The Cuphead Show

Come with me to the Inkwell Isles, it's just off the coast maybe 29 miles, where there's good and there's bad and then there's in-between. With Cuphead and Mugman, you'll see what I mean.

The Cuphead Show is a 2022 Netflix animated show. It is an adaptation of the 2017 videogame Cuphead. Season one premiered in January 2022.

Cuphead and Mugman get bored easily while doing chores for their parent Elder Kettle. As a result, Cuphead can easily convince Mugman to play hooky and engage in some fun. Things go wrong when they end up in the Devil's latest soul trap, and Old Scratch appearing at the wrong time means that Cuphead owes the Devil his soul.

Season 2 is set to premiere in May 2022.

Tropes used in The Cuphead Show include:

Adaptational Badass: Werner Werman in the game is considered a Breather Boss on Inkwell Isle III because his attacks are well-telegraphed. Here, despite being rodent-sized, he Macgyvers enough weapons from the kitchen to kick Cuphead and Mugman's asses. Elder Kettle has to go Let's Get Dangerous to mount a defense against him.
Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Elder Kettle is an easygoing guy in the game, who helps Cuphead and Mugman find the means to beat the Devil. Here, he has an entire episode where he fears the boys find him old and disgusting, which causes him to act erratically. They're actually talking about a pet worm, that has become sickly.
Adaptational Heroism:
- In the game, the Cyclops encountered in Rugged Ridge was hostile and chased them down with the intent to kill. Miss Cyclops in the show, however, is willing to help Cuphead and Mugman escape prison since the latter kept her blankie clean.
- Sally Stageplay was one of the debtors in the original game. Here, she's manager of her own theater, and actually knocks the Devil down a peg when deeming he's not fit to play the lead in her space adventure on seeing him an Cuphead sabotage each other. Her ego is still there.
Adaptational Jerkass:
- Game Porkrind is a friendly NPC who only says two things; "Welcome!" and "Goodbye!" Show Porkrind is a Deadpan Snarker who imagines smashing the boys' heads when Mugman annoys him too much, and sends them on a "dangerous" errand. Granted, he thought they'd pick up his dry-cleaning, not climb a dangerous mountain on another isle!
- Downplayed with Elder Kettle. He's a Nice Guy in the games who gives Cuphead and Mugman the power-ups they need to fight the Devil and his runaway debtors, and it's clear that even in the series he's still a Cool Old Guy who loves the cups. But he's also a lot sterner with them, and won't hesitate to holler at them when they screw things up, which they do frequently. It doesn't help that he's implied to have PTSD from his war days.
Adaptational Villainy:
- Chalice in the games is a little mischievous, but clearly a hero and a Big Good who protected the Inkwell Isles from evil when she was alive. Show Chalice is a con-artist who uses her charm to get what she wants. The cops are after her, which is why she's not willing to rescue the brothers when they get knocked out.
- Ollie Bulb was the Token Good Teammate of the Root Pack in the games, only fighting back if you attacked him first, and even then, only by crying dangerous tears. In the show, he's every bit the conniving thug that his buddies are and is willing to help them cause trouble.
- While Baroness Von Bon Bon was clearly a hotheaded brat in the game, she's no better or worse than most of the debtors whose only crimes are killing the cups in self-defense. In the show, she's a psychotic cannibal who tricks people into turning themselves into candy so she can eat them.
Adaptational Weakling:
- The Devil is less of a threat here than he is in the videogame, owing to the fact that he would rather lean back and count his souls, or sing about how great he is, rather than do the hard work of physically pursuing the souls. He especially becomes a Butt Monkey when an Oracle and Mugman team up to give Cuphead a sweater of invincibility.
- Poor, poor King Dice. In the game, he's The Dragon to the Devil, running the casino where Cuphead gambles away his and Mugman's souls by accident and being one of the hardest bosses in the game by virtue of having nearly a dozen mini-bosses at hand to sic on the brothers. During the show, the Devil completely forgets that King Dice is his number one, and Cuphead by virtue of being too stupid to play King Dice's games properly to win and lose his soul earns King Dice his only loss, which leads to a beatdown courtesy of the Devil, and a demotion.
- Cuphead and Mugman in the game could use finger guns and powerups after receiving a magical potion from Elder Kettle, to the point that they could take on the Devil and win. Here, the most they can do is dodge his trigger-happy firepower and outsmart the Devil.
The Alcatraz: A literal example in Jailbroken, where Cuphead and Mugman are imprisoned in what is basically the Alcatraz in the aftermath of Ms. Chalice abandoning them to the cops. They spend the entire episode trying to escape.
Ax Crazy: Bowl Boy. He's a total weirdo whose Dissonant Serenity makes his love of death-defying stunts and willingness to hurt the cups more creepy than funny.
Badass Santa: Downplayed in that Santa is more of a Badass Pacifist, but he is the only character in the show besides Stickler who is not scared of the Devil. While he's startled on realizing that the actual Devil is asking for a Christmas present, Santa says that he's not just going to put the embodiment of evil on the nice list. It's against the rules since the Devil hasn't been nice at all that year. And he's disappointed if not furious when the Devil kills a child, enacting a Batman Gambit that forces the Devil to take over Santa duties for the night.
Balloon Belly: Cuphead and Mugman both swallow a giant jawbreaker whole while visiting Sugarland, causing them to turn into massively bloated spheres.
Big Brother Instinct: It's unclear if Mugman is older or younger than Cuphead. Regardless, he spends most of his screen time saving his brother's butt. The pilot shows him physically wrestling with the soulball machine to grab back Cuphead's soul and reunite it with his body.
Butt Monkey: Elder Kettle, ho boy. It's very rare for an episode to go by without him suffering some kind of misfortune, usually in the form of severe physical pain or destruction of his property.
Cliff Hanger:
- Season one ends with one, as is standard for most Netflix shows: after Chalice accidentally gets the brothers knocked out and trapped in a cookie factory after hours, she turns into a ghost and ditches them to avoid getting arrested. The boys try her cuteness routine but end up in jail.
- Season two ends with the Devil kidnapping Mugman, in revenge for Cuphead stealing his pitchfork and zapping him repeatedly.
Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?:
- Bolstered when the sweater is protecting him, Cuphead snarks that maybe the Devil should stop shapeshifting into Carnies and hot dog stands, and instead change into someone that doesn't lose all the time.
- In season three, Santa bluntly tells the Devil that he's not getting on the nice list just because he wants a train, or a "choo choo" as the Devil puts it. He says that the Devil has to prove that he can be nice before midnight on Christmas Eve. When the Devil kills a homeless child, Santa is less than pleased. Implied to be a punishment, he casts a spell that will put the Devil on the nice list... by making the Devil into Santa Claus and making him deliver the presents. After all that, the Devil doesn't get his train.
Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?: Cuphead and Mugman convince the Devil to paint their fence in exchange for removing the soul-protecting sweater. The Devil honors the agreement, using magic to get into the spirit of painting. Meanwhile, the brothers run off to wait in line for the next big ride.
Disguised in Drag: After his handle breaks off, Mugman leaves the cottage disguised as a bride so people won't see the gaping wound in his head. Hilarity Ensues when the disguise falls apart.
Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: The table-reading for "The Devil's Pitchfork," the season two, episode, shows that mocking the Devil for a long time is not a good idea. When Cuphead finds the Devil's titular pitchfork and shocks the Devil repeatedly, the latter kidnaps Mugman, saying that since Cuphead "took something of great value to me, I shall take something of great value to you."
Earn Your Happy Ending: How season three and the show ends. When it seems the Devil will render Chalice Deader Than Dead after she loses their dance-off, Cuphead steps in and does one last game with the Devil by using his and Mugman's souls as collateral to save her: Rock-Paper-Scissors. And he wins seven games out of eleven before Mugman tells Cuphead to quit while he's ahead. A month later, the Cups and Chalice are enjoying their freedom...until Cuphead runs to the Devil's new casino. Chalice and Mugman chase after Cuphead because they have no desire to repeat that adventure.
Enfant Terrible: Baby Bottle. He suckers you in with his cutesy demeanor, and then raises all hell when your guard is down. Since they can't beat up a baby, Cuphead, Mugman, and Elder Kettle simply give him to some other schmuck so he stops being their problem.
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Ribby and Croaks are violent jerks who steal Cuphead and Mugman's pocket change, but they hold their late mom in high regard and genuinely tried to go straight to honor her memory.
Even Evil Has Standards:
- King Dice is horrified when he sees that the Devil burned his finest demons alive; he arrived "fashionably late" so missed the fire. Later, however, he turns the third-finest demons against each other so he has the glory of catching Cuphead.
- Cala Maria is a "sea beast" who revels in terrifying sailors and spreading destruction. She thinks it would be too cruel to simply kill Brineybeard or mock him after he went through the trouble of procuring her favorite sweets; Cala gently lets down Brineybeard explaining that it's Nothing Personal; she's a career woman with no time for love.
Face of a Thug: Ribby and Croaks' "Mudda" looked like a stern, grumpy old bullfrog, but she was a kind and gentle soul if their song about her is any indication.
Heroic BSOD: Mugman ends up in one after Cuphead accidentally damages his mug handle, and all their efforts to fix it make things worse. He collapses on the floor and says, "It's over." Elder Kettle has to provide the solution.
Hostage for Macguffin:
- When Werner Werman learns that Elder Kettle is a war veteran, one who knows every trick in the book for getting rid of "varmints," he retreats to the kitchen and straps dynamite to Cuphead and Mugman's heads where he pinned them to the wall. He threatens Elder Kettle that unless he receives the deed for the cottage, he will blow up the cups. Elder Kettle pretends to surrender, only to blow Werman up with a stick of dynamite. It also takes out most of the house.
The season three premiere has Cuphead bargain with the Devil that he will trade the pitchfork for Mugman. The Devil is forced to honor the agreement because due to misplacing his pitchfork, Cuphead became the new owner, and shoos them out of hell.
Imagine Spot: Porkrind has one about smashing the two brothers when Cuphead is playing pinball, and Mugman is telling an annoying story with no point.
Jerkass Ball: Cuphead grabs it hard during "Lost in the Woods" when he blows up all the firewood that Elder Kettle and Mugman have chopped for the winter; then he does the same with his and Mugman's axes, as well as Mugman's compass when they're deep in the woods. When Mugman calls him out for this, Cuphead keeps insisting he's not worried about it. Even when they make it back to the cottage and were not badly lost, Cuphead's response to Mugman giving an apology for losing his temper is to send him up in a rocket.
Jerkass Has a Point: Stickler is annoying and a Moment Killer; not even the god-natured Henchman can stand him when the latter interrupts the first break the demons have had in years to remind the Devil about Cuphead's soul. We find out in season two why he was so adamant about it; if the Devil fails to collect a soul within 30 days of acquiring ownership, the contract expires and the ownership returns to the soul's body.
Karma Houdini Warranty: "Lost in the Woods," Cuphead is at his worst when grabbing the Jerkass Ball. He blows up all the firewood that Mugman and Elder Kettle carefully chopped for the winter, blows up his and Mugman's axe and their compass when they get lost in the woods, and locks Mugman out of the cabin that Mugman built to survive the elements so he can eat the pie Mugman made for himself. He doesn't learn a damn thing from this, despite Mugman shouting at him that he and Elder Kettle have to worry for him because Cuphead would die if his family didn't keep saving his ass. Then the next episode happens, and thanks to Cuphead's stupidity, the Devil kidnaps Mugman as payback for Cuphead stealing his beloved pitchfork and then shocking him repeatedly. All Cuphead can do is stand in horror, whispering his brother's name.
Kick the Dog: The frog brothers steal Cuphead's five dollars when he shows it as the only money he and Mugman have, before kicking them both in the mud. Understandably, they declare war and stow away on their steamboat to get some ice-cream.
Locked Out of the Loop: Unlike in the game, where the brothers went to Elder Kettle for help, he doesn't know about their little foray into the Carnival while buying paint for the fence. Cuphead wants to keep it a secret because Elder Kettle would never let the boys out of his sight again.
Loophole Abuse: The Devil is chagrined to find out in season 2 that because he dallied so long to get Cuphead's soul, the contract expired and Stickler will not let the Devil collect it. There's nothing that says that he can take something else that Cuphead values after the latter steals his pitchfork. Turns out Cuphead values Mugman a lot...
Magic Feather: Cuphead's Dirk Dangerous goggles become this briefly when he lends them to Mugman for a quest. Mugman starts acting braver, and more dangerous. Then he continues to do so while oblivious that he lost the goggles back in the waterfall.
Monster Is a Mommy: Or daddy, as shown by the end of Dangerous Mugman. The egg Cuphead and Mugman stole for Porkrind was a dragon egg. Belonging to Grim Matchstick. And he is not happy to find his kid in the old pig's possession...
Ms. Fanservice: Cala Maria, as usual. She isn't as openly flirtatious as she is in the game, but there's still a lot of focus on her curvaceous figure.
OOC Is Serious Business: When the normally-impulsive Cuphead enters Sugarland, he's still guilty about eating Mugman's carefully-saved Halloween candy. As a result, he doesn't respond to the obvious Schmuck Bait that Baroness von Bon Bon offers to him, rightly suspecting that it's some sort of trap. Alas, it doesn't last when he indirectly tells Mugman.
Pet the Dog:
- The Devil throws a party for his employees to celebrate "himself" when they show off how much pain and misery they've been spreading in his name. When Stickler interrupts to remind him about Cuphead's soul, the Devil goes off to do the job rather than take it out on his subordinates. He even starts a conga line to get everyone in the party spirit!
- It's not a gift for the boys directly, but as an apology for getting them arrested, Chalice apparently picked up Elder Kettle's glasses as soon as they were repaired and delivered them to Elder Kettle.
- Henchman pulls King Dice to safety when the Devil burns his second-finest demons alive and barely misses scorching them. Later, it's revealed that he gave the Invisible Sweater to Stickler; he may not like the guy but Stickler is the demon most at risk for getting killed by the Devil for doing his job.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Much like in the game, Cuphead is the reckless and hotheaded brother while Mugman's a lot more cautious and mature... though he is prone to his fair share of childish behavior.
Scary Black Man: The Cab Calloway-inspired King Dice is less overtly menacing than in the game, but make no mistake: his soul-stealing game show still makes him a big threat until Cuphead's stupidity completely ruins it.
Schmuck Bait:
- The Devil acquires souls by setting these; he even has King Dice running a radio game show to lure in unsuspecting island residents.
- New visitors to Sugarland can eat all the candy they want, if the Baroness invites them inside. They just have to follow two rules: don't tell anyone else about Sugarland, and don't take even a tiny bite out of her castle. Cuphead even lampshades the second rule seems silly when you have all the candy you want. Cuphead broke rule one in an attempts to make amends to Mugman for stealing his candy, and Mugman took a bite out of the castle because Cuphead forgot to warn him.
Smug Snake: The Devil is a preening narcissist who's constantly being outwitted by a couple of rambunctious kids in the most humiliating ways possible. He's also a very sore loser.
Stalker with a Crush: Captain Brineybeard, who obsessively pursues Cala Maria in hopes of getting the giant mermaid to be his girlfriend. In this case though, it's the stalkee who's more dangerous than the stalker.
Terrible Trio: The Root Pack are this once again, as are a trio of ghosts who attack Cuphead and Mugman in "Ghosts Ain't Real".
Too Dumb to Live: Cuphead has a moment of it in the sweater two-parter. Mugman orders him to keep the sweater on, no matter what, because it's the only thing that is keeping the Devil from taking his soul. Cuphead still gets tempted several times in the first part, and Mugman has to stop him.
Your Soul Is Mine: The Devil's favorite hobby is tricking people into giving up their souls. But since Cuphead refuses to hand his over, he's more than happy to cut to the chase and try to rip it out himself. In a nightmare Cuphead has, the Devil even quotes this trope word-for-word before he wakes up.