History WebVideo / TenLittleRoosters

* PoeticSerialKiller

# ''[[MythologyGag Life Imitated Art]]'': [[labelnote:answer]] [[ActorAllusion Burnie Burns]] gets a lethal sting from one of Joel's [[JustForPun scorpions]] after trying to reach for a gun.[[/labelnote]]

''Ten Little Roosters'' is a 2014 murder mystery comedy web series created by Creator/RoosterTeeth, consisting of eight episodes that aired weekly from November 4 to December 23. The series is an {{affectionate parody}} of Creator/AgathaChristie's novel ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'', and runs on the TenLittleMurderVictims premise synonymous with the novel.

As these tropes relate to a murder mystery with nine different murders and multiple plot twists, beware of spoilers below.

A sequel series, ''WebVideo/TheElevenLittleRoosters'', was announced at RTX 2015, in which the survivor of the series is recruited by an international spy agency to root out TheMole in a group of 18 assassins and spies from 11 agencies around the world. A prologue series, ''Assassin Superstars 360'', premiered on December 20, 2016, and the official series premiered on January 16th, 2017. This time, with the exception of the survivor, characters are original characters, and not RT employees playing fictional versions of themselves. Both series were then followed by another SpiritualSuccessor series, ''WebVideo/DeadLittleRoosters'', in 2021.

* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: [[spoiler: In the finale, Ryan puts on a crown and leaves the studio after becoming the only survivor]].

* BrickJoke: In the first episode, Chris quote Creator/JRRTolkien whilst Gus quotes himself calling Chris a nerd. Fast forward to the finale, and the same Tolkien quote is shown after the credits, ''as well as'' Gus' made up quote.

** Just over a minute into Episode 1, Chris quotes the famous Tolkien line "Not all those who wander are lost." [[spoiler:As the end of the final episode shows, the final line of that poem is "The crownless again shall be king." The SoleSurvivor? The Mad King, Ryan Haywood.]]

** In the finale, after the survivor has been revealed and the credits have rolled, Tolkien's "All that is gold does not glitter" -- the same poem that Chris quoted in the first episode -- appears onscreen. All the lines of the poem fade from the screen except for the last: [[spoiler: ''"The crownless again shall be king."'']] Not only is this a clever reference to [[spoiler:Ryan being the last one alive]], but it also turns Chris' offhand comment into a huge ChekhovsGun, meaning that viewers could have predicted the survivor from the ''very first episode''.

* AttackItsWeakPoint: When confronted with [[spoiler:the puma]], Miles wields his prop from the RWBY set and tells himself to aim for the soft underbelly (a ref to Weiss fighting the boarbatusk in RWBY). [[SubvertedTrope He decides against attacking it]] [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere and just runs.]]

** Somebody releases all of Joel's poisonous animals in episode 2, letting scorpions, spiders, and a cobra roam the office. [[spoiler:A scorpion kills Burnie in episode 4, just like how Caboose (played by Joel) killed Church (played by Burnie) in ''Red vs. Blue''.]]

** [[spoiler:One of Chris' off-hand comments when talking to Gus in ''Episode 1'' turns out to be the way we could have guessed the survivor from the first week. It's part of a poem that ends "The crownless shall again be king"]].
* ClothingDamage: By the time [[spoiler:Miles]] dies, he's lost the [[spoiler:Ruby Rose costume's]] boots and cloak and the outfit itself is slipping off him.

* TheDayTheMusicLied: [[spoiler:As Miles is stuck running on the treadmill, the ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' theme music starts playing as he tries to convince himself that he can escape it and survive. One GilliganCut later, and he's dead]].

-->'''Burnie:''' I'm old and gross dude, I could die any time. ''I could die the shit out of a death''.

* {{Dissimile}}: Ryan expresses the belief that Burnie will be the last one remaining and how it'll be like "Red vs. Blue all over again". Burnie points out that his character, Church, is the ''first'' one to get killed partway through Season 1, to which Ryan admits that he hasn't watched any of the series.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Whilst it isn't spelled out completely, [[http://i.imgur.com/MGhHQid.jpg the poem]] foreshadows the deaths of nine of the party guests, as well as hinting at how they will die.
** In episode 2 Burnie explains to Ryan how his character was the first to die in Red vs Blue after being killed by a scorpion tank. [[spoiler: Two episodes later Burnie gets murdered in a manner reminiscent of his fictional death]].

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In Episode 6, we have Lindsay and Barbara doing an episode of "The Know" [[spoiler:as a means of contacting the police about the killings]]. [[spoiler:However, the fact that it has footage of the kills pushes this closer to BreakingTheFourthWall territory]].
* LethalKlutz: Barbara has several accidents and screw-ups that spell disaster for the survivors, like inadvertently kicking the tripwire that released the puma. [[spoiler: Subverted, she's the killer and those weren't accidents at all.]]

-->'''Burnie''': Lets go do some things!
* LetsSplitUpGang: Barbara proposes teaming up with Adam to increase their survival odds, but the latter rejects this out of hand, arguing their odds worsen that way. His rationale is that he initially teamed up with [[spoiler: Gavin]], but the killer [[spoiler: planned for both of them to die together in a trap]] so staying separate is best. [[spoiler:Thinking like this gets him killed, as the killer strangling him would have been harder if someone had been around to help him, or if he had properly gained Miles's attention.]]
** This seems to be the plan for most of the guests - the only time that more than two characters are shown onscreen at the same time is in the first episode. Apart from that they're either going solo or randomly bumping into other guests with no plans to form a team.
* LifeImitatesArt: InUniverse Example. One of the lines of the poem states that one of the guests will be murdered as a result of life imititating art. [[spoiler: Sure enough, Burnie gets killed in episode 4 after getting stung by a scorpion, emulating the death of Church in Red vs Blue]].

** In a way the prominence of RWBY merch and posters in the background could be seen as one [[spoiler:by those people who thought it hinted towards ''Miles'' (who has been wearing the Ruby Rose costume since Episode 3) being the SoleSurvivor]].

* {{Retraux}}: The intro and music are very similar to ones used in movies form the 50's/60's.
* {{Revenge}}: The reason why the party was happening in the first place - [[spoiler: Cop!Burnie's partner was killed by the murderer years ago and his dying wish was to be avenged. Burnie held the party in order to get his hands on the killer.]]

* WrongGenreSavvy: Chris, due to his obsession with ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', keeps thinking like he's in a high-fantasy despite really being in a murder mystery. For instance, in episode 2 he encounters a mysterious figure wearing a skull mask in a dark hallway. Instead of assuming this person is the killer and running, like a sane person would, he assumes they want to challenge him to [[Literature/TheHobbit Riddles in the Dark]]. He also [[spoiler: ultimately screws up Burnie's confrontation with the killer by having an overly long and dramatic death sequence which physically blocks Burnie's line of fire.]]

** [[spoiler:Adam's decision not to team up with Barbara and merely hide winds up leaving him open for ambush by the murderer. Though given that Barbara was revealed to be the murderer, it wouldn't have made much difference]].
** Miles has convinced himself that by acting like [[spoiler:Ruby Rose]] he can make himself the hero of the story, and thus, the SoleSurvivor. [[spoiler:Although he ''does'' last until the final three, his determination isn't enough to help him survive the treadmill trap.]]

** In the same conversation, Ryan gets a [[DefiedTrope defied]] one; when Burnie calls him a "bad [[LetsPlay/AchievementHunterMinecraftSeries king]]", instead of getting mad like the buildup would have you think, Ryan just snarkily corrects him ("It's '''mad'' king'").

* AccentRelapse: [[spoiler:Cop!Burnie]] reverts to his "natural" {{Joisey}} accent when he reveals his true nature to Ryan. He switches back to his "ridiculous fake" accent for the rest of the conversation, though after Ryan presses his BerserkButton he gets so flustered he relapses again.

* AnnoyingArrows: [[spoiler: Arrows are lethal in this series, as Chris dies from getting shot, but it takes several of them to put him down for good and he keeps getting back up after being shot. Played for laughs.]]

* BaitAndSwitch: Ever since [[spoiler:he got stuck on the hole]], it seemed like [[spoiler:Ryan would end up being the one who "Ran Out of Air"]]. Episode 6 makes it seem that way, [[spoiler:due to cutting to Ryan's portrait after Ryan ''supposedly'' succumbs to asphyxiation... only for the sound of shattering glass to be heard as Ryan bursts out]].
* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:Barbara murdered Cop!Burnie's partner because she knew that Burnie would respond by trying to trap her with the fake dinner party, gathering all her planned victims into one place for her.]]
** [[spoiler: Michael's murder might not have even happened if Barbara hadn't been sure that Gus would hand Michael the glass in anticipation of a toast]].
** There's also the case of Ryan's [[SanitySlippage mental breakdown]] in the fourth episode - [[spoiler: Barbara killed off Michael and Gavin first and planted their dolls, knowing that Ryan would question his own sanity due to his sociopathic tendencies in Creator/AchievementHunter videos]].

** In the same conversation, Ryan gets a [[DefiedTrope defied]] one; when Burnie calls him a "bad [[LetsPlay/AchievementHunterMinecraftSeries king]]", instead of getting mad like the buildup would have you think, Ryan just snarkily corrects him ("It's ''mad'' king").