Graybeard
Since: Jul, 2009
May 30th 2012 at 8:14:27 PM
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Cerebus Syndrome, not Cerberus; it's named for an aardvark (see trope page), not a three-headed dog.
I think Errant Story qualifies. For about the first five or six chapters (but not including the prologue, which is ... weird), the plot is really a means to an end, and the end is snarkage. Gradually, from about there to Chapter 10 or so, the roles reverse, so that the snarkage becomes the means, and the story is the end. Beyond that point, the "serious" story dominates, with occasional little bits of acid-tongued wit or even outright slapstick thrown in, but the snarkage is no longer either the end nor a particularly notable means. That fits the Cerebus Syndrome model, IMO.
"If you sit down at a poker game and can't find the sucker, get up. You're the sucker."
I really have to question the use of the "Cerberus Syndrome" trope regarding this comic. The entry for the trope ITSELF notes that the very first ten or so pages of the comic involve the vengeance slaying of a rapist and murderer, while dropping hints about an ancient racially motivated blood feud. Something can't exactly be said to have become "progressively darker" or "added drama" when it's dark and dramatic from the very START. This is a common abuse of the trope IMO which is simply slapped on ANYTHING that combines humor and seriousness even if that seriousness was there from the start. There also the fact the comic blatantly had continuity from the start, it was NEVER a gag a day strip that suddenly developed continuity it was a story (fancy that!) with a plot line and intended arc from the start.
Yes the situations progressed and became worse as it went on, but... that's what stories DO. The action rises as they progress toward a climax. That's rather the point, which calls certain parts of the entire trope into question actually. A raise in tension, drama, and overall seriousness is endemic to continuity containing stories in and of themselves a fact that must be considered before simply slapping anything with rising action with the "Cerberus Syndrome" label. For instance consider say... Deadpool his stories are filled with gore and black comedy, but not considered to have ever undergone "Cerberus Syndrome" because he was always like that.
So yeah to some up, to me if something has dramatic continuity based story elements more or less from the FIRST page it can't really be said to have undergone Cerberus Syndrome; unless something extremely outrageous happens. Like a dramatic, but fairly mainstream superhero romp suddenly has the main character be violently raped or something. Based on that I think the references to this should be removed and the story presented as what it is, a rather self aware drama that doesn't take it's premise overly seriously.
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