History CerebusSyndrome / Webcomics

* ''AppleGeeks'' started out -- and is still described on this wiki -- as "a SliceOfLife comic with a few surreal elements," primarily CloudCuckooLander Hawk, straight man Jayce, and various friends. Then Hawk turned out to be a tinkerer/inventor who made RobotGirl Eve, Jayce turned out to have a military-industrialist father who was interested in the technology, Gina had martial-arts champion parents, and even the seven-year-old Alice babysits for wants Hawk dead and has a mother who might be a witch and who caused a FreakyFriday.

* ''DarthsAndDroids'' has been shifting this way during the Episode III story arc, as the players' personal lives (Jim and Annie's in particular) start impacting the way they play the game and causing fractures within the role-playing group. There's also a nasty air of ForegoneConclusion hanging over the whole thing, since ''DarthsAndDroids'' loosely follows the plot of the ''StarWars'' movies and Episode III... didn't end well.

** To put it all into perspective, the beginning's problems were fake arms, cake, the creepiness of Lil' Cal, stone wizards, and elusive pets. After they all started up Sburb? [[spoiler: We've seen more onscreen deaths than we can count, seen the slaughter of an planetary army, seen the assassination of royalty, seen the DiscOneFinalBoss given god-like powers, watched nearly all the main characters [[DeathIsCheap die]] AT LEAST ONCE (if you count watching their dreamselves die), see WV be scarred for life and him slowly go crazy because of it, and met the creators of the universe. Of course, we also watched them die.]] But yes, the silliness doesn't go away. We have references to [=SBaHJ=] often (but even that has been depleting in frequency), watched Jack be [[WeaksauceWeakness tempted by Snausages]], [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=005590 been given John's derpiest face ever,]] and a fundamental chunk of the plot comes from 'Film/ConAir''.

* ''{{Webcomic/Commander Kitty}}'', which starts off as a purely comedic space adventure, tries to inject some seriousness late in its run by [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2013/03/24/tough-talk/ putting some confirmed casualties on]] [[AIIsACrapshoot malfunctioning android antagonist Zenith's]] rap sheet. [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2014/11/22/lights-out-for-mittens/ Not long after that]] ([[ScheduleSlip in-story]]), Zenith's [[AbsentMindedProfessor incompetent creator Fortiscue]] gets [[BodyHorror cyberized]] and zaps [[ComicRelief Mittens]] with [[{{Film/TRON}} what looks like some kind of digitizer ray]].

* ''[[http://www.shd-wk.com Spiky-haired Dragon, Worthless Knight]]'' goes from somewhat humorous strips about a knight who can't touch weapons to dramatic story about curse of a family that is tied to dragons. It changed at [[http://www.shd-wk.com/index.php?strip_id=275 strip 275]] and judging by the author's notes was done intentionally.

* ''TheLastDaysOfFoxhound'' begun as a ridiculously over-the-top parody of hilariously [[CharacterExaggeration exaggarated]] (and violent) versions of the bosses of VideoGame/MetalGearSolid. As the strip went on, it slowly turned into a story-driven, over-the-top parody of the hilariously [[CharacterExaggeration exaggarated]], violent and [[ClusterFBomb filthy-mouthed]] versions of the bosses of VideoGame/MetalGearSolid, with an overarching, compelling and deep plot.

* ''[[http://www.shd-wk.com Spiky-haired Dragon, Worthless Knight]]'' goes from somewhat humorous strips about a knight who can't touch weapons to dramatic story about curse of a family that is tied to dragons. It is unknown if it's intentional or not, since it happens after around first hundred strips.

* The webcomic Webcomic/{{Striptease}} started out with a cartoony art style, and lighthearted jokes about a comic artist and writer working together and the hijinks they and their friends engage in along the way. After a few chapters, we get not only a major ArtShift to a more semi-realistic style (still quite cartoony, but not compared to earlier strips) but the plot changes to something that would be a hilarious parody of soap operas if it wasn't taken so seriously-complete with evil twins, brain tumors, "I am your father" moments, character makeovers and a lot of other things that make it completely different from the story the readers had initially enjoyed.

* ''{{Sinfest}}'' resisted for a long time, but has been creeping into territory for the last few years. It started with the story of Fuschia the Devil-Girl falling for Criminy and wanting to be human, and since has involved characters falling into various realms (Hell, The Reality Zone, The River Lethe) to to angst over character flaws that had previously been played for laughs. The recent addition of a young femininist on a big wheel condemning characters for their chauvinistic ways and causing Monique to have the most seriously played character development arc yet has fans crying foul.

** ''Yamara'', also a ''D&D''-based comic, did a similar shift fairly early in its run, with a rather more elaborate LampshadeHanging in [[http://yamara.com/yamaraclassic/index.php?date=2005-08-22 this strip]].

* Done fairly successfully with ''[[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick Order of the Stick]]'' (with LampshadeHanging in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0242.html this]] strip). The fact that the comic stayed funny, and the quality of the plot itself, mean that the comic has only grown more popular as the increasingly complex plot unfolds. The strip's creator has even stated that he believes it would never have garnered such a large following without the story.

** The final arc of the comic manages the remarkable feat of completely undoing any and all acts of Cerebus that had previously occurred, first by having Sarda [[spoiler:de-level the Light Warriors, effectively pressing the ResetButton on their capability to commit atrocities]], then having Sarda [[spoiler:turn into Chaos, the original BigBad of the game and comic]], and finally by [[spoiler:having Chaos defeated in an {{anticlimax}} of epic proportions.]] But this is BrianClevinger we're talking about here, who firmly believes that the best joke is the one played on the reader.

* ''CollegeRoomiesFromHell'' engaged Cerebus Syndrome with "The Adversary", a six-month arc that played [[{{Satan}} the Devil]] (previously a minor comic relief character) as a terrifying threat, and the ButtMonkey's (previously humorous) romantic woes as heartbreaking. It is not universally liked.

* ''[=AsLAN=]'', Leo the lion's [[ShowWithinAShow comic-within-a-comic]] in ''SkinHorse''. [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/skinhorse/series.php?view=archive&chapter=26144 Originally]] a poorly-drawn gag strip about lions telling a {{Strawman}} antelope his opinions on technology are wrong, and then devouring him, it's [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/skinhorse/series.php?view=archive&chapter=48680 now]] about a lion with a drink problem, another with father issues, and an antelope whose imminent death is a matter for serious concern.

** Before that, ''Sinfest'' generally subverted it; about halfway through the comic's run, several darker elements came into play. The Devil became much more straightforwardly evil; the succubi and Death became regular characters; Hell and the tortured souls within started appearing regularly; and Uncle Sam showed up and became corrupt, then broke. Despite this, the series stayed comedic, due in large part to CharacterDevelopment.
*** Fairly recently, the strip got hit with this ''hard''. With Trike Girl and her Sisterhood playing the KnightOfCerebus, they've largely become the central plot and the majority of strips focusing on them are pretty much devoid of any kind of comedy. Even the other plotlines became much darker after the Sisterhood's taking over. The relationship between Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty has pretty much stopped being played for laughs, Slick and Squig are now being borderline MindRaped as a result of their (largely newly introduced) chauvinism, and even the cartoonist isn't safe, resulting in possibly the darkest strip in the comic's history.
**** Actually, the chauvinism dates back to [[http://sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2 some of the earliest comics.]] The comic itself started out with a strongly sexist bent, something it feels like the author is repenting for with the addition of the Sisterhood and his exploration of sexism in society. He even underscores this with a sort of [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AuthorAvatar Author Avatar]] (part deux, since he's already in the comic in another form) of the young fan/budding comic artist who started out with heavily sexist comics that are an imitation the author's own earlier works and is gently corrected from that behavior by the original [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AuthorAvatar Author Avatar]] himself.

** ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', on the other hand, quickly develops several intricate story arcs during the second and third acts, and by the time the BigBad is revealed in Act 4, the series has gotten much, ''much'' darker and more dramatic than when it first started. Though, like ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth'', it hasn't lost its sense of humor ''entirely'' - the DiscOneFinalBoss [[http://www.formspring.me/andrewhussie/q/1888161636 is a dog wearing sunglasses.]]

* Played with in ''Webcomic/SketchComedy'': Karen, Howard, the cartoonist, and [[http://thesketchy.com/ic/1576 even the strip's readers]] have their own opinions on just how serious the comic should be, and try to steer it in their preferred direction.
** Parodied in [[http://thesketchy.com/ic/249 this storyline]].

*** Indeed, Hussie maintains that every "serious" dramatic event in the story is profoundly silly upon examination: an example of such events include [[spoiler:an ersatz HarryPotter murdering a girl that comes back to life as an ersatz ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' vampire who murders him in turn and a {{Juggalo}} murdering a CatGirl.]]

** The comic has fallen into constant pandering to the social justice movement, comics filled with non-jokes about the 'evil patriarchy', often hypocritically talking down and attacking misogyny through strawmen, while ignoring or celebrating identical behaviour from women in the story to men.

** ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', on the other hand, quickly develops several intricate story arcs during the second and third acts, and by the time the BigBad is revealed in Act 4, the series has gotten much, ''much'' darker and more dramatic than when it first started. Though, like ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth'', it hasn't lost its sense of humor ''entirely'' - the BigBad [[http://www.formspring.me/andrewhussie/q/1888161636 is a dog wearing sunglasses.]]
*** Indeed, Hussie maintains that every "serious" dramatic event in the story is profoundly silly upon examination: recent events include [[spoiler:an ersatz HarryPotter murdering a girl that comes back to life as an ersatz ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' vampire who murders him in turn and a {{Juggalo}} murdering a CatGirl.]]
*** THE MAIN VILLAIN IS A DOG WEARING SUNGLASSES (who happens to both be an expy of Anubis and Yatagarasu at the same time, what with the crow wings and with only having three limbs.)
** To put it all into perspective, the beginning's problems were fake arms, cake, the creepiness of Lil' Cal, stone wizards, and elusive pets. After they all started up Sburb? [[spoiler: We've seen more onscreen deaths than we can count, seen the slaughter of an planetary army, seen the assassination of royalty, seen the BigBad given god-like powers, watched nearly all the main characters die AT LEAST ONCE (if you count watching their dreamselves die), see WV be scarred for life and him slowly go crazy because of it, and met the creators of the universe. Of course, we also watched them die.]] But yes, the silliness doesn't go away. We have references to [=SBaHJ=] every three pages, watched Jack be [[WeaksauceWeakness tempted by Snausages]], [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=005590 been given John's derpiest face ever,]] and a fundamental chunk of the plot comes from 'Film/ConAir''.