Parappa the Rapper

"I gotta believe!"

- Parappa's motto

"Leave it to Lammy!"

- Lammy's motto

Released at Halloween of 1997 in the US, Parappa the Rapper was a Play Station rhythm game. The main point of the game was to follow the adventures of a rapping puppy named Parappa who attempted to improve himself in order to impress the girl he had a crush on. How did he do this? By rapping his way to glory, of course!

The game worked like this: Every stage would have one character who would rap a song and ask you to perform certain tasks, like kicking, punching, turning, signaling, flowing, selling, etc. in time with the music. You would hit a button at the right moment as indicated on a bar at the top of the screen. Effectively, it was a video game version of Simon. Do well and you could make it through the song; do too badly and you would have to try again.

BUT, the rap twist was that during gameplay, Parappa could deviate heavily from the "teacher", creating his own twisted yet awesome string of button mashes and random sentences, and STILL SCORE POINTS. In fact, by creating original lines that were synchronized with the rhythm and beat of the teacher's lines, the player could access freestyle-mode, which allowed the player to go Ax Crazy on the controller, make Parappa look like a superhero doped on crack, and get better endings.

It was a very short and simple game, but the unique premise and the unbelievably catchy songs made it an instant cult classic. The game is still highly regarded today, with a 88% on Gamerankings.

Parappa produced a spinoff in 1999 called Um Jammer Lammy, which was essentially the same thing, but with more songs and a girl in a garage rock band called MilkCan. A sequel was released on the PlayStation 2 which once more focused on Parappa (but with cameos from the MilkCan members), but was widely considered to be inferior.

PaRappa has appeared in other media as well. There was also an Anime of the Game, but it only lasted two seasons. Before the anime debuted, the game's illustrator has created a series of comic books that are decidedly more true to the game than the anime. The anime can be viewed on YouTube. You can view the comics here, or you can be purchase a meatspace copy here or here.

On April 26, 2012, Parappa was announced as a playable inclusion in Play Station All-Stars Battle Royale.

Pretty much every Rhythm Game created, from Dance Dance Revolution to Guitar Hero to Beatmania, owes at least a little to Parappa, if only for starting things off.

Both Parappa and Um Jammer Lammy examples

 * Aerith and Bob: Characters with some rather out-there names (such as PaRappa, Ma-San, and Chop Chop) exist alongside more reasonably-named people (such as Katy, Sunny, and Joe).
 * Amazing Technicolor Wildlife
 * Ambiguous Gender: It is unknown who Jet Baby's gender is. In PaRappa 1, "The Jet Baby Theme Song" refers to the song's title character as a "she", but when Parappa and his friends walk out of the movie theater, they refer to said character as a "he".
 * Arc Words: "Dojo, casino, it's all in the mind."
 * "I GOTTA BELIEVE!"
 * Animal Gender Bender: The first Parappa game featured a female moose with antlers, as well as the sequel.
 * It's even weirder in Um Jammer Lammy, which not only featured a female lamb with horns, but also a female ram. You'll see the what's weird about it if you Google "Ram".
 * Animals Lack Attributes: Despite being animals, only Katy has a tail showing.
 * People on Deviant ART (especially Thomas Fay Syndicate) have a knack for giving Parappa a tail.
 * Animate Inanimate Object: Only in PaRappa Town can a onion teach you kung-fu.
 * Bare Your Midriff: Katy Kat's usual outfit features this.
 * Big Eater: PJ Berri.
 * Bizarrchitecture: Too give you a good idea of how interesting PaRappa Town's architecture is, the game's illustrator is an abstract artist.
 * Call Back: Each of the games starts with the characters watching a movie (usually involving "Jet Baby") with the same weird monster. Then, before the first level starts, they go to "Chunky Burger." In UJL, they even take the exact same dialogue for the bully characters who come in as when they did in the first game.
 * Creator Cameo: Rodney Greenblat, the character designer of the series, has off-and-on cameo appearances throughout the games, most noticeably as a television reporter in PaRappa 2, but also as the basis for the name of "Rodney State" where the characters live, and the singer of the "Jet Baby" song at the beginning of PaRappa 1. Also, in a bonus scene from Um Jammer Lammy, Ma-San is typing a letter to "Mr. Matsuura" (Masaya Matsuura is one of the game's creators).
 * Downloadable Content: The PSP rerelease of Parappa has downloadable alternate versions of the original 5 songs, while Um Jammer Lammy was released for download on the Play Station Store.
 * Egopolis: Parappa Town is inexplicably named after... take a guess.
 * In what can be considered an inversion of One Steve Limit, Word of God states that the city is named after another PaRappa. It's actually a pretty popular name in the PaRappa Universe.
 * In a Creator Cameo version, Parappa Town is in "Rodney State," after Rodney Greenblat.
 * Feather Fingers: Mostly averted. Nearly all PaRappa characters have humanlike hands regardless of species, including frogs, octopi, and even plants. Interestingly, Cheap Cheap Chicken is one of the few characters, if not the only character, with appendages appropriate for her species, but she seems to be able to manipulate objects just as easily as any human-handed Funny Animal.
 * Four Legged Insect: Averted Trope. All the insect characters have two sets of arms.
 * Furry Fandom: Being set in a world populated by Funny Animals, this was inevitable.
 * It became even more inevitable with the arrival of Lammy.
 * Heroic Chin: Joe Chin has this.
 * Letting the Air Out of The Band: Every time you fail a level.
 * Lions and Tigers And Humans Oh My: Actually, it was more like, "Lions and Tigers and Humans and Inanimate Objects... Oh, My!"
 * Memetic Outfit / Nice Hat: PaRappa's beanie hat, which he never takes off. What PaRappa looks like underneath his hat is such a such a popular topic, that an entire WMG has been dedicated to the question.
 * Older Than They Look: PaRappa and his friends have child-like appearances, but Word of God says that they're around twenty.
 * Paper People
 * Rule Thirty Four: PaRappa and Sunny's sex life seems to be a pretty popular topic...
 * Serious Business: The inhabitants of PaRappa Town sure do seem to be into rapping.
 * Lampshaded at the beginning of Um Jammer Lammy; Lammy was late for her concert because the people wanted to rap for the bathroom, and she only plays guitar.
 * Simon Says Mini Game: The entire game can be described as a rythmic version of Simon.
 * Sprite Polygon Mix: Used for stylistic purposes. See Paper People.
 * Vague Age: The main cast tends to look and act somewhat childlike, yet Parappa is apparently old enough to drive.
 * Variable Mix: When you start screwing up, so does the music.
 * Widget Series: Parappa may be a little nuts, even by Japanese standards, but Um Jammer Lammy dives nose-first into full-blown widget territory.

Parappa- only examples
""Some questions are best left unanswered.""
 * Ascended Extra: General Potter only had non-speaking role as Sunny's father in the first game. But in the sequel, he plays a key role in the story.
 * Award Bait Song: "Come A Long Way" from the second game might count.
 * Boss Rush: The first game's fifth involves engaging the four mentors from the other songs in a rap battle in order to get to the toilet. The sixth level in Parappa 2 had a similar premise, with you facing off with the five mentors in a 16-bit video game.
 * Carrying a Cake: Poor, poor Parappa. Though it's probably just as well--Sunny might have found the design a little offensive.
 * Confusing Multiple Negatives: "I ain't got no time for nobody."
 * Don't Try This At Home: In the 5th stage of the second game, this text is shown in brackets at the beginning section of the level.
 * Downloadable Content: The PSP rerelease has downloadable alternate versions of the original 5 songs.
 * Dummied Out: In the PSP release, PJ Berri and Katy Kat's order of "a chocolate frosty" at the burger restaurant becomes "a chocolate ...", possibly because of trademark issues with the Wendy's Frosty.
 * Ears As Hair: Rare plant variation. Apparently, Sunny Funny's petals are her "hair". They can even be somehow.
 * Expy: Instructor Moosesha in Parappa 2 is an Expy of her sister, Inspector Mooselini, from the first game, who is neither mentioned by name nor shown.
 * Foreshadowing: In Parappa 2, if Parappa messes up a segment, Beard Burger Master's son is seen laughing from a corner with a strange machine.
 * Friend to All Children: Discussed by Rodney Greenblat in his "The Jet Baby Theme Song": "When Jet Baby loves, / She loves all of the children."
 * Frothy Mugs of Water: Only in the U.S. version of PaRappa 2, Stage 1, even though Beard Burger Master's voice says, "You better get in line!" while his lips say, "Taste better than wine!", which was in the Japanese and European versions.
 * Justified in Stage 7, in any version of PaRappa 2, when raps, "Noodles are the best, no doubt, can't deny, taste better than water, but don't ask me why," in a nod to 's "Taste better than wine" lyric (Japan/Europe version only),.
 * G Rated Sex: There was an entire level in the sequel where PaRappa practices "Romantic Karate".
 * Incredible Shrinking Man / Attack of the 50 Foot Whatever: Parappa and Guru Ant alternate between growing and shrinking in the second game's third level.
 * Insect Gender Bender: Guru Ant is almost definitely male, based on his Barry White-esque voice.
 * Interspecies Romance: Parappa's a dog who has a crush on a flower named Sunny. An animal is in love with a plant. According to Word of God, PaRappa could actually have children with Sunny. God only knows what their kids would look like.
 * Word of God also put it best:

- Rodney Alan Greenblat

"Hairdresser Octopus: "Hey, take that stupid hat off. What does it look like in there?"
 * Interestingly, in one of the RodneyFun comics, Parappa mentions wanting to "have many babies" with Sunny.
 * Kirk Summation: The entire 7th level of PaRappa 2 was about Parappa trying to convince Colonel Noodle that there are many excellent foods in the world that would be lost if they if he turned everything into noodles.
 * Limited Wardrobe: Lampshaded:

PaRappa: "Aaa, I'm not sure myself.""


 * No Biochemical Barriers: Word of God states that PaRappa, a dog, and Sunny, a flower, are sexually compatible, and could conceive a child.
 * There's at least one Fan Fiction where they do.
 * Old Master: Chop Chop Master Onion.
 * Omnicidal Maniac: To an extent in the sequel. Bad guy Colonel Noodle wanted to transform everything just to satisfy his undying love for noodles.
 * Potty Emergency: First game, level 5 "Full Tank". A That One Boss moment, though technically it's four. Turns into (implied) Potty Failure if you fail the level. Albeit... strangely.
 * Real Song Theme Tune: In the intro to the fourth stage right after the "I gotta believe" part, when the announcer is announcing Cheap Cheap's cooking show, a snippet of "Tijuana Taxi" by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (played in a slightly slower tempo) can be heard.
 * Retraux: The sixth level in PaRappa 2 is a 16 -bit video game game. Or if you're doing badly, 8-bit. Or if you're doing REALLY badly, a freaking Atari 2600 on an Oscillascope display.
 * Rich Bitch: Joe Chin.
 * Shrink Ray: The unmodified de-noodlizer in PaRappa 2 can shrink or enlarge characters (including Parappa) when a certain character presses the button on its remote control, even with help from the Guru Ant, of course.
 * Sunny Sunflower Disposition: Sunny Funny. Bright and cheerful, and also wanting adoration.
 * Suspiciously Similar Song: In PaRappa 1, "Parappa's Live Rap With MC King Kong Mushi" sounds a little like the rap version of "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
 * The cinema before the fourth level includes a short ditty that sounds remarkably like the song "Tijuana Taxi".
 * The driving lesson song is a pretty blatant ripoff of "Turtles Have Short Legs" by Can.
 * Stop Helping Me: Boxy Boy's tutorials in PaRappa 2, which interrupt cutscenes and can't even be turned off for the experienced players.
 * The Television Talks Back: There was an entire level in Parappa The Rapper like this.
 * Token Human: The first game was originally going to feature one named Pony Pony.
 * Transformation Ray: The Noodlizer, a Ray Gun that can turn anything into noodles, including burgers, guitar strings, and even noodles.
 * Updated Rerelease: The first Parappa the Rapper game got a rerelease on the PSP.

Um Jammer Lammy-only examples

 * All Natural Snake Oil: In a non-greenwashing example, but the same principle, Joe Chin markets his laptop computer as being "Theft-proof". This is true, because it's the size of a whole room!
 * Another Side Another Story: Beating the main game lets you play remixed versions of the songs as Parappa!
 * Balloon Belly: This was actually a plot point in Um Jammer Lammy. After level 2, Lammy eats so much pizza she's Mistaken for Pregnant by a nurse caterpillar with a vomiting problem who thinks Lammy is in labor. Lammy digests the pizza after being dragged into the maternity ward, so the nurse realizes that Lammy wasn't pregnant, but she insists that Lammy should rock the babies to sleep.
 * Banana Peel:
 * Berserk Button: Annoy Ma-San too much and she'll mess you up.
 * Bonus Feature Failure: For whatever reason, Ma-San's little personal movies after the credits, as well as those viewed through Parappa's storyline, have a seriously choppy framerate and subpar sound mixing, presumably to fit them on the disc without sacrificing the overall picture quality for all the FM Vs. It's enough to make you think your disc is defective until you see that they're the same way in the PSN Store's downloadable version.
 * Bowdlerise: Um Jammer Lammy famously had an entire level's setting changed for the US release. Originally, her sixth stage takes place in Instead, Sony had her  This also affected a song lyric for Chop Chop Master Onion in the first stage.
 * Also, the original version of Paul Chuck's stage had him singing/rapping about "chopping down trees just for fun." However, the lyrics were toned down in both Lammy's and Parappa's versions of the song in the U.S. release. Maybe these people didn't want kids to mess with Mother Nature.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall: If you fail Stage 6, Teriyaki Yoko will break out of the ground and order you to start over, saying Lammy should be banned from every game, to she will ask if she means the one she's already in as well
 * In addition, at the start of the original version, when she sees she has died and gone to Hell, Lammyy will say that means the game is over, and comment on how stupid that is
 * Call a Smeerp A Rabbit: Word of God says she's a lamb; she looks more like a goat or fawn.
 * The original Lammy sketches looked a lot more lamb-like, but the game company wanted Lammy to look like a cool college girl.
 * In this concept art for one of them looks like a jogger and several of them look a bit like poodles. Then they found the right one...almost.
 * Chainsaw Good: In the fith stage has Lammy and Paul Chuck carving a guitar with an chainsaw to Rock-A-Billy.
 * Continuity Nod: In the first level, Lammy is late for her own concert and is desperately trying to think of a good excuse; Specifically, having a Potty Emergency when everyone in line for the bathroom wants to out-rap her. Which she then immediately dismisses.
 * Everything Is an Instrument: Everyting is a guitar to be precise. Lammy can use Mind Over Matter on anything to use it as a guitar. Including fire hoses, babies, airplane controls, and chainsaws. Yes, chainsaws.
 * Evil Counterpart: Rammy
 * Fake Band: MilkCan.
 * Fission Mailed: The intro to the stage (in the Japan and Europe versions):
 * Funny Answering Machine: "Hiii. This is Lammy? I can't come to the phone right now, b-b-b-because the MilkCan l-l-live show is coming up real soon, and I'm not really ready for it, b-b-but Katy, Ma-san and I have spent our last time in the studio, and my solo's not really the way I want it to be, so I kept practicing and it turned out to be okay! Anyways, leave your name and a b-b-brief message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible, okay? Bye-bye!"
 * Furry Confusion: Not seen in-game, but the credits song "Keep Your Head Up" has Lammy sing about taking the dog for a walk at one point...
 * Hypocritical Humor: In the cinemas in-between PaRappa's levels, an ad for Joe Chin's Foundation for Natural Preservation is shown. After the level is beaten, the very next cinema is an ad for Joe Chin's chainsaws, which is able to chop down whole trees.
 * Killer Rabbit: Ma-San.
 * Medium Awareness: If you screw up on Teriyaki Yoko's level on Um Jammer Lammy, she'll say "Start all over! You should be banned from every game," and Lammy will respond, "From every game?? Even this one?????" Same goes for Parappa's screw-up on said level, when Parappa responds, "But... but.... but.... ha......"
 * New Game Plus: Beating the game's seven levels unlocks the option to play with Parappa, either separately or co-op with Lammy.
 * Non Mammal Mammaries: Cathy Piller. As if she wasn't freaky enough.
 * Planet Heck: The second-to-last level (at least in the Japanese and European versions).
 * Raymanian Limbs: The character Cathy Piller is shown to have raymanian segments when viewed form the side.
 * Recurring Riff: "Parappa's End Roll in G Minor" is a bit of a Tear Jerker version of "Thank You for Everything", the ending song from PaRappa 1. Only in the Japan and Europe versions, though. (The full version can be heard in the original soundtrack for Um Jammer Lammy.)
 * Red-Headed Heroine: Lammy.
 * Scare Chord: Parappa's rendition of "Taste of Teriyaki" has several piano ones throughout.
 * Speech Impediment: See the above example? Lammy really does stutter that much.
 * Spin Off: Um Jammer Lammy, where Parappa could be unlocked as a playable side character.
 * Split Personality: Captain Fussenpepper flips between Drill Sergeant Nasty and a doddering old man whenever he gets hit on the head.
 * Lammy herself is a borderline example. She's normally a neurotic mess, but she becomes much more confident and capable when she has her guitar (or if she can imagine having it).
 * Stealth Insult: If you fail the last level, Katy Kat provides this little gem:
 * Stylistic Self Parody: The paper-thin art style is parodied in UmJammer Lammy, when Lammy gets faxed at one point.
 * Which brings up some Fridge Logic. Couldn't Lammy have just faxed herself to the concert in the first place?
 * According to the game illustrator, she could, but the original stays home.
 * It was spoofed again in a cutscene when Parappa asked Sunny if he could see how a dress looked from the side..
 * Tareme Eyes: A handful of UmJammer characters have eyes like this.
 * This Is Unforgivable: Rammy demands a guitar duel (2-player mode) because she doesn't get any calls on her beeper.
 * Unknown Rival: Rammy towards Lammy.
 * Visual Pun: In the 3rd level you are literally "Rocking" a baby to sleep.
 * Violation of Common Sense: Need to put out a burning building? Play the hose like a guitar! Need to put hundreds of babies to sleep? Play one of them like a guitar! Flying a plane? Play the steering wheel like a guitar! Cutting down a tree? Play the Chainsaw Good like a... take a guess!
 * Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Cathy Piller is always puking weird pink vomit as she talks, much to Lammy's dismay.
 * Check it out in all its chunky, oozing glory.
 * X Ray Sparks: These show up when you do poorly on Terriyaki Yoko's stage and get electrified. Even the little frog face on Parappa's hat seems to be affected.

Anime-only examples

 * Animated Adaptation: Parappa The Rapper gained an anime series that lasted for 30 episodes in 2001. It has nothing to do with rapping, nor does it utilize the series' famous "paper-thin" appearance. Lammy and Ma-San are also absent.
 * It's quite popular on the internet, though.
 * It's also totally insane.
 * Christmas Episode: "A Heart Is the Pass!" Also counts as a Heartwarming Moment.
 * Fantastic Voyage Plot: In one episode ("Did You Say You Didn't Sleep?!"), Parappa's friend PJ gets infected by a virus, which causes him to grow into a giant every time he eats. This causes Parappa and his friends to get absorbed into his body and get rid of the virus in order to turn him back to normal.
 * Mister Seahorse: There was one episode where the characters mistakenly believe that this happened to PaRappa. It's that kind of show.
 * Put On a Bus: If they had decided to let Lammy, Ma-San, or at least Joe Chin appear in the anime, it might have lived to see America.

Rodney Fun Comic Collection-only examples

 * Acid Reflux Nightmare: Happens to PJ in the first book.
 * Lethal Chef: Sunny Funny in second book, nearly literally around the end (keep reading). When Sunny forgets to buy the ingredients she needs, she decides to improvise. Needless to say, none of Sunny's guests would touch it. (Except for PJ) As for the dessert, well... Flaming Dynamite Strawberry Shorthand Onion Cake, anyone?
 * No Smoking: Averted Trope. Both PaRappa's dad and Mr. Prince Fleaswallow are seen smoking on separate occasions.
 * Those Two Guys: The squirrel and the rabbit in the second book.