History VideoGame / ParappaTheRapper

* OldMaster: Chop Chop Master Onion is a comical subversion; he loses his dojo after the first game. While he appears as a PropheticDream in ''Um Jammer Lammy'', he's incredibly disheveled and his is advice to Lammy is that "my dojo is in my mind; it even has a casino." By the third game, he's ended up as the host of a daytime television program.

* RichBitch: Joe Chin seems to be an oblivious example, constantly one-upping [=PaRappa=] to his regular dismay.

* JokeOfTheButt: Dring a song with Beard Burger Master, he is says some suggestive stuff in the backing vocals:

** [=PaRappa=]'s a dog who has a crush on a flower named Sunny. An animal is in love with a plant. According to Rodney Greenblatt, [=PaRappa=] could actually '''[[HotSkittyOnWailordAction have children]]''' with Sunny. God only knows [[MixAndMatchCritters what their kids would look like.]][[note]][[{{Pun}} Dogwood blossoms?]][[/note]] That said, he also added:

* NoBiochemicalBarriers: Rodney Greenblatt has mentioned that [=PaRappa=], a dog, and Sunny, a flower, are [[ArtisticLicenseBiology sexually compatible]], and [[MixAndMatchCritters could conceive a child]].

--> '''Hairdresser Octopus:''' "Hey, take that [[NiceHat stupid hat]] off. What does it look like in there?"

* MickeyMousing: Present in the first game and ''Um Jammer Lammy'', where the effects and characters on stage move and change as the protagonist plays worse and worse, and them music becomes a little lamer to reflect it. Omitted in the second game in favor of noodles that overwhelm the stage instead.

* SeriousBusiness: The inhabitants of [=PaRappa=] Town sure do seem to be into rapping.
** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d at the beginning of ''Um Jammer Lammy''; Lammy's excuse for being late to her concert was that people wanted to rap for the bathroom, and she only plays guitar. People, please leave the rapping to [=PaRappa=]!

** Makes it a bit of an OrphanedReference in Level 7 when [[spoiler:Colonel Noodles]] raps, "Noodles are the best, no doubt, can't deny, taste better than water, but don't ask me why," in a nod to [[spoiler:his father]]'s "Taste better than wine" lyric, [[spoiler:before water pours down at Noodle on cue]].

* InterspeciesRomance: [=PaRappa=]'s a dog who has a crush on a flower named Sunny. An animal is in love with a plant. According to WordOfGod, [=PaRappa=] could actually '''[[HotSkittyOnWailordAction have children]]''' with Sunny. God only knows [[MixAndMatchCritters what their kids would look like.]][[note]][[{{Pun}} Dogwood blossoms?]][[/note]]
** WordOfGod also put it best:
-->"[[BellisariosMaxim Some questions are best left unanswered.]]"
-->--Rodney Alan Greenblat

* NoBiochemicalBarriers: WordOfGod states that [=PaRappa=], a dog, and Sunny, a flower, are [[ArtisticLicenseBiology sexually compatible]], and [[MixAndMatchCritters could conceive a child]].

->"Huh? Noodles into noodles? At the Chinese restaurant?"

* WidgetSeries: ''[=PaRappa=]'' may be a little nuts, even by Japanese standards, but ''Um Jammer Lammy'' dives nose-first into full-blown widget territory.

On April 26, 2012, [=PaRappa=] was announced as a playable inclusion in ''VideoGame/PlayStationAllStarsBattleRoyale''. On December 2015, ''[=PaRappa=] the Rapper 2'' was given a re-release on the UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation Network}}, and in April 2017, the original game received a [[VideoGameRemake remake]] titled ''[=PaRappa=] the Rapper Remastered'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4.

* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation
* AmbiguousGender: It is unknown what Jet Baby's gender is. In ''[=PaRappa=] 1'', "The Jet Baby Theme Song" refers to the song's title character as a "she", but when [=PaRappa=] and his friends walk out of the movie theater, they refer to said character as a "he".

* ClimaxBoss: The Bathroom Rap in 1, Teriyaki Yoko in Um Jammer Lammy, and Colonel Noodle in 2. While they aren't the final stages, they do serve to wrap up the plot before the final concert, and are usually the most difficult stages in their respective games.

* DenserAndWackier: The first [=PaRappa=] is fairly down-to-earth and plausible, with challenges such as "passing a driving exam" and "baking a cake", and the title character's main goal being to impress the girl he likes. ''Um Jammer Lammy'', the next game in the series, gets ''considerably'' more bizarre, but most of the individual stages are still ''somewhat'' grounded at the very least, and the main goal of "get to the concert venue on time" isn't particularly out there. ''[=PaRappa=] 2,'' on the other hand, involves a ShrinkRay, a [[BrainwashedAndCrazy crazed hairdresser]] giving everyone [[FunnyAfro spontaneously growing afros]], a video game that leaves the player unable to eat anything but noodles ever again if they should lose, and the overall crux of the plot to ''turn all the food in the world into noodles.''

* DubNameChange: Sometimes [[AvertedTrope averted]] (Teriyaki Yoko, Ma-San), sometimes played straight (Takoyama-san/Hairdresser Octopus, Niwatori-sensei/Cheap Cheap). The "dub" part is [[AllThereInTheManual ques]][[SurprisinglyGoodEnglish tion]][[{{Animesque}} able]], though...
* {{Egopolis}}: [=PaRappa=] Town is inexplicably named after... take a guess.
** In what can be considered an inversion of OneSteveLimit, WordOfGod states that the city is named after '''another''' [=PaRappa=]. It's actually a pretty popular name in the [[TheVerse PaRappa Universe]].
** In a CreatorCameo version, [=PaRappa=] Town is in "Rodney State", after Rodney Greenblat.

* InformedSpecies: The title character is not readily identifiable as a dog.
** Lammy doesn't even resemble a lamb. Name ''one'' person who knew she was a lamb / sheep without being told.
* LanternJawOfJustice: [[TheAce Joe]] [[MeaningfulName Chin]] has this.

* NeverBareheaded: [=PaRappa's=] beanie hat, which he never takes off. What [=PaRappa=] looks like underneath his hat is such a such a [[MemeticMutation popular topic,]] that an [[WMG/PaRappaTheRapper entire WMG has been dedicated to the question.]]
** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''[=PaRappa=] 2'', if you fail Stage 5:

* OlderThanTheyLook: [=PaRappa=] and his friends have child-like appearances, but WordOfGod says that they're probably teens.

* SillinessSwitch: Done as a game mechanic. The background has silly things happen (rain during the rap for the bathroom for example) and the [[SongsInTheKeyOfPanic music sounds more wacky and terrible if you hit the Bad or Awful ranks]].

* VagueAge: The main cast tends to look and act somewhat childlike, yet [=PaRappa=] is apparently old enough to drive.

* AscendedExtra: General Potter only had non-speaking role as Sunny's father in the first game. But in the sequel, he plays a key role in the story.
** Same with Papa [=PaRappa=].

* BattleRapping: In both games, [=PaRappa=] has to face all of his mentors at once in a rap battle late in the game. See BossRush below for the scenarios of each battle.

* BoastfulRap: the endings to both games, unusually it is a professional rapper boasting about [=PaRappa.=]. In addition, half of the second game's third and seventh raps are each this.

* CarryingACake: Poor, poor [=PaRappa=]. Though it's probably just as well--Sunny might have found the design [[FridgeLogic a]] [[FurryConfusion little]] [[CarnivoreConfusion offensive]].
** LaserGuidedKarma: Joe Chin was the one that made [=PaRappa=] drop the cake (although the intention is debatable). The next day, see FunnyBackgroundEvent below.

* ClumsyCopyrightCensorship: In the PSP release, PJ Berri and Katy Kat's orders of "a vanilla and a chocolate frosty", respectively, at the burger restaurant mute the word "frosty", possibly because of trademark issues with the Wendy's Frosty.

* {{Corpsing}}: Dred Foxx can't help but laugh a bit during his "melt the cheese" line in Toasty Buns when Beard Burger Master lets out an excited "OW!" between his lines.
* DontTryThisAtHome: In the 1st lesson of the 5th stage of the second game, this text is shown in brackets where the lyrics are usually displayed. For the record, the activity shown is hair styling, though it's about as extreme as it can be with [[RunsWithScissors people running with scissors]].

* EasterEgg: By holding up on the D-Pad, an easter egg will occur in every stage but the fourth and fifth ones.

* EasyModeMockery: If you want all the stages, you'll have to play on normal difficulty, as easy only allows access to the first three.

* FakeDifficulty: Provided by the original game's cumbersome timing window. This game also debuted before the advent of [=TV=]s with extensive video and audio pre-processing, and hence it has no lag adjustment options. Good luck playing it on a modern TV.

* FamilyFriendlyMatureContent: stage 2 is called "Strictly For Adults". Parappa and PJ find a TV show called ''Romantic Karate''. It is prefaced with a content warning saying the show is "[[TheNamesake strictly for adults]]". Parappa interprets this as a way to prove his maturity.

* FrothyMugsOfWater: Only in the U.S. version of ''[=PaRappa=] 2'', Stage 1, even though Beard Burger Master's voice says, "You better get in line!" his lips say, "Taste better than wine!", which was in the Japanese and European versions.
** Justified in Stage 7, in any version of ''[=PaRappa=] 2'', when [[spoiler:Colonel Noodles]] raps, "Noodles are the best, no doubt, can't deny, taste better than water, but don't ask me why," in a nod to [[spoiler:his father]]'s "Taste better than wine" lyric (Japan/Europe version only), [[spoiler:before water pours down at Noodle on cue]].

* GRatedSex: There was an entire level in the sequel where [=PaRappa=] practices "Romantic Karate". [[HoYay With his friend P.J. Berri]]. HilarityEnsues.

-->'''Beard Burger Master:''' My buns are very toasty

* LipLock: Mostly averted, but a noticeable one occurs in the second game; one of the lyrics in the first stage is "Heat!" Except in Japanese, he says a word that has his mouth is in the shape of an "o". This was never changed for English release, so it looks very odd.

* OldMaster: Chop Chop Master Onion.

* {{Retraux}}: The sixth level in ''[=PaRappa=] 2'' is a 16 -bit video game game. Or if you're doing badly, 8-bit. Or if you're doing ''really'' badly, [[OlderThanTheNES Atari 2600 on an]] ''[[OlderThanTheNES Oscillascope display]]''. Subverted if you're doing awesomely, which is in the 32 or 64-bit style.
* RichBitch: Joe Chin, sort of.

* ShipTease: Stage 8 of ''[=PaRappa=] 2'' teases [=PaRappa=]/Lammy: [=PaRappa=] sings with Lammy, who's playing with him on stage, while Sunny just watches from the audience with her father.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Instructor Moosesha in ''[=PaRappa=] 2'' is one for her sister, Inspector Mooselini, from the first game, who is neither mentioned by name nor shown.

* ToiletHumor: There's a level in which [=PaRappa=] is on a date with Sunny and suddenly feels the call of nature. Rather than using the facilities at the park he's at, he tries to hold it in for as long as possible, even while driving. And then when PaRappa goes back to the car after taking a dump, Sunny thinks to herself, "He's the same PaRappa again. Oh well."

* NiceHat: [=PaRappa's=] beanie hat, which he never takes off. What [=PaRappa=] looks like underneath his hat is such a such a [[MemeticMutation popular topic,]] that an [[WMG/PaRappaTheRapper entire WMG has been dedicated to the question.]]

[[caption-width-right:320:[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Kick, punch, it's all in the mind...]]]]

The game works like this: Every stage has one character who raps a song and ask you to perform certain tasks, like learning karate, learning how to drive, selling things at a flea market, etc. in time with the music. You hit a button at the right moment as indicated on a bar at the top of the screen. Effectively, it's a video game version of Simon. Do well and you'll make it through the song; do too badly and you'd have to try again.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcgDqDmWE8U A prototype of the same cutscene]] reveals that [=Parappa=] and his friends were originally talking about Creator/JohnWayne (for some reason), so when the mentions of John Wayne were changed to Jet Baby, it's likely that Katy and PaRappa's lines were not changed to account for Jet Baby being a "she".

** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcgDqDmWE8U A prototype of the same cutscene] reveals that [=Parappa=] and his friends were originally talking about Creator/JohnWayne (for some reason), so when the mentions of John Wayne were changed to Jet Baby, it's likely that Katy and PaRappa's lines were not changed to account for Jet Baby being a "she".

* [[BeatTheCurseOutOfHim Rap the Curse Out Of Him]]: [=PaRappa=] fixes Hairdresser Octopus' obsession with taking people hostage to give them giant afros by beating him in a rap while also helping him snip, cut, trim, dye, and perm people's hair. Oh, and destroy the Noodlizer so his behavior won't continue.

* TheTelevisionTalksBack: There was an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keuNX9gib2M entire level]] in ''[=PaRappa=] the Rapper'' like this. [[spoiler:A subversion, as Cheap Cheap's literally right next to him. (The "television" is actually a frame she kept around herself, for some reason. This is revealed only if you're in "Cool" mode, and if you start doing badly [[note]]she'll stomp right out of the TV frame to teach [=PaRappa=] how to cook personally, and what's also curious is how she has a TV filter to her voice while speaking through the television, which goes away as soon as she comes to [=PaRappa=] in person.[[/note]] (This is lampshaded by [=PaRappa=] asking her how she got out of the TV.)]]

* LethalChef: Sunny Funny in the second book, nearly literally around the end. When Sunny forgets to buy the ingredients she needs, she decides to [[HilarityEnsues improvise]]. Needless to say, none of Sunny's guests would touch it. (Except for [[BigEater PJ]]) As for the dessert, well... [[[[AlienLunch Flaming Dynamite Strawberry Onion Cake]], anyone?

* LethalChef: Sunny Funny in the second book, nearly literally around the end. When Sunny forgets to buy the ingredients she needs, she decides to [[HilarityEnsues improvise]]. Needless to say, none of Sunny's guests would touch it. (Except for [[BigEater PJ]]) As for the dessert, well... [[IncendiaryExponent Flaming]] [[StuffBlowingUp Dynamite]] {{Strawberry|Shorthand}} [[AlienLunch Onion]] [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Cake]], anyone?

It is a very short and simple game, but the unique premise and the [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic unbelievably catchy songs]] made it an instant cult classic. It's not only seen as the [[TropeMaker first definitive modern]] RhythmGame, but probably [[TropeCodifier the most influential]]. Pretty much every RhythmGame created since, from ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'' to ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' to ''VideoGame/{{Beatmania}}'', owes at least a little to [=PaRappa=], if only for [[GatewaySeries starting things off]]. The game is still highly regarded today, with a 88% on [[http://www.gamerankings.com/ps/198264-parappa-the-rapper/index.html GameRankings]].

A sequel named ''[=PaRappa=] the Rapper 2'' was released on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 in 2001, which once more focused on [=PaRappa=] (but with cameos from the [=MilkCan=] members). ''[=PaRappa=]'' also produced a spinoff in 1999 called ''VideoGame/UmJammerLammy'', which spawned an album called ''Music/MakeItSweet''.

* TokenHuman: The first game [[DummiedOut was originally]] going to feature one named [[NonIndicativeName Pony Pony]].

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: One of the comics centers around Katy winning a free shopping spree. She gets everything her cart can carry, but she runs into some problems. She can barely fit all of what she bought into her cramped apartment, and when she buys a bunch of fancy electronics (a phone, a laptop, a television and a DVD player) PJ notes that Katy will need to buy phone service, internet service, cable service respectively and movies respectively to make them work. Katy is put off by that because she doesn't have enough money to do that.