The Most Epic Story Ever Told in All of Human History
is a comedy-based Web Animation series revolving around a cast of characters whose names all contain the word "epic". The trailer was released at the very end of The New '10s before the full series started in 2020.
The Most Epic Story Ever Told in All of Human History provides examples of:
- Achievements in Ignorance: Ridiculously Epic Fail is somehow able to turn Ridiculously Epic's "Evil Mobile", the one that he insists is not an armadillo, into an actual armadillo when he drives it, only because he actually thinks it is one.
- An Aesop: Each episode after the trailer has at least one.
- "Ten Steps to Saving the World that Totally Won't Work": The state of society can only improve through mass-collaboration and putting aside petty differences to make sure the material needs of struggling individuals are all met.
- "The Most Epic Superhero Origin Story": All emotions are valid, but you should not use them to hurt other people. Also, feminism has done a lot of good for the world.
- "The Most Epically Inspirational Sports Movie": Your hobbies are just as valid with or without the support of your friends. Also, as whispered at the end, trans rights are human rights.
- "The Most Epic Crime-Stopping Mission": Paperwork is often an unnecessary annoyance, but you still need to get it done. Although the necessity of running society by paperwork in the first place is still left up to interpretation. Also, law enforcement isn't perfect and can target the wrong people.
- "The Most Epic Romance": Romance isn't necessary for happiness, and you definitely shouldn't approach it with an Entitled to Have You mindset. Also, "romance experts" online often have terrible advice.
- "The Most Epic SuperVILLAIN Origin Story": A collaborative, unionized workforce is much more effective than one where one person makes every decision. Especially when the person in charge is a Pointy-Haired Boss like Ridiculously Epic.
- "The Most Epic Sci-Fi Adventure": Immigration can be a beautiful thing by bringing together two different worlds peacefully. It also doubles down on the previous episode's pro-union Aesop.
- "The Most Epic Day in the Life at a Soul-Sucking Job": Be kind and reasonable to employees and don't blame them for the decisions that their managers make, because they are simply trying to make their living in a capitalist world. It also doubles-down on the "excessive paperwork is an unnecessary annoyance" Aesop of episode 5.
- "The Most Epic Teaching Experience": Teachers are typically only trying to help you. Being unnecessarily antagonistic to them only hurts your own learning experience and makes it more difficult for them to pass on knowledge. A secondary Aesop is that classroom education should evolve to more effectively account for different learning styles.
- "The Most Epic Introspective Journey on a Nautical Voyage": The best cure for a bleak outlook on the world is to believe in the possibility for change, and to hold on to one's goals and aspirations even when not seeing immediately obvious results for them. A secondary Aesop is that you may be more of a positive influence on those around you than you know.
- "The Most Epic Mystical Quest": People will exploit you for money if you are not careful. But if it happens to you, do not blame yourself for it. Instead question why the world values money over people in the first place, and challenge that way of the world.
- Bad Boss: Ridiculously Epic never treats his assistants nicely by any means, but "The Most Epic Supervillain Origin Story" puts him here for sure. He spends the entire episode completely ignoring one assistant (Epic Robot Guy) while insulting and being a Jerkass to his other one (Ridiculously Epic Fail).
- Bald of Evil: Ridiculously Epic and Ridiculously Epic Fail. However, considering the majority of the cast is bald too, they do not stand out as much.
- Banana Peel:
- Little Miss Epic slips on one during "The Most Epically Inspirational Sports Movie Ever". How the banana peel magically appeared on her skateboard in the first place isn't addressed though.
- Epic Fail slips on a banana peel and falls off of the roof during "The Most Epic Crime-Stopping Mission."
- Big Bad: Ridiculously Epic instigates most of the problems in the series, including destroying the moon and the sun during the trailer alone.
- Big "NO!": Ridiculously Epic unleashes one at the end of "The Most Epic Supervillain Origin Story" when it turns out that he accidentally helped a bunch of orphans instead of causing the destruction that he intended to.
- Big "WHAT?!": Epic-Man's initial reaction to getting Epic Fail as his sidekick.
- The Bully: Ridiculously Epic in his more petty moments. He even lampshades this in "The Most Epically Inspirational Sports Movie Ever", with the line "Nothing like antagonizing random teenagers for no reason!"
- Bumbling Sidekick: While not treated with derision, Epic Fail is this to Epic-Man and Ridiculously Epic Fail is this to Ridiculously Epic due to each being the Side Kick to their respective hero/villain, and their constant propensity for Epic Failures.
- Capitalism Is Bad: A running theme through the series, directly called out by Epic-Man himself on most occasions, though other characters arrive at similar conclusions through their experiences too. The message is most blatant in "The Most Epic Mystical Quest".
- Card-Carrying Villain: Ridiculously Epic refers to himself as "evil" several times during "Ten Steps to Saving the World that Totally Won't Work", and has "evil" written across his skateboard during "The Most Epically Inspirational Sports Movie Ever".
- Character Development / Took a Level in Kindness: Epic Fail goes from being an Entitled to Have You Dogged Nice Guy in episode 6, to accepting that he can be Just Friends with his crush, growing to genuinely respect her, and making amends with her in episode 9. This is Lampshaded by Epically Avoids You, who comments "character development? In this series?!"
- Cool Board: Little Miss Epic and the Epic Skatepark Owner both ride a cool skateboard.
- Ridiculously Epic's skateboard comes with a turbo engine, spikes, and "evil" literally written across it.
- Cool Old Guy: Captain Epic is a laid-back old man.
- A Day in the Limelight: Some of the minor characters get an episode dedicated to them every now and again, such as Epically Avoids You in "The Most Epic Day in the Life at a Soul-Sucking Job" and the Epic Skatepark Owner in "The Most Epic Mystical Quest".
- Detonation Moon: Ridiculously Epic destroys the moon at the end of the trailer.
- Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: Ridiculously Epic did surprisingly well in the skateboarding competition, but then he tried to interfere with Little Miss Epic's run and completely failed, looking like a doofus in the process. His victory wasn't guaranteed, but he at least would have stood a better chance if he didn't go out of his way to try to cheat, resulting in leaving a much worse impression of his skateboarding abilities.
- Disproportionate Retribution: During "The Most Epic Superhero Origin Story Ever Told", Ridiculously Epic nukes his band class for playing their instruments poorly.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Epic Fail is this to Epically Avoids You in "The Most Epic Romance". It turns out to be a lesson about why his Entitled to Have You behavior was wrong and how he needs to get over it. His Evil Mentor Ridiculously Epic claims to be this, although he's obviously not nice, meaning that he's either lying or delusional, or some combination of the two.
- The Dragon: Epic Robot Guy becomes the main assistant to the Big Bad, Ridiculously Epic, during "The Most Epic Crime-Stopping Mission Ever".
- Co-Dragons: Ridiculously Epic Fail becomes a second dragon during "The Most Epic Supervillain Origin Story".
- Dull Surprise: Epic Robot Guy is a deliberate example. He is completely unenthused and seems bored about singing the "epic" trailer song, in contrast to the enthusiasm of the other characters. He then continues to have these kinds of reactions throughout the series.
- Entitled to Have You: Epic Fail acts like this toward Epically Avoids You in "The Most Epic Romance", but he goes through Character Development and learns his lesson in the end. Ridiculously Epic also acts this way and does not change for the better, leaving him with Epic Robot Guy as his only friend.
- Epic Fail:
- Epic Fail, of course! In the trailer alone, he starts by going in the opposite direction of his objective, crashing into a brick wall, immediately slipping on a banana peel after his surprisingly graceful landing, and then blowing up his toaster by trying to warm up his DVD player in it. All in just a few seconds of screentime!
- His Evil Counterpart Ridiculously Epic Fail as well. He attempts to blow up a random TNT box that causes him to crash into a Big Red Button. Hitting this activates a rain of kittens and sunshine and makes the world look like a happier place, accomplishing the exact opposite of his Evil Plan.
- During "Ten Steps to Saving the World that Totally Won't Work", Ridiculously Epic goes on a tirade about a specific strategy that he doesn't want viewers to use to improve the world. During this tirade he outlines the specific details about how to make this strategy work.
- Evil Counterpart: Ridiculously Epic Fail is this to Epic Fail. They are both the Bumbling Sidekick on their respective side, both prone to frequent Inopportune Voice Cracking, and both fail constantly. But while Epic Fail seems to have neutral motives at worst, Ridiculously Epic Fail was trying to blow stuff up, and seemed horrified by his actions leading to increased happiness in the world instead.
- Evil Gloating: Ridiculously Epic takes this up to eleven during the second episode by spending an entire half hour bragging about how he successfully took over the world, and how no one can possibly stop him now.
- Evil Mentor: Ridiculously Epic serves this role to Epic Fail during "The Most Epic Romance" by giving him horrible "dating" advice, which includes stalking and harassing.
- Evil Is Petty: Some of Ridiculously Epic's behavior doesn't gain him any advantages and is simply done For the Evulz. For example, taking Epic Fail's slurpie and spitting it in his face, and later taking Captain Epic's slurpie just to spike it into the ground. Neither of them did anything to warrant this.
- Expy: Captain Epic has a suspiciously similar voice to Yoda.
- Face–Heel Turn: Epic Robot Guy is good during the events of "The Most Epic Superhero Origin Story Ever", then returns as a villain during "The Most Epic Crime-Stopping Mission Ever". This is Lampshaded In-Universe with the text "he became a bad guy! Dun dun dunnn!" next to him when he returns.
- Face Palm: Epic-Man ends the trailer with one.
- Fire-Breathing Diner: Epic Fail (of course) eats an entire glob of wasabi. This results in fire shooting out of his mouth with the caption "Mount Vesuvius Eruption: 79 AD".
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: Epic Robot Guy begins as a good guy in "The Most Epic Superhero Origin Story", turns evil before returning in "The Most Epic Crime-Stopping Mission", stays evil for a few episodes, and then turns good again in "The Most Epic Introspective Journey on a Nautical Voyage", which continues into the next episode, "The Most Epic Mystical Quest" as well.
- Heel–Face Turn: Epic Robot Guy returns to the side of good in "The Most Epic Introspective Journey on a Nautical Voyage".
- The Hero: Epic-Man, the second character introduced. He saves a "poorly drawn alien cat" from falling to its death in his Establishing Character Moment.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Lampshaded in "The Most Epic Crime-Stopping Mission Ever". Nobody considers that Ridiculously Epic might be evil, despite his evil-looking moustache, Red Eyes, Take Warning, and driving a car with "Evil Mobile" written on it. The text even points directly to his face and says "totally not an evil moustache or eyes". For bonus points, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep's Terra, one of the most notorious examples of this trope out there, randomly shows up to say "okay I believe you!"
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Ridiculously Epic Fail tries to cause a random explosion in the trailer. He succeeds... but the resulting explosion causes him to crash into a button that causes cute kittens and sunshine to rain down and bring more joy to the world.
- Incoming Ham: Ridiculously Epic introduces himself to the series by dancing next to some explosions and singing loudly and aggressively.
- Innocent Aliens: The "poorly-drawn alien cats" from the trailer finally show up in "The Most Epic Sci-Fi Adventure", and they are friendly. Even sharing their star fruits with the protagonists.
- Inopportune Voice Cracking: Both Epic Fail and Ridiculously Epic Fail have voice cracks constantly, befitting their status as the series' Epic Failures.
- Inspector Javert: Captain Epic takes on this role during "The Most Epic Crime-Stopping Mission Ever", threatening to arrest Epic-Man for being late on filing his taxes even though Epic-Man is only trying to help at the crime scene.
- Inspiration Nod: Several. Jaiden Animations is the most explicit, appearing just to say "You just wanted an excuse to try drawing my hair, didn't you?" Other cartoon characters including Donkey Kong, Sonic The Hedgehog, Patrick Star, and Shrek appear for quick gags to serve this role as well.
- Intimidating Revenue Service: In "The Most Epic Crime-Stopping Mission Ever", Captain Epic threatens to arrest Epic-Man for being late on filing his taxes. Epic-Man is forced to flee the scene because of this.
- Jerk Jock: Naturally, Ridiculously Epic takes on this role for "The Most Epically Inspirational Sports Movie Ever". It seems that he only started skateboarding to "antagonize random teenagers for no reason" at the skatepark, and to try to win a skateboarding competition to advance his evil plans with the prize money.
- Large Ham: Ridiculously Epic and Ridiculously Epic Fail, who each spend their Establishing Character Moment screaming the trailer song beat while acting over-dramatic. This includes causing random explosions. To a lesser extent, the Epic Skatepark Owner, who still sings aggressively but is not as unrestrained as the other two.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Ridiculously Epic shouts this exact phrase as he goes barging into Little Miss Epic's run of the skateboarding competition.
- Little Miss Badass: Little Miss Epic is a young woman able to skateboard and jumprope at the same time.
- Made of Explodium: The setting as a whole seems to be this. The trailer alone contains several explosions, including Ridiculously Epic's stage entrance, the random TNT box that Ridiculously Epic Fail throws a match at, the stack of TNT boxes that Ridiculously Epic blows up with his fire breath that he got from eating the sun, and Epic Fail's toaster during The Stinger.
- Narrator: The Epic Narrator serves this role.
- Never My Fault: Ridiculously Epic blames Little Miss Epic for his broken TV, even though he's the one who threw his remote through it. She wasn't even in the room.
- Pie in the Face: Ridiculously Epic's face falls in a pie after he loses the skateboarding competition.
- Power-Up Food: Epically Avoids You drinks a glass of water that gives her huge muscles.
- Really Was Born Yesterday: Ridiculously Epic Fail is born during the events of "The Most Epic Supervillain Origin Story". Due to being created from a mix of Ridiculously Epic and Epic Fail's traits, he is born already knowing how to speak.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Ridiculously Epic, Epic Robot Guy, and Ridiculously Epic Fail all have red eyes and appear to be evil. Ridiculously Epic is outright confirmed to be evil when he destroys the moon and the sun at the end of the trailer.
- Running Gag: Ridiculously Epic's "Evil Mobile" is not an armadillo. Except for when it does turn into a real armadillo when Ridiculously Epic Fail drives it... for some reason.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Said word for word by Ridiculously Epic as he flees the scene in "The Most Epic Mystical Quest".
- Shout-Out: In "The Most Epic Crime-Stopping Mission Ever", Terra from Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep randomly shows up to say "okay I believe you" during a Horrible Judge of Character moment.
- Star Killing: Ridiculously Epic EATS the sun.
- Straw Feminist: Defied. Ridiculously Epic intends to invoke this on Epically Avoids You by painting her idea that women should be allowed to vote as something absurd, but she shoots down his accusation with sound logic for her arguments.
- Surfer Dude: The Epic Skatepark Owner speaks like this.
- Theme Naming: Every character's name is some variation of the word "epic".
- Thick-Line Animation: The series' art-style.
- Too Dumb to Live: During his Evil Gloating about taking over the world, Ridiculously Epic details an exact plan to SAVE the world and take it back from him.
- Valley Girl: Little Miss Epic speaks like this.
- Villain Episode: Ridiculously Epic, the Big Bad, takes center stage and is more or less the main protagonist of episodes 2 and 7, "Ten Steps to Saving the World that Totally Won't Work" and "The Most Epic Supervillain Origin Story", respectively. He is just as evil as usual during these episodes.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: The Epic Narrator speaks with some vaguely European accent.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: When Captain Epic is feeling down about himself, Epic Robot Guy informs him that he was inspired to become a better person because of Captain Epic's dedication to doing good. This promptly revitalizes Captain Epic's spirit.
