History Webcomic / BasicInstructions

** The superhero and supervillain characters based on Rick don't exactly have a great time either - Mr Everywhere is basically the only significant character to canonically die and the Knifeketeer is so consistently treated like a walking punchline, even by his own teammates, that some strips refer to him as "the Human Joke". The Moon Emperor, admittedly, brings most of it on himself by continually picking fights with Rocket Hat.

* ThrowTheDogABone: Once in a while, Rick gets the better of Scott, generally in a meaningless way. Ironically, it appears that the real Rick does not like those occasions, because then he envies his fictional self.

** Meyer consistently portrays Sunnyside in Yakima County, Washington, his childhood home, as APlaceWorseThanDeath. Expect references to flies, feedlots, grit-wind and boredom.

* ArtEvolution: The earlier comics are simple and have less stuff in each panel; modern strips are generally more complex in their art and word bubble placement. More to the point, Rick apparently changed his look at some point, meaning there's "classic" Rick and "modern" Rick.

* VitriolicBestBuds: Scott and Rick spend half their time insulting each other... and they're basically each others' only friends in-comic.

* BadassArmFold: Towards the end of the original run of the strip, Rocket Hat adapts this pose, after previously invariably appearing "on camera" in a far less heroic stance.

In July 2015, After 10 years of comic creation, Scott [[http://basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2015/7/28/how-to-announce-the-imminent-end-of-your-comic-strip.html announced his decision to conclude the comic]], citing increasing difficulty in avoiding repetition as the primary reason, along with a desire to focus on writing full-length novels. The final strip was posted on August 24th, 2015 and the comic then began rerunning with creator commentary added. After the comic finished rerunning, Scott posted a new comic on March 30th, 2022 and announced on April 1st that he was resuming his comic.

* KnifeNut: The Knifeketeer and (even more so) his [[http://basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2011/1/13/how-to-handle-exposition.html sidekick Stabby]].

* DamnedByFaintPraise: The tourism slogans in [[http://basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2013/3/24/how-to-plan-a-vacation-rerun.html "How to Plan a Vacation"]], such as "Death Valley -- It's Better Than It Sounds!" and the apparently-real-life "Missoula -- We Like It Here!"d

** In another strip, Rick apparently replaced Literture/HarryPotter's name with his own in his first-edition books.

* {{Jerkass}}: Jenkins.

* NoodleIncident: Whatever [[http://www.gocomics.com/basicinstructions/2012/05/30 "the unpleasantness" of Sunnyside]] was, it made national news. The commentary reveals that this isn't based on a specific incident, but there were a few drug stories that made national news.

* TheOmnipresent: Omnipresent Man.

In July 2015, After 10 years of comic creation, Scott [[http://basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2015/7/28/how-to-announce-the-imminent-end-of-your-comic-strip.html announced his decision to conclude the comic]], citing increasing difficulty in avoiding repetition as the primary reason, along with a desire to focus on writing full-length novels. The final strip was posted on August 24th, 2015 and the comic then began rerunning with creator commentary added.

* SocietyMarchesOn: His retrospective on [[http://basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2015/11/10/how-to-fake-a-smile.html this comic]] mentions how the joke went from absurdist to mean-spirited over time as "hobo" went from a reference to a 1940's itinerant laborer to a general term for the homeless in common usage.

* NotSoDifferent: Scott likes to point this out with him and Mr. Ryan, much to the latter's chagrin.

* NoIndoorVoice: Al always talks in all caps.

* ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: [[http://basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2010/4/28/how-to-fulfill-the-prophecy.html Trope Namer.]]

* StockholmSyndrome: [[http://basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2008/12/15/how-to-watch-a-movie-you-are-told-you-will-love.html Scott explains]] the {{Creator/Disney}} movie ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast''.

* DamnedByFaintPraise: The tourism slogans in [[http://basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2013/3/24/how-to-plan-a-vacation-rerun.html "How to Plan a Vacation"]], such as "Death Valley -- It's Better Than It Sounds!" and the apparently-real-life "Missoula -- We Like It Here!"
* DeliciousFruitPies: Scott once suggested that superhero movie [[TheStinger stingers]] could end with hero stopping the villain from stealing Hostess Fruit Pies.

* ProductPlacement: Parodied [[http://basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2011/5/10/how-to-work-product-placement-shamelessly-into-your-narrativ.html here]] and played with [[http://basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2010/1/6/how-to-kill-off-a-fictional-character.html in the last panel]].

* NoodleIncident: Whatever [[http://www.gocomics.com/basicinstructions/2012/05/30 "the unpleasantness" of Sunnyside]] was, it made national news.

** Another strip had the Emperor trying to force this, only to find his enemies were already friends with each other.

* SuperheroOrigin: Most of the alleged superheroes get a capsulized one, in an episode that explains HowToGiveACharacterSuperpowers.

* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: The Knifeketeer's schtick, in that he stabs many of his problems into submission. When the Knifeketeer comes under suspicion of attempted murder, his "defense" is that he always wants to stab everyone. Turns out he thinks that "defense" is a kind of stabbing in its own right.

* VillainProtagonist: [[WordOfGod The real-life Scott]][[http://www.basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2017/10/5/how-to-maintain-a-positive-attitude-about-an-unpleasant-task considers himself this in the world of the comics]].