They already got a real "handle" on the situation... so to speak.
Mugman's handle breaks after some roughhousing, so Cuphead tries to help get it back on.- Bait-and-Switch: Porkrind is seemingly disgusted by Mugman's disfigurement, but responds that he was reacting to a bad lunch.
- Big "NO!": A frightened Mugman does this when one of the alleged replacement handles that Cuphead offers him is a snake.
- Despair Event Horizon: Mugman is distraught when he hears that Porkrind's store won't receive the glue needed to fix his handle for three months. He sulks on the couch until Elder Kettle arrives.
- Disguised in Drag:
- Mugman attempts to disguise himself as a bride, which is Played for Laughs.
- It's implied that Kettle wore a Handle Fairy costume while fixing the handles of Mugman and Cuphead when they were asleep.
- Here We Go Again!: Cuphead and Mugman make a toast to their new "man-handles"... only for their entire heads to break, leaving only the handles in their hands.
- No Antagonist: There is no villain, just Mugman dealing with body image issues.
- One-Steve Limit: Mugman is worried that he would need to change his name to "Bowlboy" if he cannot fix his handle, though there is already a Bowlboy at Inkwell Isles.
- Screaming at Squick: A handful of characters do this at the sight of a broken Mugman, like reacting at a notable disfigurement or scar.
- Self-Harm: Not an extreme case, but Cuphead does break off his own handle after hearing that Mugman will get a new one from the Handle Fairy.
- The Talk: Elder Kettle frames Mugman's broken handle as such saying it's a part of growing up so they can get a new one overtime.
- Tooth Fairy: Near the end, Elder Kettle tells Mugman of the Handle Fairy who will give him a grown-up handle when he goes to bed with his handle under his pillow. Hearing this, Cuphead breaks his handle off too. Subverted at the end which shows that Elder Kettle just glued their handles back on while they were sleeping.
- Toilet Humour: One of the options considered as a replacement for Mugman's handle is a toilet flush lever. He only rejects it after Cuphead "flushes" and drains the whites of his eyes.
