Klay World



"What did the robot... say to the centipede?"

Klay World is a series of stop-motion Claymation videos by Robert Benfer (AKA Knox). They showcase a group of clay people (usually blue, but other colors aren't uncommon) and their antics atop the table that is their world. It's generally regarded as the codifier of internet claymation comedy, and most subsequent similar works tend to follow the same pattern.

There's usually at least one death per episode. At most, it numbers in the tens. Some of the earlier ones were pretty graphic, giving the Klaymen internal organs that spilled out when they got ripped in half. The later ones toned it down a notch, but you still shouldn't watch if you're really squeamish.

Has a straight-to-DVD film.

"Klayman 1: Wait, why is this a problem? Klay people die all the time.
 * Amusing Injuries: All the time!
 * Berserk Button: Don't take the Newspaper Monster's newspaper.
 * Big Bad: In KlayWorld: Off The Table, King Womp is this.
 * In the six-part series "Knox's Klay World", this role is played by a "monster" . In a fun bit of fourth-wall breakage, a Klayman explains exactly why the Monster is such a problem:

Klayman 2: Yeah, but... Y'know how, when the animation's over and the replay button pops up, the dying usually stops? Well, the thing about the Monster is, he keeps on killing after the animation's over."


 * A helpful "KILLING DURING ANIMATION: GOOD/KILLING AFTER ANIMATION: BAD" diagram even pops onscreen.
 * Big Damn Movie: Klay World: Off the Table
 * Dangerously Genre Savvy: Related to the Murderer, who is a recurring plot element (plot?!) in a few later animations. In this video, three Klaymen use the murderer's Catch Phrase ("I'm a murderer!" said in a delighted tone) to identify him..
 * Deadly Doctor: Dr. Bob tries to help, but his remedies are often less-than effective.
 * Fantastic Racism: ... Well, sort of. There was a two-part animation involving the green and red Klaymen trying to join the blues' Klay City (which apparently exists, never being spoken of before or since) and getting excluded violently.
 * Hoist By His Own Petard:
 * Insane Troll Logic: The Trapper tries to get someone to stand on a big X because "X is only a one letter word." It very nearly works.
 * Kill'Em All: In Klay World: Off the Table, 95% of the cast dies. Mr. Black died in an accident (trying to run over Chip), Almost every Klayman on Klay World (killed various ways), Smiling Gary (was run over), all of the Aliens (die various ways), Marv (head sliced apart by King Womp), Vince (head destroyed by King Womp), the Armless Guy (smashed apart by one of the Aliens), the Long-Armed Guy (Smashed together by Rick), Rick (impaled on a flag), the Ax Guy (ax ripped out of his face by Dr. Bob), the news anchor (thrown off the table), Dr. Brown (head smashed off by King Womp), and one of the Cavemen at the beginning of the movie (shocked), leaving the only survivors being Chip, Pick, and Dr. Bob. (Everybody was resurrected except for Mr. Black, Vince, Smiling Gary, the armless guy, the Ax Guy, the long armed guy, the news anchor, the Aliens, Rick, Marv, and the caveman.) On an even more depressing note, Marv and Rick were the only Klaymen to reappear after the movie, making the others permanently dead.
 * Killed Off for Real: In the movie, Mr. Black, Vince, Smiling Gary, the Aliens, one of the Caveman, a News Anchor, the long armed guy, the armless guy, and the ax guy. (Marv and Rick were killed in the movie, but reappeared in the series.)
 * Mouse World: Klayworld is actually just a table in some guy's bedroom. Every now and then a human hand shows up, so there are humans. And The Movie was entirely about them leaving the table and exploring the outside.
 * Planetville: Klayworld is actually just a table in a guy's bedroom. Their idea of space travel is simply visiting other tables in other houses. It doesn't work out too well.
 * Only Sane Man: Chip, in Off the Table, is one of the first Klaymen to be introduced who isn't mind-numbingly stupid or a complete sociopath (He's still whiny and irrational at times though). He frequently laments the idiocy of the other Klaymen.
 * Police Are Useless: One officer did nothing as a Klayman was being kidnapped because he was entranced by a shoe. The police are also frequently shown as trigger-happy and irate.
 * Smurfette Principle: The Klaymen were considered pretty much a Single Gender Species, and explained why all the manly voiced characters would randomly fall in love with each other and have romances. Until the movie introduced a female klayman. Meaning that there is such thing as girl Klaymen, it's just that it's also a Cast Full of Gay.
 * In one episode, there's a manly-voiced Klayman named 'Melissa'. So it might be that most female Klaymen just don't look/sound much different than males.
 * Strange Minds Think Alike: In the episode "Klay Kamping", two different Klaymen figure out the humor in a joke. "What did the robot say to the centipede? Stop being a centipede." Apparently, it's funny because the robot "ain't got no arms."
 * Super Drowning Skills: In the episode "Glass of Water" several Klaymen drown in a small puddle from a spilled glass of water in a matter of seconds.
 * And then they suffocate under a wet rag barely any bigger than their face after actively sitting down and putting it over their face.
 * The Movie: Klay World: Off The Table tells of what happens when the clay men decide to go off the table.
 * Too Dumb to Live: Pretty much all of the Klay People are stupid enough to qualify for some form of ridiculous death. See the Glass of Water example above. There are relatively smarter Klaymen mixed in, though. But overall, if the Table is a planet, then Too Dumb To Live is its hat.
 * Pancake Mines seems to be a most triumphant example of this trope.
 * You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry: Hulky says this word-for-word before somebody takes him up on the challenge. Averted in that he actually gets smaller, weaker, and perhaps stupider when he gets mad. Oh, and green..

"It's funny, 'cause the robot ain't have no arms."