"I'll be meeting them finally tonight."
An animated web original by Xionico that began on Madnessday 2007 on newgrounds.com
, a day dedicated to celebrating Matt Jolly's, AKA "Krinkels" original series, Madness Combat. Xionic Madness uses the same basic design; i.e., cross-faced people with disembodied hands and feet, (other than Kary-08 that is) but uses its own style of action. It's also notable in that the series has voice acting in later episodes, in contrast to its inspiration.
The story follows our cyborg heroes (other than Kary-08, who is entirely robotic) over on the right. Going left to right, Xero, the blue guy, is the hot blooded blade handler. Omega, the red one, is the leader of the group with a fancy for guns. Kary-08, the green girl, is the childish energy wielder. Askad, the yellow fellow, is the brainy explosive user. The four of them are sent on a mission (that is considered a suicide run) by the company that created them. Their objective: wreak as much havoc on a rival company that has been prying into their secrets as they can. Needless to say, they do just that.
They slaughter everything they see without a single thought. However, the mission retaliates by increasing its difficulty as the four progressively go deeper into it. In addition, they encounter XV, an experimental weapon developed by the company they are wreaking, which just so happens to be on the top of their "things to kill" list. They end up having to split up, and deal with the trials alone. (Though this still doesn't stop them from destroying everything.) Through all the difficulties, they manage to escape just before the N8 goes off.
And although they completed their mission, the true battle has only just begun.
You can find this series here.
Tropes include:
- Abnormal Ammo: At one point, Omega uses his own blood as miniature missiles using a syringe-like gun.
- Action Girl: Kary-08 can hold her own better than any of the others, in fact, Omega even admits that she could kill him in a fight.
- All There in the Manual: Some of the episodes have extra features that contain information on the characters, weapons, and backstory.
- And the Adventure Continues: The Stinger shows Enid, Xero's apprentice, having survived the Bolivian Army Ending, taking off before the screen cuts to black.
- Anti-Heroes: Although they are the protagonists, they are all ruthless killers.
- Applied Phlebotinum: Many of their weapons have bizarre mechanics behind them; i.e., using blood as projectiles, converting human mass into pure energy, and cutting people with wind.
- Art Evolution: Although subtle, the style and animation quality does increase.
- Art Shift: In the scene showing the events that occur directly after the initial mission, there is a noticeable difference in art and animation style.
- Back from the Dead: Askad comes back as a robot to save the others just in time.
- Bad Boss:
- The Overseer. He sends Bolverk Squad on a suicide mission to BIO INT so he can replace them with robotic duplicates and when Omega and Xero survive, he has them imprisoned.
- In Xionic Madness 3, he sends dozens of soldiers to their deaths against Omega and Xero just so he can collect battle data for his robotic versions of Omega and Xero.
- Badass Crew: Bolverk Squad, couldn't get anymore badass than a crew comprised mostly of badass cyborgs. Later we meet Omicron Squad, Omega's old group before he got promoted to working with Bolverk. They're normal humans but they give Xero and Omega some well needed backup and is able to keep up with them against the zombified hordes.
- Badass Normal:
- Before Omega and Xero became cyborgs, they apparently were able to keep up with the cyborgs as normal humans.
- Omicron Squad, despite not having any Powered Armor, proves that they can hold their own against an army of zombies just as good as Omega and Xero.
- Bash Brothers: Omega and Xero, while the two are bicker quite a bit. They work together well and have each others backs no matter what. They could pretty much give Sanford and Deimos a run for their money.
- BFG: Being the firearm-inclined of the group, Omega naturally has a quite a lot of these that it'd take quite a while trying to talk about all of them.
- BFS: In the second half of their initial mission, Xero acquires a massive blade that literally cleaves people in half.
- Big Damn Hero:
- Askad arrives to save the guys right before they are about to be killed.
- Omicron Squad also pull one of these, arriving to save Omega and Xero just as their about to be eaten by zombies.
- Blood-Splattered Warrior: By the last third of part 3. Xero is practically dripping blood, only most of it isn't his.
- Bottomless Magazines: The squad may have to reload frequently, but they are not going to run out of ammo anytime soon. Their support network can send them more ammunition from an orbiting satellite.
- Body Horror: Anything infected with the XV virus, and XV itself, grow such things as spikes made out of their own flesh and mandibles for a mouth.
- Bolivian Army Ending: Xero finally "dies in the heat of a glorious battle" after everyone else had already bit the dust.
- The Cameo:
- Hank from the original Madness Combat makes an appearance to body slam a mook.
- Also, he, along with Jebus and Tricky, appear on a computer screen during the first mission.
- In the final episode, Kary-08 summmons something that highly resembles Demon Tricky.
- Character Development: With every passing episode, more information is revealed about the characters.
- Chekhov's Gun: The XV virus, which was introduced in the first mission, makes one final appearance before the ends to help defeat the final boss. But it also makes Xero kill Omega and, in the end, a dying Xero seeks death against the group hunting him "In the heat of a glorious battle".
- Chekhov's Boomerang: The loner knives. First seen when Askad commits suicide to kill off the XV drones surrounding him, they're used again against the XV when it duplicates Omega, and again in three against the character's robot copies, Before finally being used by Kary to destroy herself and deny XV!Omega the pleasure.
- Color-Coded Characters: The four protagonists each have their own color scheme. Omega is red, Xero is blue, Kary is green and Askad is yellow/orange.
- Comm Links: The team seems to have this built into their bodies so that they can keep in touch at any time.
- Cool Helmet: Omega's old suit in Xionic Madness 1 and 2. Was notably based on Templar Helmet designs.
- Cool Mask: Xero gets one with his new suit in Xionic Madness 3, covers the upper half of his face and has 6 eyeholes.
- Cool Sword: Xero's entire arsenal pretty much consists of these. Special mention goes to his chainsaw sword.
- Corporate Warfare: The first three episodes deal with the suicide mission against Bio Int. Corporation. The team's employer just wants them to destroy the top-secret project XV, which is mentioned to be derived from alien technology. Then a unnamed third party sends a commando unit to steal XV for them dead or alive. And a throwaway line by Omega states that Bio Int. wanted to sue their employer for human experimentation. While nothing states that this is considered normal for the setting, it certainly makes for an interesting night.
- Crazy-Prepared: Askad anticipated that the organization they work for would betray them at some point, so he prepared a fake upgrade for Kary to restrict her powers and a robotic duplicate of himself, in case he died before warning Omega and Xero.
- Cute and Psycho: The first thing that happens in the series is Kary going Freddy Krueger on a mook. Then she takes it up several notches when she turns against the team.
- Cyanide Pill: The loner knives, with the added bonus of taking out the surrounding area in the resulting explosion. They're promptly exploited against XV and the robot doubles, due to all three of them having enough similarity to our anti-heroes that the knives still activate against them.
- Deflector Shields: Kary can use her energy abilities to create force fields that are practically impenetrable and apparently, Omega can create force fields as well.
- Didn't Think This Through: The bad guy's plan has a notable flaw in that the Overseer wants the Bolverk Squad to bite the dust during the initial mission so he can replace them with robots. Sure, all well and good, up until Askad is on the hit list; that's the guy that keeps Kary, by far the most lethal member of the Squad, sane and happy. Askad bites the dust, and suddenly Kary is off the rails. It's not too long before she kills the Overseer herself and almost kills the world afterwards.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- Omega is much more of a Blood Knight in the first few episodes. This gets toned down in later installments.
- In contrast, Xero is shown to be more reluctant than Omega to kill, and an early bio of his stated that he would not kill an unarmed opponent. This changes in Xionic Madness 3, where he's shown to be mowing down Mooks mercilessly. Though it could be because the enemies in episode 3 were employees of the organization that brainwashed him and converted him into a cyborg, whereas the enemies in the first few episodes were just security guards and black ops soldiers working for a random corporation.
- Elite Mook: Some of the mooks are of significantly higher rank than others. However, this doesn't make them any less susceptible to being effortlessly killed.
- EMP: Askad uses this against Kary after he comes back as a robot in order to give his allies a fighting chance.
- "Everybody Dies" Ending: By the end of the series, basically every character with a name is dead. Xero manages to live to the epilogue though, and his apprentice Enid manages to survive to fight another day.
- Face–Heel Turn: By the end of the first mission, it is revealed that Kary has been working against the team for some time now, and she attacks them while they are returning to base.
- Flipping the Bird: Xero does this frequently from part 3 onwards. One notable instance is him defiantly flipping Kary off during the final battle as she's about to blast him.
- Gambit Roulette: Apparently, someone planned on Askad dying. And planned Kary-08's betrayal. AND planned Omega getting infected by the XV virus.
- Gatling Good:
- Omega uses a Gatling gun to battle against the Big Bad during the first mission.
- Later on, there are ball-like robots with gatling guns attached to them.
- Giant Mook: While battling an army of undead soldiers, Omega and Xero face what seem to be zombies that mutated into behemoths.
- Goggles Do Nothing: Kary always has a pair of goggles resting on her head, but she never actually puts them on.
- Gone Horribly Right: The whole team becomes (thanks to extensive cybernetic modification, prototype weaponry, and training) nigh-unkillable to their former employer and would-be master.
- Gorn: Well it was based on Madness Combat, so there's plenty of blood and gore to go around. Especially in the later parts thanks to Art Evolution.
- Gun Fu: Naturally, Omega displays some pretty impressive skills when using his firearms. Especially when getting up close and personal.
- Guns Akimbo: Once again, Omega sometimes enjoys having a firearm in each hand.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Askad does this twice. First he self-destructs in an attempt to kill some XV-infected entites. He comes back as a robot and self-destructs again to take out Kary's shield and give Omega and Xero a chance against her.
- Omicron Squad pulls one as well, sacrificing themselves to destroy the building Omega is holding up.
- Omega sort of pulls one in the final episode by allowing Xero to kill him to prevent the XV virus from fully taking over his body.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: As applied to the Overseer. He decided that the team was going to turn on him eventually, so he sent them on the mission to Bio Int, hoping they would be killed. If anyone on the team got back alive, he would have Kary kill the survivors. However, the only one who died was Askad, the one who kept her sane. Without Askad to give her regular checkups, Kary betrays and kills the Overseer.
- Humanoid Abomination: XV usually takes on monstrous forms, but it sometimes morphs into deformed humanoids. What's more notable however is that just like with Kary, when the group meets up with him he takes on an appearance that's vastly different from the usual Madness Combat style. Namely having actual limbs for one, he wouldn't be out of place from some kind of anime.
- Humans Are Bastards: Kary was created solely to kill people from the day she was "born". Her power source can only function off of the bioelectricity she sucks up from those she kills. She notes this later on in the series.
- Hyperspace Arsenal: Omega and Zero are equipped with this thanks to their employer's technology. It involves a satellite teleporting weapons and ammo to them on demand.
- Imagination-Based Superpower: Kary can use the energy she collects however she wants. Though she mostly uses it in the form of projectiles or blades (or just converting living humans into raw energy.)
- Ironic Echo: After the fight with their robot duplicates ends in a massive explosion. Notable because this was a
formatting error that just happened to fit perfectly.- Xero: "Look, if you want to make this one-on-one, just say so..."
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Xero constantly argues with Omega, and swears at practically everything, but he would rush into the face of danger to save a companion without a second thought.
- Jet Pack: Xero receives an upgrade that gives him rocket boots. Unfortunately, he isn't allowed to keep them.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Xero uses katanas in the beginning of the series. Though his arsenal later on consists of more unique weapons.
- The Man Behind the Man: The final episode of the series reveals that the Overseer was apparently being manipulated by someone even more shifty.
- Mecha-Mooks: Full metal robots soon get sent to face against Omega and Xero. Though they only last a little longer than the humans.
- Mercy Kill: Xero is forced to do this to Omega when he's infected by XV.
- Mooks: The guys constantly have wave after wave of nameless men thrown at them.
- More Dakka: Omega's preferred method for dealing with enemies. His entire arsenal is almost comprised of firearms that
- Nerd Glasses: Askad, The Smart Guy/explosives guy always has his yellow glasses on.
- Ninja: Xero is a dead ringer. He is built for speed and accuracy, teleports frequently, and has semi-traditional accessories.
- One-Winged Angel: In an attempt to make sure Omega and Xero absolutely die, Kary puts on a power mask and turns into one of these.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: When Omega's favorite handgun, Joy, is rendered unusable, he requests for its replacement to be built as a revolver.
- Pistol-Whipping: Occasionally, Omega has to give his trigger finger a rest, and go melee.
- Posthumous Narration: All of the bios in Xionic Madness 3 are narrated by Askad.
- Psycho Rangers: When Omega and Xero are making their escape at a train station, they are pitted against robotic copies of themselves.
- Powered Armor: Omega and Xero wear a form of these throughout the series. Although in Xionic Madness 3 and onward is where it becomes readily apparent thanks to the two being brought back to humans.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Ironic in that Omega (colored red) is the blue oni, and Xero (colored blue) is the red oni. As Omega is the gun-toting level-headed stone-cold badass, while Xero is the hot-blooded, foul-mouthed Brit whom enjoys getting up close and personal.
- Played Straight later with Xero and his robot duplicate. By that point Xero's covered in so much blood that he appears red compared to the robot. And again, Xero's violent personality clashes heavily with his copy's eerie, soulless inhumanity.
- Scarfof Asskicking: Xero's new form sports one from episode 3 onward.
- See You in Hell:Xero: See you in hell..."Omega: *chuckle* We'll all be waiting for you...
- Shout-Out: There is a multitude of shout outs that the animator added.
- Omega and Xero share a certain battle cry: "Heaven or Hell? Let's Rock!"
- When Kary decides to drop a giant building on Xero and Omega they say some very familiar lines.
Xero: Great Fucking Scott!Omega: This is heavy... - Sir Swears-a-Lot: Xero. It's probably easier to list the lines he gets that don't contain any sort of profanity.
- Suddenly Speaking: All of the characters in series gain speaking lines from episode 3 onward.
- Swords Akimbo: With a sword in each hand, Xero can kill things with twice the efficiency.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works:
- During the later half of the first mission, Xero throws his BFS at a zombie.
- During the final battle, Xero throws the pole he's been using as a blunt weapon at a giant, flaming monster clown.
- Took a Level in Badass: During the first mission, Askad could be considered the weakest. But during the final fight, his robot form is able to fight on par with Kary.
- Treacherous Questgiver: The Overseer, Bolverk Squad's boss, turns out to have sent them on their initial mission to get everyone except Kary killed.
- Unorthodox Reload: Several of Omega's more advanced weapons. For example, his sniper rifle only needs one magazine. This is because whenever he removes it from the rifle, more seem to teleport into it as he reinserts it.
- Weak, but Skilled: Askad considerably weaker than the rest, but is especially intelligent, as well as having explosives knowledge. His robotic duplicate admits to being weaker than Kary, but has the ability to render her normal defenses useless, as well as being able to anticipate most of her movements.
- Wham Episode: Xionic Madness 3. Kary betrays the team and Omega and Xero are imprisoned by their former employer, only to escape and go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Wham Line: Stated at the end of episode 2. Though it's not so much the line but rather who says it.Kary-08: Kary-08 to Headquarters. Mission Failed, two out of the three objectives survived the mission.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Kary is the strongest of the four, but she needs to have regular check ups in order to keep her personality under control. So when Askad, the one who gives her the check ups, dies, Kary ends up going insane.
- Zombie Apocalypse: In episode 4 part 1, Kary-08 revives all of the mooks Omega and Xero had faced thus far, as zombies.
