Line #96 VideoGame/TheTrickyMod


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/530_90_60511f73c51c0_1.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: "YOU DO NOT KILL CLOWN!!! '''[[RussianReversal CLOWN KILLS YOU!!!]]'''"]]
3
4	->''[[CouchGag TRICKY]]''\
5	''[[CouchGag TRICKY]]''\
6	''[[BlatantLies FUNNY CLOWN]]''
7	-->-- '''The Tricky Mod's Friday Night Funkin' traditional CouchGag'''
8
9	''The Tricky Mod'', alternatively referred to as ''Madness: Friday Night Funkin'', is a ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'' GameMod developed by [[https://twitter.com/Banbuds?s=09 Banbuds]], [[https://twitter.com/KadeDeveloper?s=09 [=KadeDev=]]], and [[https://twitter.com/helpme_thebigt?s=09 Rozebud]], the latter two being the same ones who worked on ''VideoGame/VsWhitty'' and ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkinBSideRemixes'', respectively.
10
11	While the devs of the vanilla game eventually plan on adding ''WebAnimation/MadnessCombat''[='=]s Hank J. Wimbleton -- both as an opponent and as a playable character -- this mod introduces one of his most persistent and dangerous opponents, [[MonsterClown Tricky the Clown]].
12
13	[[ArcWords Somewhere in Nevada]], The Boyfriend and The Girlfriend are taking a stroll when a familiar stop sign pops up right in front of them, and out from its shadow...
14
15	OMFG CLOWN!
16
17	Tricky, the Nevadian Champion himself, emerges, twitching violently all the while with no intent on letting our couple pass. In order to escape this hellish monster of a beast, The Boyfriend is forced to combat Tricky in a rap battle. He soon finds himself in one of the toughest fights he's ever been in; with Tricky on the mic empowered by the Portable Improbability Drive, there's no telling what could happen, especially once the Improbability Drive - and eventually, Tricky's wrath - is pushed to its limit...
18
19
20	It can be found on [[https://gamebanana.com/gamefiles/17466 Gamebanana]].
21
22	If you're looking for another ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'' mod focused on clowns, then go to ''VideoGame/FridayNightClownin''.
23
24	!!Song List:
25	#Improbable Outset
26	#Madness
27	#Hellclown
28	#Expurgation (Bonus Song)
29	----
30	!!REALITY COMPROMISED. THE TROPES HAVE BEEN ENGAGED.
31	* ArcWords: The mod begins with ''Madness Combat''[='=]s famous phrase: ''"Somewhere in Nevada..."''
32	* AscendedMeme: One of the couch gags for the mod is references the "Average X Fan vs Average Y Enjoyer" meme, that some [=FNF=] fans have jokingly used to compare this mod with the VideoGame/VsWhitty mod.
33	-->Average Whitty Fan
34	-->Average Tricky Enjoyer
35	* BigDamnHeroes: Coincidentally or not, Hank manages to swoop in and save Boyfriend by shooting Tricky from the back of a pickup truck he's riding in. [[spoiler:This later takes a turn into UnwantedAssistance, after he insists on picking a fight with Demon Tricky after Boyfriend successfully deterred him, which only pisses him off all over again.]]
36	* BonesDoNotBelongThere: There's a FunnyXRay showing the bones of a ''road sign''.
37	* BoomHeadshot: Hank performs this on Tricky after the first song. [[NoSell All this does is remove his mask and piss him off.]]
38	* BoundAndGagged: [[spoiler:Girlfriend spends "Expurgation" tied up for some reason. Not that it bothers her.]]
39	* BreakingTheFourthWall: While not as overt as some mods out there. "Expurgation" makes the player face [[spoiler:Tricky's famous Warning Signs randomly blocking the view of the arrows and one of the Iron-masked skeleton minions pull on Boyfriend's head in his health bar, forcing them to lose health]].
40	* BrutalBonusLevel: The bonus song "Expurgation". [[spoiler:The notes come out much faster than they did in the previous songs, the fire arrows from "Hellclown" are replaced with Auditor-themed arrows that will INSTANTLY KO you if you press them, and Tricky's minions will mess with you by either blocking the arrows with stop-signs or moving your health-bar back by force. This song's difficulty is "Unfair" for damn good reasons.]]
41	* ButtonMashing: Tricky has a habit of just smashing all four arrows at once, particularly during "Madness". Meanwhile, a major feature of the mod's version of the game engine is that you can decide whether pressing notes when there are none counts as a miss or not, ensuring that as long as you hit the notes that ''do'' come in, you'll avoid taking damage [[spoiler:up until he starts sending harmful fire arrows in "Hellclown"]].
42	* TheCameo: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMFoQHJlfUQ main menu shows off other characters]] besides the ones currently in the mod. Such as Deimos[[labelnote:*]]Or rather "Rockmos", sporting his rock form from "[=DedmosRebuilt.fla=]"[[/labelnote]], Sanford, MAG Hank and MAG Agent: Torture, to name a few. The Main Menu also has a VariableMix, so if you have good ears, you can also discern what songs are playing when they are around.
43	* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: [[spoiler:One of the new mechanics in "Expurgation" has one of Tricky's minions straight-up pull the health bar against you. They're very generous with how much they take away, too.]]
44	* DeathFromAbove: Tricky's final form crashes down on BF after transforming. Girlfriend warns him by pointing up, but Boyfriend misinterprets it as a thumbs up.
45	* DeusExMachina: [[spoiler:Despite having won against Tricky in his Demon form, he's still an all-powerful monster and subverts DuelsDecideEverything by just trying to attack BF after taking down Hank. Just before his punch can connect though, ''something'' drags Trick away, implied to be [[VideoGame/VsHexMod IRIS, a corporation who hacked Hex]].]]
46	* EasterEggs: One in each version, both related to ''VideoGame/AmongUs'' and doubling as a ShoutOut:
47	** In version 1, on rare occasions, the background for the main/freeplay menu, [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/fridaynightfunking/images/1/14/Image_2021-06-02_193827.png which normally depicts Boyfriend and Girlfriend looking at a sign of Nevada while Tricky looms over them, poised to attack]], gets replaced with one where the sign reads [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/fridaynightfunking/images/6/61/Image_2021-06-02_192027.png "AMOGUS" and Tricky's stop-sign depicts a picture of a crewmate instead of an exclamation point]].
48	** In version 2, a crewmate is one of the possible characters that can appear on the main menu. If a crewmate is present, then he'll prevent you from selecting anything on the main menu, and can be killed by clicking on him in order to access the main menu options once more.
49	* EvilSoundsRaspy: Tricky, befitting a deranged zombie clown who's missing his lips outright. [[spoiler:Once he transforms into his demon form, you can safely say that EvilSoundsDeep too.]]
50	* FearlessFool: Boyfriend. What does he do after pissing Tricky off, making him pull out his signpost with malicious intent? ''He crosses his arms and stares smuggishly.'' Considering the game over screen has Tricky slice Boyfriend's head off with the same signpost, he was very damn lucky to have Hank passing by.
51	* FlippingTheBird: [[spoiler:Tricky's left pose in "Hellclown" has him flip the Boyfriend off.]]
52	* TheGlovesComeOff: Tricky wears his mask when he first shows up until the end of "Improbable Outset". By the time "Madness" starts, [[spoiler:Tricky has had his mask shot off by Hank]], revealing his gaping maw and green skin. This also conveniently signals the point where he stops going easy on you.
53	* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Tricky is known for being short-tempered, twitchy, and a sore loser. As a result, his side of the note map involves him smashing multiple notes at the same time, typically all four, and twitching between poses the longer the songs go on, and uses the Improbability Drive to cover up the fact that he's so tensed up and angry he can't even hit them properly.
54	* GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger: Tricky's "Left" motion has him point accusatorily at Boyfriend. [[spoiler:The same also goes for his "Right" animation in "Expurgation".]]
55	* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler: [[VideoGame/VsHexMod IRIS’ symbol]] briefly flickers on the Auditor's screen after Tricky's monster form is destroyed and Tricky himself is captured. This intrusion manages to confuse even the '''Auditor''', the BigBad of ''WebAnimation/MadnessCombat''. He never usually lets up his perpetually-determined glare, so you know something's wrong when even HE doesn't know what's going on.]]
56	* HarderThanHard: [[spoiler: The secret chart, "Expurgation", is given the difficulty ranking "[[SNKBoss Unfair]]".]]
57	* HaveANiceDeath: If you die in this mod, the normal game over x-ray is altered to show Boyfriend getting slapped across the face with Tricky's stop sign[[note]]Which, somehow, also has bones.[[/note]], and the normal "crunch" replaced with one of the more common {{Stock Sound Effect}}s heard in ''Madness Combat'' when someone gets crushed in some way.
58	* HorrifyingTheHorror: [[spoiler: "Expurgation" has implications of this, with Tricky not knowing where he is, and how instead of Hank, Boyfriend is facing him ''again''. He comes to the realization of how this isn't right, and his Improbability Drive is unresponsive, meaning he can't manipulate reality to escape. For what is quite possibly the first time in any Madness Combat related entry, Tricky basically outright ''panics''; throwing out '''''everything''''' he has to defeat Boyfriend, trying in vain to use his spikes to kill him, and is reduced to actually screaming at Boyfriend, asking who he is, where Hank is, and why he can't just ''kill'' him.]]
59	* InterfaceScrew: [[spoiler:During "Hellclown", Tricky's screams cause the screen to shake badly and be engulfed in static. In addition, he [[DamnYouMuscleMemory messes with your reflexes]] by sending out barrages of flaming notes that must '''not''' be hit, lest you take damage.]]
60	** Exaggerated in [[spoiler:the battle against Tricky and his skeleton cohorts in "Expurgation". The damaging notes are present in this battle too, only here, they are {{One Hit KO}}s. In addition, multiples of Tricky's stop sign will wave over parts of your side of the screen, making it harder to see incoming notes, and lastly, a minion of Tricky will '''[[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard periodically grab The Boyfriend's icon on the health bar and pull it back]]''', dealing massive unavoidable damage. Thankfully, this is an OptionalBoss.]]
61	* ItsAWonderfulFailure: If you end up losing to Tricky at any point in the mod, it's shown that Boyfriend outright got ''bludgeoned'' to death with the clown's signature stop sign. Which for some reason has bones in it as well.
62	* KaizoTrap: After a hellish segment in "Expurgation" [[spoiler:after Tricky screams for Hank, the song will return back to the first verse, however a healthbar minion will appear and take over ''80%'' of your health, which will inevitably get Boyfriend balled if you have less than the amount it takes, luckily, the drain is fairly slow and gives you enough time until the song ends.]]
63	* {{Leitmotif}}: Whenever the beat drops in the instrumental of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtiKwh_XU6k Madness]]", "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdpjlg73j80 Calliope]]" by Cheshyre, Tricky's official theme, can be heard rendered on a piano. Speaking of Calliope thanks to the Main Menu's theme having {{Variable Mix}}es, whenever Tricky is the character displayed it will play its own remix of the Main Menu theme but clearly playing its own version of Calliope.
64	** The [=V2=] title screen plays a remix of the famous Chicken Dance song, which has played in both ''Madness Combat 1'' and ''Apotheosis'', and on top of that an OminousMusicBoxTune version plays during a game over screen
65	* MightyRoar: Tricky does this several times [[spoiler: in his giant demon form, but a particularly "mighty" example is right after Boyfriend tries (and miserably fails) to hurt him with the microphone. Tricky lets out a roar so big that it blasts Boyfriend, Girlfriend, and her speakers through the air.]]
66	* MonsterClown: Tricky, the star of the mod. Doesn't get much more monstrous than an undying, bloodthirsty zombie clown whose red lips are actually exposed jaw muscles. [[spoiler: And that's not even getting into his demon form in "Hellclown".]]
67	* MusicalNod: Considering this is a love letter to ''WebAnimation/MadnessCombat'', taking the form of a very high-polished mod for a rhythm game then this is definitely to be expected.
68	** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdpjlg73j80 Calliope]]'', Tricky's official theme, can be heard several times in the mod.
69	** By extension the Chicken Dance is also heard a few times as well, with a remix of it playing as [=V2's=] title screen theme, to even a slowed down musical box version playing on the game over screen.
70	* MyRulesAreNotYourRules: Tricky hits eight fire arrows at once in the climax to "Madness". [[spoiler:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrxYxRwSTxU If the player had the intention to do that]] on the other hand [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill Boyfriend would take a whopping 160% HP of damage.]] Tricky also presses both fire and halo notes as well in his next two songs.]]
71	* MythologyGag: Being clearly made by big fans of the WebAnimation/MadnessCombat series, it's got quite a lot of it to offer.
72	** The [=V2=] title screen has Tricky being a DJ and dancing to a remix of the Chicken Dance song, just like the end of ''Madness Combat 4: Apotheosis''. There's also a octagonal sign on the DJ table that has a large marshmallow plastered on it. Which not only is a reference to ''Madness Regent'', ''Accelerant'' but also ''Madness Combat 3: Avenger'' and ''Marshmallow Madness''.
73	** [=V2=]'s new main menu takes heavy inspiration from "Project Nexus Classic"[[labelnote:AKA]]The old flash ''Project Nexus'' game[[/labelnote]] having a very similar interface, buttons and fonts. Even the main theme is a remix of ''PN: Classic's''' own menu theme, [[https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/471705 "Catastrophe"]]!
74	** Tricky's [[spoiler:demon form in "Hellclown" is pretty spot on recreation of not only his appearance in the main series, but borrows very big influence from "Madness Regent" and "Madness Accelerant", especially in colors. His "Left" motion even has him [[FlippingTheBird giving Boyfriend the finger]]!]]
75	** Adding onto the "Madness Accelerant" references, after beating the game and [[spoiler:getting a "Tiny Desk Tricky" above the "Freeplay" button, clicking on him will annoy him with some text saying different things, sometimes however they will instead ''meow'']].
76	** The bonus song "Expurgation" has one moment where [[spoiler:Tricky and his skeleton goons from [=MC11=] alongside Boyfriend sing notes from "Entry of the Gladiators" (''the'' stock carnival song), the original "Expurgation" from the main flash series is actually a (heavily) remixed version of that said song.]]
77	* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Or in this case, [[MonsterClown Clown]] [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Zombie]] [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Demon]] HumanoidAbomination.
78	* OneHitKill: [[spoiler:Hitting a black arrow with a halo on it during "Expurgation" results in an immediate game over.]]
79	* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:Tricky turns into his demon form from ''Antipathy'' and ''Consternation'' for his final song, "Hellclown"]]. If that wasn't enough, [[spoiler:"Expurgation" has him in his skeleton form with the Auditor's halo from the episode the song is named after]].
80	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
81	** When Tricky first emerges, you can see Boyfriend with a nervous look on his face rather than a cocky smile, though he quickly switches to his default expression before the first song starts. Considering he's up against [[TheDreaded Tricky]], he's right to be scared this time.
82	** In the final cutscene following "Hellclown", [[spoiler:The Auditor's eyes noticeably widen from his usual narrow gaze after his computer monitor cuts out from Boyfriend and Tricky and instead displays the symbol of IRIS]].
83	** [[spoiler:During "Expurgation", ''Tricky himself'' is in a complete 180 from his normal chaotic and sadistic behavior, having no idea where he is, asking Boyfriend all sorts of questions like "Where am I?", "Who are you?", "Where's Hank?" and "[[WhyDontYouJustShootHim Why can't I kill?]]", and trying in vain to use the Improbability Drive to escape his predicament only to find it unresponsive. It's implied that throughout the song, Tricky is actually ''[[VillainousBreakdown panicking]]'' for the first time in his undead life, and it definitely shows with him hitting you with everything he's got, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard outright]] [[InterfaceScrew cheating]] in a ditch-effort to kill BF.]]
84	* OurZombiesAreDifferent: Tricky's a zombie ''clown'' empowered by a device called the Improbability Drive, which essentially makes him immortal and allows him to mold reality like it was Play-Doh.
85	* PlayingWithFire: [[spoiler:In "Hellclown", Tricky takes the form of a gigantic flaming clown demon. GameplayAndStoryIntegration hits in the form of his "fire notes", which must '''not''' be hit and damage the Boyfriend on contact.]]
86	* PostVictoryCollapse: [[spoiler:When Tricky vanishes after "Hellclown", Boyfriend gives one last beep before face-planting on the floor.]]
87	* RageBreakingPoint: Tricky reaches this after "Madness", with the exact moment he snaps being punctuated with a gunshot and a burst of red energy emitting from his mouth, heralding the further activation of his Portable Improbability Drive and transition into his demon form.
88	-->'''YOU DO NOT KILL CLOWN'''
89	-->[Energy Burst]
90	-->'''CLOWN KILLS YOU!'''
91	* RealityWarper: Tricky, thanks to his Portable Improbability Drive, which essentially deems certain events as "improbable" and thus "corrects" reality itself to be in Tricky's favor. He even uses it in both songs, with it happening more often in "Madness"; the screen flashes with transparent, red static whenever Tricky sings a note at random, with words like "MISCALCULATION", "ERROR", and "IMPROBABLE" in big bold red letters popping up.
92	* RedSkyTakeWarning: The sky's always red in Nevada, Tricky's hometown, and where his challenge takes place.
93	* SayMyName: [[spoiler: During Expurgation, Tricky audibly shrieks Hank's name, presumably out of one part blind rage, and one part to try and establish ''some'' sense of familiarity with his surroundings.]]
94	* ScreamingWarrior: Tricky's vocalizations are raspy, vocoded screams & hisses, and his animations make it clear that he's being as loud as he possibly can when he does them.
95	* SequelHook: [[spoiler:Upon clearing "Hellclown", Hank takes on Tricky, only to lose. Just when all hope seems lost, [[DeusExMachina something causes Tricky to vanish]]. We then cut to the Auditor, watching from his computer, only for it to turn off and flash [[VideoGame/VsHexMod IRIS' symbol]], leaving even ''him'' of all people puzzled. We then cut to an unconscious Tricky in a black void, before a door opens up and shines red light on him.]] Subverted, as [[AbortedArc the devs have no plans to continue this plotlne.]]
96	* ShoutOut:
97	** While it's rare, sometimes the main menu will show a Red Crewmate from ''VideoGame/AmongUs'' instead of BF or any other member of the Madness Combat cast. [[https://youtu.be/U4P-mCD4LrQ The main menu theme is even remixed!]]
98	** [[spoiler:The appearance of IRIS' symbol is a reference to ''VideoGame/VsHexMod''.]]
99	* SkywardScream: [[spoiler:Tricky's up motion during "Hellclown" and the opener to boot, held long enough to give the impression that you have truly made Tricky's rage knob get turned up to eleven.]]
100	* SoreLoser: Tricky will use the Improbability Drive to cover up his note misses, signaled by a red static with words such as REDUCE or MISJUDGED. After losing to Boyfriend a second time, Tricky turns into his demon form to kill him.
101	* SuddenlyVoiced: [[spoiler:After giving out his initial roar in "Hellclown", Tricky begins the song by saying '''"YOU SING THROUGH''' '''''HELL!!"''''' out loud, and in "Expurgation", Tricky screams for Hank near the end of the song before the beat drops one last time.]]
102	* {{Superboss}}: [[spoiler:Exclusively in the mod's Freeplay menu, there's a 4th song called "Expurgation". In it, you fight against Tricky's skeletal form from the episode of the same name. Tricky pulls out all the stops here, throwing [[InterfaceScrew stop signs]] in your face while a minion of his [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard drains away your health]]. All the while, you'll have to avoid mistakenly hitting the OneHitKill notes he sends your way.]]
103	* ThisIsGonnaSuck: In contrast to his usual behavior and expressions, the Boyfriend bops his head to the main menu theme while clearly looks very worried, as if either knowing what he's getting into or a bit pensive on ''what'' he got himself into.
104	* ToBeContinued: Version 1 ends with a "To be continued" notice after [[spoiler:Tricky explodes]].
105	* UncommonTime: [[spoiler: On top of being full of InterfaceScrew and [[IncendiaryExponent flaming notes]] that [[DamnYouMuscleMemory damage you when you touch them]], "Hellclown" is a chaotic piece from a metrical standpoint, too. Like [[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar a certain other clown's battle theme]], it changes time signatures constantly. The chart begins in 5/4 before changing to 7/4, 4/4, 7/4 again and finally ''9/4'' before settling back into 5/4. It finally ends with an outro in 7/4.]]
106	* VariableMix: The main menu's music is not only a remix of Project Nexus' [[https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/471705 "Catastrophe"]]. It also changes slightly [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMFoQHJlfUQ based on whoever]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYYB7sPRoAw&t=38s is displayed on the menu]], typically from an animation they took a primary role in or at least where they came from.
107	** Tricky himself adds the melody of "Calliope", from "Avenger" to the track.
108	** Boyfriend adds the original game's near-iconic "Go, man, go!" crowd chant featured in the base game's menu music.
109	** MAG Hank adds a bit from "[=MC9=]", the soundtack to "Aggregation".
110	** Jesus adds a refrain from "[=MC8=]", the soundtrack to "Inundation".
111	** MAG Agent: Torture adds bits from "Giant", the soundtrack to "Incident:011A".
112	** The Auditor adds a motif from "[=MC10=]", the soundtrack to "Abrogation".
113	** Deimos adds a bit from "Eidolon Step", the soundtrack to "[=DedmosRebuilt.fla=]" which was also where his current form displayed comes from.
114	** Though Sanford's version has caused confusion among the players, it is believed that his motif is from "Madness 5 5", the soundtrack to "[=Madness Combat 5.5=]", the first episode in the series where he has a major role.
115	** [[Videogame/AmongUs The Crewmate]] adds the main tune of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grd-K33tOSM "Among Us Trap Remix"]] to the track.
116	* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: Tricky undergoes this during the course of "Expurgation", realizing that he isn't losing just because he's failing to kill the Boyfriend; He's losing because something won't ''let'' him.]]
117	* WhamShot:
118	** During a segment near the end of "Madness", Tricky's arrows have his demon form's aura surrounding them. [[spoiler:These later appear on your side during "Hellclown", dealing a hefty amount of damage if you hit them.]]
119	** During the final cutscene, [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/VsHexMod IRIS' symbol]] briefly appears on the Auditor's monitor.]]
120	* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Tricky, who has murdered Hank, Jebus, and turned reality into his own personal playground, decides to challenge Boyfriend into a rap battle instead of just crushing him to death. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since Tricky's M.O is toying with his victims by giving them the chance to fight back, and that as of Version 2, [[spoiler: Tricky does attempt to assassinate Boyfriend before being interrupted by Hank.]] [[LampshadedTrope Lampshaded]] in [[spoiler:"Expurgation", where one of the red messages periodically flashing on Tricky's side of the screen is '''"WHY CAN'T I KILL?"''']]
121	* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: The general feeling of Tricky's response to Boyfriend [[spoiler:managing get by his flaming arrows in "Hellclown" without losing, as signified by him outright screaming in exasperated rage.]]

Context VideoGame / TheTrickyMod