Line #32 VideoGame/SuperCharismaBros


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yeah_go_ttropese_9009.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:[[RunningGag Have]] [[ArcWords Enjoyment!]][[note]]From left to right: [[WordSaladHumor Heavy]] [[ArcVillain Fire]], [[Videogame/SuperMarioRPG Geno]][[CaptainErsatz genesis7]], [[HairTriggerTemper sspp03]] [[InSeriesNickname (or just S)]], [[CloudCuckooLander Dudim]], Miles (Dressed as [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bat]][[Franchise/SuperMarioBros bro]]), [[TheGenericGuy ~CaMtEnDo~]] (or, again, just Cam), and [[MadScientist Doc]].[[/note]]]]
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4
5	->''"It's like a minigame compilation... [[TakeThatAudience for fuckfaces!]]"''
6	-->'''-- Vitiman''', describing his games pretty accurately.
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8	A series of surreal joke fangames created by Vitiman, originating on the Mario Fangames Galaxy message boards and are rather loosely based upon his rather oddball conversations he has with his friends, all of whom are represented in the games one way or another. The games chronicle [[BunnyEarsLawyer Dudim]], an incredibly demented ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' dolphin who believes in love, happiness, and most of all, charisma. Joining him are the so-called "Charisma Gang" [[note]]Other names include the "Charisma League Of Petco Employees", "Those Charismatic Hooligans", among many other things[[/note]], a group of equally strange and colourful characters who also believe in the mighty ways of the charisma.
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10	By the tail end of September 2013, a series of incidents around MFGG resulted in Vitiman leaving, leaving the future of the series bleak. However, in late 2014, Vitiman announces that he's working on a seventh entry in the series, this time with an entirely new cast of characters (save for series mainstay Dudim). This entry is considered one of the more out of place ones.
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12	Seemingly out of nowhere on December 14th (near the closing stretch of 2015), Vitiman returned to MFGG. A series of attempts to make a new Charisma happened with it eventually culminating in Charisma 8. This game again, featured a mostly new cast (save some returning faces), but stuck true to its roots in MFGG. This was followed over a year later by the release of "Charisma 3.1 for Workgroups", the series' first significant upgrade in the polish department since 5's release back in 2013. Sporting the same cast as 8, the game appears to conclude with a {{Cliffhanger}} and Vitiman said that there were plans to continue onward with a brand new trilogy...
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14	...or at least, that was the initial plan. The main gist of a followup to 3.1 was going to be a more adventurous sequel, detailing the ongoing escapades of a Charisma gang [[spoiler:on the run from the police]] across the country, tentatively titled "Charisma π: Dudim & the Chocolate Factory". The game entered early development before being unceremoniously canned at the tail end of November 2017 for reasons largely unknown.
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16	A proper sequel to 3.1 would never surface - however, a successor to the 2016 "April Frills" Endless Charisma gag came again for 2018's April 1st joke at the expense of the audience, "Charisma: The Last One". In many respects, it's a direct sequel to 3.1, but is a much shorter game with a joke ending per the reason for its existence. For a long time, Vitiman insisted a proper sequel to 3.1 was on the horizon, even confirming one multiple times when Charisma 3.1 wound up winning many awards at the annual MFGG Awards showcase earlier that year.
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18	Unfortunately, due in large part to the increasing "raising the bar" that the series continued to demand in both presentation and writing, alongside the tense interactions of former Charisma members and the current ones, Vitiman quietly announced that the series would likely not get a conclusion. Ironically, this leaves a large portion of the joke in "The Last One"'s name and punchline to now be entirely serious.
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20	A comic starring the Charisma 8 gang was (poorly) made beginning shortly after the release of the eighth game - [[https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qpj5p5wqtr1efus/AAA-3De8f_Mi6qOdCbvuPRova?dl=0 you can view it here.]] Dubbed '''''[[WebComic/DudimInTheFamily Dudim in the Family]]''''', it starts out as a surreal, heavily poorly drawn MS Paint comic featuring more wacky antics from the new Charisma crew from 8, but then [[ArtEvolution slowly starts to improve on the art]] (at least, every so slightly) as the plot begins to gravitate towards something more concrete. The comic initially "ended" with a sequel hook, but continues onward somehow, defying all expectations and being drawn by many within the Charisma gang and even outsiders as well.
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22	All 9 installments that exist of the series, including the enhanced remake of the first, can be found here (NOTE: the first 3 are included as a bonus with Charisma 4, so all four first links are to the same page):
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24	* [[http://www.mfgg.net/index.php?act=resdb¶m=02&c=2&id=28512 Super Charisma Bros.]] (Released January 3rd, 2013)
25	* [[http://www.mfgg.net/index.php?act=resdb¶m=02&c=2&id=28512 Super Charisma Bros 2.]] (Released January 8th, 2013)
26	* [[http://www.mfgg.net/index.php?act=resdb¶m=02&c=2&id=28512 The Brothers Charisma: Charisma 3]], the final game in the first trilogy (Released February 3, 2013)
27	* [[http://mfgg.net/index.php?act=resdb¶m=02&c=2&id=28512 Charisma 4]] (Released April 27th, 2013)
28	* A remake of the first game was released some time after Charisma 4, called [[http://www.mfgg.net/?act=resdb¶m=02&c=2&id=28745 Charisma: Prog Rock Edition]]
29	* [[http://www.mfgg.net/index.php?act=resdb¶m=02&c=2&id=29159 Super Charisma Bros. 5]] (Released August 5th, 2013)
30	* [[http://forums.mfgg.net/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=14973 Charisma VI]], the final game in the second trilogy. (Released September 18th, 2013)
31	* [[http://www.mediafire.com/download/g1xi1o89b7751d5/scb7.exe Super Charisma Bros. 7]] (Released January 1st, 2015)
32	* [[http://www.mfgg.net/index.php?act=resdb¶m=02&c=2&id=32908 Super Charisma Bros. 8]] (Released June 27th, 2016)
33	* [[https://forums.mfgg.net/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20680 CHARISMA 3.1 for WORKGROUPS]] (Released September 24th, 2017)
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35	----
36	!!This (technical) fanwork provides examples of:
37	* AcidTripDimension: The games appear to take place in one of these.
38	* AllThereInTheManual: or rather, all there in the [[http://wiki.mfgg.net/index.php?title=Super_Charisma_Bros wiki article]] - it explains a lot of things, for instance - the events of Charisma 4 were actually a nightmare that Dudim had traveling through a time vortex, and that Dudim was sent back in time after the battle with Brynn due to "excess levels of [[Series/TheBigBangTheory Bazingonium]]". That said, the article is only a partially reliable source nowadays ever since Vitiman's initial departure from MFGG, as it meant no-one involved in the making of the games was maintaining the info on it anymore. Ironically, ''this very page'' has more info regarding intent and background info about the games than the wiki article does anymore.
39	* ArcVillain: The games are split into 3 different trilogies (with the first and second trilogies being the only completed ones), with Heavy Fire being the dominant villain during 1-3, and a mysterious "Tim Rogers" being the dominant villain of 4-6.
40	** Charisma 7 and 8 seem to have [[spoiler:Dudim himself]] be the final villain - although in the seventh game it's merely through a technicality as [[spoiler:the Dudim you fight in the final boss fight is actually Ancient Golem John mimicking you.]]
41	* ArcWords: "Have enjoyment" is the main one, although Charisma 5 sets out to make Dudim say ">demand<, or I will be the one sad" as either this or a {{Catchphrase}}. Interestingly enough, charisma itself isn't one, rarely appearing except in the titles of the games.
42	* ArtEvolution: The production quality of each game gets noticeably better and better.
43	* ArtShift: Charisma 4 took a drastic turn in its art style - rather than the cut-and-paste sprite style of the other games, all of Charisma 4's sprites were made specifically for the game. Sadly, this art style didn't last long due to... [[TroubledProduction a few disagreements.]]
44	* AsHimself: All of the main cast are occasionally voiced by themselves in real life (see AuthorAvatar below), willingly or not...
45	* AuthorAppeal: Vitiman loves the band [[Music/{{Queen}} Queen]]. Can you tell?
46	* AuthorAvatar: A majority of the main characters in the Charisma games are caricatures of people who helped work on them in some form - Dudim is the series' creator and developer (or rather, his pet, supposedly), Cam was pretty much the second-in-command, having come up with a lot of jokes for the series and outlined the potential story for Charisma 4 as well as having made most of the sprites for said game, Doc made his own sprite for the game, Genogenesis7 contributed a ton of ideas and has done various other things including a bit of spritework, and Miles contributed a lot of ideas as well early on.
47	* BackFromTheDead: A bit of a LateArrivalSpoiler, but Miles is apparently alive and well by Charisma 8 despite [[spoiler:dying during the climax of the fifth game]]. His reason for coming back? "Heaven was boring", it seems.
48	* BigBad: Heavy Fire is a common one. In Charisma 8, [[spoiler:it ends up being Dudim himself]].
49	** The BigBad of 3.1 for Workgroups seems to be [[spoiler:Wario]].
50	* BolivianArmyEnding: [[spoiler:3.1 for Workgroups ends with the gang on the run from the police]].
51	* CallBack: S tackles you out of nowhere in a [[GameMod ROM Hack]] he made of a Mario game two different times: once in Charisma 2, and then again in the eighth one.
52	** Likewise, you fight Brynn [[spoiler:or his first form anyways]] again in Charisma 7.
53	* TheCameo: [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario himself]] gets a really short cameo in the third one in a minigame where you have to thwart his [[WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife attempted suicide]] [[InsaneTrollLogic to teach typing.]]
54	** Cam has a cameo in the seventh game in the Virtual Reality level, if you sneak to the left of the area you can find a hologram of him circa Charisma 1.
55	** Finally, [[Music/TalkingHeads David Goddamn Byrne]] is a boss randomly in Charisma 8. Or at least, someone imitating him.
56	* CerebusSyndrome: In a jarring move, [[spoiler:the ending to the eighth game is a randomly serious fight between Miles and a disguised Dudim from the past who at some point or another figured out that the original Charisma team would more or less disband and wanted to keep things the same. Although Dudim loses the fight, Miles reminds him that sometimes friendships don't last and things change.]] This wound up confusing a lot of people, who weren't sure whether this was supposed to be a joke or not. Vitiman had to clarify early on that it was meant to be taken (partially) seriously, although his use of a somber [[VideoGame/MegaMan Cutman]] piano cover implies he wanted to lighten the mood a ''little'' bit.
57	* CloudCuckooland: Every single location in ''every single game''. Considering it's a series of joke games, this is most definitely intentional.
58	* CloudCuckoolander: Pretty much everyone to some extent, but special mention goes to Scott in the seventh game. He fucking cuts down a tree by throwing a pair of scissors at it, for Christ's sake!
59	* ContinuityNod: Tons.
60	** Geno's role as an object from the second game is brought back for 5, seemingly to justify his presence early on.
61	** Also from 5: [[spoiler:Vinny's]] unfortunate fate is referenced after the credits end, even though it could have easily been [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse never brought up again.]]
62	** The boss fight with Brynn [[spoiler:at least the first one]] is referenced twice throughout the series, both in Charisma 6 and 7.
63	** In general, Charisma 7 borrows a lot from the earlier games in its story. The game starts off with Dudim going to a newly established place, running into an Engrish-speaking villain (first game), being kidnapped (fifth game), and having the other characters search for him (third, fifth games).
64	** Charisma 8 has a character visiting one of S's Mario ROM hacks again, calling back to a memorable level in the second game.
65	* DemotedToExtra: Kirby's Adventure and Friendly Dictator in 3.1 for Workgroups. Lampshaded in a late game cutscene.
66	* DynamicEntry: Dustin literally ''bursts through the ceiling'' during his first appearance in 3.1 for Workgroups.
67	* EnergyWeapon: Both Dudim and Genogenesis7 have the ability to shoot lasers from their eyes, but it [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands varies per game.]]
68	* FiveSecondForeshadowing: Miles calls [[spoiler:Heavy Fire "Heavy Fire" with quotes around his name]] just before the fight that reveals that [[spoiler:the Heavy Fire he battled was actually Dudim in disguise.]]
69	* HumanPopsicle: It's heavily implied that [[spoiler:what Dudim did in Charisma 8 was ''freeze'' a specific chunk of time so he wouldn't lose the original Charisma team members to a falling out.]]
70	* IncomingHam: Dustin's entry in 3.1 for Workgroups.
71	* OriginalCharacter: The only reason the Charisma series really has any relation to the Mario games is because it starred a bunch of users from a Mario fan forum who used tweaked Mario characters as their avatars. Even though a lot of these characters left in the seventh game, the spirit of using fan characters continued with the likes of Padded Rick and ancient golem john. Theeeen Charisma 8 brought back some of the ones from before and added even more. The tradition, as they say, lives on.
72	* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: The series ''loves'' this trope.
73	** Dudim randomly [[IBelieveICanFly gains the ability to fly]] [[spoiler:so he can get 75,000 coins... sort of.]]
74	** Dudim can shoot lasers from his eyes for no reason in Charisma 4 (and subsequent games), as does Genogenesis7 in Charisma 5.
75	** In Super Charisma Bros. 5, Cam can suddenly shoot spiked meatballs [[note]]yes, that's what those are supposed to be - "burn the meatballs to a crisp" makes a lot more sense now, doesn't it?[[/note]] in the battle with Jay.
76	** Charisma VI brings back the laser shooting from Charisma 4 (and even gives it a name: the [[MythologyGag Phight Laser]]) as well as giving Dudim a double jump.
77	** Finally, Charisma 8 makes it very apparent that [[spoiler:Dudim can shape-shift, or at the very least was able to wear some sort of Heavy Fire outfit that was somehow not convincing enough for most of the other Charisma members despite looking 1:1 to the audience. It's never explained how or why he chose to do this.]]
78	* PetTheDog: Okay, so S is a temperamental baby killer who is fascinated by violence of all kinds and enjoys punching kittens daily... buuuut at the very least, he seems genuinely caring to his new pet dog. Of course, his dog sees him as a vicious murderer regardless. It makes for a really trippy dream sequence in 6.
79	* [[{{Retcon}} Retcon]]: A few, but since the canon is so loose anyways it probably isn't even intentional. Dudim has gone back and forth from being Vitiman himself to being a "pet" of Vitiman's that has wacky adventures of his own. The third game originally had no Geno in sight, but he was added into the flashback of the last scene during the fifth game's intro.
80	** As a joke (although probably out of frustration more than anything), Vitiman released a "revised" version of the first game that ends at the very first cutscene, with a note at the end explaining this to officially undo all of Charisma. Didn't stop him from making a seventh game and in general being more approachable about the games, though.
81	* RevisitingTheRoots: Seems to be the driving principle behind the seventh game. It even brings back the "Super" and "Bros." in the title that the sixth game dropped.
82	* ShooOutTheClowns: [[spoiler:The ending of]] Charisma 8 is just Miles and Dudim. Not exactly shooing out ''all'' of the clowns, but definitely cutting out a large chunk of the cast for a deliberately serious moment.
83	* ShortTitleLongElaborateSubtitle: Most games have an incredibly weird, non-sequitur subtitle to really hammer in just how messed up everything is. The only exceptions are the first and fourth games. The elaborate ones:
84	** Super Charisma Bros. 5: '''The Second Best Thing To Do In The Dark'''
85	** Super Charisma Bros. 8: '''MENTAL BREAKDOWN MENTAL BREAKDOWN MENTAL BREAKDOWN (etc. etc.)'''
86	* ShoutOut: They make up a significant portion of the games in general, let alone their humor.
87	** For starters, the music used during the fight with Heavy Fire in Charisma 3 is [[Music/{{Queen}} "March Of The Black Queen", the title music for Charisma 5 is "Procession", the Geno stage music in the same game is the guitar solo of "The Prophet's Song", and the first level in Charisma 5 has a bunch of pictures of Freddie Mercury in the background.]]
88	** Charisma 6 has plenty too, from a random one to Super Metroid to Punch Out!! to various other games.
89	** Charisma 7 seems to have built its soundtrack from various rock songs, ranging from classic prog songs to other various tunes from the last few decades. It adds an... ''unusual'' flair to the whole game that isn't really found in any other Charisma game.
90	** Finally, Charisma 8 has way too many to list, but a rather notable one is [[Music/TalkingHeads a David Byrne imposter who you have to fight while he plays a horribly butchered version of "Once in a Lifetime" to an oblivious crowd.]] There's also a lot of random ones early on in the game that directly reference [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} Seinfeld]] for no reason.
91	** Then, there are various miscellaneous ones scattered throughout the series. Brynn and his Horse Ranch worship [[Series/TheBigBangTheory Sheldon]], the [[Platform/SegaDreamcast Katana]] and [[Platform/MicrosoftWindows Chicago]] levels in Charisma 5, an almost cult-like worship of [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} Seinfeld]] in Charisma 8, and how apparently every title screen to date has had a humorous, surreal, and often out of context snapshot from ''Series/FullHouse''.
92	** Dustin's animations and SFX in 3.1 for Workgroups are lifted directly from [[Franchise/MegaMan Mega Man]].
93	* ShowWithinAShow: "The Charisma Journey", an autobiography written by Dudim that allegedly details the events of the first two trilogies as seen from his perspective. It sold well enough for the other members to catch wind of its existence in-universe.
94	* SpoilerOpening: Super Charisma Bros. 5's opening directly spoils the third game's ending by flashbacking to it. It even [[{{Retcon}} retcons]] Geno into the background traveling back in time himself to justify his presence! Similarly, Charisma 6's intro spoils the entirety of the last 5 games (well, minus 4 for obvious reasons) to recap the events leading up to it.
95	* SuddenlyVoiced: Miles in 5, S in 6. S's rant in particular is hilarious because of how genuinely ''angry'' he sounds.
96	* TheStoner: Padded Rick, full stop. Captain Rescue also probably counts.
97	* StylisticSuck: Was very prominent in the earlier games, but [[ArtEvolution the quality was gradually ramped up.]]
98	** At least, for 4-6. [=SCB7=] seems to take the series "back to its roots", and this includes a distinctive lack of polish.
99	* TeamPet: A rather unique case with Dudim, considering he's the main character.
100	* TimeTravel: A major plot point in the third, fourth and fifth games.
101	* TimeyWimeyBall: The game's explanation of time travel is... very inconsistent, to say the least. Dudim is sent back in time via an explosion, and we only find out this fact via the third game thanks to Doc. From there, things just get more and more (deliberately) twisted and nonsensical. Among other things:
102	** Cam and Geno appear unaltered in the first level of 5. The implication going by Cam's dialogue is that they're past!Cam and past!Geno, but there's no other indication of such.
103	** Furthermore, this is actually lampshaded by Dudim in the cutscene shortly afterwards, where he defensively tries to scare his would-be captors with a threat that the Charisma team would always help him out, especially since they "are right outside, without any recollection that it's a different year entirely" (paraphrased). ''This'' implies it is them from the future.
104	** Finally, it is never made fully clear whether Charisma 6 takes place in the present day or not. The opening blip from 7 seems to imply it did, but they never went back to the present in 5 and time travel isn't brought up at all in 6 or 7.
105	* VideoGameRemake: A remake of Charisma 1 was created using Charisma 4's engine, which lead to much more polished gameplay, remade levels, and higher quality music. There was supposed to be similar remakes of the next two games, but Vitiman had doubts it would actually be worth it.
106	* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Just where in god's name does any of this take place...?
107	** ''Finally'' revealed during the intro blip for the seventh game. Apparently, "Pastaland". It's still a complete mystery where THAT is, but at least we have a name. Of course, the seventh game itself takes place in another land entirely, Anastasia. Stated to be Dudim's hometown, but it certainly isn't [[CloudCuckooland much saner.]]

Context VideoGame / SuperCharismaBros