"Lady, you have no idea how hard it is for guys like Kratos to reintegrate into everyday society."
— Commander Badass
Created as an entry for a webcomic contest in 2010 for The Escapist, Manly Guys Doing Manly Things (MGDMT) is a comic about a temp agency to help "ludicrously macho guys" find work in the real world when they no longer have work as popular fiction characters. How well they actually integrate has... mixed results.Sadly, the comic lost out, but was by far a favorite among those paying attention to the contest, making it popular enough for its creator, Coelasquid, to keep it going. It can now be viewed at here in all its MANLY glory.
Manly Guys Doing Manly Things makes MANLY use of the following Tropes:
Abnormal Ammo: An action figure's gun accessory that shoots smaller guns. Which possibly shoot little deep-fried beer cans.
Jared:Where are they coming from?
Achievements in Ignorance: Only someone as clueless about Pokemon Training as Jared would start with Magikarp but only someone who doesn't even understand simply battle mechanic could make it work. See Shamu Fu.
Adult Fear: Commander becoming a bishonen carries the disturbing subtext of a parent becoming unrecognizable and frightening to their kids.
Affectionate Parody: While it does take shots at the concept thereof, this strip is a parody of the classic Charles Atlas cartoon ad.
American Kirby Is Hardcore: In Universe example, this happens to Ryu of Breath of Fire II, turning a fairly normal (if blue-haired) sixteen year old kid into a muscle bound roid raging hulk. This is meant to be a Take That by the author at the trope, which happened to the game in Real Life.
Amicable Exes: Commander gets along reasonably well with his ex-wife Maddy. They even had a barbecue together.
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: the Commander complains about Canadian Guy since he comes to work drunk, cranks up the AC, field dresses deer in the lunchroom, breaks various office equipment, and beats all of the Commander's Robot Unicorn Attack high scores.
While the comic exists mostly to mock over-the-top "macho" characters, Coelasquid has said that she likes drawing this body type.
Given that the Commander has been a heartwarmingly good father, the idea that real manliness is being a good man inside seems to also appeal to her. But it appeals to everyone.
One recurring theme in the comic seems to be that "manly man" and "loud obnoxious jackass" are not the same thing.
Coelasquid also hates the bishification (going on an Author Tract on how she really dislikes bishification in fanart, since the result does not resemble the original design) of characters and the flipside of the trope.
She had a special brand of venom for Ni ER's Japanese design and motivation, saying it was far weaker and much more prissy than American Ni ER trying to find his daughter.
Awesome McCoolname: Commander Badass. Not that he uses the second part much.
Badass: Most of the characters. Usually parodied (often in a deconstructive fashion) - the premise of the comic is to show how this character trait isn't exactly the best way to deal with Real Life.
Baby Talk: Jared, whenever talking to Mr. Fish. Most apparent in this page:
Jared: Roll over! Roll over, Mr. Fish! Mr. Rolly Fish! Mr. Rolly Polly Fish!
Nier spread Nomura Syndrome that turned everyone into a bishōnen. In the case of Volt he's been living with it his entire life, but when told that he'd never be able to bench-press his own weight he took it as a challenge. And then there's Gackt, who secretly is every single Square Enix protagonist.
Cerebus Retcon: A minor one. Turns out soldiers like Commander Badass aren't cloned from American soil and steak, they're just regular soldiers who get randomly chosen to become badass as the army can make them out to be, undergoing painful procedures, fighting pointless wars, and wearing ridiculous outfits to become 'badass'.
Doting Parent: Commander Badass adores his two kids.
Double Standard: Duke Nukem (of all people) has a problem with it when he's not allowed to play "Capture The Babe" (here). He points out he's allowed to hit Marcus Fenix without a problem but people get angry when women get slapped. The Commander shows that there isn't really a double standard when dressing Fenix up as the Babe would cause people to complain as well.
Everyone Calls Him Barkeep: The main character Commander, full name/rank being Commander Badass. He says soldiers can be made from American soil and triple-A steak in the future, so are named by rank, but it's quite possible he was joking. He was.
Mr. Bubbles who got on very well with the kids at the school. Unfortunately, not so much to their parents (who he tried to kill when they came to take their children home).
Kratos plays Street Sharks with Commander Badass's kids◊. And Jared and Mr. Fish, who were supposed to be babysitting.
Good Parents: Any strip in which Commander Badass spends time with his kids is bound to elicit gratuitous squee in the comments. He even indulges his daughter in making the world's most ludicrous muffins.
Grievous Harm with a Body: Mr. Fish's (or rather, Jared's) primary attack before Mr. Fish evolved from Magikarp to Gyarados. Now that he's too big to be swung as a blunt weapon, Mr. Fish mostly just eats his enemies.
Heroes Want Redheads: Commander Badass' ex wife had red hair, and his new girlfriend Sarah has auburn hair.
Hitler's Time Travel Exemption Act: Commander Badass is actually a member of the Navy TIALS (TIme Air Land Sea), an elite group of time travelers founded in the future to hop through time righting wrongs, some of which aren't righted, for whatever reason. While they haven't done anything to Hitler (besides punching him in the face), Commander Badass was once sent to Vietnam twice. Once to try and win it for America, and a second time to stop himself from succeeding, because a world without the Rambo movies is just too bizarre to contemplate.
One strip had Krauser from the Resident Evil franchise admit that Chris in Resident Evil 5 was him in disguise. He did this just to get Wesker's attention.
Magic Pants: Everyone who gets infected with the bishonen virus changes their outfit to fit.
Magikarp Power: Mr. Fish is a Magikarp. This obviously occurs. Although while Mr. Fish is devastating as a Gyarados, Jared still was able to defeat trainers when it was only a Magikarp. By beating their Pokemon to death with it.
Most Writers Are Male: A meta-example, as most users on the site debate back and forth as to Coelasquid's gender. The response is, "Why does it matter?"*
For those who will die of a spontaneous heart attack if they can't know for sure, the answer is "female, now get on with your life, for crying out loud."
Also Lobo, The Heavy, and Sten join Duke and The Commander for a game ofDungeons & Dragons. However, since all of them insist on being fighters and barbarians despite the Commander voicing that he has reservations about how will work out that work, it can be assumed the Commander is the only one who really gets the game.
Heavy: ROGUE IS COWARD. Sten: Where I come from, we cut the tongues out of sorcerers.
Original Generation: Commander Badass, Jones, Canadian Guy and Jared (sort of).
Mr. Fish is never seen with anything other than a massive frown. Of course, it's a Gyarados. Can ANY of those things smile? It's also Coelasquid's attempt at drawing a Gyarados with its mouth closed, which almost never happens◊. The one time it did, it looked like this◊, so Coelasquid was right on the money.
And, of course, Commander Badass most of the time.
Poe's Law: The very first question on the comic's About page is about which game Commander Badass is from. Despite being a blatant parody of this style of character, it's still easy to mistake him for the genuine article, noting particular similarities to characters like Jack and Simon Belmont.
Pyrrhic Victory: Kratos wins at Gay Chicken... because Leonidas wanted to go back to his family. This reminds Kratos that he doesn't have a family anymore, making the victory less than appreciated.
One comic basically equates Kratos's motives with the prom scene in Carrie.
Kratos: That's not how it went... Commander Badass: That's pretty much exactly how it went.
In this comic, Jared talks about how his parents still have his Xbox, making a reference to the Xbox 360 kid meme:
Jared: They still have my Xbox! With my save files! And all of my achievements! How am I supposed to show everyone online that I'm beating games without it?
The Halloween strip is basically a huge Shout Out to A Song of Ice and Fire, with Canadian Guy showing up to work dressed as Robert Baratheon "because he's Canadian Guy."
Stable Time Loop: The Commander is attacked by himself while he's having coffee. His future self steals his coffee, then disappears. The Commander then proceeds to travel back in time to beat himself up and get his coffee back... Which means he beat himself up for no reason. Although since the comic is titled "We all peacock in our own way," it's pretty obvious why he did it: he was trying to impress Jonesy. That and keeping himself on his toes ("Watch your back and maybe this won't happen, candy-ass!").
The Swear Jar: Not for swearing, but for saying the word "Epic". According to the that strip's description, there are seperate jars for saying "WIN" and "FAIL" as well. Commander's not a big fan of Internet slang.
In the commentary, the author notes that the entire comic is also one to overly manly characters that their creators think are badass, but aren't, and that fans who insisted on the bishonen are missing the point.
Throw the Dog a Bone: Marv is the only one enthusiastic about being a bishonen. But then again, he had the luck to turn into a more muscular Marlon Brando whereas everyone else turned into overly feminine pretty-boys.
Unsettling Gender Reveal: Poison to Jared. Commander's more amazed that Jared honestly thought he had a chance with her, male or not.
The Virus: Nomura Syndrome. Patient zero was Nier. There's also an inverse version of this that Ryu of Breath Of Fire II suffers from, as well as a poison that turns Walter into a pony.
The Voiceless: Pyramid Head. He plays charades with Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees every Wednesday, but nobody ever makes a guess. This bugs the hell out of Commander Badass:
in all its MANLY glory.
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