Spiral Down Films
is an all-species inclusive and all-media accepting Original Character Tournament on deviantART. The host is Winston, an eccentric weasel offering a chance at being a part of his next blockbuster picture. But those who enter his studio never seem to come out.
What would you do to see your name on the big screen?
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General Tropes
- All There in the Manual: A lot less of a problem for this OCT than many, since it's so small. There are only eight storylines, and while there are two tag teams, that still adds up to only ten characters in the OCT proper, not counting NPCs.
- The Cameo: Cameos are very common in OCTs and thus far, Josefina/Umo's entry, Panzen's entry, as well as Cadenza's entry have all cameoed characters from within the universe.
- Cooking Duel: Proposed by Ian in her round against Panzen, but also subverted by her. Also lampshaded in Panzen's own entry regarding her mental narration:
- Ian: [thinking] Combat wasn't decided by having a nice chat about feelings and motivations.
- Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: The OCT is all-species inclusive, and the great majority of the competitors thus far are anthropomorphic animals.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: While Panzen has explicit magical abilities, and there have been hints of it used in other competitors' entries, a particular example is competitors' possessions mysteriously turning up in round one's prop house.
- Urban Legends: The fact that no one who enters Spiral Down Films ever comes out is regarded in this way in some entries.
Audition Tropes
- Jumped at the Call: Panzen, as Spiral Down offers him a chance he would never have otherwise.
- Take Me Instead:
- Josefina when trying to save face for Umozozi, insists she be the sole one fired.
- "Don't punish him. Only one of us needs to... take the fall."
Round 1
- Ominous Visual Glitch: An unusual example in Martin's cell phone as it shows what seem to be the ghosts or something of some actors.
- What You Are in the Dark: A rather literal example in Panzen's round: alone in the dark, except Ian, he has to decide whether or not to leave her to, if not die, potentially lie there helpless in the dark for who knows how long with the creepy voices around her. He doesn't.
- Possibly subverted in that it's later found out the studio staff were watching, but then again, they did nothing to interfere and don't seem to care, if Gilda's reaction is any gauge.
- The Wild West: The theme of Umozozi and Josefina's round against Phildegard, a callback to Phil being in some Westerns during his career.
Round 2
- Armor-Piercing Question: In Panzen's entry, Winston points out the fact that his desire to work behind the scenes isn't really useful for getting more positive exposure for his species.
- Nothing Is Scarier: It's unclear exactly what they are, but the voices Panzen heard in round one are back, and this time they have an ultimatum that implies the competitors will share whatever their fate is unless they're helped.
- Playing with Fire: In his entry, Panzen sets Umozozi and Josefina alight.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Panzen in his entry. Not only does he feel terrible about defeating Josefina after learning about her disease, but there's heavy implications that even if he progresses further, he's still screwed.
- Was It Really Worth It?: Panzen at the end of his round, heavily questioning his motives and what he's done to try to achieve them.
Character Tropes
- Animals Not to Scale: Josefina is a hugely oversized mantidfly.
- Art Attacker: Panzen can manipulate colors and form them into solid objects.
- Beware My Stinger Tail: Martin, whose tail is capable of channeling the shock power of a weak taser.
- Fantastic Racism:
- Ian is subjected to this by Randy for being a "feral".
- Additionally, Josefina is prejudiced against for being an insect.
- Handicapped Badass: Ian may be missing half of a leg, have a near-useless arm and need a stick to walk, but she can still beat you up.
- Hero-Worshipper: Xiao. Enough so he enters the tournament in hopes of becoming like his hero from "The Adventures of Zi".
- Icy Gray Eyes: Panzen has gray eyes, and to other people can appear cold and unapproachable thanks to his monotone. Played with in that his actual personality is different.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Panzen's species has a blend of cat, goat, and lizard traits. They also have large orange claws and odd, highlighted eyes.
- Yvette's species has a mix of feline and gazelle traits.
- My Instincts Are Showing: Recurring problem for Umozozi.
- May also happen to Yvette, if she's startled.
- Panzen. It's a convenient way of gauging his mood considering his lack of expression most of the time.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Strongly averted for Cadenza, who is one of the nicest characters in the tournament.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Played with. Some of the croc NPCs could fall under this, but others are shown to be friendly and personable.
- Hugely averted for Phil.
- Karl is a borderline case, in that he's neither a true reptile or fully abhorrent.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: Karl is an interesting case because he wasn't designed as a human; he was designed to be a pet and looks like a gecko. However he thinks, acts, and experiences the world very similarly to how a human would, thanks to illegal upgrades.
- Shock and Awe: Karl can release weak shocks, as can Martin.
- The Stoic: Panzen appears to be this thanks to his species' lack of capability to express emotions, but isn't. It's just difficult for him to express his personality to others.
- Wall Crawl: Panzen can't quite do this thanks to the laws of physics, but he combines it with something similar to Le Parkour - his geckolike feet and sharp claws make him able to get to high or otherwise unreachable places in a similar manner.
Competitors and NP Cs
- Cadenza Maw Threnton
- Ian Koivisto
- Martin
- Panzen
- Phildegard Ripley
- Umozozi
- Josefina Figueroa
- Yvette Caseretti
- Xiao Kuan-tai
- Daniel and Nancy King
- Karl
- Winston Weasel, the host of Spiral Down Films
- Dex, the studio's Storyboardist
- Scott, the studio's Key Grip
- Talent Agents, tuxedo crocodiles sent to recruit the competitors
