Ethereal Snake
note is a YouTube channel that focuses on creating surreal and horrifying animations, that can be surprisingly profound at times. They specialize in Dark Parodies but also sometimes branch off into original animations.
They have Twitter and Instagram accounts if one wants to keep up to date on what they are doing. Alongside there's also a Newgrounds account as well. They also have a Patreon and a Red Bubble, if one also wants to support them.
Ethereal Snake provides examples of:
Vietnam Mickey Saga
- Armor-Piercing Response: When Mickey asks why Gabriel Gibson is so keen on going back home, despite partaking in the Vietnam War. He drops the bombshell that he's going to be a father, which floors "Mickey" and "Donald" into silence.
- Art-Style Dissonance: Everyone in the cast looks decently similar to their cartoon counterparts... except for Mickey, who looks more like a middle-aged man wearing make up and Mickey Mouse ears. Which may or may not be deliberate and a case of foreshadowing to the twist shown at the end of the finale.
- Badass Longcoat: Mickey dons one after the war and as a part of his new occupation.
- Badasses Wear Bandanas: During his time in the war, Mickey wore a red headband a la Rambo.
- Driven to Suicide:
- Mickey commits suicide at the end of "Mickey was here" via snubnose revolver.
- This is also Donald's fate in "Detective Mickey" and "Mickey's Descent Into Madness". In the latter, it's because he was told Mickey murdered Goofy and took the confidential dossier with him, which resulted in the continuation of the Vietnam conflict, which led to the deaths of Donald's nephews and friends.
- Happens to Mickey at some point during "Mickey's Descent Into Madness", but this time, Donald arrives in time to save Mickey and ensures him that he will help him
- Downer Beginning: "Mickey was here" is this for the Vietnam Mickey saga due to being the first video being created, with Mickey killing himself at the end of it.
- Downer Ending: "Mickey's Descent Into Madness" ends with Donald committing suicide, the documents still unleaked, Max finally confronting his father's killer, but not getting closure as Mickey refuses to kill him to end his suffering, and Mickey abandoning the church in disgrace then taking a taxi with the implication that he will end his life once he arrives home, as depicted in "Mickey was here".
- Face Death with Dignity: Cornered and about to get shot, Goofy tells Mickey that if he was going to kill him, that he could at least look him in the eyes while shooting and tell Max he loves him.
- Fate Worse than Death: Mickey considers living with the guilt of killing Goofy and not being able to look at the eyes of his friends and family this.
- Forgiveness Requires Death: Max hands Donald a gun and tells him that he can still do right after showing him the document Mickey hid from him that could have prevented the death of his nephews, feeling responsible after participating in that mission.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Mickey is forced into this when Goofy reveals he wants to leak the confidential documents showcasing the atrocities the U.S government is planning to commit, to end the support of the war. Mickey chooses the country, a decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life.
- Get It Over With: Max tells Mickey to finish what he's started. When Mickey refuses to shoot him and leaves, Max calls Mick a coward.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Interestingly enough, Goofy wears a helmet while Mickey opts for a red bandana, Mickey is also far from a hero.
- Heroic BSoD: Goofy experiences this for a brief moment when he discovers the confidential dossier and its contents in the camp.
- I Knew There Was Something About You: In "Mickey's Descent Into Madness", Max reveals to Mickey that he knew Mickey was the one who killed his father from the moment Mickey didn't look at his eyes when he lied to him about how Goofy died.
- Just Following Orders: Mickey attempted to justify killing Goofy by telling himself he only was serving what was best for the U.S government. Although it becomes clearer and clearer that the justification isn't really helping.
- Last Request: Before getting shot by Mick, Goofy tells Mickey to look him in the eye when he shoots him and to deliver to his son Max that his father will always love him.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Donald had no idea about Mickey's involvement in Goofy's death and the documents that Goofy wanted to leak to the press, and thought that Mickey was suffering from PTSD sequels from the war like him when Mickey tries to kill himself. Once he learns Mickey's dark secrets from Max, Donald is horrified and almost shoots himself to redeem him in Max eyes.
- Messianic Archetype: A subtle example, but Mickey's hallucination of Goofy bleeds from two small, circular wounds in his hands, referencing the crucifixion.
- My Country, Right or Wrong: Mickey has this mentality, which also ends up creating a rift between him and Goofy once he reveals that the US Government has done shady actions while in Vietnam and plans to leak them to the press. This mentality is what also ultimately makes Mickey kill Goofy.
- My God, What Have I Done?: It took Max's reasoning and telling Mickey to try and shoot him to end his anguish would create a sudden shift in Mickey's conscience.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: Mickey's firearm of choice are revolvers, which he has used during and even after the war.
- Sanity Slippage: Mickey big time, the Vietnam conflict has taken its toll on his sanity (with Goofy's death giving the biggest hit), but not only that. As revealed in "Mickey's Descent Into Madness", he not only is revealed to view everyone he knows as Disney Cartoon characters, but it's heavily implied that the Government was responsible for his broken psyche, having forced him to undergo "Project MK Ultra".
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Goofy (real name: Gabriel Gibson) attempts to convince Mickey to leak the documents to end the war, and defies Mickey's orders when he demands to give him the documents to destroy them, resulting in him being shot.
- The Stinger: After the credits of "Mickey's Descent Into Madness", a flashback of Mickey, Gabriel Gibson and Donald hanging out in the abandoned church before the war is played, where Goofy reveals to them that he will soon become a father.
- Throwaway Guns: For continuity purposes Mickey throws away his M16 after using the last of its ammo to destroy a bridge.
- The Vietnam Vet: Mickey and Donald are this, having survived the Vietnam War and trying their best to reintegrate to society.
- Through the Eyes of Madness: As shown by The Stinger of Mickey's Descent Into Madness, everyone looking like human-like Disney characters are implied to be this, with it showing Mickey, Donald, and Goofy (real name Gabriel) in their actual human forms.
- Token Evil Teammate: Mickey is this towards his group of friends, as he's proven to support and do heinous acts that neither Donald nor Goofy would cross even when they were children.
- Tragic Villain: Mickey himself would've avoided all the guilt of his wrongs in the Vietnam War if he just listened to Goofy and leaked the documents to end it all.
- Villain Protagonist: Mickey is a tragic version of this, his My Country, Right or Wrong mentality ultimately ends up killing his best friend, hiding documents that would've ended the Vietnam war early, but not only that he ends up ruining Max's life after taking his father away from him and having Donald lose his nephews to the war.
- War Is Hell: Mickey's experiences in the Vietnam war greatly influenced his sanity.
- You Killed My Father: Max confronts Mickey about him killing his dad and alienates him from Donald, who kills himself after witnessing the dossier that could have saved his nephews' lives, to teach him how it feels to lose everything.
Other videos:
- Body Horror: "The Spider Man" shows Peter having suffered an horrendous transformation after being bitten by a spider.
- Boom, Headshot!:
- How Lethal Force Man kills a thief who stole an apple, right before he could eat it.
- Also happens to the I in "An Alternative Pixar Intro", which parodies Kennedy's assassination.
- Canon Discontinuity: Implied with Mickey Mouse Rampage, which features Mickey Mouse going on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, and has been unlisted, implying that it was retconned out due to the tone clashing with the Vietnam Mickey Saga.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: "Detective Pikachu Uncensored Version" has poor Mr. Mime being the victim of this.
- Dark Parody: Ethereal's specialty is making these.
- Fate Worse than Death:
- In his video showcasing the old and panned design of Sonic from the old cut of Sonic the Hedgehog (2020). Instead of being put down or released, they instead opt to put him in the cell and forget about him. Leaving him to spend the rest of his days trapped in his cell yearning for freedom. It's telling that the time he finally dies he goes out with a relieved smile.
- Winnie The Last Adventure (now deleted from Ethereal Snake's channel) is a parody of the scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with Piglet in the role of Randle McMurphy, having just been lobotomized. This is why Pooh, in the role of Chief, smothers him with a pillow.
- Foreshadowing: The videos focused on "Project MK Ultra" could be considered this because it's heavily implied that Mickey was subjected to this same project too, which explains why Mickey sees everyone as Disney Cartoon characters.
- Go Out with a Smile:
- Waldo's aged and deceased body was smiling by the time the authorities finally find out where he is.
- The old design of Sonic from the Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) finally smiles after expiring in his prison cell.
- Groin Attack: Heavily implied to be inflicted on Mr. Mime by Detective Pikachu while interrogating the former.
- High-Voltage Death: Lethal Force Man is offed via electric chair right after murdering the thief. And someone clearly forgot to wet the sponge.
- Minor Injury Overreaction: The outlaw's response to accidentally bumping into a stool is a little... over the top, to say the least.
- Shout-Out:
- "Scooby Dooby Doo What Are You?" is an obvious reference to John Carpenter's The Thing (1982).
- "Telltale's Scooby Doo" is well... Telltale Games take on Scooby-Doo.
(Shaggy will like remember this man)- "Chasing Waldo: Confrontation" is based on the iconic dam jump from The Fugitive.
- "Scooby Dooby Doo What Are You?"
- Soundtrack Dissonance: The song playing in Space Wanderer, sounds incredibly upbeat. Despite the short animation focusing on ''Laika', the first animal in space who sadly died. To further showcase the dissonance the poor dog is in a constant tired and sad grimace.
- This Is Unforgivable!: In the Nuremberg trials, Thomas the tank engine directly says that his involvement in transporting Jews to concentration camps is unforgivable, not wanting redemption and just accepting whatever the judges will do to him.
