Line #64 WebVideo/MonsterFactory


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/monsterfactory_0.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''No middle sliders!'']]
3
4	->''"This is not a mean-spirited show -- it's about creating things that are initially horrifying and then finding the beauty within, as we can all do for ourselves and those around us -- what is going on with the fucking eyes though, [[Creator/ToddHoward Todd]]!?"''
5	-->-- '''Justin,''' [[https://youtu.be/_1jGnFt78H8?t=225 Fallout 4 — Episode 1]]
6
7	''Monster Factory'' is a WebVideo show on Polygon, from [[Creator/McElroyBrothers two-thirds of the team]] behind ''Podcast/MyBrotherMyBrotherAndMe'' and ''Podcast/TheAdventureZone''.
8
9	Hosts Justin and Griffin [=McElroy=] pick a video game and abuse its character editor for fun and profit, typically going for the most outlandishly {{gonk}} avatar they can. They then take their monstrosity out for a spin, sometimes utilizing {{Classic Cheat Code}}s to add to the chaos (noclip, GodMode, SequenceBreaking, etc), especially if the character editor is too limited to really abuse. The third part of the show is laughing. Justin and Griffin have no idea what they are going to see, and some of their creations have brought the show to a halt for as much as a minute while they pick themselves up from the floor.
10
11	In April 2018, the brothers [[https://www.polygon.com/forums/meta/2018/4/24/17275680/its-a-departure announced]] that they would be amicably leaving Polygon, but would continue to make Monster Factory videos for the website on a recurring basis. They made good on that promise in December 2018, returning with a ''Soulcalibur VI'' video on their own [=McElroy=] channel.
12
13	[[folder: Games and Monsters produced by the Factory]]
14	* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' -- [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Squirtle]]
15	* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' -- [[ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} Cyber-Garfield (G.A.R.F.I.E.L.D.)]]
16	* ''VideoGame/TheSims4'' -- A {{Sitcom}} called "Series/MyTwoDads 2" featuring [[Franchise/StarWars Dark Vader]], Cousin Specialagent and their son Daytrader Vader
17	* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' -- D-Bomb
18	* ''[[VideoGame/WWEVideoGames WWE 2K14]]'' -- [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Pebble]] (Christopher Christopher Christopher Christopher)
19	* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' -- Truck Shepard, created via game state editing rather than the usual sliders
20	* ''VideoGame/ARKSurvivalEvolved'' -- Dino-[[Series/MurderSheWrote Lansbury]]
21	* ''VideoGame/SecondLife'' -- The Boy-Mayor of ''Second Life'', and his campaign manager Totino's
22	* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' -- Toucan Dan
23	* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' -- Chiquita Dave, a "chill-ass banana-man"
24	* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' -- The Final Pam and her husband Trash Hulk
25	* ''VideoGame/BlackDesertOnline'' (Beta) -- Borth Sampson, who is just like [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Bart]]
26	* ''VideoGame/DragonsDogma'' -- Randyjohnson and her "throwable" pawn Panpan
27	* ''VideoGame/BladeAndSoul'' -- Succotash and Ratbaby (and her familiar Vape Life)
28	* A pizza-themed GameMod of ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' created by a witch Griffin met in an Arby's -- #NOID
29	* ''[[VideoGame/WWEVideoGames WWE 2K16]]'' -- Justin Rude Boy Man, an attempt to import Justin's face into the character creator
30	* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' -- [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} The Junker]]
31	* ''VideoGame/SoulCaliburV'' -- Mëlissa, a VideoGame/SlyCooper {{Cosplay}}er
32	* ''[[VideoGame/PGATour Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08]]'' -- DAZ, an attempt at importing a photograph of Creator/DennisFarina
33	* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' -- Trüllbus the Crime-Eater
34	* ''VideoGame/{{Spore}}'' -- J'aam, "the sequel to dogs", and SHRECK THE MOVIE
35	* ''[[UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} Mii Channel]]'', followed by ''VideoGame/WiiSportsResort'' -- Turbovicki, [=DickCheney=], Turbosusan and Turbojanet
36	* ''VideoGame/ChampionsOnline'' -- Knife Dad, saving the world one knife at a time
37	* ''VideoGame/ConanExiles'' -- Jefferson Tallpipe
38	* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' -- DJ Slime Time
39	* ''[[VideoGame/WWEVideoGames WWE 2K17]]'' -- [[UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny Monster Mania 2K17]]
40	* ''VideoGame/TheSims4'' (again) -- [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover Monster Factory: Sweeps Week]]
41	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' -- Cid Finalfantasy
42	* ''[[VideoGame/NBA2K NBA 2K17]]'' -- Gordan "Stang" Summers, who is [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial definitely not]] {{Music/Sting}} in disguise
43	* ''Everybody's Golf'' -- Garretttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt, sweet small alien boy
44	* ''VideoGame/TonyHawksUnderground PRO'' -- Tony Hawk?????? and Zeke Teenweed
45	* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'' -- Adult Cool, a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin cool adult]] with far too many hats
46	* ''[[VideoGame/WWEVideoGames WWE 2K18]]'' -- R.B. (Arby) "The Meathead" [=McDonald=]
47	* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld'' -- Halo 666, the daughter of [[Franchise/{{Halo}} Master Chief and Cortana]], and Meowster Chief, her dad transformed into a cat
48	* ''VideoGame/SoulCaliburVI'' -- Dr. Sexgun
49	* ''Don Bradman Cricket 14'' -- Jim "Captain Cool" Johnman
50	* ''VideoGame/Fallout76'' -- Slime Burger, [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute as portrayed by]] Freddy "Slimeburger" Jr
51	* ''Bless Online'' -- Tamitha "Tammy" Radbody
52	* ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' -- Yoba Skywalker Starwars
53	* ''Avakin Life'' -- [=NanciBudin73=]
54	* ''[[VideoGame/WWEVideoGames WWE 2K20]]'' -- Snack Braff and Sweet Gene, who bear strong resemblances to [[Creator/ZachBraff Zach Braff]] and Gritty, respectively
55	* ''VideoGame/CodeVein'' -- Dugls n' Richrd
56	* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII Extreme Edition'' (''Dark Souls III'', but heavily modded by the boys) -- Hungry-Faced Gil
57	* ''Woodwork Simulator'' -- Pismokio
58	* ''Pro Gymnast'' -- jIM jELLY
59	* ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls (2020)'' -- Ronnie Faeburger
60	* ''VideoGame/CrusaderKingsIII'' -- Count Beetlejuice-Beetlejuice of Dal, of the House of Beetlejuice
61	* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'' -- Humdinger the Grinch Hunter
62	* ''VideoGame/{{Chimeraland}}'' -- Uncleberry
63	* ''VideoGame/StreetFighter6'' -- Prince Legday
64	* ''VideoGame/{{Starfield}}'' -- Molar Mike da Wisdom Toot
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	It can be watched on the Polygon website and [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaDrN74SfdT6duuVl_8qxJ5eaaPHRX_ij YouTube channel]], as well as on The [=McElroy=] Family [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6k_GngLDtxbkUlZOq6_h5g YouTube channel]]. As of the Hungry-Faced Gil episodes, all ''Monster Factory'' episodes are only uploaded to The [=McElroy=] Family channel going forward. The series has been on hiatus since January 27th, 2021,[[note]]Justin stated on the podcast Gender Reveal that increasingly realistic video game graphics were making it harder to make monsters that didn't look like actual people with facial deformities[[/note]] although Justin and Griffin have not formally announced the end of the show. The boys returned from hiatus in March 2022 with an ''Elden Ring'' video and a promise for more; episodes are now released on an occasional basis.
68
69	----
70	!!This series provides examples of:
71
72	* AbortedArc:
73	** Due to the game's unwieldy interface and it simply crashing several times, the brothers abandon several monsters over the course of the ''Spore'' series. Lampshaded when Justin and Griffin are celebrating making an excellent ''{{WesternAnimation/Shrek}}'' expy, before Griffin suddenly says "Oh, were we supposed to make a dog or something?"
74	** The original idea for their ''VideoGame/BlackDesertOnline'' character was a man who made a wish on a LiteralGenie for good looks, ending up with a gorgeous "BoyBand" face "but he's still working with the same stuff below his neck". Then Griffin makes his skin yellow and mentions a certain Simpsons character...
75	** Subverted in ''Blade and Soul'', where the brothers create Succotash and immediately abandon him to play as a 'rat baby'. They launch Rat Baby with a lot of fanfare and are immediately forced to abandon playing as her when they jump her off a cliff and can't figure out how to revive her. They switch to Succotash, and take him for a spin before figuring out how to glide, resurrecting Rat Baby and playing as her for the rest of the video.
76	** In their first episode of playing ''THUG Pro'', a mod for ''Tony Hawk's Underground 2'', Griffin and Justin create a character named "Tony Hawk??????", but abandon him halfway through so they can play online as Shrek.
77	** The brothers take their time in ''Fallout 76'''s character creator ironing out Slime Burger and his narrative arc... only for the game to crash shortly before completion, losing all of their progress and prompting them to hastily assemble Freddy "Slimeburger" Jr. as a substitute.
78	** Their first stab at ''[[VideoGame/WWEVideoGames WWE 2K20]]'' was Snack Braff, but after wrapping up his creation, his save file was corrupted by the time they got to playing as him, forcing them to restart the process, this time with Sweet Gene.
79	** The boys talked about wood-based Pismokio being the first of several non-humanoid monsters but followed it up with 'human' gymnast jIM jELLY.
80	* AlienGeometries: Griffin accomplishes this by using a third-party save hacker on [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 Truck Shepard]]. At one point, Truck's left cheek clips into infinity.
81	** [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Mehrunes Dagon]], when spawned by the console and killed, collapses into this. Justin refers to his twisting, contorted corpse as a "pasta party".
82	** When Griffin puts Pismokio's entire body into the lathe in ''Woodwork Simulator'', it becomes a giant horrible rotating hell spiral.
83	* AmbiguouslyHuman: Several of the [=McElroys'=] creations are too wonky looking for them to consider human. In particular:
84	** Truck Shepard's original form is described by Griffin as "human-adjacent" rather than a true monster, as he doesn't feel the character creator gives enough freedom to be a good candidate for Monster creation. Griffin's attempts to make Shepard clearly monstrous leads to him hacking the game to move his face bones, with results he describes as "too upsetting too fast".
85	** The Pebble, a failed clone of Wrestling/DwayneJohnson, is given a rating of "9 out of human" because he's almost human, but not quite.
86	* ArcFatigue: InUniverse, the [=McElroys=] get increasingly bored and angry through the three-part ''Spore'' series, as the only reason they haven't finished the game is because it's so buggy it crashes every time they achieve anything. Griffin admits he doesn't like the game and is only playing it out of spite, and both brothers are struggling with finding good comic material since the repetitive gameplay gives them nothing to go with, instead relying on [[MemeticMutation ironic memes]] and jokes about repeating their jokes. The brothers don't even get to the end of the game, instead deciding to stop at the Tribal stage and then giving up because of how little fun they're having.
87	* AscendedMeme: in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 76}}'', there's a single house that contains four references to the ''Fallout 4'' episode: a single Mr. Handy, a coffee tin in a baby crib, a radroach corpse with a bowler hat and cane, and wooden blocks that spell "Pam". For bonus points, it's located in roughly the real-life location of the Creator/McElroyBrothers' hometown of Huntington, WV.
88	* AssShove: Griffin spends a solid 15 seconds adjusting a gun such that it is slowly embedded up Dr. Sexgun's ass.
89	* AttackItsWeakPoint: Supposedly Truck Shepard's single floating eyeball is his.
90	** "This is Dr. Sexgun. Guess where his weakpoint is, it's everywhere!"
91	* ApocalypseHow: The Final Pam destroys the world of ''Fallout 4'', then "heaven", then escapes into a bunch of other games including ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' and ruins them before they even came out. Then the bros delete the game from their computer, allowing Pam to escape into every game in existence.
92	* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: '''Completely obliterated'''. Griffin will usually start the video by talking about how hot the default character is before proceeding to ruin them unimaginably. The brothers also make plenty of genuinely gross and horrible female monsters.
93	* BewareTheSillyOnes: Adult Cool is one of the most hilariously misshapen creations the [=McElroys=] have made, but his sick jet boot kicks blow Griffin's mind the first time he sees them. Of course, [[SubvertedTrope he's still being controlled by the McElroys.]]
94	* BizarreAlienBiology: Every iteration of Jaa'm is a different flavor of bizarre than its ancestor.
95	* BodyHorror: More or less the point of the show. PlayedForLaughs.
96	* BlatantLies: Borth Sampson looks '''exactly''' like Bart.
97	** Griffin's explanation for their year-long hiatus before the ''Elden Ring'' video? "Sorryyyyy! My computer's been being weird!"
98	* BrokeTheRatingScale: Usually of the "meaningless comparison" variety.
99	** ''The Sims 4'': "Two out of two dads" (in which the household [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin contained two dads.]])
100	** ''Soul Calibur 5'': "One Series/{{Alf}} out of no Alfs" (for Mëlissa, who's actually a relatively normal fighting game character.)
101	** ''WWE 2K14'': "9 out of Human".
102	** ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08'': "+8". (A golf score for a golf game.)
103	** ''Dragon's Dogma'': ".800". (A batting average for a baseball player.)
104	** ''Second Life'': "[[ZeroPercentApprovalRating Negative 8,000% Approval Rating]]", which is interpreted in the ending screen as "Reelected".
105	** ''Blade And Soul'': "Vape Seed/Vape Tree" (Rat Baby had planted a Vape Seed of rebellion against Big Analog in another player at the end of the video.)
106	** ''Mass Effect 2'': "Unknowable," "ERROR," and finally an infinite series of skulls and crossbones.
107	** ''Saints Row: The Third'': "5 stars [[HeroWithAnFInGood of notoriety]]".
108	** ''Spore'': "As a dog, -80, but as a Shrek, ''Shrek 5'', coming to theaters 2019."
109	** ''Wii Sports Resort'': "[[GretzkyHasTheBall Football out of curling]]".
110	** ''Champions Online'': "One mug reading: World's Best Dad / World's Sharpest Knife".
111	** ''Conan Exiles'': A straightforward "four stars out of five..." for a hypothetical episode of Series/{{Scrubs}}.
112	** ''Monster Hunter: World'': "[[FourPointScale 8.5]] out of A stars".
113	** ''Don Bradman Cricket 14'': "LBW out of 10".
114	** ''Fallout 76'': "98 percent radiation out of 100. So he's very close to being pure radiation".
115	** ''Bless'': "$29.99" - the amount of real money Griffin spent on a virtual dress for Tammy.
116	** ''Star Trek Online'': "Phasers set on Thrill. Which is a 6".
117	** ''Avakin Life'': "7.yes".
118	** ''Code Vein'': "2 out of 1".
119	** ''Demon's Souls: Remastered'': The character gets 4.5/5. The game gets a B, for Babies, because it is a baby game.
120	** ''Elden Ring'': 5/5 prawns.
121	* BuffySpeak: Several times.
122	--> "That's not what face do!"
123	* CallBack:
124	** Griffin is delighted to discover a party guest in ''Second Life'' who is a poor version of Bart Simpson using the user name "justlikebart".
125	** At one point during the first ''Spore'' video, Griffin creates a reasonable facsimile of Homer Simpson... and proceeds to claim that it, also, looks exactly like Bart.
126	** A Mii version of Borth also appears on the first ''Wii Sports Resort'' episode, to similar effect.
127	** During Sweeps Week, the boys look around in the Gallery for someone to add to ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' (after their plans for Robocop fell through), and are delighted to discover that they could download the Final Pam and add her to the game.
128	** The Final Pam is also present in the Arby's witch version of ''Dark Souls''... as the icon for an item. [[OhCrap The brothers are not as pleased to see her this time.]]
129	** When creating Slime Burger Sr., Griffin starts turning on every single blemish because it's a time honored Fallout tradition. Justin starts getting worried, because the last time they did that, the Final Pam destroyed the world.
130	** In the video where they create Chiquita Dave (uploaded in 2015), Griffin mentions that he tried out ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' but that it wasn't a good fit for the Monster Factory brand. Four years later, he came back to the game to create Yoba Skywalker Starwars.
131	** When introducing their horribly modded version of ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'', Griffin admits he's "no Arby's Witch" but did the best he could.
132	*** Throughout the episode, Griffin accidentally creates characters far too similar to some he's made before - namely, Toucan Dan and Squirtle. After Griffin realizes he's just making another turtle boy, editor Clayton puts in a clip from the original ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' episode of Squirtle with the caption "I AM INEVITABLE".
133	* CameBackWrong: In Fallout 4, Griffin begins to experiment with just how small a body part of an enemy he can console-resurrect, resulting in skinless, headless mole rat corpses being animated. Justin is justifiably freaked out and says this is going too far.
134	* CandidCameraPrank: The ''Second Life'' videos take on this feel in the segments that rely on them to interact with real people, especially when the boys go to a "serious political room" and start deploying giant pizza boxes and yelling about granting suffrage to dogs.
135	* CanonDiscontinuity: Justin invokes this during the Turbovicki vs [[spoiler:the Final Pam]] fight in Monster Mania 2K17 when [[spoiler:Turbovicki manages to do any damage to Pam]], but later decides that [[spoiler:Pam is adhering to the normal rules of wrestling and not using her PhysicalGod powers]], possibly reinstating it as canon again.
136	* CaptainErsatz: Many of their monsters.
137	** "Hi, I'm Dark Vader, and I'm a Franchise/StarWars."
138	** Borth Sampson. The brothers even give him a 0 out of 10 rating because he's "just like Bart." ("There was no creativity involved.")
139	** The Junker.
140	* CatchPhrase:
141	** The brothers are somehow able to use the word 'boy' in such a way that it doesn't semantically resemble any meaning of the word you may be familiar with. Even when the 'boy' is literally supposed to be a male child.
142	*** There is [[https://youtu.be/zYZl_YOMg7E a video compilation]] of (nearly) every time they say 'boy'.
143	*** Truck Shepard, once save game editing turns his chin into a lance extending into infinity, no longer has any dreams of being a "spacefaring kissboy". He also has a "greasy boy" haircut (with a secret haircut hidden under it, as they eventually discover).
144	*** This is why the brothers immediately decide, when recreating Justin in ''WWE 2k16'', to use 'Rude Boy' as his nickname.
145	*** The Junker is "a rowdy boy. A dirty boy. Just a rowdy, dirty boy."
146	*** Griffin complains that he already made an adult in ''The Sims 4'' because he could have made "a house that is all boys".
147	** "Just like..."
148	** Every time a character looks like they're going to die in some awkward fashion, Justin shouts "Not like this!"
149	* TheCasanova: ZigZagged by Truck Shepard, who is initially described as being a 'kissboy' and practices by pouting out his lips in the Character Creator in his initial "human-adjacent" form (while Griffin provides sound effects). By the time he reaches his "perfect warrior" form, the boys decide he is [[UsefulNotes/{{Aromantic}} uninterested in romance]] as "he still needs to figure out how his face works".
150	* ChaoticStupid: The show's playstyle revolves around this. Best encapsulated by the ''Dark Souls 2'' episode, where the first thing they do is take on an old woman despite the fact that she can literally kill their character with a ladle. ([[TooDumbToLive And does]].)
151	* CharacterShilling:
152	** Most monsters are talked up as being amazingly strong and cool, although in most cases this is because Griffin is using lots of cheats to make them impossibly powerful.
153	** Mëllissa is 'the most powerful fighting game character ever' despite Griffin being terrible at the game. Griffin insists he's only playing when she's winning and the rest is under the control of the bad AI.
154	* ChekhovsGunman: In part two of the ''WWE 2K20'' saga, Griffin is pissed that the game offers him "The Rock in a $500 shirt" as compensation for killing Snack Braff. In the next episode, "The Rock in a $500 shirt" is a member of the team Sweet Gene fights (and the one who does most of the team's damage).
155	* CompanionCube: The Final Pam marries a Radroach Corpse (and is heartbroken when it despawns) and adopts a can of coffee as a baby.
156	* ContinuityNod: In a very weird way, the push-ups. Back in ''Heroes Online'', Knife Dad urged his children to do pushups near his dying body so he can revive himself. Come Sweeps Week in ''Sims 4'', a random passerby suddenly begins to do pushups near Steve Urkel's urn and Dharma does some during Greg's memorial party.
157	* CutenessProximity: The boys spend a good while fawning over Cid Finalfantasy's Minion of Light (set to Black Mage at the moment), and legitimately saying it's a wonderful feature to have.
158	* DarkerAndEdgier:
159	** Cyber-Garfield.
160	** "The Noid, but for a new generation."
161	* {{Cosplay}}: Mëllissa is apparently cosplaying VideoGame/SlyCooper for her girlfriend, despite not really being into the franchise.
162	* DeadlyGame: Griffin slowly turns ''Full House'' into [[VisualNovel/ZeroEscape the Decision Game]] during their second ''Sims 4'' outing.
163	* DeadpanSnarker: On the rare occasions they aren't laughing.
164	* DeathTakesAHoliday: After disabling most of the game world of ''Fallout 4'', The Final Pam ends up back in the unexploded town from the beginning of the game but where everyone is unkillable. The brothers suggest Pam's [[CursedWithAwesome curse of immortality]] has rubbed off on everyone in 'Heaven'... before [[ThisIsntHeaven realising that they might be in "the other place, the hot one."]]
165	* DoesntLikeGuns: Toucan Dan says NO to guns.
166	* DomCom: The setting of their ''Sims 4'' house.
167	* DroppedABridgeOnHim: At the end of their ''Wii Sports Resort'' escapades, [[spoiler:Turbovicki bicycles herself off of a cliff]].
168	* EmbarrassingTattoo: Justin Rude Boy Man has full Wrestling/HonkyTonkMan sleeves on both his arms, a Mountain Dew logo on his cheek ("It looks like I got it for free at a fair"), [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidV Punished Snake's]] face ''in his right nostril'', and (briefly) [[Wrestling/{{Bayley}} "I'm a Hugger"]] in yellow text across his chest.
169	* EnfantTerrible: Count Beetlejuice-Beetlejuice, despite presumably ''being born at the start of the game'', has committed murder and adultery, knows where to find hashish, is infected with a cocktail of illnesses, and has enough other negative character traits to make every other character in the game instantly despise him.
170	* {{Egopolis}}: The brothers discover a world in ''Second Life'' that was built by Music/DuranDuran for a virtual book signing.
171	* EvenEvilHasStandards:
172	** The brothers immediately regret the horrors they are inflicting on Truck Shepard, in particular immediately pulling back from the "swordface" build and trying to return to "a gentle nudge". (They never quite manage.)
173	** When making The Final Pam, the boys at first decide to add ''every'' option in the blemishes and scars menu, leading to a horrifying bloody mess of a character that they have to tone down for being too disgusting.
174	* FacialHorror: The brothers seem to especially enjoy ruining the good-looking default characters, and complain when a random face modification makes a character "start getting handsome again". Particularly apparent with Truck Shepard, where Griffin starts hacking the game to make his face explode with obvious sadistic glee ("I'm going to turn his head into an asterisk."). They'll often start the show by talking about how good-looking the default is, like starting their ''Dark Souls 3'' video zoomed into the default male character's crotch, or gushing about the "handsomest ''Monster Factory'' yet - look at this Zac Efron-looking motherfucker" at the beginning of ''Black Desert Online''. This is invariably the high point in terms of hotness.
175	* FanDisservice:
176	** The brothers are grossed out by the sexualised "ratbabies" and [[FunnyAnimal pet cats]] in ''VideoGame/BladeAndSoul'', remarking that they're going to prison.
177	** The Boy-Mayor of ''Second Life'' is platforming on closing down all the sex clubs. He spends much of his time being grossed out by ''Second Life'''s hypersexual, kink-happy personality.
178	* FantasticRacism: When Griffin creates a ''Bloodborne'' character with a ridiculously pinched, high nose, purple skin around the middle of the face and thick white lips, Justin complains that it "looks racist for a race that doesn't exist."
179	* FastballSpecial:
180	** Randyjohnson's entire strategy for dealing with a foe can be summarized as "throw them" or "throw someone at them". Her companion Panpan is specifically designed to be small and throwable, to facilitate this strategy.
181	** Turned around in glorious fashion during Monster Mania 2K17, when [[spoiler:Panpan takes down Totino's ''by throwing Randyjohnson at him'']].
182	* FeministFantasy: The brothers eventually create D-Bomb as being this sort of character. She is described as "a powerful feminine force".
183	* FlawedPrototype:
184	** The Pebble is a failed clone of [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]], but Rock loves him anyways.
185	** One of the characters proposed in ''Final Fantasy XIV'' is Creator/RobertDowneyJr Jr., an escapee from a clone factory.
186	* FlippingTheBird: When editing Borth Sampson's pose, Justin notes the individually-editable finger positions and asks if Griff's going to make him do a lewd gesture. Subverted when Griffin says that just flipping the bird is far beneath his ambitions and spends an (apparently long) period of time contorting Borth into a two-handed O-sign 'penetration' gesture.
187	* {{Foreshadowing}}: When first creating their Warrior in ''Black Desert Online'', Griffin insists on giving him muscular legs because "you know what you don't expect in a swordfight? Kicks from big meaty legs." Justin wonders if you can even kick in this game. Much later, the bros learn "Chopping Kick" from an NPC and decide to make Borth a "kick-heavy build", dependent on kicking as sole means of attack ("and locomotion").
188	* GameMod: Griffin receives a version of ''Dark Souls'' from "an Arby's witch". A version where the text is in Comic Sans, the face button graphics are replaced with the Nintendo 64's C Buttons, a Rupee counter is added to the UI, potions are replaced with Mountain Dew, emoji is added to campfire text, and most of the textures are replaced with 'shiny pizza [=JPEGs=]'.
189	* {{Gonk}}: Every monster.
190	* GoodBadTranslation: ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' Extreme Edition features a number of mods that Griffin has implemented, the most obvious of which has run all the text in the game through about 70 different translators and then back to English. The result gives us such gems as:
191	--> '''''Griffin:''''' As we all know the two genders are "Canada" and "Women"! "There is no possibility for a man to have sex!"
192	--> '''''Griffin:''''' What is "Coach Coach Coach"?!
193	--> '''''Griffin:''''' "Unplanned travel agency".
194	* {{Griefer}}: Invoked in nearly every episode in which Griffin and Justin play games with an online multiplayer component. Griffin's particular brand of trolling is something special.
195	** In ''Second Life, Second Chances: Part 2'', The Boy-Mayor runs into a serious political discussion room in ''Second Life'', yelling "''I think dogs should be able to vote.''"
196	** In ''THUG Pro'': "hey everyone it's reggie's dad please don't cuss"
197	** In ''Conan Exiles'': "hey everyone i'm having a steak party in the woods, i made too much dang steak"
198	** In ''Blade & Soul'' Rat Baby runs around telling everyone about vaper's rights, only to be oppressively suspended from the chat for minutes at a time for spamming.
199	** ''Bloodborne'': Griffin summons another player to help him fight the Blood-Starved Beast, lets her do all the work, and then banishes her right before the Beast is dead because she used a gun.
200	* GrossupCloseup: Usually when something sexy or exceptionally horrible happens on the character creator, Griffin shoves the camera right in there.
201	* TheGrotesque: The monsters. The bros repeatedly state that the show isn't a cruel, pessimistic show, it's intended to be a life-affirming show about creating horrible-looking things and finding a reason to love them despite their flaws.
202	* HeavenAbove: In their ''Spore'' playthrough, they create a horrible abomination and give it eyes facing straight up, to better angrily glare at God for creating him so horribly.
203	* HeavyMetalUmlaut: Mëlissa and Trüllbus.
204	* HerCodenameWasMarySue: Justin Rude Boy Man.
205	* HeroWithAnFInGood: In contrast to [[ChaoticStupid their usual style of play]], the [=McElroys=] made Trüllbus the Crime Eater in ''Saints Row: The Third''. You can guess how well ''that'' turns out.
206	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In ''Oblivion'', Griffin uses a bunch of cheats to give their monster, Chiquita Dave, impossible physical strength and all the magic in the game. He then clones Chiquita Dave fifty times and shoots a fireball at the assembled crowd, and is horrified to discover an entire army of Chiquita Daves blasting him with every powerful spell in the game until Justin explains to him what has happened.
207	* HomageShot: The Final Pam is left for dead by the boys when they say goodbye to her and float her down to the bottom of a lake. While Aeris's Theme from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' plays in the background. Later, once Pam escapes into every game in existence, she appears again as Aeris... as well as the Sephiroth stabbing her.
208	* HotterAndSexier: "Dicolas Cheney" is this compared to the real Dick Cheney, according to Griffin.
209	* IntentionallyAwkwardTitle: Griffin has an old save game on ''Spore'' set on a planet called "Fuckburg". The first thing he does after showing us is blow the planet up.
210	* ImplausibleDeniability: Trüllbus (and, by extension, the Third Street Saints) is a law abiding citizen who never does anything criminal. Aside from the alleged "teleportation device" that leaves large red stains on the ground and guns that shoot Dippy Bars, he also steals cars that Griffin and Justin are ''pretty sure'' were his, or under the pretense of "borrowing" them with the intent to return them later, or, in the case of a cop car, by virtue of "basically being a cop by now."
211	* IncomingHam: ''IT'S TIME FOR SUCCOTASH''
212	* InformedAttractiveness: Nate tells the increasingly hideous Nora that "honey, your face looks just as good as the day we met", which makes Griffin lose it.
213	* InformedDeformity: Mëllissa and Cid Finalfantasy. Any time the boys use a character editor that only allows one to pick a face without the ability to edit it, while they'll pick the one the deem the oddest and proceed to give the character as strange and bad of an outfit, makeup, and hair as possible, they will always still turn out comparatively normal. The boys never seem to doubt their monster credentials, though.
214	* IWasQuiteAFashionVictim: Griffin feels this way about his 2008-2009-era Mii, in particular its facial hair. Justin, between giggles, calls it 'the worst ''Monster Factory'' character ever'.
215	* {{Kayfabe}}: A lot of plotlines in the show run on this, like Griffin's encounter with "an Arby's witch", and a ProductPlacement deal with Totino's Pizza Rolls that pays them "exactly four dollars". They will also set things up occasionally in order to navigate a plotline towards a desired outcome, like when they enter "heaven" in ''Fallout 4'' and [[spoiler: reunite with Roachie]].
216	* KilledOffForReal: Cousin Specialagent.
217	* LighterAndSofter: After the three-part series on ''Fallout 4'', which gets quite mythology-heavy and apocalyptic, their ''Black Desert Online'' video is back to creating a hideous {{Expy}} of a cartoon character to create shit in an MMO.
218	* LOL69: Comes up somewhat frequently in conversation; they do like the sex number. In-game, ''VideoGame/CrusaderKingsIII'' has an EasterEgg when a character's rating in any skill is 69: instead of "Excellent," the quality it assigns to any skill at or above 17, it's instead "Nice." The brothers, of course, are delighted when they discover this.
219	--> '''''Justin:''''' Oh, my God! Game of the Year!
220	--> '''''Griffin:''''' ''Crusader Kings III''! You shouldn't have!
221	* MassiveMultiplayerCrossover:
222	** Thanks to user-submitted content, the bros' ''Dragon's Dogma'' party consists of the Monsters Randyjohnson and Panpan, "Elsa from ''[[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 Frozen]]''" and Series/DrPhil.
223	** ''Sweeps Week'' consists of the casts of several sitcoms moving into the Vader family's neighborhood. Households from ''Series/PerfectStrangers'', ''Series/FamilyMatters'', ''Series/FullHouse'', ''Series/DharmaAndGreg'', ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'', ''Series/TheOC'', ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', and ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' are featured, with cameos of characters from ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'', ''Series/GrowingPains'', ''Series/HomeImprovement'', and ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' (also, [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack Boba Fett]]). Households of ''{{Series/Friends}}'' and ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' are also seen placed in the neighborhood.
224	* MusclesAreMeaningless: Averted. Virtually every character the brothers create will be as muscular as the sliders allow on the grounds that they need big muscles to survive (Griffin seems to find musclemen really funny). This even affects Jaa'm, who has his legs thickened to 'brick shithouse' level.
225	* NakedPeopleAreFunny: The entirety of the ''Conan Exiles'' episode runs off of this trope given that the game features ''extremely'' explicit nudity as a game feature, up to and including penises with full physics that can extend to nearly the character models ''knees''. Half of the fun of this video is just wondering how the hell Griffin is going to censor all of the nudity.
226	** And the other half of the fun is Griffin's various euphemisms for "penis", including "bepis", "pebis", "deempis", and "Andie Macdowment".
227	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast:
228	** D-Bomb.
229	** The Final Pam. Other ideas for her name included "Omega Susan", "Indomitable Pam", "Pam the Existence Eater", "Pam, Who Death Forgot", and "LOOK OUT IT'S PAM".
230	** Trüllbus, the Crime Eater.
231	* NeverSayDie: Trüllbus' weapons just teleport people to Dairy Queen. The RPG also gives them UsefulNotes/SquareEnix classics. The biplane doesn't have missiles, it has Dippy Bar dispensers.
232	* TheNicknamer:
233	** Griffin uses console commands to improve the names of ''Oblivion'' [=NPCs=], before commenting that it's surprising they got Creator/PatrickStewart on board to voice a character called "Grandpa Piss".
234	** ''"HELLO, METAL HUSBAND."''
235	** Griffin has a habit of referring to things with the names of female musicians and actresses with similar sounding names. This includes his attempts to download a "''Dark Souls'' Music/MeghanTrainor", checking out his character's "Lisa Loebs" lobes in ''Saints Row 3'', and referring to Jefferson Tallpipe's junk as his "Andie Macdowment".
236	** Refer to Naked People are Funny above for Griffin's many penis euphemisms in ''Conan Exiles''.
237	* NightmareFace: The entire premise of the show. But especially Truck Shepard, whose face is so horrifying even by ''Monster Factory'' standards that extra content warnings were placed in the description of his video.
238	* NonStandardCharacterDesign: After making Justin in ''WWE 2k16'' in the usual extreme {{Gonk}} ''MF'' style, insulting Justin's appearance the whole time, Griffin reveals the character he made of himself, [[HerCodenameWasMarySue and he looks like a normal handsome character]]. (Justin starts laughing like mad as soon as he sees this.)
239	* OutOfGenreExperience: Their ''Dark Souls'' video starts in the style of a haunted-videogame {{Creepypasta}} story; and much later in the video, the brothers start narrating it in the style of a stereotypical ''Dark Souls'' Website/YouTube [[{{Walkthrough}} hints video]].
240	* PaperPeople: Tony Hawk???? is a very flat skateboarder.
241	* PhraseCatcher: Borth Sampson - "just like Bart".
242	* ProductPlacement: Totino's pizza rolls pays the brothers 'exactly four dollars' for doing a video series with a Totino's themed monster.
243	* PunctuationShaker: The brothers' ''Spore'' creation, Jaa'm.
244	* ReplacementGoldfish:
245	** After losing access to Trash Hulk via his death in ''Fallout 4'', but regaining access to the suburb from the beginning of the game, the boys use console commands to summon Nate and use creator features to convert him into Trash Hulk, from memory (and HotterAndSexier, according to Griff).
246	** Turbosusan and Turbojanet.
247	* RepetitiveName: Griffin abuses ''WWE 2K14'''s Announcer Name feature to have The Pebble introduced (in a voiced line) as "Christopher Christopher Christopher Christopher".
248	* RidiculouslyAverageGuy: When Justin complains he's getting desensitized to how weird-looking the monsters are and needs to reset his palette, Griffin tells him to go and look up "the actor who plays "Dimbo" on ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''" on the grounds that he is this. Justin Googles for this and finds it doesn't give him much.
249	* RogueProtagonist:
250	** Unwise use of console spawning commands and attacking protagonist clones leads to a certain number of "evil Chiquita Daves", who later end up casting resurrection spells on the giant Dagon boss the Chiquita Dave army is supposed to be taking on.
251	** After having to reset ''Spore'' for the second time, the [=McElroys=] are shocked to see one of their own creations as a hostile creature. They accuse the game of being haunted shortly after.
252	* RuleThirtyFour: A standard joke template is for them to comment on the fetish potential of one of the monsters. A variant, which has happened a couple of times, is for one bro to point out that this particular monster is so horrifying that no-one could possibly have a fetish for them, only for the other to point out that now they've said it, there will be.
253	* RummageSaleReject: When the boys don't just have the monsters running around in their underwear (which is overwhelmingly often what they will do), this is how they dress the characters.
254	** The Pebble/Christopher Christopher Christopher Christopher has a feather boa and flares in clashing neon colours.
255	** The Final Pam, after cheating to gain access to every outfit in the game, ends up looking "so crisp" in an exotic red evening gown with a feather collar, a pompadour hairstyle and a pair of white-rimmed sunglasses. Justin points out that people's claims of how much customisation ''Fallout 4'' has are wrong, because really there's only one choice, and it's The Final Pam in that dress, that wig and those sunglasses.
256	** Mëllissa, because the game didn't give them anything else to work with. Justin suggests that 'jeans and fur' is the new 'leather and lace'.
257	* RunningGag:
258	** In Bethesda games, they get quite a kick out of the nightmarish noodle people that appear when a person who has been shrunk ragdolls, and are quite disappointed when the bug was patched in ''Fallout 4''.
259	** Several games will have one of the brothers point out that a character look exactly like Bart Simpson, regardless of how true it is.
260	* SeinfeldianConversation: Much of the show.
261	* SelfMadeOrphan: While the brothers are pondering the origins of the Crime Eater, Justin posits that he killed his parents in an alley after watching ''[[Film/TheMaskOfZorro Zorro]]''.
262	* SentientCosmicForce: The brothers conclude that at some point during the creation of Truck Shepard, Truck himself became one of these and influenced them to create him.
263	* SequelEpisode: "Second Life, Second Chances".
264	* SequenceBreaking: The characters don't just ''look'' like monsters, they [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential act like them]] too.
265	* SingleIssueWonk: As Rat Baby, Griffin takes a familiar called "Vape Life" and then gets 'squelched' for spamming puerile gibberish about vaping in ''Blade and Soul'''s chat. After this he holds "a protest against Big Analog", demanding the statistics on the health benefits of vaping as opposed to conventional cigarettes, getting him squelched again.
266	* SiblingTeam: Justin and Griffin.
267	* ShrinkRay: One of Griff's favourite tricks in the Bethesda games is to shrink [=NPCs=] to a third of their height, usually before killing them to see their body turn into a freakish glitchy 'noodly' mass. In the case of Trash Hulk in ''Fallout 4'' they shrunk him to "quantum-size" and got him stuck in the linoleum.
268	* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Monster Factory Presents: Just Like Art'' to ''WebVideo/TouchTheSkyrim'', which was CutShort after Griffin's previous co-host was ousted from Polygon for sexual misconduct.
269	* TakeThat: To ''Film/PacificRimUprising'' in the final Hungry-Faced Gil episode, when Griffin exclaims, "Yes, baby, ''Film/PacificRim 3'': this time we've made it good again!"
270	** To [[{{Series/Scrubs}} Scrubs: Med School]] in part three of Sweeps Week after Griffin comments that he likes ''Scrubs'' too much to want to mess with it.
271	--->'''Justin:''' ''Scrubs'' destroyed itself in its final season, so I think...
272	* TrademarkFavoriteFood:
273	** Cyber-Garfield's goal is to eat all "lasagna [=JPEGs=]".
274	** Early on in the ''Sims 4'' video, Dark Vader makes hamburgers for breakfast. The brothers run with this by having him eat several in one sitting, neglecting his other needs in the process.
275	** Pizza is something of a theme in the show. The Arby's Witch version of ''Dark Souls'' is mostly made of pizza, Justin creates a pizza-themed character in ''Second Life'', and Griff's party room in ''Second Life'' is also made of pizza.
276	* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny: Monster Mania [=2K17=] recreates several classic Monsters in ''WWE 2K17'' and pits them against each other in the ring:
277	** Borth Sampson vs. Chiquita Dave (winner: [[spoiler:Borth]])
278	** The Junker vs. Toucan Dan vs. Squirtle (winner: [[spoiler:The Junker]])
279	** The Campaign (the Boy-Mayor and Totino's) vs. Toss Team (Randyjohnson and Panpan) (winner: [[spoiler:Toss Team]])
280	** Turbovicki vs. The Final Pam (winner: [[spoiler:The Final Pam]])
281	--->'''Patrick (guest commentator):''' [[spoiler:Sometimes your arms are simply too short to box with God.]]
282	* UnintentionalUncannyValley[[invoked]]:
283	** Griffin creates a character in ''Tiger Woods Golf'' based on scanning a photo of his own face into the game, which {{Squick}}s Justin out to no end.
284	--->'''Griffin''': ''(in falsetto)'' Hi, Justin, it's your brother. Want to play some ball-chess? Want to play some links of the king's game?
285	--->'''Justin''': I hate this.
286	** During customization in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld'', the two are freaked out by the character's incredibly realistic eyes, not helped by the deliberately shiny sheen they gave to her face.
287	* TheUnchosenOne: DJ Slime Time is taking the place of her grandchild, the ''actual'' protagonist, who is either dead or missing.
288	* UnexplainedAccent:
289	** The Final Pam has a bizarre, gravelly, vaguely Eastern European accent.
290	** Justin does a sort of LetsPlay {{Walkthrough}} narrator character in numerous videos who introduces himself by a stupid username (usually "[=ButtMan=]" followed by a random number) and has a muffled British accent. At one point, Griffin criticises Justin for always playing 'speedrunners' as British.
291	** Creator/WillWright has a Cockney accent, which as Justin points out doesn't make any sense since he's pretty sure Will isn't British. Griffin later gives Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto a Cockney accent, which makes Justin corpse.
292	* UnfortunateNames: The brothers have a giggle at a ''Black Desert Online'' NPC named "Buntt".
293	* WildTeenParty: The Boy-Mayor rents property on a server to hold a party, against the wishes of the landlords (not even {{Kayfabe}}). In order to get away with this Griffin constructs a 'pizza dungeon' in the sky above the house with a teleport pad in the kennel, without telling the hosts. The hosts actually return while the party is happening, and tell him off for not just having the 'family party' permitted, so Griffin gets them all to teleport to 'Music/DuranDuran World' by deleting the floor.
294	* YoungerAndHipper: "Daz", an attempt to "update and rebrand Dennis Farina for a new generation."

Context WebVideo / MonsterFactory