart sound on his mobile phone, to which (the presumably older) Slushi struggles to retain her laughter.
• The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: Parodied in one short with Iscream. They make increasingly disturbing faces at the viewer, until the tension is undermined by an adorable sneeze.
• Frivolous Summoning: One short has Iscream summon a demon so it can give them scritchies.
• Furry Confusion:
  • Cofi the sheep is anthropomorphic like the other characters, but her debut episode also featured regular (albeit pink) sheep that stand on four legs.
  • A later video has a human woman ask Iscream to watch her seemingly non-sapient dog, despite Chikn Nuggit (a Funny Animal dog) being the main character. Given that the dog is revealed to be Cofi (somehow), there might be elements of Paper-Thin Disguise here.
• Furry Reminder: Though all members of the cast have the ability to walk bipedally, the animals of the cast are occasionally seen acting like their species; Examples include walking on four legs, wagging their tails, and even making animal noises.
• Gender-Equal Ensemble: The main cast currently consists of three males^note Chikn, Sody, and Bezel., three females^note Chee, Slushi, and Cofi., and two agenders/genderless characters^note Iscream and Fwench Fwy..
• Ghosts Abhor a Vacuum: Chikn saves Hawt Saus from the Ghost of Christmas Past by sucking him up into a vacuum.
• Glitter Litter: One short features Iscream and Fwench Fwy discussing glitter. While Fwench Fwy likes glitter for how it brightens everything up, Iscream, being a Troll, admits to liking it because it can't be gotten rid of once it gets into something.
• Hot as Hell: Invoked by Fwench Fwy, after Iscream notes that they're in love despite being opposites. Fwench Fwy decides to take a brief Evil Makeover and sultrily consider the idea of doing some evil acts like necromancy just to tease Iscream, who gets so flustered by the whole idea they nearly pass out.
• I'm Melting!: In one short, Sody Pop immediately stuffs some scalding food into his mouth as soon as it's served, resulting in his face melting off.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Slushi and Sody Pop seem to be pretty close to each other, despite the fact that the former is easily twice Sody's age or more.
• Literal Metaphor: Chikn Nuggit is fond of these: the first video showing him interacting with Cheezborger had him state he wanted to "belong", causing his neck to grow until his head was in space (i.e. be long). Later videos had him "be clear" (which turned everything but his organs transparent) and state that he "needs space" (which caused him and Cheezborger to instantly teleport to space).
• Mutual Envy: In one short, Cheezborger wishes she was tall and cool like Slushi, while Slushi wishes she was little and cute like Cheezborger.
• My Nayme Is: All the characters of Chikn Nuggit, save Bezel, share names of food items, and their names are purposefully mispelled. This is a welcome attribute to the characters because...c'mon. Imagine having characters whose names are as bland as "Chicken Nugget," "Soda Pop," "French Fry," etc.
• Nightmare Sequence: Chikn undergoes one in this short.
• No Biological Sex: Two characters, Iscream and Fwench Fwy, are probably somewhere between this and Otherworldly and Sexually Ambiguous. Both are stated in their bios to be genderless and are referred to using they/them pronouns. When Hawt Saus asks them flat-out who the male and female are in their relationship, they both give non-answers.
  Fwench Fwy: I'm a dragon!
  Iscream: I'm the unfathomable demonic void of perpetual agony!
  Hawt Saus: ...Oh!
• No Fourth Wall: The series isn't shy about stepping through the fourth wall and back with no warning. A large handful of shorts has the characters talking to or interacting with the viewer, or talking about something the fandom said about them. It's unknown if these episodes are actual canon.
• Opposites Attract: Iscream is a demonic bunny who likes to do evil, scary things while Fwench Fwy is a divine dragon who likes to help people. They initially opposed each other, but they later started dating and became a couple, although there are occasions when they argue with each other.
• Original Character: Conversed between Sody Pop and Slushi. As the two draw on their sketchpads together, Sody shows Slushi his very own OC, whose concept and design displays many of the Common Mary Sue Traits that OCs are notorious for; a half-angel, half-demon demigod wolf with multi-colored and multi-patterned fur named Nightshade Cataclysm. Slushi can't help but find this quite endearing.
  Slushi: Baby's first sparkle dog! I love them!
• Ouija Board: Cheezborger, Slushi, and Sody Pop play with one for Halloween, they decide to burn it after it spells out Y-O-U-L-O-S-T-T-H-E-G-A-M-E
• Please Subscribe to Our Channel: Parodied. When Chikn asks Sody Pop what he wants to be when he grows up, he states he wants to be an influencer. He then spouts off numerous YouTuber catchphrases including, "Become a part of the hype squad," and "This video is sponsored by Raid-", much to Chikn's confusion.
• Quizzical Tilt: Iscream sometimes does this when someone is addressing them, emphasizing their cute bunny-ness.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: Played for Laughs in in this episode where Chikn gets a stuffy nose. The reason he sounds like this? His voice actor got nose surgery.
  Chikn Nuggit: ...darn voice actor...
• Relationship Upgrade: In "Chee & Cofi's Flower Date", Cheezborger—who for several years was unable to tell Cofi that she liked her—finally works up the courage to go on a date and deliver a Love Confession, the two of them sharing a kiss.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Chikn Nuggit stars a whole dang cast of 'em, not the least of which being the eponymous Chikn Nuggit himself.
• Shout-Out:
  • "HE IS WATCHING" has Sody Pop climb on the ceiling of Iscream's room before pulling an Exorcist Head, a clear reference to Trainspotting.
  • A flashback shows a younger Slushi wearing a hoodie clearly meant to evoke GIR.
  • Some of Cheezborger's screams come from Pretty Blood.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis:
  • Iscream and Fwench Fwy frequently have petty arguments as well as insult and prank each other, but they never get too serious. This would eventually lead to the two of them dating each other.
  • Cofi becomes this for Iscream after they start dating Fwench Fwy, the sheep actively interrupting the bunny's activities (digging up graves, collecting sacrifices for blood rituals, etc.), sometimes with seemingly no effort on her part.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: Their conflicts are quite silly and thankfully never actually get physical, but one of Iscream and Fwench Fwy's arguments spontaneously turns into a clearly very mutual makeout session, much to Chikn's confusion. It makes one wonder, given how harmless they actually are to each other, if Iscream and Fwench Fwy weren't more cartoonishly-Vitriolic Best Buds All Along than actual enemies.
• Stock Scream: Whenever an episode ends in Chee screaming in horror, it's always the same horror movie-tier shriek.
• Stuff Blowing Up: Sody Pop, in his first appearance, kicks Chikn, causing him to explode. Sody Pop also explodes himself after Chee asks where his name came from, after taking a bath, when he gets an allergic reaction to pollen, and when he finally catches his tail after chasing it around in circles.
• Summoning Ritual: Fwench Fwy draws smiley faces and rainbows all over Iscream's pentagram, which is normally used to summon demons, causing it to summon huggy teddy bears and bunnies instead.
• Unaffected by Spice: Sody Pop and Cofi barely react to the spicy chips Iscream gets them to eat. While they do breathe fire, neither are in any kind of discomfort; Sody appreciatively notes that his chip's "got a little kick", while Cofi requests another.
• Vengeful Vending Machine: In one short, Cheezborger tries to get a drink from a vending machine, only for it to get stuck. After she gives it a firm kick, the drink falls down, only to be so shaken up that it propels her into space.
• Wham Line: The aptly named "Big reveal" has this line dropped, in relation to the conflict between Iscream & Fwench Fwy and Bezel:
  Fwench Fwy: (in relation to Chikn) He still doesn't know... He's a god...

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