Cuphead



A 2017 Run-and-Gun game made by Studio MDHR, Cuphead: Don't Deal With The Devil looks less like a video game and more like a long and surreal Fleischer Brothers cartoon straight from the 1930's. And that's no accident, because in between the lovingly hand-animated sprites and worlds that look like they were taken from an animation cell, the developers intentionally sought out to recreate the feel of those kinds of cartoons and did everything in their power to make them feel as authentic as possible. While this dedication led to a long development cycle (as well as the Moldenhauer brothers turning to Microsoft for assistance), the widespread critical acclaim and popularity are proof that it was definitely worth it.

The game stars the spunky Cuphead and his more cautious brother Mugman, two boys with drinking glasses for heads and a knack for getting themselves into trouble. After getting lost and ending up on the wrong side of the tracks, they stumble upon a casino owned by The Devil himself quite literally called The Devil's Casino. As bad of an idea as it is, they enter, gamble, and win game after game until they get the attention of the Devil. Intrigued by their skill, he offers to give them all his treasure if they can beat him in one last game... with the caveat being that they owe him their souls if they lose.

Terrified, Mugman begs Cuphead to take their winnings and go, but his greedy brother can't resist the potential payday and gambles once more, sealing their fate when he loses. When the Devil demands payment, Cuphead and Mugman plead for mercy and ask for an alternative that the Devil graciously provides: they have 24 hours to hunt down a bunch of debtors who owe him their Soul Contracts. If they gather all of them in time, he'll leave them alone. But if they fail, he'll have their heads, and quite literally at that. Left without options, Cuphead and Mugman begin the hunt, and face a ton of dangerous, powerful, and downright weird opponents in their quest to save their souls.

In wake of the game's success, a DLC campaign known as the "Delicious Last Course" was announced in 2018 alongside a new playable character in the form of Ms. Chalice. But it missed its 2019 release date, and slipped neatly into Development Hell with no release date in sight. There is also a Netflix series in development, with a sneak peek available here.


 * Action Girl: The female debtors kick just as much ass as the male ones, especially Rumor Honeybottoms and Baroness Von Bon Bon.
 * Ambiguously Gay: A female diner seems very interested in the dancing showgirls performing in the background of Ribby and Croaks' boss stage.
 * Amusement Park: Inkwell Isle Two is set in a carnival, as are Beppi the Clown's boss stage and the "Funfair Fever" Run 'n Gun level.
 * Anti-Villain: The debtors. Yeah, they're willing to kill two children and happily trashtalk them when they die... but considering that those children are the (conscripted) debt collectors of the Devil himself, can you really blame them?
 * Bait and Switch Boss: Subverted. At first it seems Werner Werman is the boss of Murine Corps, but at the end of his second phase he is eaten by a cat and that seems to be the actual boss..
 * Balloon Belly: Hilda Berg inflates her stomach while turning into a blimp, and will further inflate herself before flying at you as one of her attacks.
 * Bare Your Midriff: Cala Maria, in classic mermaid fashion.
 * Bee Afraid: Rumor Honeybottoms, a queen bee with an arsenal of powerful magic spells at her disposal.
 * Big Bad: The Devil, who forces Cuphead and Mugman to collect the Soul Contracts of his many debtors on threat of taking their heads.
 * Big Red Devil: Seemingly averted with the Devil at first, but during his boss fight his brownish-blackish fur will eventually take on a dangerous reddish hue.
 * Boring But Practical: The Smoke Bomb is a lot less flashy than the other charms, but a dash with generous amounts of invincibility frames is too good not to have.
 * Boss-Only Level: Most of the game consists of these, with the only exceptions being the Run 'n Gun stages and the mausoleums.
 * Brains and Brawn: Wally Warbles and his son Willy have this kind of dynamic, with Wally using huge and simplistic attacks like giant bullets and tons of razor-sharp feathers while Willy's attacks are a lot more complex, such as his carefully-aimed ray gun shots and his expanding/contracting egg barrier. Willy even references the trope by name in his death screen.
 * Casino Park:.
 * Cats Are Mean:
 * Climax Boss: Your last opponent before the Devil is ... and man. What a battle it is..
 * Cool Old Guy: Elder Kettle, the elderly teakettle who looks after Cuphead and Mugman. He's loving grandfather figure to the boys and gives them the powers they need to stand a chance against the Devil's debtors.
 * Cute Giant: Grim Matchstick is a big, adorable dragon whose stuttery, friendly game over quotes make it hard to hate him even after he's killed you for the billionth time.
 * Cute Monster Girl: Cala Maria is a gigantic mermaid, and a smoking-hot one at that. Even when she turns into a monstrous gorgon, she's still very attractive.
 * Dark Is Evil: The Devil's fur is is a very dark brown that borders on black. Unsurprisingly, he's a nasty piece of work.
 * Deal with the Devil: Cuphead and Mugman being forced to make one is what kicks off the game, and most of your opponents are other debtors who made these kinds of deals.
 * Deliberate Values Dissonance: To go along with its retro cartoon aesthetic, there are a few of these present:
 * In a few levels such as "All Bets Are Off!" and "Clip-Joint Calamity", people can be seen smoking indoors. It was a common sight back then, but is a lot lot less common nowadays thanks to advancements in research regarding the health issues that smoking and breathing in secondhand smoke can cause.
 * An example that crosses over into Black Comedy territory is the prominently labeled asbestos curtain in Sally Stageplay's fight. In the past, it was considered a good material for preventing fires from breaking out. Nowadays, you're very unlikely to find anything with asbestos anywhere thanks to their toxicity.
 * Difficult but Awesome:
 * The Spread Shot's woefully short range can make it frustrating to safely fight bosses with it, but its damage output is insane if you're able to constantly hit them with every bullet from its spread. With very careful footwork, you can kill even the toughest bosses with it in record time.
 * The Lobber's range is limited, and it travels in an arc. But thanks to its high damage output, it's a lifesaver against bosses with limited mobility such as Grim Matchstick.
 * Do Well, But Not Perfect: If you're trying to get an A+ ranking against the bosses, you don't want to kill them too fast because you need to parry 3 of their attacks to get it. These attacks are only available during certain phases, meaning that if you hurt them too much before you get all your parries, you'll miss out when they change phases.
 * The Dragon: King Dice is the Devil's right hand man, and runs his casino while personally collecting the Soul Contracts needed to progress through the game..
 * Dual Boss: Ribby and Croaks, as well as the Lollipop Ghouls of the Phantom Express.
 * Easy Mode Mockery: When you fight a boss on easy mode, you aren't allowed to do the full fight. You're also not given their soul contract until you beat them on standard, meaning that you won't be allowed to fight either of Inkwell Hell's bosses. If you want to beat the game, you'll have to put on your big boy pants and do it the way the Moldenhauer brothers intended.
 * Everything Is Trying to Kill You: The diversity among the Devil's debtors is insane. Giant vegetables, dragons, robots, genies, queen bees, trains (albeit haunted trains)?! And that's not even getting into, where you'll be fighting among others.
 * Greed: Cuphead's major flaw: while Mugman's got enough common sense to not risk gambling against the Devil, Cuphead can't resist the treasure he offers up, and damns their souls with his reckless betting.
 * Green Hill Zone: Inkwell Isle One has lots of pleasant grasslands and picturesque forests, as befitting of the game's first world. "Forest Follies" is also set in a lush, forested area and is far easier than the other Run 'n Gun stages.
 * Hair-Raising Hare:
 * Humongous Mecha: Dr. Kahl's Robot, a towering mechanical monstrosity that is so big that you only ever see its top half during his boss fight.
 * Interface Spoiler:.
 * Jackass Genie: Downplayed with Djimmi the Great: he doesn't grant wishes and isn't any morally worse than the other debtors, but he puts up a serious fight and is quite tricky for when you fight him.
 * King Mook:
 * Goopy Le Grande is a bigger, stronger version of the tiny slime enemies fought in the "Forest Follies" Run 'n Gun stage.
 * Rumor Honeybottoms is a gender-flipped variant: not only is she a literal example due to being a queen bee, but you have to fight tons of her bee minions during her boss fight.
 * Laughing Mad: During the final phase of his boss fight, Dr. Kahl belts out nonstop maniacal laughter while he showers you with projectiles.
 * Monster Clown: Beppi, a creepy clown who always has a deranged grin on his face. However, the ending reveals that when he isn't fighting for his life, he's more of a friendly Non-Ironic Clown who just happens to look creepy.
 * Nintendo Hard: The Moldenhauer brothers really wanted this game to emulate the difficulty of classic Run 'n Gun arcade games, and boy does it show. You can only take three hits before dying, there are no checkpoints, many late game bosses attack in Bullet Hell patterns, and even the easy ones are likely to kick your ass a few times.
 * Off With His Head: There is a ton of decapitation imagery in this game. Cuphead and Mugman are collecting Soul Contracts so the Devil won't take their heads (the "milk" inside them being their souls), and the game's theme song makes it clear that this is the consequence if they can't rise to his challenge. They'll also take off their heads during their super moves, and various bosses such as Baroness Von Bon Bon, Cala Maria, and even the Devil himself will take off their heads as part of their battle strategies.
 * One-Winged Angel: Some debtors gain a huge and imposing final form during the last phase of their boss fight: Hilda Berg turns into a robotic crescent moon, Grim Matchstick gains two extra heads, and among others.
 * Protection Mission: The mausoleum levels task you with protecting the Legendary Chalice from a legion of mobster ghosts. Keep her safe, and you'll be given a new super move for your troubles. Let them get her, and you lose.
 * Scary Black Man: While technically not a black man, King Dice's appearance and voice are meant to evoke black musicians from that era. And thanks to his love of inhuman deranged grins and his status as the Devil's right hand man, he's definitely got the "scary" part down to a science.
 * Seadog Beard: True to his stereotypical pirate aesthetic, Captain Brineybeard's got some impressively scruffy facial hair.
 * Sea Monster: Captain Brineybeard's ship comes to life during the last phase of his fight, and it looks less like a ship and more like a monstrous wooden narwhal.
 * Smug Snake: While a competent manipulator, the Devil's overconfidence screws him over when he refuses to listen to King Dice's warnings about how powerful Cuphead and Mugman are growing, and that they should kill them when they have the chance. Thanks to his arrogance, the Devil loses to the brothers and.
 * Tank Goodness: Werner Werman pilots a soup can tank during his boss fight.
 * Terrible Trio:
 * The Root Pack, which are a trio of gigantic vegetables consisting of an angry potato, a sad and scared onion, and a maniacally grinning carrot. As of the 1.2 update, there's a secret fourth member: a (relatively) tiny radish who looks even angrier than the potato.
 * Turns Red: All bosses change their patterns for the worse as the fight goes.
 * Vague Age: Cuphead and Mugman seem to be kids since they live with an elderly caretaker, but their gambling habits and moonshine powerups complicate things a bit. Though given their mischievous natures and their old-school cartoon world, underage gambling and drinking definitely isn't out of the question.
 * Villain Song: The Die House theme is a catchy tune that serves as this to King Dice.
 * Warmup Boss: While it's likely you'll die to them a few times before getting a hang of their attack patterns, the Root Pack and Goopy Le Grande are both incredibly simplistic foes that ease you into the game's mechanics well before the truly brutal opponents show up.
 * Wrong Side of the Tracks: Where the Devil's Casino is located, according to the storybook intro. Considering that the (intended) last boss before Inkwell Hell is the Phantom Express, this appears to be a literal example!
 * Wrong Side of the Tracks: Where the Devil's Casino is located, according to the storybook intro. Considering that the (intended) last boss before Inkwell Hell is the Phantom Express, this appears to be a literal example!