Darths & Droids



""Jar Jar, you're a genius!""

- Qui-Gon Jinn (a.k.a. Jim)

What If Star Wars as we know it didn't exist, but instead the plot of the movies was being made up on the spot by players of a Tabletop Game?

Well, for one, the results might actually make a lot more sense, from an out-of-story point of view...

Darths & Droids, is a webcomic created by The Comic Irregulars (David Morgan-Mar and seven of his friends from work), following the footsteps of DM of the Rings (found here), which used a similar premise for The Lord of the Rings. However, while DOTR featured a Railroading GM herding a bunch of bored Munchkin players with an iron fist, Darths & Droids has a more tolerant GM, who's willing to let the players get Off the Rails and contribute to the development of the setting, if that's what it takes to have a fun and interesting game. Indeed, the very plot of Star Wars, with all its inconsistencies and bizarre leaps of logic, comes along because the players constantly force the GM to improvise.

And that's not all; the Irregulars seem to be taking perverse pleasure in actually changing things from how they happen in the movies as much as they can while still being constrained by actual screencaps. This ranges from the ultimately minor "Lost Orb" side-quest, all the way to Darth Maul being a hired bounty hunter who's, at worst, Chaotic Neutral. Even Palpatine seems like a good guy.

In between Star Wars games, the players take part in other games, including one between episodes I and II that bears a strong resemblance to The Princess Bride, and another between episodes II and III that seems to have been a mix of Van Helsing and Twilight. On a related note, Episode IV begins In Medias Res, with the unseen gameplay sessions involving Star Wars Expanded Universe materials such as Dark Forces.

In the blurb for each comic, there are often links to This Very Wiki The Other Tropes Wiki, and there are even comics named after tropes, as well.

The comic is being translated into a variety of languages, including: German, French and others. Notably, some of the translations are pure Gag Dub, including: Pirate, poetry, Zero Wing-esque mangled English and tlhIngan Hol, (Klingon). Nearly all strips from Episode I appear in German.

The players from the original 3 movies correspond to the five basic RPG Player Archetypes, although Morgan-Mar claims it was unintentional.

Characters
 * The Real Man: Jim, initially playing Qui-Gon Jinn, then, after the death of Qui-Gon, Padmé Amidala. He's a gung-ho, enthusiastic player, often blindly rushing into danger. Also prone to humorous misunderstandings of the setting, bizarre and obviously incorrect explanations, and creation of Plot Tumors. His insane plan regarding the pod race must be seen to be believed. So far in Episode IV, his characters (including Captain Antilles, the only one the audience has witnessed) have wound up being Mauve Shirts; but that changed when he started playing Han Solo.
 * The Brain: Ben, playing Obi-Wan Kenobi. He prefers to think rationally before acting, comes up with sane plans, but is quick to resort to fast-talking the GM if nothing else works. Also points out the unlikelihood of situations they run into. At some point since Episode III he stopped coming to game sessions, but he eventually returns for Episode IV. Once Obi-Wan was done in, he started playing a very-well-spoken Chewbacca.
 * The Loonie: Sally, playing Jar Jar Binks in Episode 1. By the time the Episode 2 campaign started, she decided Jar Jar was stupid, and bounced around several characters before mainly settling on C-3PO and Yoda. She's Ben's kid sister, who he once brought to a game session when their parents weren't home. Many of the wacky elements of the setting, such as the Gungans (including her own character), Toydarians, and an elected 14-year-old queen, are products of her wild imagination; the GM seems to have largely left the task of designing settings and alien races to her, in acknowledgment of the fact that she is more creative with such things than he is. Sally is also pure awesome in a can, given that she was able to accomplish the flat-out impossible feat of making Jar Jar Binks likable.
 * The Munchkin: Pete, playing R2-D2. He joined after Jim told him about the game and designed his character in advance using Min-Maxing, resulting in a verbally-challenged non-humanoid robot with insane mechanic skills. For a short time, he filled in for the GM "due to some family emergency or whatever". His style of doing this seems to be...different. He has something of a soft spot for Sally, which makes a lot more sense once she sticks with C-3PO for Episode IV.
 * The Thespian: Annie, initially playing Shmi Skywalker but soon switched to Anakin rather than shoehorning Shmi into the adventuring party. As of Episode IV, she's Leia and Darth Vader. Ben told her about the game in drama class. Her unfamiliarity with typical RPG player behavior results in amusing misunderstandings, such as her mistaking Qui-Gon for a robber when he attempts to search Shmi's house for loot. Her roleplaying tends to be filled with Hidden Depths and moral ambiguity, which sometimes screws with the more straightforward mindset of the other players. As a joke, plays what is considered to be the worst acted character from the prequel trilogy.
 * The Sixth Ranger: Corey, joining the group in Episode IV and playing "Adam Lars"/Luke Amidala (Luke Skywalker). He's Pete's nephew, being just a little older than Sally. He got interested in the group after hearing Pete talk about it, but was stunned to find it wasn't an RPG video game.


 * Summon Bigger Fish

A-E
"Pete: You've been practising that sentence, haven't you? GM: Definitely."
 * Action Girl: Padmé, in a lampshaded case of Character Derailment, when Jim starts playing her.
 * Actor Allusion:
 * Kneel before Valorum!
 * Mace Windu will walk the galaxy. And seems remarkably fond of the word "motherfrakking".
 * The out-take where Ben sees Count Dookû and says Hey, It's That Guy! That wizard from the fantasy campaign!
 * Bail Organa in general.
 * Adaptation Distillation: Some of the... less popular elements of the prequels are reworked into some of the most memorable parts of the comic.
 * Alliteration: The GM's narration in episode 692.

"Jar Jar: Dis meaning war, wesa needs to have a stronger leader! Mesa suggests Chancellor Palpatine gets emergency powers! Palpatine: What?!"
 * Also, the title of this and all the other one-shot comics mentioned under Alternate History.
 * Affably Amoral: The clone troopers. To a man, they are friendly, helpful, and enthusiastic about their jobs—to the point that when it comes time to execute Order 66, they are both surprisingly eager to do the deed (a fact Palpatine comments on), and unfailingly complimentary and sympathetic to the Jedi they're gunning down.
 * Affectionate Parody
 * All Girls Like Ponies: Sally enthusiastically declares that Jar-Jar "has a face like a pony!" and later decides that Gungans all ride on dinosaur ponies.
 * In strip 24 they said they "had to resist very strongly the urge for Sally to say that Otoh Gunga was full of ponies", saying that "at some point in this wonderful fantasy world Sally is building, the GM has to step in with something that requires more response than the players just marvelling at stuff.
 * All Planets Are Earthlike: Firstly spoofed, and then actively averted by the GM in response, resulting in the production of a Single Biome Planet. The GM was trying to get them back on the damn rails so they'd go to Coruscant, not stop off on a planet he hadn't thought up yet.
 * Alternate Character Interpretation: In-Universe—one of the main purposes of the comic is to reinterpret the original characters: Palpatine may be a good guy, Dookû is a Well-Intentioned Extremist, Darth Maul is a private detective and... Jar Jar is... a genius?

"Palpatine: I needed a lieutenant of unparallelled acumen; but alas, Jar Jar turned me down."

"Ben: Sally, this is serious. You need to play it seriously. Sally: Just because you do everything Dad tells you to! Ben: What? No I don't! Sally: Why are you studying medicine then?!"
 * Especially in the case of Palpatine, when he saves Obi-Wan Kenobi. They turn the whole reasoning behind the eventual start of the Jedi/Empire conflict upside down; instead of Palpatine slowly corrupting Anakin until he's prepared to attack Windu in Palpatine's defense,
 * Alternate History: In this world Star Wars was never made, producing a few cultural changes, the biggest of which is that there was no upsurge of interest in science-fiction in Hollywood during the 70s and 80s resulting in Star Trek remaining an obscure 60s show instead of the massive movie and TV franchise it is in our world. Then there are alternate histories within alternate histories within alternate histories within still more alternate histories in the other fictional comics that exist in the world of Darths & Droids and worlds within the worlds.
 * Always a Bigger Fish: Of course. Summon Bigger Fish!
 * Ambiguously Jewish: Darth Maul.
 * And That's Terrible: Spoken by Jim as a part of Blatant Lies.
 * Anti-Hero: Weirdly enough, Palpatine so far. Throughout most of the series he's been portrayed as a Reasonable Authority Figure and even saves Obi Wan during the escape from Grevious' ship, but it turns out the Peace Moon really was a weapon. Though he only made the plans to act as a deterrent, like MAD in the Cold War.
 * Anti-Villain:
 * Darth Maul and Jango Fett are private detectives. They're really only antagonists because the players screwed up, which is repeatedly lampshaded in The Rant.
 * Palpatine is slipping into this role as he's increasingly manipulated into shooting dogs that may or not need shooting.
 * Apocalypse How: In a Class 4 example, how did Mustafar become a molten volcanic planet?.
 * Arc Fatigue: Kind of. While catching up on the plot during his In-Universe two-year absence, Ben comments "Is this the Peace Moon plans? Still?" (Pete: "But the real ones this time!")
 * Arc Welding: Welded by the strip's writers. In the Gamemaster's campaign:
 * Are We There Yet?: Jar Jar in this episode.
 * Armor-Piercing Question: While Obi-Wan and Yoda are discovering the Jedi Temple massacre:
 * Are We There Yet?: Jar Jar in this episode.
 * Armor-Piercing Question: While Obi-Wan and Yoda are discovering the Jedi Temple massacre:

"Obi-Wan: Let's see. You stole the plans for a symbol of peace. You're allied with (a) a known megalomaniacal warlord and (b) a criminal sociopath. You have not one, but two, armies at your disposal. You've captured me -- unfairly -- and are holding me with no means of escape. And you're monologuing. Count Dookû: I am monologuing?!"
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:
 * Episode 329:

"Poggle the Lesser: ... trespassing, destroying assembly line equipment, sabotaging factory computers, flatlining 6 droids, killing 15 Geonosian factory workers -- [gasp!] -- and parking illegally on a steam vent. Padmé Amidala: To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. The steam vent was inadequately signposted."
 * And in Episode 356:

"Mace Windu:"
 * And in Episode 558:

"R2-D2: For my reward, I wish to be cleaned and oiled by your most beautiful handmaiden."
 * Ascended Extra: Anakin started as a random kid made up on the fly when the players went off the rails, the GM had not even thought up a name for him. Later, Annie took over the character for herself.
 * Ascended Meme: The question whether or not Annie was pregnant during the campaign corresponding to Revenge of the Sith was a topic of a hot debates on the Irregular Webcomic forum, and ultimately it was referenced in the comic itself.
 * Author Filibuster: On everything from annoyances in gaming to the evils of capitalism. Most of it is thankfully confined to the author rants, but it slips through occasionally in dialog. Of course, it could be the player's thoughts filibustering through as the character they're playing.
 * Avenging the Villain:  reason for opposing the PC's, though the person he is trying to avenge,, wasn't exactly evil.
 * Awesome but Impractical: When going through Luke's character sheet, "Survival: Snow" is one of his skills, along with "Survival: Desert", "Survival: Forest", and "Survival: Swamp". Leia's player questions how a character who spent his whole life in the desert ever learned to survive in a snowy climate, not to mention that he doesn't need it.
 * Badass Army: Yoda's assessment of the clone army
 * Bad Boss: Grievous, who kills his own minions just because one of them interrupted his monologue.
 * Bathe Her and Bring Her to Me: Inverted.

"Jim: Don't think I haven't noticed your goatee."
 * Beard of Evil: Spoofed. Jim immediately assumes Sio Bibble Bubble is evil just because he has a goatee. Jim's suspicion of the GM pulling this trope continues into the second game, and has expanded to include Senator Organa, of all people, in this strip.

"Qui-Gon: Fine. But we're not taking Bubble. That goatee is a death sentence. Obi-Wan: Uh... don't you have a-- Qui-Gon: No. Obi-Wan: Can I see your character sheet for a-- Qui-Gon: You may not."
 * Made more hilarious due to Jim's original character, Qui Gon, sporting such a goatee.

"Has a goatee! Should be fun when others don't believe Jim that he's evil."
 * Made even more hilarious when the GM's notes for the campaign had a side note about  :

"Pete: I'm not Railroading you here."
 * When Darth Vader first appears in a campaign corresponding to A New Hope Jim isn't sure whether he is evil or not because he can't see whether he has a goatee.
 * When Ben finally shows up, Jim comments "Cool beard."
 * Beat Panel: Used very often:
 * Right here.
 * Double beat. Oh yeah.
 * Ladies and gentlemen, the ultimate beat panel. The next strip in the sequence takes it Up to Eleven.
 * Best Served Cold: Jango Fett's ten-year plan to build an army and destroy the Jedi Order and the Republic just to get revenge against Obi-Wan.
 * Big No: Done at various times throughout the comics. Some examples:
 * Annie/Anakin after being told that Cliegg Lars is his stepfather.
 * And later when Mace Windu announces his decision to simply kill Palpatine rather than put him on trial.
 * Jim does this after he's pushed out of the gunship into the desert as part of Ben and Annie's plans to protect the Senator from harm.
 * Boba Fett does this after Jango tells him that Obi Wan killed his father,.
 * Sally's reaction upon learning that all of the dinosaur ponies are gone.
 * Anakin's reaction to being told that Palpatine now controls him, rather than vice versa.
 * Bizarre and Improbable Ballistics: Subverted; Qui-Gon cannot use blasters to shoot other blaster shots out of the air. Please note that this actually happens in Coruscant Nights, one of the Star Wars novel series.
 * Blatant Lies/Suspiciously Specific Denial:

"Padme: Say it with me now: Anakin & Padme: "I made it all up..." "to turn Palpatine against the Jedi..." "and now I'm all powerful.""
 * Blind Idiot Translation: The translation into Zero Wing-style Engrish. Probably a Shout-Out to the notorious "Backstroke of the West".
 * Blood Knight: What Qui-Gon becomes in Jim's hands.
 * Briar Patching: Done by Pete in episode 706.
 * Brick Joke:
 * "You are enlightened."
 * When the group returns to the Gungans and the bongo is mentioned to a new player, Jim calls it a fishing lure. Remember the fish?
 * During the senate scene in Phantom Menace, Chancellor Valorum complains about the frailty of organic bodies and says he wants to set up a committee to investigate turning people into cyborgs. At the time, it looks like one of many oneoff statements from a bored Cloudcuckoolander politician. But guess who.
 * "Bring on the space dreadnoughts bristling with atomic missiles!"
 * Another one has been set up for when Empire comes around...
 * And another one regarding Vader's future status as a Bad Boss.
 * Early on, Yoda's reaction to Qui-Gon's podrace scheme was a deadpan "Remedial course on Jedi Ethics, you need." Much later during the Revenge of the Sith climax, Obi-Wan brings up Jedi Ethics again and sets up an Incredibly Lame Pun.
 * In strip #633, Jim suggests that Annie role up a pirate as her new character. Guess what Jim thought of making his new character after the death of Qui-Gon in strip #198...
 * Which of course is probably a setup for Jim playing a certain "Pirate" in the Fourth episode...
 * Here's another one
 * Tuna booze oil.
 * Brutal Honesty: In strip #578.

"General Grievous: "The caterpillar sees not its destiny, except by fullfilling it. Only by shedding our previous bodies can we become beautiful butterflies.""
 * Bumbling Sidekick: Daine Jir starts to look like this.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Despite all his in-game stupidity, Jim is doing a Ph.d. in geophysics. It doesn't escape Annie's notice when he points it out.
 * But He Sounds Handsome: Yoda (the character Sally mostly settles on playing) regularly talks about how smart and competent Jar-Jar (Sally's original character) is. Also, Jim has nothing but praise for his characters both in- and out of character.
 * Butterfly of Transformation: General Grievous uses this trope to explain why he became a cyborg.

"Boy, it must be really rough to have your campaign completely derailed..."
 * Call a Smeerp a Rabbit: Since this is an universe where Star Wars is just a tabletop campaign, the weapons only have normal names with, as Jim puts it, "techy words in front"; hence, lightsabers are only referred to as Laser Swords.
 * Call Back:
 * "Do you remember?"
 * If you start from here you can see that
 * Even better: Vader completes ALL of equally long steps to the light side (with no forum notice or comments), and Anakin completes all but the last one of the steps to the light side (possible hook for episode 7?)
 * A more humorous one shows up in episode 720: Chocolate dice!
 * Calvin Ball: The rules of the system are very unclear, but this is intentional, as they've said that they're not using any established system. Based on analysis from several strips, it appears to combine the following aspects:
 * The basic d20 mechanic from any d20 system (d20 + modifier versus target number to beat).
 * A Merit/Flaw system (Pete's Short and Mute flaws for extra skill points).
 * A reputation system, probably similar to the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars d20 system. For instance, Pete got a Periscope for -2 to Reputation.
 * Force Powers and other skills, including combat skills (Parry), appear to need investment with skill points, and it operates like any standard d20 mechanic (see above).
 * A highly complicated grapple system (clearly a Shout-Out to grappling in D&D 3rd Edition).
 * A Class system that permits Multiclassing (Padme with a Rogue/Monarch)
 * Canon Sue: In-universe: When Pete's running the game, he tends to overplay the awesomeness of R2.
 * Can't Argue with Elves: The concept is tossed around here.
 * Captain Obvious: Ric Olié as played by the GM.
 * Captain Oblivious: Mace Windu
 * Captain's Log: Obi-Wan summarizes his subplot most succinctly in #521, with obligatory Shout-Out to Star Trek.
 * Card-Carrying Villain: Most of the villains from the films are actually anti-villains or even anti-heroes. In Episode III, however, this trope is played horribly straight by General Grievous.
 * Celebrity Paradox: Explicitly acknowledged, and lampshaded the heck out of it; one annotation goes further on to imagine this hypothetical world without Star Wars, even including a strip, cast page, FAQ and episode list from a fake Harry Potter equivalent of the comic). Taken a level further when we learn that in the hypothetical world of the Harry Potter comic, the equivalent is a comic based on The Sound of Music. That world in turn is shown to have its comic equivalent be based on the first X-Men movie, and more.
 * Character Development: Both the PCs and the players. Sally has grown from Annoying Younger Sibling to Crazy Awesome, and Pete seems to be shedding his Jerkass tendencies as well.
 * Chekhov's Gag: In Darth Maul's Flashback, we see a droid on the trade federation star ship asking the hologram Palpatine if he wants a drink, which looks like a gag. In Jango Fett's flashback, it's revealed that that was actually.
 * Chekhov's Gun: The morale bonus Pete gives because watching R2 fly is just that cool. It later comes back to throw a wrench in his Killer GMing.
 * The reason why the Senate boxes are shaped like Frisbees.
 * Chekhov's Gunman:
 * The butler droid on the Trade Federation ship,
 * One-Scene Wonder Chancellor Valorum,
 * Chekhov's Skill: The impossibly awkward scene where Anakin gets thrown off the shaak on Naboo was him practicing his Riding skill. It comes in handy in the arena on Geonosis.
 * Luke's counterpart "Adam Lars" has survival skills for all sorts of terrain on his character sheet - even snow, which is noted as implausible on a desert planet. Luke visits planets with each of those terrains in the movies. Even better, they may have even been set up as such in-universe by the GM - Corey obviously isn't acquainted enough with roleplaying to set up his own character sheet, so the GM may have given him things planned to be useful down the road and justified it with Adam being raised by Crazy Survivalists.
 * Chewbacca Defense: What else would Jim use during the trial on Genosis?
 * The Chosen One: Anakin of course, as spoofed in a Genre Savvy manner here. Drink!
 * Cloning Blues: Inverted; clones are far superior to droids, at least according to Jango.
 * Cloudcuckoolander:
 * Pretty much any character played by Sally. And apparantly, if Sally GMed, the plot would be
 * Chancellor Valorum combines this with President Evil. Kneel before Valorum!  he's (mostly) lost this trait and seems much more competent. And angry.
 * Comically Missing the Point: "Right...I'm glad I'm a recording and didn't hear that."
 * Composite Character: Some things from the movies get merged in this telling:, . A lesser version is at the beginning of Episode IV, where random Rebel Troopers are used to represent Captain Antilles until the scene where the real Antilles appears, getting throttled by Vader.
 * Concept Art Gallery: On the Fan Art page.
 * Continuity Nod: In and out of universe: Underwater oxygen extraction apparatus and grappling hook.
 * Cosmetic Award:Your journey to the Dark Side is now complete! Achievement Unlocked!
 * Cranial Processing Unit: Mentioned with reference to how strange it is that C3PO still works when his head is grafted onto a battledroid.
 * Crazy Survivalists: Beru and Owen in the campaign corresponding to A New Hope.
 * Critical Failure: Jim, twice in a row, with the second supposedly having 1 rolls pre-rolled out. This convinces Jim to just let his character pass, so he can roll up a ninja character (the GM vetoes that).
 * Cross Player: Sally (as several characters), Annie (as Anakin), and formerly Jim (as Padmé). In other words, exactly half the cast. Take into the account that Pete's character doesn't really have a gender, and we're left with exactly one player who has a character that was consistently the same sex as he is. Averted so far with the roles they play in the original trilogy.
 * Cultural Translation: Frequently a necessity when the fans translate the comics into various languages.
 * Dangerously Genre Savvy: Gunnery Captain Bolvan knows that just because an escape pod doesn't have any life forms in it doesn't mean it shouldn't be shot down.
 * Deadpan Snarker:
 * The GM.

"Pilot: General Glevious has gone mad! He'll kill us all! R2: In other news, grass is green.
 * R2-D2

Obi-Wan: Your path to the Dark Side is complete! R2: Achievement Unlocked!"

"R2-D2:"...Ramming speed.""
 * Deep-Immersion Gaming
 * Deleted Scene: Included when they add to the plot (or as an excuse to mess it up further).
 * Detect Evil: Qui-Gon wanted to use this, assuming he would have the ability.
 * Did You Just Air-Quote Cthulhu?: Lampshaded in episode #685.
 * Different World, Different Movies: The Rant to comic #50. Star Wars doesn't exist in the players' universe, because the comic wouldn't make sense if it did. So various other Star Wars-influenced things are also different, including Darths and Droids itself, which has become Wands and Warts, a Harry Potter comic. There's a link to a mockup of a Wands and Warts page, with a similar rant at the bottom, except that it links to a comic based on The Sound of Music (Notes And Nazis), and so on and so on.
 * Interestingly, in one of these alternate realities Star Wars movies (or at least The Phantom Menace) do exist (according to The Rant).
 * Doomy Dooms of Doom: This episode title; this strip also introduces a Drinking Game.
 * Dramatic Irony: In-universe and out; because of Ben's commitment to the line between in-character and out-of-character actions and knowledge, he and the audience know that Anakin would have left Obi-Wan to die, but Obi-Wan does not. Ben doesn't hold it against Annie because it's in-character for Anakin, but notes that there might be trouble in-game if Obi-Wan found out.
 * Drinking Game: Pete is playing one; drink every time a cliché shows up!
 * Easily Angered Shopkeeper: Referenced in the case of Watto, although Ben pays enough attention to acknowledge that stealing from a shopkeeper would go against character anyway.
 * Either or Title: Episodes 131 and 132.
 * Engrish: The GM's approach to a Japanese accent for the Tlade Fedelation Viceloy.
 * Epic Fail: Pete fires his laser cannons in the middle of a massive space battle. He misses everything.


 * Everyone Has Standards: Pete makes it clear that even if he's tricky he will always play by the rules.
 * Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The GM is always referred to as such, even though at least Jim and Ben presumably know his name.
 * None of the players address the GM by name. Pete claims the job before Annie says the name on. Later, Pete just doesn't include him in the apology for arriving late.
 * Everyone Knows Morse: In this strip, Ben attempts to communicate with Jango by firing shots in Morse Code. Of course, his ship is unarmed.
 * Evil Chancellor: Subverted; Jim's suspicions of Sio Bibble have no basis in fact or reality. Also, Chancellor Palpatine (possibly.)
 * Explain, Explain, Oh Crap: How Annie realizes it wasn't Jim's fault she lost her job.

F-J
""Zam... If only you could see what I've seen with your eyes. I've seen things you wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in the rain... Time to die. (beat) Rosebud...""
 * Famous Last Words: Grievous dials this Up to Eleven.

"Palpatine: And who shall judge who is wicked? Who else is to die? Anakin: Anyone who disagrees with me, for starters. Palpatine: I disagreed with you just now, Anakin. Anakin: Well obviously not you, Chancellor."
 * Fan Art
 * Flanderization: Ric Olié was already a Captain Obvious in the movie, but the comic deliberately took it even further—although it tries not to draw attention.
 * Flashback Effects: Of the sephia-toned variety.
 * Footnote Fever: The notes for episode 522.
 * Foregone Conclusion:
 * The relationships between the players, reflected in-game by their characters, is slowly fracturing in much the same way as the original Star Wars characters did. And Revenge of the Sith didn't exactly end well.
 * Completely, gloriously subverted in regards to Jim and Annie. They actually manage to reconcile their differences just as Anakin has started "his" Face Heel Turn. Jim starts getting better at roleplaying, and for the scene of Padme's murder, is roleplaying so well, Annie actually has to ask Jim to stop roleplaying for a moment so she can tell him how much she loves him.
 * Foreshadowing:
 * Pete goes on an extended rant as he demands something more science-fictiony, such as space dreadnoughts bristling with atomic missiles. Then at the end of Episode 2, Pete suggests "a massive battle involving space dreadnoughts bristling with atomic missiles" (Annie: "As long as we're the ones with the dreadnoughts") and the GM takes notes. Remember how the Episode 3 movie started?
 * If the comic will last long enough to cover the events of Return of the Jedi, then you may consider this dialog to be a foreshadowing:

"Palpatine: This is fun; perhaps I should install a huge bottomless pit in my quarters for no apparent reason."
 * And another one, again if the comic lasts long enough to cover Jedi:

"Anakin (describing an in-character dream): You die in childbirth."
 * This speech by  pretty much flat out tells you what his eventual fate will be, but you'd never realise it the first time through.
 * And then comes a piece of dialogue from Anakin/Annie about Padme/Jim. Considering how much development Annie plans out for her character and how involved she gets into them, this could be both, either, or neither foreshadowing or in-character anxiety.

" : I work alone. Palpatine: That's not what it says on your card."
 * "You are NOT wearing the queen's dresses." Guess who Jim ended up playing as about a movie later?
 * Grievous to Kenobi: "I see your future. Divorced from your flesh, your moth-robes fall empty."
 * One of R2-D2's flaws to support Pete's Min-Maxing is Tastes Good To Dragons. The DM says he can keep them. Know what'll happen to R2 in the Dagobah swamp?
 * In episode 186 Palpatine orders to team up with the Jedi:

"GM: The people have elected a wise queen, who is 14 years old. And the Trade Federation, planning to take over Naboo, have landed their entire invasion fleet on the opposite side of the planet. The Rant: "Make it the actions of a GM and a bunch of gamers and, as many things about this movie, it all starts to make a lot more sense.""
 * In episode 283 we learn about his partner.
 * In episode 30 Sally asks if she can be a Jedi. The GM and Ben say no. Eventually she plays both Windu and then Yoda (as well as the librarian).
 * Mace wondering who could be Gunray's sleeper agent. Also: "With respect, Master Windu couldn't spot a Sith if he was one."
 * The notes for this strip has a table for losing parts of your body, including both legs and the left arm. Guess what happens to Anakin at the end of Revenge of the Sith.
 * Adam has Survival: Desert, Forest, Snow and Swamp. That might help...
 * French Jerk: Dookû.
 * Fridge Logic:
 * Trope in universe.
 * The comic rationalizes the films' various errors as the players doing stupid things and going Off the Rails and the GM throwing up his hands and saying "Fine! Whatever! We'll just go with that.''
 * The comic rationalizes the films' various errors as the players doing stupid things and going Off the Rails and the GM throwing up his hands and saying "Fine! Whatever! We'll just go with that.''

"R2-D2: It's tough holding a grudge against someone who doesn't even notice."
 * Funetik Aksent: Many NPCs, but Dookû has the silliest one. Tarkin is given one in Episode IV.
 * Gambler's Fallacy: Pete is a firm subscriber to this due to his steadfast belief that dice have memories, can be "cursed" or "blessed", and can have the 1s prerolled out of them.
 * GASP: Collective ones from the Geonosians and the Republic Senate so far.
 * Gender Swap: It's more for pronoun purposes, but in Darths & Droids, C-3PO is referred to as female.
 * Genius Ditz: Jim is a real ditz in RPG, genius otherwise. See here to see him put the GM in his place when the GM uses the word "vergence" wrong, because he's doing Ph.D in geophysics. And later, he even works out the insane conditions that would make a planet like Naboo physically possible to patch up George Lucas' the GM's overlooking basic physics in the earlier strips. But lest we forget the second half of this trope:

"Jim: And that stuff about Pete being the Archangel Gabriel, where did that come from? Annie: Yeah by that stage I was just making up the stupidest things I could think of. ... Jim: They were vampires! You can't make vampires good! They're evil, they have to be killed, that's all there is to it! [...] And vampires do not sparkle in the daylight!!"
 * Genre Savvy: All the players—except Sally and Annie, at least in the first movie.
 * GMPC: Temporary example with R2-D2, when the regular GM has a family emergency and lets Pete fill in because he has the most GM experience.
 * God Save Us From the Queen: Padmé, once Jim takes over playing her.
 * Gone Horribly Right: So  you want to corrupt Palpatine and become the power behind the throne? Sure, why not. Just be certain   Oops.
 * Grappling with Grappling Rules: here
 * Groin Attack: "I kick him where it hurts!"
 * Guilt by Association Gag: Done by Sally in This strip.
 * Heel Realization:
 * Subverted by Pete in #454. "So we're the bad guys now? Cool!"
 * Played horribly straight by Anakin.
 * Hero Antagonist: Dooku.
 * Heroic BSOD:.
 * Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Pete, and even Jim during the first movie.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Ben does this in-universe in an outtake strip, recognizing "the Count Dookû miniature" as a wizard from a fantasy campaign who turned evil and formed an army for his boss.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard: Pete's use of R2 as a Marty Stu comes back to bite him. And then when the GM gets back, he makes R2 go back through his own Death Course, making him miss the big climactic battle.
 * Palpatine gets his face disfigured during his confrontation with Mace Windu because he accidentally reversed Force Drain and it ended up blasting him rather than Mace.
 * Homage:
 * The fantasy game Jim, Ben, and Pete played between episodes one and two was Pete was, Ben and Jim were . He has reason to be angry.
 * Annie's game is heavily implied to be a mix of Van Helsing and Twilight, with a bit of Take That against the source materials to boot.

"Yoda: I don't want to kill you. Settle this with a Force Arm-Wrestle we will! Dookû: A... what? Yoda: Whoever lifts the biggest thing wins! Dookû: Zis is ridiculous. Raise your sword. Yoda: But this is how honourable Jedi settle things. Are you honourable? Dookû: Ah begin to regret zat Ah am..."
 * Honor Before Reason: Sally challenges Dookû to a contest of lifting things with the Force as a way of capturing him without needing to risk killing him, relying on the idea that Dookû will be honourable to agree to it.

"Ben: I wrote "Good" on my character sheet and I jolly well meant it! Unlike some people!"
 * Also the reason (in this universe) for the reason for the lightsaber duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan. The rest of the party is going evil (except Sally), but Ben refuses.

"Anakin: Can I have your (Obi-Wan's) laser sword if this ends badly? Try to toss it as you hit the lava."
 * Hurricane of Puns: #437. It even spills over into the News Post.
 * Don't forget about this earlier hurricane. Hand puns AND sports puns.
 * I Am the Trope: Anakin says this twice in Episode 626.
 * I Did What I Had to Do: Anakin in Episode 108, after deliberately destroying Sebulba's pod (and possibly Sebulba).
 * I Have the High Ground: Done with Ben and Darth Maul, with quotes taken directly from Revenge of the Sith here.
 * Of course, also done in the usual place, final battle between Anikin and Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith. This time, the Higher Ground tactic gives Ben explicit battle modifier advantages.
 * I Know You Know I Know: #242, possibly, which gets funnier everytime you read it.
 * If You Die, I Call Your Stuff: #228.

"Qui-Gon: I don't know. Flirt with him or something. Padmé: He's nine years old! Do you know how creepy that is?"
 * Idiot Ball: A lot of the problems in the game could have been solved by someone going, "Jim, would you just shut up and listen for ten seconds in a row?"
 * Idiot Hero: Qui Gon, as played by Jim. Three Words: "Summon Bigger Fish."
 * Obi-Wan has his moment when he jumps off a window after a droid in the Attack of the Clones arc.
 * Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: All the strips during Pete's tenure as the substitute GM have very long titles that describe the action of the strip using Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness, some of which double as flimsy defenses for Pete's Ass Pulling.
 * I'm a Humanitarian:
 * The Gungans, lampshaded by the title of this strip.
 * Humorously averted here.
 * Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Lampshaded by Jim and immediately after that defied by the Clone Troopers themselves in episode 675.
 * Lampshaded again later on. Obi-Wan states the movie line about blast points being too accurate for Sand People - but then adds "It can't be clone troopers either. They're rubbish."
 * Incoming Ham General Grievous: Cyborgs. Under. MY. COMMAND!
 * In and Out of Character
 * In Medias Res: The players' Episode IV campaign starts three sessions before we start seeing it - and Jim has had a character die in each one.
 * Insane Troll Logic: The solutions to the challenges Pete set during his brief tenure filling in for the GM. Usually, as well as being completely out there, the players had to make punishingly precise rolls to actually succeed (as it stood, they managed to survive without figuring out Pete's solutions, on blind luck alone).
 * Insufferable Genius: Pete's pretty much the comic's version of Sheldon Cooper, in every possible sense.
 * Intentional Engrish for Funny: One of the alternate languages.
 * In Which a Trope Is Described: Episode 69
 * Ironic Echo: "You are enlightened."
 * Also, there are several lines of dialogue taken straight from the movies- with Character A saying Character B's lines, and Character B saying Character A's lines.
 * It Will Never Catch On: Sort of, when Padmé asks how she's supposed to get information from Anakin:


 * Jerkass: Pete's stat-obsessed, railroading, and killer GM attitude is quickly turning him into this. And he can't even understand why the other players are starting to hate him. He does apologize afterward, and admits he genuinely enjoys playing with the team.
 * "Join the Army," They Said: Hilariously used by a droid, of all things, here.

K-O
"Padmé: I swing on my chain and kick the Nixon as it tries to attack."
 * Killer Game Master: Pete, as substitute GM, is the one who comes up with the droid factory scene from Attack of the Clones. He even laughs at Annie when she initially fails a roll.
 * Made even more evident when the original GM shows up and takes a look at the place, saying "Wow, I don't think anyone can get through this," making Annie and Jim's passage through the factory SHEER LUCK—for instance, the chance of Anakin getting through those blades was approximately 0.5% (admittedly, before Anakin increased his chances with Force Abilities).
 * The Rant usually includes tongue-in-cheek advice for DMs for running a fun campaign - often at the expense of the players.
 * Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Jim
 * Lampshade Hanging: All over the place.
 * Large Ham: The GM has way too much fun playing the NPCs.
 * In particular, General Grievous. Fools! It shall be I!
 * Laser-Guided Karma: The DM takes great glee in making the players' Heroic Sociopathy come back to haunt them later.
 * Late Arrival Spoiler: Jim plays Padmé after Qui-Gon dies.
 * Leeroy Jenkins: Done by Padme in This strip. Note that it actually works.
 * Much later done by Pete.
 * Let's Split Up, Gang!
 * Level Grinding: R2-D2 just wants to kill another hundred droids in order to get Enhanced Environmental Sealing before infiltrating the Trade Federation HQ.
 * Like Is, Like, a Comma: Mon Mothma talks like this.
 * Literal-Minded: Jim in episode 723, when commenting on Pete's statement that liquid metal is not cool.
 * The Loonie: Sally
 * Luck Manipulation Mechanic: There is a mention of the "Fate Manipulation Re-roll" Jedi power. Anakin used a Fate Manipulation re-roll during Pete's factory sequence.
 * Luke, I Am Your Father:
 * Anakin I am your stepfather. And, as with the movie, followed by the Big No.
 * And then later...
 * Again, followed by a Big No.
 * Subverted in the case of General Grievous - it's Ben who figures out, and states,.
 * Madness Mantra: In the movie, why does Grievous still have internal organs?
 * Magic Ampersand
 * Major-General Song: The title and annotation of this strip.
 * Malaproper: "Cheddar monks" and "Ratatouille", among other things.

""Are you calling me ?" "Are you?" "Are you?" "Maybe.""
 * And "passionfruit jelly" as part of the path to the dark side.
 * Manchurian Agent:
 * Marty Stu: In-Universe, R2-D2, Pete's character, during Pete's run as the temporary GM. Pete constructs the entire factory scene in Episode II, making it particularly dangerous to the other PCs, for the sole purpose of having R2 fly in and save the day. This is made most obvious in this strip.
 * May the Farce Be with You
 * Meaningful Echo:

"So... anyone wanna shoot some space pool?"
 * Lampshaded a second later. "It also causes deja vu."
 * Meaningful Name: Ben, Annie, and (until he takes over Padmé) Jim. In-universe, Annie's case is a coincidence because the GM named Anakin before she came aboard.
 * Min-Maxing: Pete
 * Mondegreen: In-Universe—as a Running Gag, Jim keeps making mincemeat out of the GM's phrasings. "To Naboo soil" becomes "Tuna booze oil".
 * Mood Dissonance: The frequently stark contrast between what's happening in the game and what the characters are talking about outside the game. Taken to extremes here.
 * In-universe example for the game itself:

"Sally: (to Pete) I love it here. A beautiful desert cruise with wonderful friends. And you."
 * Most Gamers Are Male: There are two girls out of five (later six) players, which is still a higher percentage than normal. Both Sally and Annie come to the campaign as newbies and Pete, at first clearly think most gamers should be male.
 * Munchkin: Pete. Lampshaded in Strip 528.
 * My Friends and Zoidberg: Done by Sally in episode 695:

"Jim: If we could only see his facial hair."
 * My God, What Have I Done?:
 * Sally after, leading to a Heroic BSOD for.
 * Palpatine after.
 * Anakin after.
 * My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Pete refers to this trope by name in strip 279.
 * Made funnier when you realize that Pete might be a Troper.
 * It might just be a Monty Python reference, though.
 * My Name Is Not Durwood: About half the time Jim says anything, he gets its name wrong. Sio Bibble is "Bubble", Jedi knights are "Cheddar monks", Sebulba is "Sir Bulbar", etc.
 * Taken to absurd lengths when Jim gets to name Padmé's entire family, then says the wrong names later.
 * Mythology Gag: There are a few scattered references to the Star Wars Expanded Universe, specially in Episode IV (prior gameplay sessions include the opening level of Dark Forces - though Jim!Katarn apparently did a Heroic Sacrifice - and Jim also mentions the incident on which the plans were retransmitted to Leia aboard the Tantive IV).
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In order to win the pod race, Jim (still playing Qui Gon Jin) injects Anakin with his blood giving him midi-chlorians and thus force abilities. That's right. To rig a race, Jim creates Darth Vader. He is also responsible for arming the Tusken Raiders and, as Padmé, may end up creating the Rebellion.
 * Ninja Looting: Referenced here.
 * No Dialogue Episode: here.
 * "No. Just... No" Reaction: Windu's response about whether bringing balance to the force, in a galaxy currently void of the Sith, would be a good thing.
 * No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Here, with a link to the trope page. Although Palpatine is a hologram so he doesn't actually get to eat anything.
 * No OSHA Compliance: Lampshaded and inverted. Ben observes that there are railings for 2 meter falls, but not for bottomless reactor shafts.
 * Speaking of bottomless reactor shafts, Palpatine decides he would like to get one here. A decision which he will in no way regret in the future.
 * No-Paper Future: Lampshaded in character here.
 * Noodle Implements: Pete's custom die. It's dropped from an apparatus Pete brings in a briefcase with him to each session, and can only be rolled once because it bursts into flames afterwards.
 * Judging from the sound effects, the die may or may not be made of firecrackers that are set off by a computer with a booming voice inside it.
 * Noodle Incident: The Sashimi Incident. Each Episode also involves a Noodle Incident that happened in the interrim since the last campaign, which eventually gets explained over the course of the Episode:
 * Episode II: Pete's mad about something that happened in a low-fantasy campaign.
 * Episode III: Jim and Annie have had a fight, somehow connected with a paranormal campaign that Annie ran.
 * Episode IV: Ben walked out of his life two years ago to do some soul-searching due to his arguments with Sally during the previous campaign; we're not sure what he did during that time. Also, there were three prior gameplay sessions where Jim's character died each time; one of which that resulted in him not being allowed to have a laser sword anymore.
 * Nothing Personal:.
 * "Not Making This Up" Disclaimer: Linking to that very trope page in this strip when describing what the ballet in Revenge of the Sith was actually about in the off screen canon.
 * Not the Fall That Kills You: What we have here is that rare creature, the Zig-Zagging Trope. One of the more elusive creatures of the trope-ic region, it makes its appearances here, here, and here. Count the Trope Tropes: Justified, Invoked, Deconstructed, Reconstructed, Subverted, Double Subverted, Inverted, and Lampshaded by name. Hell, I could be wrong about a couple, but that's one trope that has been thoroughly played with in a relatively small number of strips.
 * Obviously Evil: Spoofed in Darth Vader's introduction. The GM describes the imposing figure and especially how much black he's wearing, but Pete and Jim still aren't sure.

"Annie: For the last time, you weren't supposed to kill those NPCs. Pete: They were vampires and werewolves! What else do you do with them?"
 * Off the Rails:
 * The wacky plotting of the prequel trilogy is "explained" as the PCs wreaking havoc upon the GM's original story.
 * This comic references a campaign Annie ran between Episodes 2 and 3 which went off the rails when the guys decided to attack the vampire and werewolf NPCs who Annie insists were friendly. At that point she said "what the hell" and ran with it.
 * Omake: The aforementioned bonus "alternate universe" comics.
 * Once For Yes, Twice For No: R2 is supposed to communicate this way (via Pete's PDA).
 * One of Us: Quite literally.
 * Opening a Can of Clones
 * Our Monsters Are Different: In Annie's supernatural campaign between Episodes 2 and 3. The other players didn't appreciate how she wound up messing with their expectations.


 * Overdrive: In the pod race.
 * Overly Long Gag:
 * The alternate version of this strip, with the note that the alternate strip is how the scene would play out in an actual tabletop RPG.
 * "Fight! fight!"
 * The "X leads to Y" gag in 137, which becomes relevant to the plot later (see Call Back).

P-T
"Annie: Wow, I almost regret leaving the translator off for that."
 * Painting the Fourth Wall: Whenever an action scene occurs, the borders become angular and irregular, giving a sense that something frantic is happening.
 * This one does a pretty good job of reflecting the sense that while there is a pattern, the characters are having trouble following it, much like the reader may have difficulty with the page layout.
 * And when Pete becomes a temporary GM, resulting in the entire droid factory sequence, the titles for strips 333 to 353 switch from short and punny to extremely long and formal, reflecting the change in GMing style and mood. At least a few of them double as attempted defenses of the contrived Ass Pulls Pete was pulling to try and kill everyone else and make R2-D2 seem cooler.
 * The GM's descriptions of the surroundings were initially written into the comic, but eventually the writers settled on a convention where they'll occasionally just show the scenery and have you assume that the GM (or Sally) is describing it. It works surprisingly well. (See Take Our Word for It below.)
 * Pardon My Klingon: Seen here.

"Jango Fett: Grievous: Cyborgs. Under. My. Command! The Writers: WHY? DOES? GRIEVOUS? STILL? HAVE? A? BUNCH? OF? INTERNAL? ORGANS??? "
 * Pass the Popcorn: Pete's reaction when Jim and Annie decide to discuss their relationship.
 * Pimped-Out Dress: Mentioned in the context of what armor class they have, their street value, and thinking they are laundry for the trade federation armada to wash.
 * Plot Tumor: Anakin, created by Jim in his attempts to pull a Xanatos Roulette.
 * Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner:
 * Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:

"GM: Can I see your skill level in Not Taking a Hint? I think you must be cheating."
 * Put on a Bus: Sally also wants Jar Jar to be hit by a bus.
 * Railroading: When Pete takes over the GM role.
 * The regular DM is fairly good at avoiding this, though his reactions to the PC's decisions make it very obvious when they veer off the path he had hoped they would follow... which is more often than not.

"Corey: Can I replay this Cutscene later?"
 * Ramming Always Works: This strip, which follows Pete missing everything in the entire battle.
 * The Rashomon: Punned in the title of a strip where Jim recounts his own version of events that the GM has already plotted out, wildly contradicting the GM's version.
 * Also, Palpatine's and Dookû's versions of their meeting.
 * "Real Life" Writes the Plot: At the start of Revelation of the Sith, Annie is having relationship issues with Jim, which seems to be influencing the way she plays Anakin. Of course, since this is Annie, she has managed to stay completely in-character.
 * Recap Episode: For a new player, it covers the events of the first three campaigns.

""What's a bongo?" "It's a fishing lure.""
 * Recursive Canon: Narrowly averted (and how!)
 * Red Pill, Blue Pill: Obi-Wan give this choice to Adam in episode 726.
 * Retirony: Maul's last words are, of course, "And to think... I was gonna retire after this case..."
 * Rickroll: The Trenchcoats & Turncoats strip from the alternate history meta series.
 * Reverse Psychology: How Pete escapes his restraining bolt.
 * Reverse the Polarity: Referenced by an awful pun in The Rant.
 * Romantic Plot Tumor: In-Universe—the impossibly awkward love story between Anakin and Padmé in the films is replaced by an impossibly awkward relationship between Annie and Jim, which spills over into their characters.
 * Rousing Speech: Sally seems to specialize in these: one with Jar Jar, and one with Yoda.
 * Palpatine finishes his address to the Senate with a rousing speech in episode 591
 * Running Gag: Several.
 * Someone asking what a particular word means, and Jim giving a completely wrong answer.

"Mace Windu: Why doesn't anyone ever tell me about stuff??"
 * Mace Windu has no idea what's going on.

"Pete: This is like... a betrayal. GM: Being betrayed is like a betrayal?"
 * Jim's constant suspicion of "Bubble".
 * Or, in fact, any character with a goatee. Except Qui-Gon, of course.
 * Summon Bigger Fish. A variation involves Jim deciding to cast Summon Bigger Fish, the GM giving some semi-logical reason for why he shouldn't do it, and Ben yelling "That's your reason for not letting him do that?"
 * A minor one involves the various ways the "Peace Moon" could be used for an attack.
 * "Hey, [character], why don't y--" "They can't hear you." "HEY, [CHARACTER]!"
 * Where oh where are the space dreadnoughts bristling with atomic missiles?
 * The ten-foot pole.
 * Pete's custom dice (including binary, a "one-proof die", and one that looks like a case of Noodle Implements in just one die...)
 * Side references to the mysterious "splanch" organ.
 * The deep, backstory-rich NPC's the GM makes getting killed off anticlimactically.
 * Jim's characters have been subject to They Killed Kenny - see entry below.
 * The Scottish Trope: The game referenced in the footer of this strip.
 * Shaped Like Itself: episode 1111:

""Cyborgs under my command!""
 * Self-Made Orphan: Most likely Anakin.
 * Shout-Out: Mad Max, Star Trek, and The Princess Bride.
 * Annie's dialog occasionally is made up of lines and lyrics from theater productions. She recites part of "At the End of the Day" from Les Misérables line for line as part of Anakin's lines.
 * In the same strip, Jim is reciting Don't Give Up, with some alterations.
 * "Fly, my pretties!"
 * "You can't handle my statement!"
 * Count Dookû (who in D&D is French): "Your mother was a romp rat and your father smells of sweesonberries!"
 * Blade Runner here.
 * "With your bare hands?" "Yes!"
 * DM of the Rings here.
 * 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
 * "How depressingly stupid.'''
 * "Here I am, brain the size of a planet(...)"
 * "My name... is not important."
 * In the non-canon extra strip where Qui-Gon actually does Summon a Bigger Fish (and crushes Padmé with it), a bowl of petunias lands a moment after the fish.
 * A strip featuring Cockney-esque salesmen droids insistently selling services the players neither want nor need is titled "Cuttin' Me Own Throat".
 * "Not my gumdrop buttons!"
 * Allotropic Iron torpedoes.
 * To Kill a Mockingbird here.
 * One of Jims malapropisms for the Lost Orb of Phanastacoria is the "Lost Emerald of Castafiore".
 * This strip, which contains Looney Tunes shout-outs.
 * "Screw that. I'm going to live."
 * Mace Windu uses the expression "mother-frakking".
 * Being the Bad Motherfrakker that he is, he first said that as far back as Episode I.
 * Also, Pete must be invoking Casablanca in the 4th panel.
 * This strip is a reference to The Emperors New Groove.
 * This strip's title is a Magic: The Gathering reference (A Cerodon, a Sliver, and an Atog, plus Arena).
 * Also, the three creatures look very similar to those creature types, in order, hence the title.
 * This strip references Star Trek, Spaceballs, and Half Life: Full Life Consequences.
 * A clever re-wording of a Shakespeare line makes the title of strip #523. The previous comic was titled "To Sleep, Perchance to Dream."
 * This strip references Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight, where shaving with the lightsaber is one of Kyle's idle animations.
 * Blade Runner, again, and Citizen Kane.
 * The Van Helsing movie and Twilight movie, complete with Take That in both cases.
 * In Dooku's and Obi-Wan's laser-sword duel, their entire exchange is a play on words reference to the best sword fights from The Princess Bride, The Secret of Monkey Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Princess Bride again.
 * You talkin' to me?
 * "You're going to let the entire fate of the galaxy rest on a single die roll?"
 * The Rant for this comic, discussing Obviously Evil, mentions Xykon from Order of the Stick.
 * Airplane!: The medical droid says "Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit XL oil."
 * Anything is possible when your man looks like a cyborg and not a lady.
 * Obi-Wan giving Adam Red Pill, Blue Pill choice in episode 726 is a shout-out to The Matrix.
 * In episode 729: "My name is Luke Amidala? You killed my father?"
 * Followed immediately by "I was prepared to die..."
 * Single Biome Planet: The GM's inability to avert this trope gets mercilessly lampshaded.
 * Sliding Scale of Silliness Versus Seriousness: As great as this webcomic is, it tends to go back and forth a lot on whether it's making fun of the Star Wars movies, or it's showcasing the strained friendships of a group of roleplayers who blur the line between fantasy and reality.
 * Sociopathic Hero: Whichever side was in the right, during the campaigns corresponding to the prequel trilogy the most consistently vicious character was almost certainly Annie's Anakin. As the plot moved forward he was slipping gradually into Magnificent Bastard territory.
 * Something Only They Would Say: How Ben figures out that.
 * Something Only They Would Say: How Ben figures out that.

"Boba: Why couldn't you just shoot him? Jango: What sort of criminal mastermind would I be if I did that?"
 * Space Is Cold: Subverted here. In the very next moment, Annie, rolling with the punches, wonders, in character, if (s)he has a fever.
 * Space Is Noisy: Spoofed here.
 * Space X
 * Spanner in the Works: Performed by Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon on.
 * Speech Bubbles: Convention inherited from DM of the Rings.
 * Stating the Simple Solution:
 * Boba Fett does this when his father goes on an evil gloat.

"Jim: Large ring objects imply a very young planet. Barren, with rugged topography. And volcanoes! GM: O-kay... *scribble scribble*"
 * And here, Nute Gunray says Ben, Jim, and Annie should be shot instead of eaten by beasts.
 * Stop Helping Me!: Used by Annie against Pete on this page.
 * Strange Minds Think Alike: In episode 697 Corey wonders why droids aren't simply called robots, just like Jim did back in episode 3.
 * Summon Bigger Fish: The Trope Namer, although Jim only thinks it's that trope.
 * Sure, Let's Go with That: Jim, as Padmé, puts a hairpin in his mouth in-character. When Ben applauds his idea to pick the lock, Jim notes that's a better idea than his (which was faking a medical emergency, of course).
 * Sure Why Not: Half the plot is based on this, thanks to the GM's free hand with his players' inventions. It's used verbatim when Qui-Gon comes up with a patently ridiculous explanation of the Force involving midi-chlorians, and when Sally invents, off the top of her head, The Dark Side. Conversely, it's used by Jim when the other players assume Padmé is pregnant after some very vague roleplaying.
 * Many descriptions of creatures (mainly from Sally) and terrain (from Jim, who's a geologist) also happen this way.

"Anakin: So, what are you up to? Grievous: My armpits in incompetence!"
 * Surrounded by Idiots: Grievous.

""I vow never to hurt you. Ever. I won't be jealous, or arrogant, or manipulative towards you." That's going to turn out well."
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial:
 * Anakin to Padmé

"R2-D2: I'd be half-way to taking over the Republic by now: I'd add a backdoor control mechanism, outsource production to three independent contractors on Kamino, ensure the Senate are distracted by some meaningless invasion somewhere, and cover my tracks with fake blueprints. beat R2-D2: What?"
 * Also, Pete:

"Padmé: Yes. I will help you bring Anakin to justice. After all, you are the only thing standing between Anakin and complete domination of the galaxy. On his own, obviously, without me faithfully by his side. Seeing as I'm Good. Obi-Wan: Indeed. Padmé: I'll just go and talk to him in advance and make sure he's not ready for you."
 * And from Jim:

"Annie: Um, okay... Let me just get into the right mindset. Qui-Gon/Jim: With my mini-chlorines in your blood, you can't lose. Anakin/Annie: Yippeee! Annie: Sorry, wait. That line doesn't work at all for this character."
 * This, which also has shades of Could Say It, But... and Trash Talk. (and Genius Bonus, as the above entry for Mythology Gag shows)
 * Take That: Many, directed at the original films, especially when the GM suggests that Annie take over the role of Anakin when he enters the pod race:

"Padmé: (To Obi-Wan) Did you throw away a perfectly good blaster?"
 * "Giant worms in a desert is just silly."
 * "...and vampires do not sparkle in the daylight!
 * Take Our Word for It: When the GM is describing the Coruscant Sunset, we are treated to the picture, but we don't hear the words. Similarly, we never read the words Sally uses to describe the clone factory, just the pictures of it. But it's apparently enough to really impress Ben and the GM.
 * Pete's 'perfect' die, which is rolled by Annie against Ben in Revenge of the Sith. We can't see it, but it must be carried in a special case, it must be rolled on a steel tray while everyone watching wears safety goggles, and is too dangerous to roll indoors (apparently because it bursts into flames).
 * Talking Is a Free Action: And so is reciting poetry.
 * Talking to Himself: The GM when playing multiple NPCs.
 * Tempting Fate: "Nobody's losing a hand while I'm in charge." Boy, that's gonna bite you in the ass, Jim.
 * That Mysterious Thing: Pete's die for special occasions is this from audience's perspective. We don't know how exactly it looks like, but judging by the other players' reactions it's... unusual.
 * They Killed Kenny: This has been happening to Jim's characters. First Qui-Gon, then Padmé (though she was able to last a full two campaigns before passing). In Episode IV so far he's gone four-for-four, including Kyle Katarn and Captain Antilles.
 * This Means War: Sally of all people says this when Palpatine first force lightnings Yoda (her character).
 * Throw-Away Guns: Lampshaded here


 * Time Skip: Attack of the Clones takes place after two years of "real time". There's another two-year time skip between episodes II and III, and presumably there will be more two-year time skips between the other episodes.
 * Timmy in a Well: Spoofed in this strip.
 * Title Drop: Palpatine does one... sort of... in this strip. Not quite done in this strip.
 * An even better example is this strip, where Jim, having forgotten the Orb's name drops the episode's in-universe title.
 * Tomato in the Mirror:
 * Too Many Halves: In this strip, Jim improvisationally describes Wookiees as being "kind of half-ape, half-dog, half-yeti hybrids." Pete notes that this makes them one-and-a-half times as big as you'd expect.
 * True Companions: For all their bickering, it's clear that the GM and players really do love gaming together.
 * Turn in Your Badge: While the actual phrase doesn't occur, the Jedi Council suspends Ben and Annie.
 * Tyke Bomb: Boba seems to be becoming one.

U-Z
"Anakin: Do we hear the people sing? Padmé: Is it the song of angry bugs?"
 * Unresolved Sexual Tension: The UST between Annie/Anakin and Jim/Padmé is the webcomic's version of the unbelievably awkward dialog between the characters in the movies.
 * Unsound Effect: Climb.
 * Valley Girl: Mon Mothma.
 * Voodoo Shark: Used by the GM whenever the players question some of his worldbuilding choices.
 * Warrior Poet: General Grievous.
 * Waxing Lyrical: When Padme and Anakin are on their way to their fate in the arena in 0358, they start slipping into a mix of "Singing A Song For Angry Men" from Les Misérables and Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up". The GM is suitably confused:

"Yoda: Remedial course in Jedi Ethics, you need."
 * Webcomic Time: Every session takes approximately 25 strips, which equates to six weeks of real time for one week of story time, not counting the Time Skip between episodes. This isn't a hard-and-fast rule, however; the first session took only 17 strips, and the session breaks are not always made explicit in the strip.
 * We Can Rule Together: Darth Maul tries this to Obi-Wan. It might have worked if he hadn't just killed Qui-Gon.
 * We Could Have Avoided All This: During his duel with Yoda, Palpatine points out that if the Jedi had some ethical concerns with his leadership they could have just talked to him about it.
 * Wham! Line:
 * "You! Killed! My! Partner!"
 * "Cyborgs. Under. My. Command!"
 * The players get an out-of-game one: "I brought presents." Not so much the line itself, but that it's spoken by.
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Pete at least appears to see rolling his special custom die as the most epic thing in the history of gaming. He even asked Sally to film the roll because he was too excited to hold the camera steady.
 * Possibly subverted because it needed gloves and goggles to be handled and caught fire when thrown, meaning it probably was awesome.
 * What If: Star Wars were a P&P RPG campaign? It goes meta with the alternate comics that they would be doing if Star Wars didn't exist, including Wands & Warts, Notes & Nazis, Mutants & Miscreants, Enlisted Men & Extraterrestrial Biological Entities, Magicians & Munchkins, Sandals & Spartans, Avatars & Avifauna, Terminators & Temporal Paradoxes, Carcasses & Carcharadons, Trenchcoats & Turncoats, Amphibians and Anthropomorphisms, Heists & Hypnagogic Hallucinations, Barnacles & Bilgewater, Docs & DeLoreans and Hypnotoads & Hyperchickens.
 * What the Hell, Hero?:
 * In the commentary for episode 241, the Irregulars note that one of the joys of being a DM is using NPCs to call the players out on their mayhem.

"Pete: Oh how I love stock descriptions."
 * Done out of character to Annie by.
 * Why Don't You Marry It?: In episode 678 C-3PO asks R2-D2 why he doesn't marry his beloved dreadnought. Turns out R2-D2 thought about it.
 * Women Are Wiser: Annie spends most of her time rather closer to Terra Firma than the rest of the group. It's later revealed that outside of the group, she's not quite as reasonable and completely together as it might seem. The fact that Ben is slightly more reliable than she is, both in character and out, helps balance it out as well.
 * Wretched Hive


 * Wrong Genre Savvy: Jim's insistence that Sio Bibble is an Evil Chancellor because of his goatee. As of Episode IV he still seems convinced that Bibble is the Big Bad and Palpatine is just his evil sidekick.
 * Xanatos Gambit: Annie's grand scheme in Episode III is to play the Jedi Council, Palpatine, and Ben/Obi-Wan against each other, making each of them think the other is Sith, with the ultimate goal of standing atop the resulting chaos and gaining complete control of the galaxy as the Man Behind the Man. Jim and Pete are left slack-jawed in admiration. The gambit ultimately fails when Palpatine takes the Left for Dead Anakin and sticks him in a robot body designed to place him under Palpatine's control.
 * You Fight Like a Cow: Here, complete with Monkey Island quotes and a link to the trope page.
 * You Have Failed Me...: But not for the definition of "failed me" that you would think...
 * When it gets to the actual force-choke scene, the guy mouthing off to Vader is complaining that they've had to replace half the work-force over the past six years due to Vader killing anyone he doesn't like. Vader decides that he has a point...and from now on he'll just choke all the incompetents half to death.
 * You Killed My Father: "You. Killed. My. " (Here.)

And, of course, all Star Wars tropes apply whenever they spring up in the collaboratively-developed story.