History YMMV / Shantae

* TheScrappy: You won't be surprised to find that many fans despise Mayor Scuttlebutt, due to his habit of repeatedly firing Shantae on the stupidest imaginable pretexts. It doesn't help that at one point he sells the entire town to the Ammo Baron, just so he doesn't have to deal with the Baron's forces and Risky at the same time, [[KarmaHoudini and gets away with it]].

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Some attribute the commercial failure of Shantae to this, among other factors. Shantae's cutesy, colorful graphics, goofy humor, E rating, and being on the kid-friendly Platform/GameBoyColor lead to the assumption that it's a kid's game. The problem is, it's also strangely...sexy for something aimed at kids, and also more difficult than your average kid's game. Later games avert this more and more by adding some darker humor, among other content, to the point that Half-Genie Hero (and later Shantae and the Seven Sirens as well) is given the ESRB of T for Teen in North America.

* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Shantae has been shipped with [[FoeYayShipping Risky]], [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Bolo, Sky]], [[PseudoRomanticFriendship Rottytops]], [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]], [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]], and [[VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising Pit]].

* CrossoverShip: Some people like to ship Shantae with [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Pit]]. Given factors like them being the leads of two [[CultClassic obscure-but-beloved series of games]], their similarly [[EndearinglyDorky dorky, playful]], [[NiceGuy kind-hearted]] (and [[MediumAwareness Fourth Wall-conscious]]) personalities and their mutual love of health-replenishing hot springs, it makes a lot of sense.

* MagnificentBitch: Risky Boots is the self-proclaimed Queen of the Seven Seas and Shantae’s ArchEnemy. Seeking power and riches, Risky has made a habit of letting Shantae do the hard work before reaping the rewards. She has managed to disguise herself as a Guardian Genie to trick Shantae into giving her the Elemental Stones and kidnapped her uncle Mimic to force Shantae to give her the Magic Seals she needed to steal Shantae’s power and make an evil copy of her. When the Pirate Master returned, Risky enacted a bold scheme by teaming up with Shantae and manipulating her into regaining her powers without anyone knowing so she could destroy the Pirate Master for good. Returning to her ambitions of conquest, Risky feigns defeat so she could leave Shantae a blueprint she stole but had secretly tampered with which uncle Mimic uses to build a machine that corrupts genies. While suffering occasional bouts of anger, Risky always bounces back as fierce and cunning as ever and is feared for good reason.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Some attribute the commercial failure of Shantae to this, among other factors. Shantae's cutesy, colorful graphics, goofy humor, E rating, and being on the kid-friendly UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor lead to the assumption that it's a kid's game. The problem is, it's also strangely...sexy for something aimed at kids, and also more difficult than your average kid's game. Later games avert this more and more by adding some darker humor, among other content, to the point that Half-Genie Hero (and later Shantae and the Seven Sirens as well) is given the ESRB of T for Teen in North America.

* EvilIsSexy: Risky Boots. In-Universe an NPC boy comments.
-->'''Boy:''' My Mom dressed up as the pirate lady for Dad. But I'm not allowed to talk of such things.

* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Shantae has been shipped with [[FoeYayShipping Risky]], [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Bolo, Sky]], [[PseudoRomanticFriendship Rottytops]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda Link]], [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]], and [[VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising Pit]].

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Which you can listen to [[http://www.biglionmusic.com/category/music/game-soundtracks/handheld-soundtracks/shantae here]], [[http://virt.bandcamp.com/album/shantae-riskys-revenge-original-soundtrack here]], [[http://virt.bandcamp.com/album/shantae-and-the-pirates-curse-ost here]] and [[https://virt.bandcamp.com/album/shantae-half-genie-hero-ost here]] ''for free'', courtesy of series composer [[Creator/JakeKaufman Jake "virt" Kaufman]].

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Yes, there is such a thing as egg coffee, but no, most recipes don't call for a ''rotten'' egg to be used.

* FanPreferredCouple:
** When it comes to pairing Shantae up with someone, expect it to be her troublemaker friend, Rottytops. This is due to many fans interpreting Rotty's dialogue towards Shantae, including her nickname Snack Cakes, as flirtatious. The section from ''Pirate's Curse'', "Run Run Rottytops", has Shantae holding Rottytops in a bridal carry while traversing through the forest, adding more fuel to the ship as well as fanart. It helps that Shantae is the only one that seems to actually like Rottytops, displaying worry when she's in danger and always being forgiving of the zombie's antics, with Sky often showing annoyance towards her.
** Another popular ship is with her childhood friend, Bolo. This is in spite of the fact that Shantae is the only girl Bolo hasn't shown attraction towards, with him seeing her more as a sister. Shantae also tends to pick on him far less then other characters do. Much like with Rottytops, fanart of the two was quick to follow. It helps that their voice actors were in a relationship for a while.

* LGBTFanbase: Considering how every main female character is extremely attractive, it was a given.

* {{Moe}}:
** Cited by Destructoid in their review of ''Risky's Revenge'': Your first instinct on seeing the female main cast is probably not so much "Whoa, that's hot" as "Aww, that's cute".
** With her cute-as-a-button design and personality, Plink qualifies as this compared to the other 4 half-genies that aren't Shantae, maybe even Shantae herself.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: After many fans developed FridgeHorror surrounding Wobble Bell (a dog you can defeat in ''Risky's Revenge'' for a truckload of gems, with its cameo in ''Pirate's Curse'' seemingly canonizing Shantae having [[MoralEventHorizon defeated a puppy for money]]), WordOfGod clarified that Wobble Bell is actually still alive, and that its cameo in the game's resident Underworld is simply because it got lost.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Some attribute the commercial failure of Shantae to this, among other factors. Shantae's cutesy, colorful graphics, goofy humor, E rating, and being on the kid-friendly GameBoyColor lead to the assumption that it's a kid's game. The problem is, it's also strangely...sexy for something aimed at kids, and also more difficult than your average kid's game. Later games avert this more and more by adding some darker humor, among other content, to the point that Half-Genie Hero (and later Shantae and the Seven Sirens as well) is given the ESRB of T for Teen in North America.

** In the first game alone, you learn that none of the other zombies even so much as ''like'' [[CuteMonsterGirl Rottytops]] and her brothers. Things get worse for her in ''Risky's Revenge'' when she [[spoiler:sells out Shantae to Risky]] but gets nothing out of it, causing the poor girl to run off in tears. Her [[spoiler:human soul in ''Pirate's Curse'']] even tells Shantae that she really wants to be friends with her, but feels like she keeps screwing things up. ''Seven Sirens'' even made it clear that she was so insecure in her friendship with Shantae that she was convinced Shantae wasn't going to invite her on the trip so she sowed away in her luggage, making it all the more painful to learn that [[spoiler:Shantae ''was'' going to invite her, but couldn't find her because she was hidden in the luggage]].

* MemeticMutation:

** [[http://twitter.com/Spoopy_Potatoes/status/1173941794276552704 Shantae fucking dies]] [[labelnote:Explanation]]Edited footage from ''Shantae and the Seven Sirens'' of Shantae falling into a hole, followed by the start of the credits from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. People followed this up by making their own videos with different endings after she falls, like [[http://twitter.com/DoctorG_14/status/1174496053674094592 the Game Over screen from]] ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', [[http://twitter.com/Pixelga69018982/status/1174110351492898816 the downed noise from]] ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'', [[http://twitter.com/JLuis_Joni/status/1175509078199742464 the intro screen to]] [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Hidden Palace Zone]], [[http://twitter.com/YungYiff/status/1174780248489189381 GAME OVER YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH from]] ''VideoGame/SegaRally Championship'', [[https://twitter.com/DoctorG_14/status/1174141007803428864 the Game Over screen from]] ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', [[http://twitter.com/TerminalCaesura/status/1174226660511670273 the Too Bad! screen wipe from]] ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'', and [[Series/ICarly Gibby]] [[http://twitter.com/Duplighost_/status/1174888384327647234 falling from the ceiling]].[[/labelnote]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n52MADpXYT8 The love child between Old Spice and the ''Run Run Rottytops!'' segment]]. [[labelnote:Explanation]]IT'S ME![[/labelnote]]

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: While the games are certainly fun Metroidvanias, a lot of discussion surrounding the games are less about the games themselves and more about how attractive Shantae and the other female characters are, what with their [[{{Stripperiffic}} incredibly revealing outfits]].
* CommonKnowledge: For a while, lots of fans assumed that Shantae was sixteen years old due to a post on [=WayForward=] Technologies' Website/{{Twitter}} account saying so, which led to some discomfort due to the fact that Shantae was known to have worn revealing outfits and had a story on her CharacterBlog that involved her [[GoneSwimmingClothesStolen losing her clothes while skinny-dipping]]. James Montagna, a level designer for several of the games, was eventually asked about the issue of Shantae's age and clarified that [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/2ce8ae30-d895-427d-af19-cabc25da6f24 Shantae was never intended to be a minor and that the tweet that said she was sixteen was made by an intern who came to that conclusion without the developers' knowledge.]] As such, it's now firmly established that while her age is intentionally vague, she's definitely an adult.

* CommonKnowledge: For a while, lots of fans assumed that Shantae was sixteen years old due to a post on [=WayForward=] Technologies' Website/{{Twitter}} account saying so, which led to some discomfort due to the fact that Shantae was known to have worn revealing outfits and had a story on her CharacterBlog that involved her [[GoneSwimmingClothesStolen losing her clothes while skinny dipping]]. James Montagna, a level designer for several of the games, was eventually asked about the issue of Shantae's age and clarified that [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/2ce8ae30-d895-427d-af19-cabc25da6f24 Shantae was never intended to be a minor and that the tweet that said she was sixteen was made by an intern who came to that conclusion without the developers' knowledge]].
* CrossoverShip: Some people ship Shantae with [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Pit]], due to their love of health-replenishing hot springs.

* {{Adorkable}}: Shantae is already cute herself, but her occasional dorky quirks that have been with her since ''Pirate's Curse'' take the cuteness UpToEleven. Examples include pretending to be a pirate and getting overly excited over staying at an island for a vacation.

** Taken to its logical conclusion with [[Creator/StudioTrigger Studio Trigger's involvement]] [[https://twitter.com/WayForward/status/1145769578154405889 in animating the opening for Shantae and the Seven Sirens]]. Some of their works include ''Anime/KillLaKill'' and ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia'', among a plethora of other anime including ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' and ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' when they were part of Creator/StudioGainax.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: The games don't have a decided target audience by the creator's own admission, once remarking after the first game's failure that it's "too sexy to be a kid's brand, and too girly for a male gamer brand." The games are host to a cute, colourful art style and the stories tend to be very simple, veering on ExcusePlot at points. However, this is juxtaposed by the generous doses of dark and sardonic humor found in character and NPC dialogue, an equal number of jokes that would go over a child's head, and a bevy of sexy character designs. Thankfully for [=WayForward=] Technologies, there did turn out to be a market for such an eclectic combination and Shantae would become their flagship franchise after they managed to self-publish the second game.

* FanworkOnlyFans: One of the main appeals of the series is how charming and diverse the cast of characters is, all with standout designs and memorable personalities. However, those who aren't frequenters of the indie scene or outright don't like the gameplay style of {{Metroidvania}}s often find themselves engaging with fanwork as a way to grow attached to the characters, which isn't a hard task, as fanwork for ''Shantae'' is ''very'' abundant on the internet.

-->'''Risky:''' My Mom dressed up as the pirate lady for Dad. But I'm not allowed to talk of such things.

--> "My Mom dressed up as the pirate lady for Dad. But I'm not allowed to talk of such things."