Ten Random Characters is a Super Smash Bros. Fanfiction by Twilight Joltik that revolves heavily around the Write Down Ten Random Characters prompt, played out as a game Princess Peach makes her fellow Smashers play. Except when it's about the various romances, forced or otherwise, around the mandatory Smash Mansion. Or when it's about the Fourth Wall, or as it is called in the story, "The Norfair Alley" getting shattered into a million pieces rather brutally. But mostly, it's about the complete randomness that occurs when too many fictional characters are in the same room.
Can be read here.
This show provides examples of:
- Ascended Extra: Lucina, Shulk, Dark Pit, Viridi, and Ness are all bit players when first introduced, yet they go on to be almost as important to the "plot", if not more important than some of the original titular ten main characters.
- Author Avatar: While for the majority of the story the author is simply a metaphysical being that makes fun of how many times she states people are blushing and challenges herself to find new ways to do it, in Chapter 11, a literal Author "Avatar" makes an appearance as part of the army of Self Inserts that comes to rescue the characters from a Fangirl Army from beyond the broken fourth wall.
- Batman Gambit: Robin's plans in Chapter 11 could qualify as this.
- Breaking the Norfair Alley: It suffers varied degrees of abuse from the characters, and often, the author. Sometimes, this trope is quite literal. In Chapter 11, a mob of fangirls invades after the fourth wall quite literally falls down dead.
- Brick Joke: In Chapter 7, Ike and Marth decide to watch Doctor Who after the rather odd circumstances leading to their love confession. In Chapter 18, they do so.
- Marth implies Soren is a bit of a Yandere towards Ike. When he is later summoned by Viridi, this is shown to be the case.
- Roy threatens to freeze Toon Link in one of the hypothetical situations in which Toon Link murdered Marth. Come Chapter 21, where Roy does this to Nana and Popo after insulting
games which didn't get exported from Japan. - Peach glares at Pit when complaining about people interrupting her in Chapter 12, which occured ten chapters earlier.
- Butt-Monkey: Red tends to fall into this trope. Just to name a few examples, he is shipped with Pit, not invited to Ike and Roy's hypothetical wedding, (nearly) attacked by Mewtwo, knocked unconscious by Peach, made the judge of Palutena and Kirby's cooking contest, bitten by Jigglypuff, made fun of by Mewtwo, threatened by Dark Pit, and made the subject of a fanfiction of Peach's. And that's only within the span of twenty four hours.
- Chekhov's Gunman: In Chapter 2, Robin mentions having a brother who is also named Robin in passing. In chapter 18, he enters the story as a semi-major character.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The Einherjar versions of Ike, Roy, and Marth are sent into a crowd of rabid fangirls to act as decoys. And judging by the fact that one of the fangirls is seen wielding Einherjar Roy's sword later, it likely ended badly for them.
- Considering they were stated to have not actually died by Robin, and instead returned to their cards, this could possibly double as a Fate Worse than Death .
- Flanderization: Nearly every character suffers from this. Lampshaded by Red.Red: Yeah, and Shulk's in love with Reflet, Robin writes Yaoi, Soren's a Yandere, Lucas is a Tsundere, Mewtwo is incompetent, Toon Link either has multiple personality disorder or several clones, etcetera, and that's just in the last few days. Seriously, has anything here ever been like it is in the games?
- Faux Yay: Reflet's plan to stop Robin from pairing him up with every girl within a five-mile radius is basically this with Shulk. It doesn't stay that way, though.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Chapters from the first to the eighteenth are all a character's name and something they do in the chapter, often taken out of context, while from eighteen onward, they are two character's names and a thing they do in the chapter. I.e., "Roy Breaks the Fourth Wall (sorta)", "Lucario Underestimates Human Intellect", and "Lucina and Dark Pit's In-Joke Brigade".
- Incredibly Lame Pun: Lampshaded by Peach, who claims her cooking "isn't always peachy, pun intended," and Popo, who claimed he was "ten times cooler, no pun intended," than Lucas.
- Zelda's line in Chapter 24 acts as this: "Considering the fact I had to marry my Avatar to Yarne to stand a chance with a sufficient Morgan, it wasn't very humane. Or, rather, not very Taguel-mane."
- Large Ham: Mewtwo, who teleports back into the room after making a dramatic exit, just for emphasis.
- Lethal Chef: Palutena and Kirby are apparently this, who manage to make soups that taste raw and like burnt crayons, respectively. The combined force of them is enough to not only wake Red up after having been knocked out by Peach, but knock him out once more after eating them.
- Overly Long Name: Mewtwo is given the alternate name of "The Great and Powerful Lord That Clone Cat that is Totally not at All Like Giygis or Shadow and has a Tendency to Threaten Other Smashers which is Probably Why he got Kicked out of the Tournament in the First Place, Even Though he was Brought Back Later because Fan Demand", which is quickly lampshaded by the narrator, by adding "However, that title is really freaking long, and therefore not many people use it."
- Pig Latin: Used by Red to refer to the "Orth-fay All-way", which several of the Smashers don't understand. Shulk believes he said "Norfair Alley", which becomes the nickname for it for the rest of the story.
- Running Gag: The Author often lampshades her constant reference to characters blushing, pointing out whenever she finds a new way to say it.
- In early chapters, Ike and Roy being a couple is a persistent joke made by Peach and Robin. This all but dies down when Ike and Marth get together in Chapter 8.
- Shipper on Deck: Peach, Robin, and Palutena are this, though Palutena comes to regret this after Lucina calls her out on it. Chrom is known to do this as well, but mostly in self-defense and to prevent paradoxes.
- Robin is especially noteworthy, as her tenancies to do this not only in the fanfiction she writes with Peach, but in "real" life. Apparently, she not only was falsely claimed to have drove her "brother" into hiding after trying to pair him up with too many people, due to wanting a niece, but she also pushed several members of her army into marriage simply because she thought their children would look better with a certain hair color.
- Shout-Out: Many, many of these are made. Notably, Robin, Lucina, and Chrom summon Einherjar in a way suspiciously similar to how Celestial Spirits are summoned in Fairy Tail, and a minor plot arc revolves around a crack in the "Norfair Alley" that is described to look suspiciously similar to one another crack in time and space.
- A more subtle one can be found in chapter 19 and 20, where the LoCwSNaaS referred to as a 'Secret brigade or something', coming from the English lyrics of Ayano's Theory of Happiness. The same series is referenced in the chapter name for Chapter 25, "Shulk and Reflet's State of the World".
- Sleep Cute: Invoked and lampshaded in Chapter 14, when Ike and Marth fall asleep rather close together after Jigglypuff sings. Peach does not hesitate to take advantage of it.
- This Is Reality: Shulk invokes this in an attempt to stop Palutena from further damaging the "Norfair Alley".
- Tsundere: Lucas is called this quite frequently, due to his cold nature towards almost everyone, save for Red and on occasion, Jigglypuff. However, Viridi invokes this a bit better, her "dere" side showing only towards Lucas, thought she quickly turns cold once her offer to let him join the Forces of Nature is shot down.
- Yandere: Soren has shades of this towards Ike.Soren: Ike is my best and only friend. I will ensure that if Ike is hurt by your hand, I will personally rip you to shreds and make you suffer a slow, painful death. And then I will pick up the broken pieces of my dearest Ike and we shall run away together to lands unknown and live happily ever after. Is this understood?
