There are a lot of crazy people you think wouldn't live in Hawaii, but probably do.
-Peter Paltridge, Platypus Comix Official Collection 4: The Secrets of George Lucas's Fortress of Solitude
Peter Paltridge, the host of Platypus Comix, created Keiki in 2002. The comic features various grade-school age children living in Honolulu, Hawaii, such as Badbutt Beefer Kekoalauliilnapalihauliuliokekoolau, Token Evil Teammate Ivan, Too Clever by Half Keiki Kikilaka (named after the Hawaiian word for "child"), and Cloud Cuckoolander Andrea. The series avoids portraying Hawaii as an island paradise, through its eccentric cast and outrageous occurrences. Word Of God says this comic was supposed to represent the "real" Hawaii, but it seems to have drifted farther and farther away from that premise.
Alliterative Name: Keiki Kikilaka, Marie Magnolia (Ivan's mother and owner of a local restaurant), Tawny Twangstern (a Southern girl who has become the object of Beefer's crush)
All Just a Dream: Any comic in which wheelchair-bound Amara becomes popular. The dreamer even sees this trope coming a page in advance during one of the instances.
Artistic License - History: In "Take Your Keiki To Work Day," Keiki and her older sister, Queenie Waheenie, watch a documentary about Hawaii which teaches that the islands were formed from one of Pele's eggs, portrays King Kamehameha has a dragon, and boasts that Queen Liliuokalani willingly gave Hawaii to America after Americans saved the day and banished Tiki gods to the Phantom Zone.
The drawings of Beefer's futuristic vision in "Academia Nuts" all appear to be taken from an old, realistic, full-color comic book.
The chase scene in "Deathburger in Paradise" is drawn as crude doodles due to budget constrictions.
Batman Gambit: During the Student Body President election in "Total Recall," one candidate assumes the alias of "Candidate X," and gains support through advertisements that leave an intriguingly mysterious impression on the other students. Eventually, Candidate X wins the election in a landslide, allowing Keiki to reassume authority over the student body.
"Keiki's Huge Christmas Epic" qualifies, except for the part where Paltridge has Miss Munupi Killed Off for Real. The same chapter reveals that the events rarely affected the main continuity because the whole "Epic" took place in an Alternate Universe.
Any issue with Darcy the vampire exceeds the boundaries of reality even further than usual.
Breakout Character: If not for the fact the title of the series hasn't changed, one might think Beefer displaced Keiki as the main character, since he's had several days in the limelight.
Also, rolling over the Keiki link at the Platypus Comix homepage brings up a drawing of Beefer's eyes, and he was the only Keiki character to show up in the Platypus Comix Tenth Anniversary Ensemble. (Most of the other series were represented by at least two characters)
Canon Sue: Invoked; since Keiki is the most refined character in the comic, Queenie once called her a Mary Sue.
Ivan interrupts "Total Recall" to recall the time he punched Cameron Diaz on the nose after she accidentally hit him with her surfboard. Later, she joins Beefer and Tawny in beating Ivan up.
Continuity Nod: After (almost) no one gets what they asked for on Christmas in the first part of "Keiki's Huge Christmas Epic", Beefer exclaims, "If only Johnny McRotten were back in power!" One of Paltridge's abandoned series, Guava Guava, had a comic in which Santa Claus' new rival, Johnny McRotten, rewarded people who misbehave.
Crossover: Happens briefly but semi-frequently in the old comics. Stitch's cameo in "Academia Nuts" is a notable example since Paltridge has acknowledged his movie's trailer as an inspiration for Keiki's tone.
Cursed with Awesome: "Twilight Princess" saw Darcy return to Hawaii during a surge of popular vampire-related romance books and movies, and gain instant popularity after revealing that she's a vampire. Eventually, she starts finding this condition less awesome after questioning the possibility her new friends like her for what she is instead of who she is. After witnessing celebrities confess themselves to be vampires simply to gain publicity, she finally rants about the negative repercussions.
Demoted to Extra: Keiki got demoted so hard, she didn't make any appearances in the year 2011. Her bio even says her status as the main character is, "debatable."
Ironic Nickname: The Stereotyped Smart Kid only had a C average. He gave up his title after Keiki than him or anyone else in Hawaii.
It Got Worse: "Beefer in the Time of Cholera" starts with Oahu becoming a Crapsack World during the 2009 recession and eventually shows global warming flooding the island, sparing only Keiki, Queenie, Beefer, Andrea, Ivan, and Tawny. Fortunately, Amara finds all of them (apparently, her wheelchair can float) and takes them all to Oahu's last piece of dry land. Unfortunately, a volcano erupts not long after the group reaches the land, but Amara manages to restore status quo by realizing the comic was All Just a Dream.
The one-off comic "Vess MacMeal Starring in: The More You Know!" stars the E-Venge spokeswoman from "E-Venge of the Nerd", but as a woman living in a 1950s-influenced community.
Spiritual Successor: A Hawaiian vacation Peter Paltridge once took inspired him to try and make a comic about crazy occurrences in an island community. One of his first attempts was Cocktails and Dreams, which only lasted three issues. Paltridge's discontent with this comic led him to try and make one set in Hawaii itself.
Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Paltridge has admitted that Keiki Kikilaka's status as the main character is "debatable," since the comics focus more often on several of her classmates.
Surrounded by Idiots: In "Academia Nuts," after Keiki scores higher on a standardized test than anyone else in Hawaii, she begins contemplating the possibility that everyone else is dumber than her. Marie and Andrea fail to alleviate her concerns.
Unexplained Recovery: Queenie dies in the hastily-drawn-and-written climax to "Deathburger in Paradise," but reappears in the next comic, which is drawn entirely in Paltridge's typical style.
Verbal Tic: Beefer's tendency to end sentencies with "brah".
Written-In Absence: After Keiki and Beefer acknowledge Andrea's absence in "Wrath of the Irish," the story cuts to her and her brothers visiting Neverland.
You Can Panic Now: Several of Natali Marmalade's news reports, in both Keiki and Scary News with Natali Marmalade, exaggerate the risk factors of everything from casual video games to babies◊ to playing outside. The issue "Lady Marmalade" detailed Beefer's attempts to end these reports.
You Mean X Mas: Ms. Munupi made her students celebrate "Sparkle Day" in the first part of "Keiki's Huge Christmas Epic". One of them accidentally provoked her to refer to Christmas by its actual name, prompting some police to arrest her.
in 2002. The comic features various grade-school age children living in Honolulu, Hawaii, such as Badbutt Beefer Kekoalauliilnapalihauliuliokekoolau, Token Evil Teammate Ivan, Too Clever by Half Keiki Kikilaka (named after the Hawaiian word for "child"), and Cloud Cuckoolander Andrea. The series avoids portraying Hawaii as an island paradise, through its eccentric cast and outrageous occurrences. Word Of God says this comic was supposed to represent the "real" Hawaii, but it seems to have drifted farther and farther away from that premise.
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