History WebAnimation / SaladFingers

A popular Flash cartoon created by DavidFirth, ''Salad Fingers'' is a notoriously surreal and disturbing series set in a seemingly post-apocalyptic world. The title character is a grotesque recluse with [[CreepyLongFingers long green fingers]], a seemingly sexual {{fetish}} for rusty objects, masochistic tendencies, several {{Companion Cube}}s, [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} a very loose grip on reality]], and a habit of (possibly unintentionally) killing or otherwise harming everyone he meets.

* WhenTreesAttack: [[spoiler: Mr. Branches in "Letter".]]

* CompanionCube - Several. The finger puppets Hubert Cumberdale, Jeremy Fisher, and Marjory Stewart-Baxter. Also, Horace Horsecollar (a toy horse) in the sixth episode, Kenneth (a mummified corpse) in the seventh, Roger (a radio) in the eighth, and Yvonne (a slimy black infant-sized mass) in the ninth.

* AfterTheEnd - A common interpretation of the setting.

* ClipArtAnimation - [[Creator/{{Disney}} Horace Horsecollar]], the taps and various other objects.

* CreepyChild: The little girl in "Picnic", at least in-universe. She doesn't really do anything scary, but she manages to terrify Salad Fingers himself. The child-like... ''thing'' in "Cage" and Mr. Branches from "Letter" may also qualify. As well as the small yellow child (referred to by Salad Fingers as "Aunty Bainbridge" in "Letter") who does nothing more than stare with his wide eyes and make screeching sounds.

* FreakOut - Salad Fingers, on a regular basis. Such as when the little girl speaks to him in episode 5, or when [[ItMakesSenseInContext he's at the toilet]] in episode 6.

* ImAHumanitarian - Salad Fingers eats Jeremy Fisher (who turns out to be ''[[{{Mindscrew}} himself]]'') in one of his FreakOut moments.

* ItTastesLikeFeet - "Hubert Cumberdale, you taste like soot and poo!"

* {{Leitmotif}} - "Beware the Friendly Stranger" by Music/BoardsOfCanada.
* LooksLikeOrlok - Salad Fingers, while lacking any nose or ears, is bald, hunchbacked, has creepy claw-like hands, and has filthy teeth.

* {{Mindscrew}} - All of it.
** Particular mention goes to the ending of episode 6, where Salad Fingers walks into his house and sees a doppelganger sitting in a chair. The Salad Fingers sitting down accuses the standing Salad Fingers of 'deflowering' his daughter's rose. The standing Salad Fingers morphs into A life size Jeremy Fisher, goo trickling from his mouth. The sitting Salad Fingers remarks about not tasting him, and proceeds to eat the normal Salad Fingers head. It's never explained which Salad Fingers as real.

* MummiesAtTheDinnerTable - Salad Fingers digs up the corpse of his brother Kenneth and has dinner with him - assuming that ''was'' his brother, and he wasn't playing a macabre imagination game with whatever/whomever was lying around.

* NightmareFuelStationAttendant - Salad Fingers' voice, mannerisms and dialogue are extremely unnerving, usually more so to the viewers than to the other characters.

* ShoutOut - Salad Fingers' telephone has the Music/AphexTwin logo on it, and Aphex Twin's song "Avril 14th" can be heard at the end of episode 4.

* SplitPersonality - Salad Fingers has quite a few of them.

* StalkerWithACrush - The little boy from the fourth episode, who lures Salad Fingers into a bear trap by using a tap, and puts him in a cage in order to propose to him.
* SuddenAnatomy - Salad Fingers' fingers occasionally turn normal in later episodes when needed.

* TitleDrop - The first episode.

* TheUnintelligible - Almost everyone except Salad Fingers.

* ClipArtAnimation - [[WaltDisney Horace Horsecollar]], the taps and various other objects.

* WorldWarOne: Salad Fingers frequently makes reference to "the Great War", although the significance of this is never explained. It could also refer to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

** Episode 10 looks even better, partially because [[ArtShift Firth switched from Adobe Flash to After Effects]]. The backgrounds have become far more textured and photorealistic, the cinematography more dynamic and the drawings had better perspective.

* ArtEvolution: Compare [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3iOROuTuMA the first episode]] to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kCVtPhFQNU the last]]. Between progression of technology and Firth becoming a better artist, there's a world of difference.

** The two normal human characters in the series go along with Salad Finger's requests (getting a fish out of the oven and joining him in a picnic) despite him being a creepy green man.

* BackForTheFinale: Milford Cubicle from episode 2 and Horace Horsecollar from episode 6 reappear in the final episode despite being absent between their respective debuts and episode 10. Also, Mr Branches from episode 7 reappears in episode 9.

* NeverLearnedToRead: Possible for Salad Fingers. He totally ignores that the name tag of the person in episode 2 shows his name "Harry" and calls him Milford Cubicle, invents a letter written to him while actually holding a piece of a newspaper upside down in episode 9 and writes unintelligible symbols on toilet paper in the same episode.

* BackForTheFinale: Mr Branches from episode 7, Milford Cubicle from episode 2 and Horace Horsecollar from episode 6 all reappear in the final episode despite being absent between their respective debuts and episode 10.

* AttentionDeficitOohShiny!: In the second episode, Salad Fingers is distracted by a rusty nail in the wall while holding the oven door open, and lets it shut on the kid he asked to grab his fish for him.

* EarRape: There are many sudden loud noises, drawing the viewer into a sense of paranoia. Translation: Don't listen with the volume up high.

** Depends on the fan. There's fan art on [[http://www.deviantart.com deviantART]] with him shirtless. (But they made him look less squicky.)

* {{Leitmotif}} - "Beware the Friendly Stranger" by BoardsOfCanada.

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight:
** When Hubert Cumberdale, a usually [[TheSpeechless mute]] finger puppet, becomes human-sized, gains [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]], and [[NightmareFuel screams]] at Salad Fingers, Salad Fingers nonchalantly knocks Hubert Cumberdale on the head with a rusty spoon and continues to sing [[Film/TheWizardOfOz "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"]].
** The two normal human characters in the series go along with Salad Finger's requests (getting a fish out of the oven and joining him in a picnic) despite him being a creepy green man.
** To be fair, other than those two kids themselves, Salad Fingers is the ''least'' creepy creature we see roaming the wasteland.

* WorldWarOne - Salad Fingers frequently makes reference to "the Great War", although the significance of this is never explained. It could also refer to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

** Confirmed. The series started as a school project by DavidFirth to create an animated film based on a post-apocalyptic scenario.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Datach'i himself plays piano on one episode.

** Episode 10 looks even better, partially because Firth switched from Adobe Flash to After Effects, plus the backgrounds have become far more textured and photorealistic.

*** The only thing that comes even close to averting this is the red haired girl from episode 5, which is to say she looks recognizably human.

* CreepyChild: The little girl in "Picnic", at least in-universe. She doesn't really do anything scary, but she manages to terrify Salad Fingers himself. The child-like... ''thing'' in "Cage" and Mr. Branches from "Letter" may also qualify.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Salad Fingers