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.


 * Adaptational Badass: Inverted in three cases.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * Adaptational Jerkass:
 * Game Porkrind is an 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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 soul and restore it to the cup's body.
 * Butt Monkey: Poor, poor Elder Kettle. 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,.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: The table-reading for "The Devil's Pitchfork," an upcoming season two, episode, shows that mocking the Devil for a long time is not a good idea.
 * Enfant Terrible: Baby Bottle. He suckers you in with his cutesy demeanor, and then raises all hell when your guard is down.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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:
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.