Mascot with Attitude: Difference between revisions
Rescuing 2 sources and tagging 0 as dead. #IABot (v2.0beta9)
m (Mass update links) |
(Rescuing 2 sources and tagging 0 as dead. #IABot (v2.0beta9)) |
||
| (10 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:mascotwithattitude.jpg|link=Sonic the Hedgehog|
There was a time, largely in the mid-[[The Nineties|Nineties]], when the world of video games was overrun with a certain type of character. The '''Mascot with Attitude''' is a [[Deadpan Snarker|snarky]] [[Funny Animal]] with [[Totally Radical|kickin']] powers, [[Jump Physics|improbable jumping abilities]], and usually some form of girlfriend or world to save [[Excuse Plot|(or something)]]. Generally, the Mascot with Attitude can be defined by the presence of three or more the following traits:
# Is a [[Funny Animal]], usually with a [[Species Surname]]. ''(i.e., [[Sonic the Hedgehog]], [[Spyro the Dragon]])''
Line 10:
# Is quippy, [[Deadpan Snarker|snarky]], and prone to making lots of [[Hurricane of Puns|really bad jokes.]] Bonus points if one of them is a [[Take That]] against Sonic the Hedgehog.
# Is competent and violent, [[Badbutt|but not to child-unfriendly levels.]] He's also not allowed to swear, but will [[Gosh Dang It to Heck|do his best to anyway.]]
# A supporting cast which reinforces his status as coolest character in the universe. Look out for an older uncool antagonist, a sidekick with a case of hero-worship, a helplessly devoted and/or snarky love interest, or a rival that's almost (but not quite) as cool as the mascot.
# Advertisements for his games put a lot of emphasis on said game's "intensity," especially twitch-action and [[Follow the Leader|"speed"]].
During their heyday in the 90s, almost all Mascots With Attitude were created in order to [[Follow the Leader|capitalize on the success of]] one ''Sonic the Hedgehog.''
Nowadays, this trope is all but [[Discredited Trope|discredited]], except in parodies, with the deconstructive ''[[
Compare [[Dreamworks Face]], in which in character makes that type of smirk, but don't have this personality.
Compare [[Nineties Anti
{{examples}}
Line 25:
* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' is, of course, the [[Trope Maker]]. Nowadays, however, the "attitude"-aspect has been ''dialed back'' quite a few notches when the move to 3D happened. Sonic as he is now is more of a laid-back idealist who fits the trope far less than he did back in the 90's.
** ''[[
{{quote|
'''Sonic:''' "Well, ''that's'' [[Sarcasm Mode|a relief]]." }}
* ''[[Aero the
** ''Zero The Kamikaze Squirrel'', a spin-off of this game.
* ''[[Sparkster]]''. Subverted in that he is actually much more down-to-earth and acts much like what you would expect from a cartoony animal.
* The ill-fated ''[[Bubsy]] the Bobcat'' is a particularly infamous example of this trope. Bubsy was played straight in his own games, but in his cartoon pilot he became a surreal extreme version of himself [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1F97am9_N2I\], quoting his newly-acquired Catchphrase (which was a throwaway remark of Bubsy's in the first game, but must have tickled one of the writers' (or more likely executives') a bit more than it should) way way too often [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6HFPa-M6Ssk\]. (It's even sort of deconstructed within the pilot itself eventually when Arnold suddenly turns on Bubsy, yelling "[[What Could Possibly Go Wrong?]]?" after his jinxed catchphrase causes them to lose the universe-altering helmet at the very last minute.) In most cartoon openings, they have some kind of montage of what the main characters do. In the ''Bubsy'' pilot, he gets out of bed, brushes his teeth with a car buffer, eats some cereal, breakdances and does some air guitar. Cartoon Bubsy just drips attitude, y'know?
** And that's just the cartoon - Bubsy was also infamous for his games: While his first three games were [[So Okay It's Average]] at best, his first (and last) [[Polygon Ceiling|3D outing]] on the Playstation, ''Bubsy 3D'', put the [[Franchise Killer|final nail on Bubsy's coffin]], and today Bubsy is remembered essentially as the unofficial mascot ''for'' bad mascots.
** He wasn't even that much like this in his original outing, being more along the lines of a ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' inspired [[Butt Monkey]]. Maybe things would have gone better if they stuck to that.
* ''[[Gex]]'' the gecko.
* [[Banjo-Kazooie|Banjo and Kazooie]], although there is plenty of sarcasm and breaking the fourth wall in this one.
* ''[[Crash Bandicoot]]'' is one of the few who have managed to fare better than the rest, at least in his early days. Naughty Dog then went on to make the excellent 3D platformer on the [[
* ''[[Spyro the Dragon]]'' is similar to ''Crash'' (they've even [[Crisis Crossover|crossed over]] once or twice), but has recently undergone a [[Darker and Edgier]] reboot.
** Again, Insomniac went on to make the highly regarded shooter/platformer ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'', mixing up the formula with [[More Dakka|firepower]]. No crossover yet.
* Similarly, [[Ratchet and Clank]] went side-by-side with Jak and Daxter. Notable for still expanding to this day with sequels that don't suck.
* ''[[Scaler]]'' is a somewhat obscure modern example. Although his [[Totally Radical]] quippiness is ''especially'' grating, his game ain't half bad, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120607025425/http://ps2.ign.com/articles/559/559429p1.html say a few critics].
* Similarly, ''[[Ty the Tasmanian Tiger]]''. The [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oyP16Qg3UP4&feature=related trailers] for his first game showed him beating up Sonic, Spyro and Crash with boomerangs, for one thing.
* What do you get when you combine a mediocre ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' clone with a [[Green Aesop]]? Probably something like the Sega Genesis game ''[[
* ''[[Rocky Rodent]]'' was Sonic with [[Prehensile Hair|super hair powers]].
* ''[[Wally Bear and The No Gang]]'', a [[The Moral Substitute|moralising but otherwise generic platformer]], has a hip skateboarding bear, who wears sunglasses and spends all his time beating up [[The Aggressive Drug Dealer|Aggressive Drug Dealers]] and going to parties ([[Straight Edge]] parties, you understand).
* ''Punky Skunk'' for the [[PS 1]]. Granted, it's fun to wander around as a skunk and spray baddies to apparent death, but the packaging did invoke this explicitly.
* [[Blinx the Time Sweeper]] 's titular character averts this. He may be an [[Funny Animal|anthropomorphic cat]], but he doesn't have the personality traits to make him a
* ''High Seas Havoc'' on the [[Sega Genesis]], though this one was actually pretty good, if [[Nintendo Hard]].
* Another one from the Genesis, the titular ''[[Socket]]'' is a duck with… an electric plug coming from his butt? Seriously?
* The duck from the [[Drunk Duck]] comics site comes complete with smug expression and crossed arms indicative of his 'tude.
* Bug, the titular protagonist from the Sega game ''[[Bug!
* Chester Cheetah, the painfully [[Totally Radical]] mascot for Cheetos, starred in a couple of licensed [[Platform Game
* Mr Nutz, if only on the box art, where this little squirrel was holding sunglasses at his hip, sporting a cocky expression, had a skinned elbow, and was perhaps throwing out a gang sign. The SNES game itself took place deep in the [[Sugar Bowl]], and the in-game character was almost [[Tastes Like Diabetes|too cute]].
* The title character of the mercifully forgotten Sega CD platformer ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQQSe9bQn3I Wild Woody]''. He's an extreme pencil. We don't even know.
Line 61:
== Parodies And Deconstructions ==
* ''[[
* Conker the squirrel, at least in ''[[
* ''[[The Simpsons Game]]'': Dash Dingo, the Australian baby-eating video game character. Specifically based on ''[[Crash Bandicoot]]'' and the story of Azaria Chamberlain, a baby girl who was killed by a dingo in the 1980s.
** Loosely related to Poochie, who's not a mascot but otherwise fits the bill, and whose [[Shoo Out the New Guy|saga]] almost ''exactly'' captures the typical reaction towards these--[[Totally Radical|to the EXTREEEEME!]]
* [[Earthworm Jim (
* Max from ''[[Sam and Max]]'', though not [[The Hero]] of his own games, had been the unofficial mascot and recurring [[Easter Egg]] cameo character for [[
{{reflist}}
Line 73:
[[Category:Discredited Trope]]
[[Category:Video Game Characters]]
[[Category:
| |||