Clockwise from top: [no name], Bunsen Bitz, Nuzzie Bitz, Avery Darling, Spottie Leonard, Coneboy Golliday, Big G Miner. In the center: Eggy.
CRiTORA is an animated web series created by Daydreaming Birdie. It spans a single season of six episodes (one of them non-canon), a pilot season of six more, and a second season under production.CRiTORA follows an assembled cast of virtual creatures called CRiTORA, residing in a peaceful utopia city of CRiTOPiA, and they often encounter and fight the ViRUSES led by Queen Creatophagenote , who wants her ViRUS clan to infect the entirety of CRiTOPiA to heed her demands.
Adapted from a Webcomic inspired by Mixels in 2016, the series has continued to develop over several years, with the pilot season debuting on July 29, 2020, on YouTube, with the first season later debuting on August 6, 2021.
The first season can be watched here
and the pilot season here.
CRiTORA provides the following:
- Angry, Angry Hippos: Me Him is a hippopotamus CRiTORA and, being a member of the CRiViRUS Gang, serves as an antagonist.
- Animate Inanimate Object: Plenty of the CRiTORA are this, most notably Coneboy Golliday and Eggy.
- Anthropomorphic Food: Plenty of CRiTORA look like this, most of them from the Food District. Caroline Cakepod, for example, looks like a whale-themed cake.
- The Baby of the Bunch: Eggy, Yolky, Ribbon and Pop & Pip Singolon seem to be the youngest CRiTORA, with all of them being four years old. Justified, since Eggy and Yolky were the first two CRiTORA that OS had ever created.
- Badass Adorable: Some of the GUARDiANS, such as Roxey Robowoof, have sweet-looking designs, and they were able to put an end to the Infestation Invasion.
- Bad Boss: Queen Creatophage, who berates her ViRUSES on a regular basis.
- Be the Ball: Spottie has the ability to roll up into a ball and bounce around.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Eggy is normally outgoing, but he will go absolutely berserk around ViRUSES, and will not stop until they are down.
- Big Bad: Queen Creatophage.
- Chapter 8 of CRiTORA: Abnormal reveals VS, the twin sister and evil counterpart of OS, as well as the creator of the Abnormal District.
- Big Good: OS, the creator of the CRiTORA.
- Boxing Battler: Coneboy and Nuzzie both have the ability to turn their hands into boxing gloves for use in combat.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": Practically all of the ViRUS-associated major characters (such as the CRiViRUS Gang) have accessories bearing a "V" insignia.
- Several other CRiTORA have accessories with letters on them as well. To name a few, Spottie Leonard and Dashie Speedenburg each have their respective first initials on their collars, Cuckoo Clocsteam has a "C" attached to their head by a spring, and Amelia Resco has an "M" on her belt (which stands for "Meetup", as she lives in the Meetup District). As a rule of thumb, if a CRiTORA who isn't affiliated with the ViRUSES fits this trope and gets infected by a ViRUS, expect whatever letter they have on their accessories to turn into a "V".
- Cain and Abel: OS' Evil Counterpart and nemesis VS is also their twin sister.
- Cast of Snowflakes: Every single one of the CRiTORA has its own form of body and design.
- The Chase: A highlighter in "Beware the ViRUSES!," "Sky-Flying Frenzy," and the scrapped second part of "Meetup Mayhem."
- Cloudcuckoolander: A few CRiTORA fit this category, particularly Rizzo "Nonsense" Wackoland and Sneakers Downsideup.
- Computer Virus: The ViRUSES are essentially this, since the CRiTORA universe takes place in a digital world (that's possibly a computer or a Tamagotchi device).
- Content Warnings: Occasionally used in episodes with mild language and flashing lights.
- Creature of Habit: Kepler Solarowl doesn't like to diverge from their routine.
- Cute Little Fangs: Some of the CRiTORA have pointy teeth that make them more endearing.
- Darker and Edgier: CRiTORA: Abnormal has a darker tone compared to the main series. This is especially true for the now-scrapped initial version, which involved a permanent V-CRiTORA (who would later be known as V-Yolky) slashing through and deleting anything (and anyone) in its path. However, this idea was ultimately abandoned for being too dark. While the rebooted version is Lighter and Softer compared to that, it's still noticeably darker than the main series, with the usual wacky hijinks largely absent in favor of a more dramatic, high-stakes narrative.
- Eldritch Location: The Abnormal District, created by VS.
- Elemental Nation: Each of the fourteen districts of CRiTOPiA have motifs that invoke their specific elements/themes.
- Elemental Powers: CRiTOPiA has an element system, with which every CRiTORA is assigned one or two of eighteen elements, each with their own strengths and weaknesses against other elements. These elements include Normal, Fire, Air, Water, Earth, Nature, Metal, Thunder, Ice, Sound, Light, Dark, Poison, Undead, Brawn, Insect, Magic and Unknown.
- Enfant Terrible: Ne & Ko Felipom, who are stated to be the youngest villain CRiTORA, both being only six years old.
- Ensemble Cast: While the show does have a cast, it lacks a defined main character, with various CRiTORA getting their time as focus depending on the episodes. However, the ViRUSES and the CRiViRUS Gang are constantly cemented as antagonists.
- Expy: Nicky Theodore, being a sneaker-clad rodent with Super-Speed, is one for Sonic the Hedgehog.
- Offistar Murphy is basically just RoboCop with a police uniform.
- The lesser ViRUSES ape the Nixels, being obnoxious little troublemakers with limited vocabularies who are easily dealt with alone but very dangerous in great numbers.
- Fate Worse than Death: Chapter 9 of CRiTORA: Abnormal reveals that being a V-CRiTORA is one. They only act vicious if there are other CRiTORA around to infect. If there aren't, they'll come back to their senses. This implies that all V-CRiTORA are aware of their condition on some level, but unless they find the means to cure themselves, they're out of luck. Also, CRiTORA can't die under normal circumstances, not even while infected, which pushes this into And I Must Scream territory.
- Fire, Ice, Lightning: The three regions of the Abnormal District that lie between the Junkyard and the Edge have this as their motif. Frozen Foundry is the ice, Lightning Lakes is the lightning, and Scorched Woods is the fire.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Bitz twins— Bunsen's the foolish one, Nuzzie's the responsible one.
- Forced into Evil: As the bonus chapter of Abnormal reveals, Queen Creatophage was essentially strong-armed by VS into aiding her in her plan to destroy CRiTOPiA.
- Funny Animal: Most CRiTORA are basically either anthropomorphic or bipedal animals.
- Giant Food: A common sight in the Food District, natch.
- Harmless Freezing: In "Imagination Skiing", Dashie Speedenburg bumps into Diana Guarda, who angrily freezes her solid. The next time we see Dashie, she's thawed out and totally fine.
- Imagination-Based Superpower: Spottie can literally imagine things into existence.
- Instrumental Theme Tune: The opening and ending themes.
- Intelligible Unintelligible: Eggy and Yolky only speak in high-pitched squeaks, but everyone else understands them just fine. The same applies to Cloud (who only whistles), Stella Twirlwindy (who speaks with cartoon sound effects), and BONUS (who uses Pokémon Speak).
- Contradicted in Meetup Mayhem (Part 1), in which Eggy's panicked worry about an encounter with a ViRUS isn't grasped upon Coneboy because he could not understand his squeaks... or anything. So much so, that Eggy looks over his script and further demonstrates to Coneboy what he just said with a bush and some props before running away.note
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: After the Infestation Invasion was resolved, OS erased every CRiTORA's memories of the event. The memory wipe unfortunately failed on seven CRiTORA with particularly rough lives, who went on to form the CRiViRUS Gang.
- Limited Animation: In Season 0. Starting with Season 1, the animation becomes much more fluid. It switched back to a more limited style in Season 2— according to
Word of God, this was done to make animating for the show easier and less stressful. - Living Toys: Most if not all CRiTORA from the Toy District fit this trope.
- Mad Eye: An uncommon design quirk for some of the characters. It's a lot more common for ViRUSES and V-CRiTORA.
- The Man Behind the Man: As revealed in Abnormal, VS fills this role for Queen Creatophage.
- Near-Villain Victory: The Infestation Invasion, in which the ViRUSES managed to infect every CRiTORA in CRiTOPiA. If OS hadn't created the GUARDiANS, it would have been game over right then and there.
- Nobody Can Die: The eighth chapter of Abnormal reveals that CRiTORA are literally unable to die under normal circumstances.
- Once an Episode: Throughout the first season: A [no name] sightingnote and a V-CRiTORA.
- Physical, Mystical, Technological: The main trio is this: Coneboy Golliday (physical), Spottie Leonard (mystical), and Avery Darling (technological).
- Pokémon Speak: The ViRUSES only say the last part of their names.
- BONUS, the BONUS CRiTORA, only says his name.
- Power Incontinence: Supplemental material reveals Spottie suffers from this with her Imagination-Based Superpower. For example, in one official comic strip, she offhandedly mentions that she hates waking up to the alarm clocks she keeps dreaming up.
- Quirky Miniboss Squad: The CRiViRUS Gang, a group of CRiTORA aligned with the ViRUSES.
- Relationship-Salvaging Disaster: In Chapter 10 of Abnormal, the destruction of the Abnormal District gives Kepler and Galileo the opportunity to reconcile and resolve their rivalry.
- Running Gag: Harold the Blue Cactus is a frequent prop throughout the show.
- Sailor Earth: Many of its fans have created their own CRiTORA based on different themes.
- Shout-Out:
- At one point, in "Error 404", scribbles of Cookie Run characters can be seen on the walls.
- A few of Coneboy's accessories in "The Trash Can" reference Littlest Pet Shop, Angry Birds, Peanuts and Wonder Pets!.
- A few CRiTORA are shout-outs by design. For example, Isaac X-Beetle, Miyamoto Blockinjump, and Paratchet Stataplay each reference one of the "Big Three" of gaming companies (Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony respectively).
- Spin-Off: Of the creator's old Mixels OCs and a little-known webcomic published on Smack Jeeves called Avey.
- Stock Scream: "Beware the ViRUSES!" has Big G scream like a goat when he got touched by an infected Eggy.
- In "How CRiTORA are Created", Avery accidentally plows through a branch Grinny Hackel is sitting on. The unfortunate fellow hangs in the air for a second, then plummets while uttering a Wilhelm scream.
- Sugar Apocalypse: Played for Drama in CRiTORA: Abnormal where in the past, CRiTOPiA is swarmed and overrun by the ViRUSES. This event was known as the Infestation Invasion.
- Sugar Bowl: The bright, colorful setting of CRiTOPiA the series takes place in.
- Super Team: The CRiTORA Squad is a team of CRiTORA who fight ViRUSES and V-CRiTORA.
- There's also the GUARDiANS, a group of fourteen especially powerful CRiTORA (one for each district of CRiTOPiA) who OS created as a last-ditch effort to stop the Infestation Invasion.
- Thick-Line Animation: Starting with "Superstore Sweep".
- Starting in Season 2, the outlines of the characters become even thicker and more stylized.
- Thinking Up Portals: In "Imagination Skiing", Spottie displays the ability to generate portals by shooting them from her mouth. She can't control where they lead, though.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Spottie really likes ice cream.
- Trapped in Villainy: In the bonus chapter of CRiTORA: Abnormal, it's revealed that this is Queen Creatophage's situation. She ended up in the Abnormal District, and then ran into VS, with whom she made a deal to save her own life. That deal just happened to entail aiding VS in her quest to destroy CRiTOPiA.
- Trash the Set: In CRiTORA: Abnormal, the titular Abnormal District, where most of the main plot takes place, is destroyed during the climax.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The Infestation Invasion began while Eggy and Yolky were trying to play a game of catch. Eggy threw the ball a little too far and Yolky ran off to get it... unaware that a ViRUS was hidden in the bush it had landed next to. Needless to say, she subsequently became the invasion's first victim.
- Victim of the Week: After the pilot season. While CRiTOPiA is peaceful, it can be chaotic when an unsuspecting CRiTORA gets infected by a ViRUS.
- The Virus: A ViRUS infection mutates a CRiTORA into a V-CRiTORA, corrupting their appearance and causing them to attack and infect other CRiTORA on sight.
- Wham Episode: The bonus chapter of CRiTORA: Abnormal. It serves as Queen Creatophage's Origins Episode, in which it's revealed that not only is she a CRiTORA, but she was Good All Along and is only antagonistic because she was Forced into Evil by VS.
- Would Hurt a Child: The ViRUSES are not above infecting any CRiTORA that are children. Most especially evident with the start of the Infestation Invasion, in which the first two CRiTORA to get infected were Yolky and Eggy, both of them only four years old.
- Zerg Rush: What the attack strategy of the ViRUSES amounted to during the Infestation Invasion. It proved to be distressingly effective.
