Brawl in the Family/Characters
Tropes pertaining to the many Nintendo characters (and others) as they appear in Brawl in the Family.
Main Characters
Kirby
A happy, adventurous, and voracious little puffball from the game series of the same name. Sort of the unofficial protagonist of the comic. He sees just about every other character as his friend or snack.
His personality remains practically the same as the anime's rendition, however Kirby has gained the ability to talk and fails to eat as much (after the first 50 comics or so, at least).
- Adorkable: Sometimes in the comics that show him and Jigglypuff together. "Table Etiquette" is a good example.
- Big Brother Instinct / The Chessmaster: Got Meta Knight banned for the sole sake of keeping Dedede safe.
- Cheerful Child: A male variation, if you interpret Kirby as a child.
- Deadpan Snarker: Occasionally. For example, during the "A Mushroom Kingdom Carol" arc:
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Mario: Gee, there sure are some ugly people here. |
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- The Hero
- Extreme Omnivore: Naturally.
- Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: He can tell really scary stories, see Take Our Word for It below.
- Take Our Word for It: His turn at the scary story Round Robin. It must've been horrifying, if the others' reactions are a clue.
- The Quiet One: Zig-zagged; he alternates between talking as much as other characters, talking very little (such as saying only one word in a strip), and not talking at all.
- Visual Pun: He ate a Gordo and now he's gordo. Meta Knight lampshades it before it even happens.
King Dedede
The self-proclaimed ruler of Dreamland and Kirby's rival. He always wants to "get" or otherwise inconvenience Kirby or someone else. This rarely works for him.
Dedede keeps the Jerkass personality from the anime, however here he comes off as close friends to Meta Knight, Kirby, and Adeleine; a Call Back to Crystal Shards, where the last two were partners. A 10-Part comic, Cocoon Academy, reveals that he and Meta Knight were friends when they were children, which explains why Meta Knight never did anything to stop Dedede.
- The Big Guy: Most of the time, especially in Return to Dreamland comics.
- Butt Monkey, when Luigi's not around.
- Deadpan Snarker: He does this more than anyone else, although to be fair, Meta Knight isn't around half the time.
- Drop the Hammer
- Disproportionate Retribution: Apart from eating everything, no one's sure why Dedede's after Kirby; apart from regular bouts and game-wise Brawling. As for Christmas, he steals everything from the Brawlers for the same reason the Grinch did... every year.
- Enemy Mine: Tries to pull this with Meta Knight to get Kirby, though Meta Knight often doesn't care.
- Everything's Better with Royal, Blue Penguins
- Jerkass: One of the differences between him and Kirby.
- Not So Different: Told by Meta Knight that he and Kirby are not very different when you get down to it.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: If his royalty is legitimate, that is.
- Sitcom Arch Nemesis: His relationship with Kirby could be seen this way.
- Start of Darkness: When he discovered his ability for commanding others in the Cocoon Academy arc.
- Only Sane Man: Granted, most characters get this, but it's usually King Dedede who reacts this way to the "cuteness" around him.
- Unknown Rival: To Kirby, who treats him as a friend.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Seems to have a Type 2 relationship with Meta Knight. Also with Kirby, but Kirby treats him as a regular friend rather than this.
Meta Knight
A mysterious figure with a mask and a cape who tries to keep to himself whenever he's not harassed by his friends. Or rather people who think of him as one of their friends.
He has little patience for jokes here, and he doesn't actually want to have friends. However, forcefully, he's become friends with the other main characters.
- Badass: Unsurprising, considering who he is.
- The Comically Serious: As his profile states, he does not joke or fool around... much.
- He does pull a prank on Dedede once or twice, showing that he definitely does have a sense of humour. He just doesn't use it much.
- Covered with Scars: His face; from Dedede's "Gooey Bomb prank".
- Deadpan Snarker: Rivals Dedede in this respect.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Pinky. Wasn't embarrassing at first, though.
- Homeless Hero: For a knight whose best friend/ally has a castle, Meta Knight always sleeps in the woods.
- No Name Given: Meta Knight is an alias. As is Pinky.
- Only Sane Man: One of the most normal characters, though his cartoonish need for privacy doesn't put him completely in the territory of this trope.
- The Smart Guy: In Return to Dreamland comics.
- Start of Darkness: Sort of. When he turned blue after fighting Dark Matter.
- Scars Are Forever: His blue complexion, as well as some unseen scars from a certain gooey bomb incident.
- The Stoic
- Not So Stoic: Back when he was Pinky.
- 24-Hour Armor: If you don't count him removing his mask when he sleeps.
- The Un-Reveal: When he removes his mask. Up until the Cocoon Academy arc, that is.
Adeleine
Kirby's female and human companion from Kirby 64. She likes to paint and hang out with Kirby and the others, and is one of the few who almost completely tolerates King Dedede.
- Art Initiates Life
- Ascended Extra: Considering her small role in the actual series...
- Cheerful Child
- Help, I'm Stuck!: Subverted in one set of comics; while Meta Knight and Dedede are glued to her canvas, she willingly sticks around, even if she isn't stuck to the Gooey Bomb herself.
- Out of Focus: Hasn't appeared that much recently, partially due to a combination of less Kirby-centric comics and Jigglypuff getting more screentime. Lampshaded during the Dream Land arc, where due to not canonically appearing during the game, she's instead shown waiting at home for any word from Kirby and the others.
- The Smurfette Principle: One of the few prominent female characters, and until recently she was the only female in the comic to get a profile.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Her optimism is how she's able to consider Dedede a friend, despite actually being aware of his tendencies (unlike Kirby, who's just oblivious).
Waddle Dee
King Dedede's loyal servant, based on the Waddle Dee with a bandanna in Kirby Superstar Ultra.
- Blade on a Stick
- Mook: Acts as one for Dedede, even back when they were kids in school.
- Mook Face Turn: Implied in the Turnabout Kirby arc.
- Pay Evil Unto Evil: Gave Meta Knight evidence during the Turnabout Kirby arc against Dedede; he did it out of revenge when he was used to pull a sleigh.
Mario
The hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, but with a bit of ego and a whole lot of Fridge Logic for his surroundings. Likely the character who gets the most attention in the comic, outside of the Kirby cast.
- Badass Grandpa: At the end of the Mushroom Kingdom Carol arc.
- Butt Monkey: It's not as often or as obvious as his brother, but he definitely counts.
- Determinator: He's willing to save the princess at any cost, even if he has to relive his life six or seven times.
- Good Is Not Nice: Played with. While he comes across as a nice guy overall, he still (mostly unknowingly) does mean things in the name of heroism.
- The Hero
- Heroic Comedic Sociopath: He has his moments.
- He's Back: Near the end of the Mushroom Kingdom Carol arc.
- Irony: Was a total nerd in school while Luigi was going out with Peach.
- Yes, that implies LUIGI casted a shadow over Mario.
- Stop Helping Me!: He's been described as helping others especially when they don't want him to.
- Supporting Protagonist: The comic's primarily about Kirby, but Mario tends to have his own heroic things to do.
- Took a Level In Badass: When he got the bright idea to spin Bowser as he breathes fire in order to kill more Dark Matter, winning Peach's affection. And Eario's affection. Then he took another level as an old man to defeat Bowser Junior.
Luigi
The brother of Mario who is equally Italian and good at jumping, but greener, thinner, taller, and less focused on.
- Butt Monkey: It's a joke that he could exist for this sole reason. Even he knows it.
- Though defied in one instance with a Lakitu dropping a Spiny Egg on Mario.
- Garfunkel: To Mario's Simon.
- Irony: See Mario's entry.
Bowser
Mario's arch nemesis, the giant King of the Koopas frequently kidnaps Princess Peach and subsequently has Mario hand his shell to him on a platter.
- The Big Guy: In youth, during the battle against Dark Matter.
- Disproportionate Retribution: It's said that nowadays he kidnaps Peach just because he's mad at Mario for beating him in the spin-off games.
- Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: Depicted with one on his character profile.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Literally and parodied at the same time.
- The Man Behind the Man: In the Mushroom Kingdom Carol arc.
Jigglypuff
A Pokemon who loves to sing, even though it puts people to sleep. She can be told apart from the average Jigglypuff by the flower in her hair. Kirby has a relationship with her.
- Ambiguous Gender: It's technically supposed to be unknown what gender Jigglypuff is (despite Kirby's attraction), but it's heavily implied to be female.
- Distaff Counterpart: The physical similarities between her and Kirby are said to be a possible reason they got together.
- Flower in Her Hair
- Satellite Character: She usually only appears because there needs to be a comic about her and Kirby showing affection for one another. She hasn't appeared otherwise.
Diddy Kong
Donkey Kong's nephew and little buddy. He's one of Kirby's best friends and also his lawyer.
- Birds of a Feather: Flocks to Kirby since they're both cheerful, childlike, and energetic.
- Bunny Ears Lawyer: Talked only in primate language and was still chosen by Kirby to literally be his lawyer.
- Cheerful Child
- Everything's Better with Monkeys
- Keet
- Silent Snarker: In the Turnabout Kirby arc, he has a hilariously deadpan expression on his face when the judge asks if he has anything to say. The judge apparently completely understands him.
Link
Link is the main character of The Legend of Zelda series, and is usually in his Ocarina of Time incarnation (the adult version). He never speaks, but his facial expressions and Navi get the job done on that front.
- Anti-Hero: On occasion, he can come off as different types.
- Black Sheep: His CDI counterpart.
- Destructive Savior
- Heroic Mime
- It's implied that he wants to speak more, but Navi doesn't let him.
- Kleptomaniac Hero: Exaggerated Trope. Link is already a good example of this in canon, but the comic presents him as being so obsessed with breaking pots for rupees that he ruins a date with Malon by smashing all the pots in her house.
- Legacy Character: Has appeared as a few different versions of himself, but mostly as his adult form from Ocarina of Time.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Accidentally creates many extra suns and moons by overplaying the Sun's Song. And before that, he destroyed most of Hyrule to save Zelda.
- Slasher Smile: Pulls off a really effective one when he's about to shut Navi up by eating her.
Captain Falcon
A racer from the F-Zero series of games. Based off his portrayal in Super Smash Bros., with the same tendency to announce his last name and whatever attack he's doing. Or any verb he's doing, for that matter.
- Confess in Confidence: Confessed his sins after Falcon Praying and accidentally destroying his church.
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"FALCON APOLOGIZE!" |
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- Crossover Ship: With Samus.
- Large Ham: To say the very least.
- Megaton Punch: The Falcon Punch, obviously.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Has a tendency to break things that he shouldn't, but what really takes the cake is the time he punched Snake, causing him to black out and fail to save the world from something else going on at the time.
- No Indoor Voice
- Religious Bruiser: As his profile puts it, "a confirmed Roman Catholic". He even made his comic debut in church.
- With Catlike Tread: "FALCON SNEAK!"
Samus
The hero(ine) of the Metroid games.
- Action Girl
- Crossover Ship: With Captain Falcon. Implied that Dedede has a crush on her too.
- Megaton Punch: She and Captain Falcon deliver a synchronized one to an overly amorous Snake in the "Snake in the Grass" arc. Poor guy never stood a chance.
- Only Sane Woman: Arguably one of the more normal characters in the comic.
- Samus Is a Girl: Despite being the trope namer, it's actually averted here. She's seen out of her Power Suit frequently.
Pit
The star of the Kid Icarus series. Made a few appearances in early comics, but the release of Kid Icarus: Uprising has boosted his role to a main character. When he’s not taking advantage of opportunities for adventure and challenge–he does love testing that Intensity Cauldron–he spends his free time kicking back and shooting the breeze with Lady Palutena.
- Ascended Extra: As mentioned before, he got a lot more attention once Kid Icarus Uprising came out.
- Adorkable
- A Worldwide Punomenon: Watch out for the pits!
- Good Wings, Evil Wings: Good, of course.
Waluigi
Waluigi is a character from the Mario game spin-offs... only his BitF incarnation is far stranger.
- Always Someone Better: Better at chaotic weirdness than the Phillips CDI sprites.
- Beam Me Up, Scotty: "Too bad! Waluigi time!" is often misquoted as best distinguishing his personality. Turns out he rarely, if ever, actually said this; the webcomic was the origin of said quote.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Most of his appearances involve him being absolutely insane. However, he is the only one able to drive away the Phillips CDI sprites.
- Big Damn Villains: The aforementioned Phillips CDI strip.
- Breakout Character: Arguably.
- Dada Comics: When he's around.
- Eats Babies
- Exact Words: When he makes a colour comic, it's just the purple and white that's used for all of his comics. He says:
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- Extreme Omnivore
- Gonk
- Hostile Show Takeover: Just see the trope page, Waluigi will explain from there.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Implied. Maybe.
- Luke, You Are My Father: It's debatable if he's truthful, but he reveals this to Eario.
- Mind Screw: He is what happens when you take a Mind Screw and put it on legs.
- Modesty Towel: Depicted with one on his profile page.
- Mood Whiplash: At first, just about all of his appearances are absolutely hilarious because of his Hostile Show Takeover. Then comes his birthday.
- Take Our Word for It: How he drove away the Phillips CDI spirits.
- Take That Me: He expresses distaste for Brawl in the Family... in comics written by the creator of said series.
- Third Person Person
Eario
A janitor who cleans up the levels in the Mushroom Kingdom after Mario goes through them. He has a history of cleaning and being randomly attacked by the scenery. He worships Mario.
- Butt Monkey: Not as bad as the other two, but around there.
- Comically Missing the Point: He's one of the first two to notice that Dark Matter has messily deactivated Cocoon Academy's security system. His response? Clean the mess that the monster made as he was disabling the system.
- Hero Worshipper: He certainly worships Mario.
- Luke, You Are My Father: Discovers this of himself and Waluigi. Possibly.
- Neat Freak
- Original Character
- Stalker with a Crush: To Mario, kind of.
Other Characters
Kingsonnn Dededoo
A penguin who looks like Dedede and cleans clocks and teeth.
- Deadly Euphemism: Subverted, he says things that sound like this (like 'I'm going to CLEAN YOUR CLOCK!') but they turn out to be literal.
- Identical Stranger
- Neat Freak: Both of his major appearances involve cleaning a clock or cleaning teeth.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Subverted.
The Sun
A description of the character goes here.
- Accidental Murder
- Apocalypse How: Ends the world by getting up close and friendly.
- Man Child
Solid Snake
A description of the character goes here.
- Butt Monkey: Very much. Also literally. His butt is his most prominent feature.
- Crossover Ship: Tries to hit on Samus, but ends up getting a Falcon Punch. From both bounty hunters.
- Smoking Is Cool: Deconstructed, his box catches on fire and the guards spot him.
Princess Daisy
A description of the character goes here.
- Odd Friendship: With Waluigi.
- Only Sane Man: She's one of the more normal characters.
Matthew Taranto
The author and artist himself, inserted into his own comics. Seems to only appear in the occasional announcement comic.
- Alliterative Family: He, his siblings, and father all have M names.
- Author Avatar
- Butt Monkey: Takes some form of abuse or bad luck in literally all of his appearances so far.
- Lazy Bum: In one appearance, he states that he doesn't feel like making comics that week, so he passed the job onto his brother, sister, father, and fiancee so he could sleep.
- Jaw Drop: When he sees the comic Dedede made.
- Self-Deprecation: Usually depicted as being lazy, despite being basically the creator of the entire comic.
- Self-Insert Fic: Either he exists alongside Kirby and friends, or King Dedede exists alongside him, as he was somehow able to let Dedede write a comic at one point.
- Back to Brawl in the Family