Web Animation / Indie Cross: The Series

WARNING!: Any and ALL spoilers for the indie games listed below (and Indie Cross itself) will be unmarked. Proceed with caution.

Heroes clash in unique situations.^note Pictured: Cuphead and Shovel Knight. Not pictured: The Knight, Madeline and Frisk

Indie Cross: The Series (alongside Indie Cross Aftermath) is a series of Recursive Fanfiction animations based on the Friday Night Funkin' mod Indie Cross, made by its founder and ex-director MORØ_Nighteye. It is a full-fledged Massive Multiplayer Crossover including characters from other indie games as they fight to take down a bigger threat.

Included universes:

Main Series

1. Cuphead
2. Undertale
3. Shovel Knight
4. Hollow Knight
5. Celeste
6. Dead Cells (teased)

Aftermath-exclusives

1. Bendy and the Ink Machine
2. Madness Combat
3. Choo-Choo Charles

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Episode list:

Indie Cross Aftermath

1. NIGHTMARE CUPHEAD VS THE DEVIL (Knockout and Devil's Gambit Interquel)
2. Bendy VS Sans (Separated into three parts)
3. Cuphead VS Tricky
4. Chara VS Nightmare Sans
5. Cuphead VS Choo-Choo Charles

Main series:

1. Episode 1

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Indie Cross: The Series and Indie Cross Aftermath provide examples of:

• Adapted Out: Despite a quick appearance in a flashback in "NIGHTMARE CUPHEAD VS THE DEVIL", Boyfriend himself is nowhere to be seen in the animations.
• Ambiguous Situation: While it is shown how each character accessed the central area of things (in Cuphead and Frisk's case, during the Aftermath series), it is currently unknown how Madeline (and by proxy, Badeline) got there to begin with.
• Badass in Distress: The Machine becomes one at the end of the first episode, though it still manages to narrowly defeat/presumably send away Frisk.
• Berserk Button: Cuphead really doesn't like Shovel Knight calling him a flask. Shovel Knight does address him as "cup" after their fight, though.
• Big Bad Ensemble: The Machine is the (apparent) definitive baddie, being the one controlling all of the drones and the premiere source of the dimensional rifts that keep bouncing people between realities. On the other hand, we have Frisk, who (as per the Genocide route) is simply out to murder everything in sight.
• Big Damn Heroes: During Cuphead's fight with Tricky, Hank steps in to help against the clown.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: While Sans had some meta-awareness already (such as taking a prod to MORØ making him and Bendy fight For the Evulz), the fourth wall might as well not exist for Nightmare Sans; he even addresses the viewer twice.
• Chase Fight:
  • The whole bout between Cuphead and Choo-Choo Charles plays out like this, with Cuphead having to book it on foot once the train he's using is wrecked. It all culminates in Hell Charles being so focused on Cuphead that he is sent careening down a pit to his demise.
  • Madeline spends her first fight with Frisk fleeing from the genocidal child, with some help from Badeline, of course.
• Curbstomp Battle:
  • For the entirety of his fight with the Devil, Nightmare Cuphead has little problems fighting him, from blasting him with upgraded EX Moves to shrugging off the Devil's own attacks, up to and including an attempt at taking his soul partway in the fight.
  • While the first and third parts of Bendy VS Sans had Bendy and Sans keep up with one another, Part 2 had Nightmare Sans absolutely trounce the Ink Demon, dodging all of his attacks if not just outright tanking them, splattering Bendy multiple times, and even casually overwhelming Beast Bendy with as much effort as making one of his jokes.
  • Frisk has absolutely no chance against Nightmare Sans, quickly dying to his attacks each time. It gets to the point where Sans shatters their SAVE point and banishes them out of the Underground for good.
  • In the first proper episode of the series, Frisk easily overpowers the Knight, one-shotting the Hollow Knight in the process, though they are guided to the heart of the main action.
  • Likewise, Frisk themselves suffer this from the Machine, being overpowered despite putting up a good fight. They do return the favour once the Machine is powered down.
• Death by Adaptation: In Indie Cross, it's unclear if Mugman dies after unintentionally Taking the Bullet during "Knockout". Here, Mugman's soul is seen flying off, with Cuphead just barely unable to parry his heart.
• Defeat Equals Friendship:
  • After being overpowered by Shovel Knight, Cuphead feels a lot more inclined to team up with him.
  • Madeline and the Knight don't even fight each other, though they quickly become friends after saving each other's lives.
• Diabolus ex Machina: A relatively unique spin on one, in that it starts off the events of the first episode. The rift that transforms Cuphead into his Nightmare form comes completely out of nowhere to grant him his power-up and leave him to kill the Devil.
• Dimensional Traveler: Sans and Bendy do this briefly during Part 1 of Bendy VS Sans, crossing between the Undertale world, a comic book not too distant from the likes of DC and Marvel (with the two having attire to match), Minecraft and Cuphead. This is Adapted Out in the compilation of the three parts, cutting straight to the last section of Part 1 following the two leaving the true Ink Machine.
  • Cuphead himself gets this as the series goes on, first appearing in the Madness Combat universe in his Nightmare form before it's shattered to pieces by Tricky. After the monster's downfall, Cuphead begins travelling through other dimensions in order to find his way home, including the island that is home to a certain demonic train. This is what leads him right into the series' main events.
• Does Not Know His Own Strength: After they take down Tricky, Cuphead raises his hand for a high five which Hank obliges, Smash Cut shortly after to Cuphead clutching his injured hand and screaming in pain.
• Dueling Player Characters:
  • Episode 1 features a couple; Cuphead vs. Shovel Knight, and Madeline vs. Frisk.
• Fun with Subtitles: While the subtitles do give good knowledge to viewers about what's going on, there are some that are a bit more funny and not directly connected to the plot.
• Implacable Man: Frisk doesn't let anything stop their genocidal rampage, not even Badeline dropping a mountain on them or the Machine heavily wounding them with a barrage of copies of their Real Knife.
• Interquel: The first episode of Aftermath takes place after "Knockout" and shows what exactly happened to cause the Devil's death in "Devil's Gambit".
• Leeroy Jenkins: Cuphead, when first appearing, was adamant about taking on a whole army of drones, while Shovel Knight didn't want to take his chances. He even calls out the Cup for his recklessness once they're temporarily safe.
• Leitmotif: In the main series, the main characters have at least one from their game of origin assigned to them.
  • "Megalo Strike Back" is associated with Frisk.
  • "Sealed Vessel" is connected to the Knight.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Well done Sans, you finally put an end to Frisk's genocide in the Underground, now Frisk is continuing it on a much larger array of victims.
• Nightmare Face: While in Indie Cross Nightmare Cuphead's only visible feature on his face were his eyes, here its expanded with him also having a dark Corruption-esque grin on his face whenever he's close to the camera.
• Oh, Crap!: The Devil makes this face quite often during the first episode when avoiding attacks or when he is unprepared for some attacks.
  • Hank also reacts as such to the possibility of the Auditor getting his own Nightmare Mode.
• One-Hit Kill: Frisk's first significant action upon entering Hallownest is to one-shot both the Hollow Knight and The Knight in quick succession.
• Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: Cuphead lets one out right before getting ready to fight Choo-Choo Charles off.
  Cuphead: Try this locomotive on for size! Time for a little derail!
• Running Gag: After Cuphead and Shovel Knight have befriended one another, Shovel Knight keeps referring to Mugman as "Mugsie", which repeatedly causes Cuphead to burst into laughter.
• Shout-Out: The beam going upwards to the central portal seen in the background of Episode 1 bears quite the resemblance to the Dark Fountains.
• Silent Antagonist: Frisk counts as one.
• The Stoic: Frisk, no matter if they're getting a frying pan to the face or about to be shredded by a barrage of Real Knives, they always keep their "-_-" expression.
• The Stinger: The stinger of Episode 1 shows us that The Beheaded is going to be a part of things soon enough.
• Suddenly Voiced: After having spent two episodes being a Silent Protagonist, Cuphead is fully voiced come "Cuphead VS Choo-Choo Charles".
• Super Mode: Nightmare Mode for Sans and Bendy, both become significantly more powerful than they were before but to be specific:
  • Sans goes from a Glass Cannon One-Hit-Point Wonder to a Lightning Bruiser that can fire lasers from his eyes, No-Sell attacks strong enough to shake the ground and create a massive Guardian Entity out of a Gaster Blaster that can fight for him, though it does drain his energy significantly.
  • Bendy on the other hand, turns from an already powerful demon to a veritable monster, capable of creating portals to either attack from a distance, block attacks or even swap places with opponents, sending foes into a pocket dimension filled with Nightmare versions of the Butcher Gang and even combine Nightmare Mode with his Beast form.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Nightmare Mode is portrayed as this for Cuphead. On one hand, Cuphead is turned solid black with fuchsia Glowing Eyes of Doom and identically colored flames coming off of his straw and doesn't speak a word throughout his fight against the Devil. On the other hand, said fight doesn't go too well for the Devil, seeing as Cuphead is now durable enough to tank his attacks head-on, moves fast enough to appear like he's teleporting, and his Finger Gun projectile attacks have been enhanced to Bullet Hell levels of insanity. Come his encounter with Tricky, however, this form is destroyed, leaving Cuphead to take him and similar foes on with only his usual abilities.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Badeline, after getting Madeline high enough, blasts down a large piece of terrain to crush Frisk with. They do survive the impact, and while Madeline does mention that it was kind of excessive, she does see justification in it, considering the Fallen Child's intentions were anything but good.
• Thinking Up Portals: A common trend between the three users of Nightmare Mode is some kind of portal generation ability. Bendy has ones he can use in combat to extend his attack range or defend himself, whereas Cuphead and Sans seem to be limited to the iconic Indie Cross dimensional rifts.
• Token Evil Teammate: Of the five poster characters of the series, Frisk is the only one outwardly hostile, having attacked both the Knight and Madeline during the first episode.
• The Voiceless: The Knight and Frisk, as per canon. The subtitles temporarily avert this for the Knight, though.
• Uncertain Doom: Shield Knight pulls an Heroic Sacrifice to allow Shovel Knight to escape the initial ambush unscathed. It's not yet known what became of her, but whatever the case, Shovel Knight isn't willing to let her deed go in vain.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Following their last defeat against Nightmare Sans, Frisk is doomed to be permanently booted out of the Underground as punishment for their crimes. Doesn't stop them slaying whatever they come across, though.
• Your Soul Is Mine!: The Devil tries to pull this on Nightmare Cuphead during their fight. It hurts the Devil far more than it does Cuphead.