History Franchise / SamAndMax

* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Done in one of the comics, where Sam and Max travel to the Moon and find a civilization of man-sized rats, who are being preyed upon by a civilization of 50 foot cockroaches. Said cockroache lives in a giant human apartment that makes them look normal-sized in comparison. In the Cartoon, there's an adaption of the above comic "Bad Day on the Moon" as well as AIEEEE Robot, which features a 50 foot robot and baby. In the games, there's the stone statue of UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln and the killer robot thingy [[spoiler:as well as a transformed Max in the Season 3 finale]].

** Later spoofed in a StarWars parody. The duo gets into an X-Wing knockoff to go fight the ''New Hope" Trench battle scene, Sam hopping into the cockpit, and Max into the unprotected socket that Droids go in.

** ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxTheDevilsPlayhouse'' (2010), a later third season

* FastballSpecial: One of the ways Sam uses Max as a weapon. It usually ends with Max biting into the skull of whoever he's being thrown `at.

''Sam & Max'' started in [[TheEighties 1987]] as a comic by Steve Purcell. It covered the surreal and satirical adventures of two [[FunnyAnimal anthropomorphic animal]] [[PrivateDetective private investigators]]: Sam, a six-foot tall "canine shamus" dressed like a stereotypical ''FilmNoir'' private eye, and Max, a deranged, trigger-happy white rabbit (sometimes described as a "lagomorph" or a "hyperkinetic rabbity-thing"). Sam was always the more laid-back of the two, and usually the voice of reason keeping Max from unnecessary violence, though Sam's definition of "unnecessary violence" could be a bit flimsy at times. In most of their adventures, the two would receive orders from the faceless Commissioner to defuse some bizarre situation, doing so with a combination of violence, gunplay, their wits, and dumb luck.

* A VR game, ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxThisTimeItsVirtual'', released on July 8th, 2021.

* An VR game, [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/SamAndMaxThisTimeItsVirtual ''Sam & Max - This Time It's Virtual'']], released on July 8th, 2021.

''Sam & Max'' started in [[TheEighties 1987]] as a comic by Creator/StevePurcell. It covered the surreal and satirical adventures of two [[FunnyAnimal anthropomorphic animal]] [[PrivateDetective private investigators]]: Sam, a six-foot tall "canine shamus" dressed like a stereotypical ''FilmNoir'' private eye, and Max, a deranged, trigger-happy white rabbit (sometimes described as a "lagomorph" or a "hyperkinetic rabbity-thing"). Sam was always the more laid-back of the two, and usually the voice of reason keeping Max from unnecessary violence, though Sam's definition of "unnecessary violence" could be a bit flimsy at times. In most of their adventures, the two would receive orders from the faceless Commissioner to defuse some bizarre situation, doing so with a combination of violence, gunplay, their wits, and dumb luck.

* An upcoming VR game, [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/SamAndMaxThisTimeItsVirtual ''Sam & Max - This Time It's Virtual'']], set to release in 2021.

* An upcoming VR game, ''Sam & Max - This Time It's Virtual'', set to release in 2021.

[[caption-width-right:250:That's Sam up top and Max down below. Don't get them mixed up.]]

->'''Sam:''' The Freelance Police are here to keep the peace\\

* An upcoming VR game, Sam & Max - This Time It's Virtual, set to release in 2021.

* An upcoming VR game, Sam & Max - This Time It's Virtual, set to release in 2021.

''Sam & Max'' started in [[TheEighties 1987]] as a comic by Creator/StevePurcell. It covered the surreal and satirical adventures of two [[FunnyAnimal anthropomorphic animal]] [[PrivateDetective private investigators]]: Sam, a six-foot tall "canine shamus" dressed like a stereotypical ''FilmNoir'' private eye, and Max, a deranged, trigger-happy white rabbit (sometimes described as a "lagomorph" or a "hyperkinetic rabbity-thing"). Sam was always the more laid-back of the two, and usually the voice of reason keeping Max from unnecessary violence, though Sam's definition of "unnecessary violence" could be a bit flimsy at times. In most of their adventures, the two would receive orders from the faceless Commissioner to defuse some bizarre situation, doing so with a combination of violence, gunplay, and their wits.

--> (from the cartoon) '''Bystander''' Oh my, surely there's more to your occupation than just pummeling vaporous anomalies insensible!
--> '''Sam:'' [[BluntYes No, that's pretty much it.]]
* FastballSpecial: One of the ways Sam uses Max as a weapon. It usually ends with Max biting into the skull of whoever he's being thrown at.

* ExpospeakGag: In one of the franchise's most enduring gags (though slightly less of it in the games than the comics or series, due to Sam taking most dialogue there), the characters tend to express whatever they're doing - no matter how ridiculous - with twice as many often overcomplicated words as possible. This is often combined with BuffySpeak, {{Non Sequitur}}s, ShapedLikeItself, and other tropes that intentionally make their dialogue comically pointless and incredibly off kilter.

* ExpospeakGag: In one of the franchise's most enduring gags (though somewhat less of it in the games, due to Sam taking most dialogue there), the characters tend to express whatever they're doing - no matter how ridiculous - with twice as many often overcomplicated words as possible. This is often combined with BuffySpeak, NonSequiturs, ShapedLikeItself, and other tropes that intentionally make their dialogue comically pointless and incredibly off kilter.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: The very first Sam and Max cartoons were actually created as a parody of similar (albeit more serious) characters drawn by Steve Purcell's younger brother, Dave. When Dave left an unfinished comic lying around the house, Steve would take the opportunity to "finish" it for him, having the characters do things like mock the art style and mix up each others' names. Eventually, the parodies developed into comedic figures of their own right, culminating in the late 1970s when Dave Purcell [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments formally signed over the rights to Steve as a birthday present]].

''Sam & Max'' started in [[TheEighties 1987]] as a comic by Steve Purcell. It covered the surreal and satirical adventures of two [[FunnyAnimal anthropomorphic animal]] [[PrivateDetective private investigators]]: Sam, a six-foot tall "canine shamus" dressed like a stereotypical ''FilmNoir'' private eye, and Max, a deranged, trigger-happy white rabbit (sometimes described as a "lagomorph" or a "hyperkinetic rabbity-thing"). Sam was always the more laid-back of the two, and usually the voice of reason keeping Max from unnecessary violence, though Sam's definition of "unnecessary violence" could be a bit flimsy at times. In most of their adventures, the two would receive orders from the faceless Commissioner to defuse some bizarre situation, doing so with a combination of violence, gunplay, and their wits.

* AllThereInTheManual: According to Creator/TelltaleGames commentary on Season One, Creator StevePurcell has a list of mandates he gives to the writers of various Sam And Max projects, the biggest being that Sam And Max, despite all the havoc they wreak, are always on the side of good. Another is that they often create a bigger mess while solving the problem at hand.

{{The wiki|Rule}} is [[http://samandmax.net/wiki/Main_Page here]].

The comics eventually spawned a short lived animated series and popular {{Adventure Game}}s by two different companies (all with Steve Purcell having considerable involvement):

* HeterosexualLifePartners: The titular duo, although Max doesn't really seem to understand sex one way or the other. He seems to understand "gay", though; he takes offense when Sybil calls the two "Luddites," declaring they're just "[[BookDumb very good friends]]".