Nuzlocke Comics

"I believe this is all happening for a reason."

Nuzlocke Comics is a retelling of the author's playthrough of Pokémon Ruby, Pokémon FireRed, and Pokémon White. Seeking a new challenge, he decided to play the games with some additional rules.


 * First, he is only allowed to capture the first Pokémon he encounters on a route or location. If he fails to do so, tough beans.
 * Second, if a Pokémon faints, it is considered "dead" and released (Or boxed).

Through these rules, he found a new respect for Pokémon that he originally considered trash. The webcomic details his playthrough with more dramatic and comedic emphasis.

The comic itself has spawned many fan comics hosted on its site as well as becoming a popular Self Imposed Challenge among the Pokémon fandom.

Apart from the name of the comic and the nickname of the author, the original set of the rules is also known as Nuzlocke. The fans are encouraged to do the same, and the most widely accepted rules are: the original two, with the exception to the first one that if you have caught the first pokemon you encounter on the location, you're allowed to safely ignore it (this is to prevent the party being overloaded by Com Mons), same with shinies (because they are so incredibly rare you may not even see one); and last, but not least, you should nickname everything.

This comic provides examples of:
"Giovanni: Wait, what rules?!"
 * Anyone Can Die: Inherent in the After Action Report format.
 * Apocalyptic Log: As in the games, Ruby finds one about the creation of Mewtwo, narrated by Except he falls asleep during it.
 * Arc Words: "It's all happening for a reason."
 * Art Evolution: Compare any given recent chapter with the first one and dare to say there's no improvement.
 * Art Shift: A trademark visual of the main comic (which sometimes appears in the fancomics) is pokemon randomly taking on the facial features of characters from different series, primarily Lost. The name Nuzlocke comes from one such instance.
 * The Berserker: Buddy the Vileplume. Desmond the Mankey
 * Being Tortured Makes You Evil: Mewtwo, Lampshaded.
 * Big No: Used by the protagonist several times.
 * Bittersweet Ending: Most end this way, or with a Downer Ending.
 * Played straight in his Fire Red run,
 * Black Comedy: Hilbert  after Cheren and Bianca pushed him too far. They get over it quickly and adopt Ruby as their new BFF.
 * Blood Knight: Desmond the Mankey, who interprets the words "weaken" and "catch" as "kill" and "rape".
 * Misty really seems to enjoy battling, like Desmond.
 * Break the Cutie: Squirtle, along with Freudian Excuse.
 * Butt Monkey: All the Pokemon Ruby keeps in is PC only.
 * The Cameo: Most comics give a nod to others, often the original, but the original comic finally threw one in during Episode 26- the viewers of Ruby's battle include Hale, Robot, Nya, Kotone, Locke and a number of other popular forum comic leads.
 * The end of episode 31 gives us another -
 * Cerebus Syndrome: A lot of runs tend to start out goofy and lighthearted, frequently with No Fourth Wall, and then get darker as the plot thickens and cute fuzzy things get killed.
 * Creepy Child: Cheren and Bianca are so annoying they drive Hilbert to suicide. They are mostly unfazed when they find out, uttering only a quiet "oh darn" and lamenting that they now need to find a new best friend... To love forever.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Nearly all of Ruby's battles with Gary.
 * Darker and Edgier: Naturally, making the Pokemon die instead of faints creates this. However, it can sometimes veer into parody given how over the top it is.
 * And, as noted below, it's usually about equally dark with the Pokémon Special manga, so YMMV.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Sawyer the Pidgeot(to) has shades of this.
 * Didn't Think This Through: "What? It's really hot and everyone is dying? I don't understand...how could water be GOOD?"
 * Disney Villain Death: Sawyer loves pulling this one on Team Rocket mooks. Hell, he does to the same mook twice.
 * Downer Ending:
 * Failure Knight
 * Driven to Suicide: After showing up in Hilbert's house at the beginning of White: Hard Mode Ruby finds a Suicide note where he says he had to get away from "Them". Then finds Hilbert's hanged corpse in the closet.
 * Fantastic Racism: Ruby's new "friends" don't seem to think too well of Kanto.
 * Fire Forged Friends
 * Follow the Leader: Many other players made their own comics of playthroughs with these same rules with one or two added ones. This became known as the Nuzlocke Challenge.
 * Freudian Excuse: Parodied with . Played a little more straight with.
 * Funny Background Event: Look very closely in the stands of Kanto's stadium after Ruby defeats Lorelei. One of the signs reads "UPDATE FASTER."
 * In the news broadcast after Ruby beats Bruno, the newsticker at the bottom reads "Scientists yet to find slower source than Nuzlocke.com."
 * Grimmification: For Pokémon.
 * Depending On the Writer, most of the runs really are no darker than the Pokémon Special manga series.
 * Harder Than Hard: Especially when you add even more rules, such as never using items or never using Pokemon Centers.
 * Heel Face Turn:  seems to be pulling one off.
 * Heel Realization:
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Several of Ruby's pokemon give their lives to keep him safe in the more dangerous battles.
 * Hulk Speak: Bruno.
 * Hypocritical Humor: Erika only collects beautiful pokemon.
 * Incredibly Lame Pun: "I guess that makes you my "WING MAN."
 * Ironic Echo: "... That would be breaking the rules."
 * Incredibly Lame Pun: "I guess that makes you my "WING MAN."
 * Ironic Echo: "... That would be breaking the rules."


 * : Well then, you picked the wrong Pokemon.
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: Ruby himself.
 * Mood Whiplash: Many of the runs will poke fun at exaggerated character traits of trainers and general Fridge Logic, then hit you with a tragic death scene immediately after.
 * My Own Grandpa: Sort of. The reason Norman prefers pokemon to family is  Because of this, Ruby turned out the way he did, and would eventually end up taking the Nuzlocke challange, resulting in the events of the Ruby and Fire Red comic, which caused him
 * Repeated AGAIN with the same pokemon in the last part of the epilouge:  If only he knew...
 * Mythology Gag: In Epilouge 6, Blastoise finds
 * Nice Job Breaking It Hero: Part 31 reveals that  Also   And remember  ? Turns out that they were   and Ruby  . Oops.
 * In a more humorous version, the reason Norman considers Pokémon above his own family?
 * Nobody Calls Me Chicken: In season 3 Cheren implies Ruby isn't up for the challenge to get him to participate in the Unova leage.
 * Oh Crap: CRITICAL HIT!
 * Self-Destruct.
 * Pyrrhic Victory: Yeah, Ruby, but
 * Finale also counts,  But
 * The Lancer: Sceptile in season 1, Sawyer in season 2.
 * The Merch: Lampshaded in the comic "Nuzlocke Sells Out".
 * The Obi Wan: Nuzleaf.
 * Real Life Writes the Plot: The comic is based on the author's actual experiences in the game.
 * Retirony:
 * Running Gag: Ralph: "Man,they don't pay enough..."
 * Rule of Funny: Apparently, the only reason Nuzlocke made Ruby pick Oshawott as his starter in White.
 * Self Imposed Challenge: The idea behind the comic.
 * Sequel Hook: Used in most instances where a writer does multiple runs, to justify using the same character.
 * Shell Shocked Veteran: Lieutenant Surge.
 * Shout Out:
 * There are many, many Lost references throughout the comic. The author himself admits to being "a huge fan of ABC’s show LOST, to the point of obsession." The name of the comic itself consists of a Shout Out to Lost (Nuzleaf + John Locke).
 * The Fire Red arc also has a few references to The Dark Knight.
 * When Groudon is unleashed upon Hoenn, it cries "Ah! After ten thousand years I'm free! Time to conquer Earth!"
 * "Good Ruby" is likely a reference to Hank Hill's infant half-brother "Good Hank".
 * In the background of one of the Fire Red epilogue comics, The Creation Of Adam is done with Arceus.
 * Shut UP Hannibal: After Surge  and launches into a speech about how fighting makes them both feel more alive, Ruby cuts him off.
 * Spam Attack: MAGNITUDE
 * "Destiny Red" consists of a pokemon with a type advantage spamming an attack they get STAB from.
 * Ruby loves using Blast Burn.
 * The Stoner: Erika.
 * That Came Out Wrong: "Okay, Buddy... suck 'em dry."
 * The Power of Friendship
 * Too Dumb to Live: "GODDAMMIT RALPH!"
 * Took a Level In Badass: Buddy, quite literally. He started out as a hippie-like Oddish, but then Ruby shoved a Rare Candy, Leaf Stone, and a couple TMs down his throat...
 * Wham Episode: Episode 31... Oooh, boy.
 * Well Done Son Guy: One of Ruby's biggest reasons for taking the challenge is to impress his father, Norman, who always valued "Good-Ruby" the Slakoth/Vigoroth over him.
 * We Hardly Knew Ye: Every one of Ruby's Pokemon that dies from Poison.
 * Juliet the Spearow.
 * The Medicham he caught before the Elite Four.
 * Hugo the Snorlax, Keith the Hitmonlee, and the Unnamed Eevee and Ryhorn in a more humous exsample as Ruby leaves them in the box and gave the Eevee away and Hugo was only used once to move some boulders.
 * A rare human example would be Hilbert.
 * Who Names Their Kid Dude: Ruby wonders this about Hilbert... Until he looks in the closet.
 * You Should Have Died Instead: Appears rather often.
 * You Should Have Died Instead: Appears rather often.

Tropes seen in Hale's Emerald/Bern's Platinum Hard Mode:

 * Book Ends: "War... War never changes."
 * Freudian Excuse: One is provided for May's behavior.
 * Hypocritical Humor: The gate attendant at Amity Park refuses to let Bern take most of her Pokemon in. She proceeds to win a contest with Benzene and throw him/her/it at the attendant.
 * No Holds Barred Beatdown: Not only between pokemon, but between trainers as well.
 * Sequel Hook: One of the few multi-run comics that didn't use an obvious hook, with his Platinum run starring a different protagonist.
 * Shrinking Violet: The heroine of Platinum, Bern, starts out as this.
 * Shout Out: May's extreme expressions are reminiscent of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni.
 * Towards the end of the first storyline comes a huge homage to Neon Genesis Evangelion.
 * Hale's comic also shouts out Fate Stay Night (the classic "Are you my Master?" scene) and even Kuso Miso Technique.
 * In the sequel, Bern's name may be a reference to Umineko no Naku Koro Ni, though her personality isn't the same.
 * Part 5 of Bern's Platinum run has her catching (FINALLY) a male Shellos. The next scene is a Gender Flipped parody of one from Green Lantern, where Hal Jordan greets their newest recruit (a girl).
 * If characters named Mitch and Stella plus an abuser named Stanley aren't enough, then an obvious homage to the Skyward Scream makes it pretty clear Platinum is taking a couple cues from A Streetcar Named Desire.
 * Stupid Sexy Flanders: Upon seeing Juan for the first time, Hale becomes completely aware of why he has so many fangirls.
 * Yandere: May. This is also Deconstructed over the course of the strip as it shows why she's so psychotically possessive of Hale.

Tropes seen in Robotv7's Nuzlocke Challenges:

 * Bittersweet Ending: His first run ends with only left alive, and he gets called out on the cost of his quest.
 * Downer Ending: His Sapphire run. By the way, since Robot quit Nuzlocke forums, the last chapter was drawn by This Guy.
 * Jerkass: Robot himself.
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Skeets seems to be channeling the inherent fury of the Red Lanterns whenever one of his allies dies.
 * Shout Out: His comic is built upon references to The Protomen and Blackest Night.
 * His Wingull, Pchooooo, is a reference to the PCHOOOOO code in Homestuck
 * What the Hell Hero: During the climax of his first run, leading directly into his Sapphire run.

Tropes seen in Freddy's Nuzlocke Adventures:

 * Badass: Several of his pokemon, but props must be given to Connery, who.
 * Call Back: Frequent throughout his Blue Run.
 * Gamer Chick: Erika's all-female gym is depicted as a very snide, prideful group of these. His pokemon defeat them by going into Sincerity Mode and paying them compliments, and the ensuing Logic Bomb makes their heads explode.
 * Head Pet: Nibbles.
 * Multiple Head Case: Pierre.
 * Smoking Is Cool: Connery.
 * Where Are They Now Epilogue: Used at the end of his first run, with the twist of making the cast out as Animated Actors. Does not appear to be canon, as seen by  in his second run. The Blue run also makes use of this trope as well, and it is every bit as hilarious and probably non-canon as the first.
 * Where Are They Now Epilogue: Used at the end of his first run, with the twist of making the cast out as Animated Actors. Does not appear to be canon, as seen by  in his second run. The Blue run also makes use of this trope as well, and it is every bit as hilarious and probably non-canon as the first.

Nyachan's Nuzlocke Challenges provide examples of:

 * Bittersweet Ending: Notably,.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu: defeats . In one hit. Granted, that is a Pokemon with a reputation as a Physical God among players, but it was up against a freaking.
 * Downer Ending:
 * Ship Tease: Between Lily and Gary.
 * Shout Out: As a rule addendum in the Sapphire run, all Pokemon caught will be named after Personae
 * Theme Naming: All of the pokémon caught in the Pearl run are named after spices or other flavourings.
 * Time Skip: Between Pearl and Sapphire.
 * Tsundere: Gary develops into one.
 * Time Skip: Between Pearl and Sapphire.
 * Tsundere: Gary develops into one.

Tropes seen in Petty's Nuzlocke Run:

 * Anti Villain: Gary.
 * Art Evolution: "This is proof that anyone can improve something they never expected/intended to."
 * Art Shift: Petty puts animated videos on YouTube for the more touching moments of the run, including the epilogue.
 * Bifauxnen: Locke dresses and looks like the male player character, with flippy hair.
 * Big Bad:, at least in the LG comic. Unless the HG comic turns out to be very different from the game, the same character will probably end up as the Big Bad there too.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Lulu versus the entire Fighting Dojo, and later all of Bruno's pokemon. Also, Athena versus Silver's Chikorita.
 * The first thing that Weston (a Togepi) does upon being hatched in the HG comic? It completely obliterates a Onix with Metronome. The move it got? Judgement. Locke is understandably left speechless.
 * Darker and Edgier: Compare the earlier chapters to the later chapters.
 * Determinator: Both Locke and Gary
 * Heroic Sacrifice:  does this for.
 * Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Gary has shades of this. Despite the fact that he beats Locke to every gym and even  he just never achieves his real goal, even   And, of course, the only reason he tried was an attempt to get strong enough to defeat Locke.
 * Lethal Joke Character: Lulu the Butterfree. Lulu never got boxed and survived the Elite Four. Now do you think Butterfrees are useless?
 * And by "survived the Elite Four", we mean ate Bruno's Fighting-types for lunch.
 * And Agatha's Poison-Types, as well.
 * Mundane Utility: Rick the Voltorb/Electrode doubles as a music player. Each chapter he appears in also comes with "Rick's Playlist" featuring a relevant song.
 * Official Couple: Spuds and Barb, who are also a Battle Couple.
 * Rule of Cool: Spoken word for word when
 * Shy Blue Girl: Barb
 * There Is No Kill Like Overkill: The in-universe explanation for the death of Broseph the Graveler. In real life this happened due to a tragic misclick.
 * Time Skip: Officially stated to happen between LeafGreen and HeartGold, with three years between the two.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Barb again, especially when she
 * Trolling Creator: On April 1st of 2012, Petty claims to be ending the comic because she just doesn't have time anymore. (This after her updates have been getting less and less frequent for months.) Oh Petty, you sure are a stinker.
 * We Hardly Knew Ye: Simon the Dewgong, who appeared and died in the Sevii Islands update. He had a grand total of one panel.
 * And perhaps more importantly,, who had a huge fanbase after his first appearance and then promptly died to a cheap crit the very next comic.
 * Janice the Spearow, Locke's first casualty, died a few panels after she was captured.
 * Broseph the Graveler who appeared in a few panels and self-destructed himself.
 * The first death of HeartGold:, killed in the panel immediately after being named. Yikes.
 * Worthless Yellow Rocks: Barb's "paper collection".
 * The first death of HeartGold:, killed in the panel immediately after being named. Yikes.
 * Worthless Yellow Rocks: Barb's "paper collection".

Tropes seen in Saber's Nuzlocke run:
"Let me break this down for you. I'm . I'm a Gym Leader. One of the best. And I don't remember granting ANY of you permission to set foot in my city."
 * Action Girl: Candace the player character,
 * After the End: It's called "Apocalypse Johto". 'nuff said.
 * Anti Hero: Candace.
 * Anti Villain:, deconstructed when his methods are called out by.
 * Apocalypse How: Wild Pokemon everywhere suddenly become murderously violent and begin attacking tame Pokémon and humans. Calamity ensues. At least Class 0, possibly Class 1 depending on how widespread the change is.
 * The Apunkalypse: Some well-known characters are completely unrecognizable for their post-apocalypse makeovers.
 * Art Shift:
 * Badass
 * Badass Boast:  would like to give Team Rocket a little reminder...
 * Badass Boast:  would like to give Team Rocket a little reminder...

"Whitney: You know, in all the research I did on Team Rocket and Giovanni... I never figured out where exactly he gets geniuses like you to work for him."
 * Badass Bookworm: Professor Elm faces down a swarm of mad Spearow the first day of the change to buy Candace time to escape, and lies to her that he'll be okay.
 * Whitney of all people turns out to have done her homework on Team Rocket, to the point of being able to analyze Giovanni's plans to his face,.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Everybody who survived the change was basically forced to grind levels in badass until it leaked out of their ears. Or die.
 * Candace deserves special mention.
 * Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted, Candace gets a lot of really horrible-looking scars and keeps them. (contains spoilers)
 * As of the end of Volume 2, about half of Candace's body is covered in scar tissue. She's down to her underwear for a scene to show it off.
 * Biological Mashup:
 * Bunny Ears Gym Leader:
 * Character Development: Several characters are shown having changed drastically after the pokemon became dangerous. Some unexpected characters have cracked, taken levels in badass, or started playing hopscotch with the Moral Event Horizon.
 * Charles Atlas Superpower: Chuck is introduced giving a flying kick to a giant Corsola. He lost all his Pokémon and his wife in the aftermath of the change  and has been defending Cianwood by hand (and foot) ever since.
 * Cowardly Lion: Falkner develops into one.
 * Darker and Edgier: Manages to be more dark than many of the other runs simply by setting it at the end of the world, then going from there.
 * Deadpan Snarker:

"I'm going to stop the end of the world. And no one is going to get in my way."
 * Death By Adaptation: About half of Johto if you're using the Gym Leaders and totaled cities as a baseline. Casualty count in Kanto is unknown at present.
 * Determinator: Definitely Candace.

"Five cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a sprained wrist, three severe perforations causing nerve damage along my left forearm, countless lacerations, massive blood loss, and the lingering effects of a near-fatal dose of Pokémon venom.
 * Doomed Hometown: The prologue shows the destruction of New Bark Town.
 * Due to The Dead: Candace has her first ever loss,, tattooed on her left shoulder.
 * In Blackthorn City, we get a closeup (spoilers) revealing that she's similarly honored all her other dead Pokemon. (Visible tattoos, counterclockwise from top: ; not visible but implied:  )
 * Dying Moment of Awesome:
 * In the Prologue,.
 * Egopolis:  is renamed to, in honor of its 'defender'. It gets changed back once the tyrant falls.
 * Eldritch Abomination:  definitely fits the bill, as does.
 * Even Evil Has Standards:.
 * Fastball Special: Before it evolved and became too large for it, Candace was fond of doing this with her Totodile.
 * Lampshaded when Candace mentions this to Whitney and Whitney refuses to believe Riptide was ever that small (at the time they're having the discussion, he's about the size of a small office building).
 * Fan Nickname: Riptide Missile!
 * And now
 * From Nobody to Nightmare / Not So Harmless:  At Goldenrod City, we see a wild Abra Teleport a man's head off. In tender, loving detail.
 * Also,
 * Fan Nickname: The aforementioned Riptide Missile. Candace has also been referred to as Candy and Zangoose, and
 * Gray and Gray Morality: Not only are Candace's actions getting more and more violent, but
 * Heroic BSOD: Falkner has one after his father is killed in the change, and Candace slaps him out of it. Candace herself has one and is comforted by.
 * Hoist By His Own Petard:
 * This turns out to be Foreshadowing:
 * Humanoid Abomination: . Eventually revealed to be a psychic projection by , which is now awakening.
 * Frostbite the Jynx is a milder example, since she's not so much hostile as just (deliberately) creepy.
 * Human Popsicle: in Mahogany Town.
 * Hypocrite:
 * The leader of Team Rocket turns out to be massively hypocritcal, claiming that Candace must be killed because she's become something monsterous, and yet.
 * Impossibly Cool Clothes: Candace's boots.
 * In Series Nickname: Candycane and Zangoose for Candace,
 * Made of Iron: Candace, with hints of Iron Woobie. Seriously, would you keep going after this?
 * Impossibly Cool Clothes: Candace's boots.
 * In Series Nickname: Candycane and Zangoose for Candace,
 * Made of Iron: Candace, with hints of Iron Woobie. Seriously, would you keep going after this?

Three months recovery."


 * Many Spirits Inside of One / Powers Via Possession:
 * : Extra emphasis on that "the" right there.
 * Man Behind the Man:
 * Nice Job Breaking It Hero:
 * Only One Name: As of Blackthorn City, averted for Candace Ogawa.
 * Pokemon Motif: Team Rocket's ominous warnings about Candace compare her to a Zangoose, and the scarred side of her face roughly corresponds to a Zangoose's Facial Markings.
 * Power Born of Madness: The changed Pokemon are not only violently aggressive, but tremendously more dangerous.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Most of the remaining Gym Leaders seem to be reasonable, with the obvious exception of . Surprisingly,   is also pretty reasonable once he wises up to.
 * Relationship Upgrade: 's Shut Up Kiss to Candace causes them to become an item.
 * Shout Out: At least two to Star Wars, due to the author being a massive Star Wars geek (even his nickname, SABERinBLUE, is derived from Star Wars). Candace's Forretress has the nickname Death Star, and the title of chapter 4 is A Wretched Hive Badge.
 * New Bark Town's destruction by Spearow seems oddly reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.
 * Shut Up Kiss: delivers one to Candace during her Heroic BSOD.
 * Standard Female Grab Area: Justified; the grabber is.
 * She Who Fights Monster Pokemon: Candace is arguably as wild as the changed-over Pokemon by now, including
 * Story and Gameplay Segregation: The storyline of the comic differs tremendously from the actual gameplay of the Soul Silver game. Word of God is that cutscenes involving Ethan are awkward to play, since Ethan died with New Bark Town in the comic's storyline.
 * Word of God also says the author lost their notes on what happened in game a while back. No one would have noticed had it not been pointed out.
 * Time Skip: Every time Candace takes an attack that seems like it should kill her, the storyline skips a couple of months while she recovers. As of Blackthorn City, three or four years have passed since the change happened.
 * Unknown Rival: As much of a Jerkass the rival is, Candace is more concerned with . Compared to that (and the whole Apocalypse thing), he's hardly worth her time.
 * What the Hell Hero: Candace gives several, but the first is to.
 * Candace also gets a few.
 * Giovanni himself gets in on this when he calls out.
 * : This is a major part of  schtick, as it turns out.
 * Candace also gets a few.
 * Giovanni himself gets in on this when he calls out.
 * : This is a major part of  schtick, as it turns out.

Tropes seen in Kynim's Nuzlocke Runs:
"Cyrus: Behold... Dialgaga!"
 * Abusive Parents: Bianca's dad, who is misogynist and emotionally abusive to Bianca, and mentioned to be physically abusive to her mother. Upon hearing about the latter, Elesa escorts Bianca to the police station to report him to Social Services.
 * Heroic Sacrifice
 * Diamond Run:.
 * White Run:.
 * Keet: Zach, especially as an Oshawott.
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: Jordan is coined to be a "difficult" team member
 * Interspecies Romance: Amongst Nina's Pokemon, Laila the Petilil is totally dere for Zack the Dewott, Jojo the Darumakka and Rex/Rey the Sandile are pretty flirty Childhood Friends, and Jordan the Zebstrika has a soft spot for sweet Mimi, a Swoobat.
 * Parental Substitute: In all of the runs thus far, there has always been at least one team member who acts like a father/mother figure
 * Diamond Run: Killigan the Quagsire
 * White Run: Walter the Herdier,  Jojo the Darumakka
 * Gets a little more interesting with the recent reveal that
 * Sassy Gay Friend and Camp Gay: Haisi in Diamond Run and in White Run, Burgh/Arti
 * Ship Tease: Most notable in the White Run, where everything is shipped.
 * Laila is a Tsundere for Zach.
 * Jordan seems to have a soft spot for Mimi.
 * And in the Diamond run, Gohan and Shakti were totally not an item, according to the artist's notes on the omake comic featuring them. Tyrus's affections for Annie, however, were eventually reciprocated, as were Kynim's for Roark.
 * The White run's Q&A session included asking Nina whether she was more interested in Cheren or N. Hilarity ensued.
 * Shout Out: Too many to list.
 * Team Gaga in the Diamond run still stands out.
 * Shout Out: Too many to list.
 * Team Gaga in the Diamond run still stands out.

"Roses are red,
 * Stalker With a Crush: Lucas in the Diamond run, for Kynim. "How do you know my clothing sizes?!" Eventually Haisi hooks up with Lucas instead.
 * In the White Run, the role is given to N. Lampshaded in the credits, where he's billed as "Creepy Stalker", and in the Valentine's Day omake:

Violets are blue.

If a stalker asks you out,

What do you do?"


 * Stay in The Kitchen: Bianca's father is a real piece of work, and some of this has rubbed off on poor Bianca, especially at the beginning of the White run.
 * Byron's misogyny is played for laughs in the Diamond run, especially once Kynim gives him a taste of his own medicine and orders him to make her a sandwich after the fight.
 * Stealth Pun: Bianca speaks and behaves like she's from the Deep South, especially in the beginning. She's a Southern Bel.
 * Unknown Rival: In the Nuzlocke forums, the White run's N earned an award for "Best Extra". Enough said.
 * We Hardly Knew Ye: Kiki the Patrat
 * We Hardly Knew Ye: Kiki the Patrat

Nessa's Emerald Nuzlocke Challenge:
"Nessa: I just realized how much invisible information passed in front of my eyes."
 * Attack of the Fifty Foot Whatever: Jormundgar's closer to 80 feet, actually, fitting her namesake, but all of Nessa's Pokemon are way bigger than the pokedex entries for them. All of them except Thorn (a Lairon) are taller than Nessa, who is herself not particularly short at 5'11". In Jory's case, it's a bit of a problem-- because of her size, she's rarely let out of her pokeball.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Jormundgar has a Docile nature, but when push comes to shove... well, she's a Gyarados.
 * Cheerful Child: Solveig as a Swablu. Might still be, since she's still quite young chronologically.
 * Jerkass: Fenrir was not very friendly at first. He eventually mellows out... a little.
 * Magikarp Power: Fenrir was partnered with Jormundgar the Magikarp so he'd get a taste of this and learn not to bully other Pokemon. By the time Jory evolved, he'd bullied her into an Unstoppable Rage, and the lesson almost killed him.
 * Mysterious Past: Eysafjall,, and to a lesser degree Nessa herself. The latter eventually gives a summary of her background.
 * The Pollyanna: Solveig, so very much.
 * The Power of Friendship: Lampshaded and defied by Fenrir during the Q&A session when asked what the most important thing he's learned on the journey is. Instead, he considers "Don't annoy Magikarps" his most important lesson.
 * Put On a Bus: Vermundr was released into the wild during Beautifly mating season so he could raise a family.
 * Shout Out: For a training montage, Thorn performs an adaptation on "I'll Make A Man Out Of You". The writer admits it's not Thorn's usual style, but she couldn't leave it out.
 * Solveig joins the party after trying to nest in Fenrir's back fur, like Pussyfoot in Feed the Kitty.
 * Sopranoand Gravel: Several fans have said they want Solveig and Thorn to perform a duet. The writer has admitted that this would be awesome, but is unlikely to happen.
 * Strange Syntax Speaker: As a Marshstomp, like Yoda, Gismundr talked.
 * Theme Naming: Nordic names. Leads to a lot of Awesome McCoolname and the odd fan going "Wait, how do you pronounce that?"
 * Unwitting Pawn: Nessa eventually catches on that she's being used, but still doesn't know what for.
 * Theme Naming: Nordic names. Leads to a lot of Awesome McCoolname and the odd fan going "Wait, how do you pronounce that?"
 * Unwitting Pawn: Nessa eventually catches on that she's being used, but still doesn't know what for.


 * Vocal Dissonance: Thorn as a tiny wild Aron used his thundering voice to frighten others away from sections of the cave that seemed likely to collapse. He also sings (metal, of course).

Other fancomics include examples of:

 * A Father to His Men: Oftentimes, though not always, Nuzlocke pokemon will be fiercely loyal to their trainers, even by pokemon standards.
 * Ambiguous Gender: A few protagonists are this, but it is widely used in Para's Nuzlocke to the point where one of the most asked questions of the author is "What is Para's gender?"
 * A God Am I: In Landwalker's Nuzlocke Comic, Archie intends to use the red orb to  Complete with quoting Bible verses.
 * Oh, and then Watchmen.
 * May sasses back to the Bible verses with a few of her own. "You're not the only one who's ever read the Bible."
 * Bittersweet Ending: Kai's run ends with all her Pokemon apparently alive. They leave her while she sleeps, noting that it would be too dangerous for her to follow them. It ends as a Shout Out to Inception.
 * Crossover - Occasionally, the authors will let each other's characters appear in the comics, sometimes going as far as Shipping them with each other.
 * Also, Amastroph's and Petty's comics include 'mon cameos from Pokémon Quartz.
 * Death By Adaptation: Almost every nuzlocke comic have Gary's Raticate dead.
 * Depending On the Writer: What is Nuzlocke? Does the term have any meaning within the world itself? Is it a Self Imposed Challenge, a curse, or simply an unnamed rule of the world?
 * Can trainers understand what their pokemon are saying? If so, how? Can only some of their pokemon communicate with them, via human speech or telepathy, or can all of them speak freely?
 * Gender Bender: Ara, the artist, is a guy. Mouthing off in response to the "are you a boy/girl" question got him turned into a girl at the beginning of his Pearl run. However, when Ara turns "back" into a guy for his Black run, he looks more like a genderbent version of girl!Ara than he does like actual Ara, which has confused some people into thinking the girl form is correct and the first genderbend was just a joke.
 * Green Thumb: It's common for Red/Blue/Fire Red/Leaf Green Nuzlockers to choose Bulbasaur as their starter. In the comic, it may be justified as the character thinking it's cute or favoring grass types in general, but strategically speaking, it is the best to start with when you want to make a run with as few casualties as possible, since it has a type advantage against the first two gyms. And its Poison typing gives it an immunity to poisoning.
 * Subverted HARD in Gold/Silver/Crystal/HG/SS runs. You'll be hard-pressed to find a Nuzlocke that has a player choosing Chikorita. The poor grass type has a type disadvantage against BOTH the first two gyms. Really, if you counted, Cyndaquil is by-and-large the most popular starter for Johto with Totodile as a close second. Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald nuzlockers usually prefer Torchic and Mudkip (the latter for its memetic status). However, the aversion to grass types isn't as egregious in Gen 3 as it is in Johto.
 * Heroic Mime: In Land-walker's Yellow Nuzlocke Comic, Red actually has a justification for not speaking.
 * One Pidgey Limit: Some comics will have a "Dupe Clause" in the rules, which will allow them to catch another Pokemon on the route if they already have one from a previous route. For plot and gameplay purposes, it makes sense to not have three or four of the same Pokemon.
 * Perspective Flip: Blue: The Other Guy's Story flips the roles of The Hero and The Rival.
 * Playing With Fire: Fire-types tend to be popular starters outside of the first gen and remakes thereof. Especially in Sinnoh, where decent Fire-types are rare otherwise and quite handy.
 * Rocks Fall Everybody Dies: Amastroph's Platinum run ends with Dlelewhoop the Kricketune murdering everybody and becoming Dennis (Genesect), destroyer of worlds.
 * Tomato in The Mirror: In Colonel Darren's Time and Space Journey comes The Reveal that.
 * Wham Line: From Kotone's Nuzlocke adventure