Cuphead

A 2017 Run-and-Gun game made by Studio MDHR, Cuphead: Don't Deal With The Devil looks less like a video game and more like a long and surreal Fleischer Brothers cartoon straight from the 1930's. And that's no accident, because in between the lovingly hand-animated sprites and worlds that look like they were taken from an animation cell, the developers intentionally sought out to recreate the feel of those kinds of cartoons and did everything in their power to make them feel as authentic as possible. While this dedication led to a long development cycle (as well as the Moldenhauer brothers turning to Microsoft for assistance), the widespread critical acclaim and popularity are proof that it was definitely worth it.

The game stars the spunky Cuphead and his more cautious brother Mugman, two boys with drinking glasses for heads and a knack for getting themselves into trouble. After getting lost and ending up on the wrong side of the tracks, they stumble upon a casino owned by The Devil himself quite literally called The Devil's Casino. As bad of an idea as it is, they enter, gamble, and win game after game until they get the attention of the Devil. Intrigued by their skill, he offers to give them all his treasure if they can beat him in one last game... with the caveat being that they owe him their souls if they lose.

Terrified, Mugman begs Cuphead to take their winnings and go, but his greedy brother can't resist the potential payday and gambles once more, sealing their fate when he loses. When the Devil demands payment, Cuphead and Mugman plead for mercy and ask for an alternative that the Devil graciously provides: they have 24 hours to hunt down a bunch of debtors who owe him their Soul Contracts. If they gather all of them in time, he'll leave them alone. But if they fail, he'll have their heads, and quite literally at that. Left without options, Cuphead and Mugman begin the hunt, and face a ton of dangerous, powerful, and downright weird opponents in their quest to save their souls.

In wake of the game's success, a DLC campaign known as the "Delicious Last Course" was announced in 2018 alongside a new playable character in the form of Ms. Chalice. But it missed its 2019 release date, and slipped neatly into Development Hell before being slated for release on June 30, 2022. There is also a Netflix series called The Cuphead Show, with a sneak peek available here.

Tropes used in Cuphead include:

Tropes Found in the Main Game

Action Girl: The female debtors kick just as much ass as the male ones, especially Rumor Honeybottoms and Baroness Von Bon Bon.
Ambiguously Gay: A female diner seems very interested in the dancing showgirls performing in the background of Ribby and Croaks' boss stage.
Amusement Park: Inkwell Isle Two is set in a carnival, as are Beppi the Clown's boss stage and the "Funfair Fever" Run 'n Gun level.
And There Was Much Rejoicing: After defeating the Devil, Cuphead and Mugman burn all the Soul Contracts he had them collect, freeing the debtors and their souls from his grasp. The former debtors are thrilled to hear this, and hail the brothers as heroes for their good deeds.
Anti-Villain: The debtors. Yeah, they're willing to kill two children and happily trashtalk them when they die... but considering that those children are the (conscripted) debt collectors of the Devil himself, can you really blame them?
Badass Baritone: Friendly merchant Pork Rind has a cool, deep voice that complements his somewhat intimidating appearance.
Bad Ending: If you accept the Devil's offer to join him, Cuphead and Mugman are corrupted into becoming his evil servants complete with an Evil Makeover. The last thing you see before the credits roll is the Devil looking as smug as can be as he relaxes in his throne, while the corrupted Cuphead and Mugman look like they're ready to raise hell.
Badass Normal: Sally Stageplay and Captain Brineybeard are fairly average human beings, but kick some serious ass when Cuphead and Mugman try to collect their Soul Contracts.
Bait and Switch Boss: Subverted. At first it seems Werner Werman is the boss of Murine Corps, but at the end of his second phase he is eaten by a cat that the player must fight next. After defeating the cat, its face falls off, revealing that it was a robot that Werner was controlling the whole time.
Balloon Belly: Hilda Berg inflates her stomach while turning into a blimp, and will further inflate herself before flying at you as one of her attacks.
Bare Your Midriff: Cala Maria, in classic mermaid fashion.
Bash Brothers: Ribby and Croaks, frog boxers with a close brotherly bond between the two that's reflected in the way they cooperate during their boss fight. Cuphead and Mugman's relationship is a literal spin on this trope as well.
Big Bad: The Devil, who forces Cuphead and Mugman to collect the Soul Contracts of his many debtors on threat of taking their heads.
Big Boo's Haunt: The Mausoleums are spooky, ancient buildings haunted by ghosty mobsters who want to do the Legendary Chalice harm. The fight against the Phantom Express is also set in an appropriate locale: a haunted railroad passing through a dark and spooky forest.
Big Red Devil: Subverted. The Devil has dark brown fur at first, but during his boss fight it will eventually take on a dangerous reddish hue.
Boring but Practical: The Smoke Bomb is a lot less flashy than the other charms, but a dash with generous amounts of invincibility frames is too good not to have.
Boss-Only Level: Most of the game consists of these, with the only exceptions being the Run 'n Gun stages and the mausoleums.
Brains and Brawn: Wally Warbles and his son Willy have this kind of dynamic, with Wally using huge and simplistic attacks like giant bullets and tons of razor-sharp feathers while Willy's attacks are a lot more complex, such as his carefully-aimed ray gun shots and his expanding/contracting egg barrier. Willy even references the trope by name in his death screen.
Breather Boss: Sally Stagehand is rather easy compared to the other bosses on the third Island.
Bubbly Clouds: Grim Matchstick's boss stage.
Bullet Hell: Later boss fights will absolutely flood the stage with projectiles. Wally Warbles, Beppi the Clown, and Dr. Kahl tend to be really bad about this in particular.
Casino Park: King Dice is fought inside the Devil's Casino, and to fight him you first have to clear a dice game that will pit you against various minibosses depending on the number you roll. Said minibosses are based off of things dealing with gambling and vices, such as a skeletal horse jockey, a giant living cigar, and a sentient pile of casino chips.
Cats Are Mean: A huge cat seemingly eats Werner Werman during his boss fight and tries to kill you during the last phase. Even though it's revealed at the end to be a mech Werner is piloting, it's still a dangerous beast at the end of the day.
Climax Boss: Your last opponent before the Devil is Mr. King Dice... and man. What a battle it is. He isn't much of a threat by himself, but his "boss fight" is a luck-based Boss Rush that forces you to fight several tricky opponents before him. And despite his general easiness, he can easily finish off a wounded player who wasn't lucky enough to recover their health before fighting him.
Clipped-Wing Angel: What terrible form does the Devil take during his final phase? Nothing: he's still kaiju-sized, but his threat level is completely diminished when he starts bawling his eyes out. His tears can still kill a weakened player, but he basically loses his will to properly fight once you've got him on the ropes.
Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Parryable attacks and objects will always be a bright, eye-catching pink that's nearly impossible to miss even on the busiest of stages.
Cool Old Guy: Elder Kettle, the elderly teakettle who looks after Cuphead and Mugman. He's a loving grandfather figure to the boys and gives them the powers they need to stand a chance against the Devil's debtors.
Cute Giant: Grim Matchstick is a big, adorable dragon whose stuttery, friendly game over quotes make it hard to hate him even after he's killed you for the billionth time.
Cute Monster Girl: Cala Maria is a gigantic mermaid, and a smoking-hot one at that. Even when she turns into a monstrous gorgon, she's still very attractive.
Cyclopean Creature: One chases you at the end of Rugged Ridge.
Dark Is Evil: The Devil's fur is is a very dark brown that borders on black. Unsurprisingly, he's a nasty piece of work.
Deal with the Devil: Cuphead and Mugman being forced to make one is what kicks off the game, and most of your opponents are other debtors who made these kinds of deals.
Death Mountain: Rugged Ridge is a Greco-Roman flavored version of this trope.
Deliberate Values Dissonance: To go along with its retro cartoon aesthetic, there are a few of these present:
- In a few levels such as "All Bets Are Off!" and "Clip-Joint Calamity", people can be seen smoking indoors. It was a common sight back then, but is a lot less common nowadays thanks to advancements in research regarding the health issues that smoking and breathing in secondhand smoke can cause.
- An example that crosses over into Black Comedy territory is the prominently labeled asbestos curtain in Sally Stageplay's fight. In the past, it was considered the perfect fireproof material. Nowadays, you're very unlikely to find anything with asbestos anywhere thanks to their toxicity.
Dem Bones: Living skeletons feature as a recurring type of NPC, with the most prominent examples being Phear Lap and the Phantom Express' conductor.
Difficult but Awesome:
- The Spread Shot's woefully short range can make it frustrating to safely fight bosses with it, but its damage output is insane if you're able to constantly hit them with every bullet from its spread. With very careful footwork, you can kill even the toughest bosses with it in record time.
- The Lobber's range is limited, and it travels in an arc. But thanks to its high damage output, it's a lifesaver against bosses with limited mobility such as Grim Matchstick.
Do Well, But Not Perfect: If you're trying to get an A+ ranking against the bosses, you don't want to kill them too fast because you need to parry 3 of their attacks to get it. These attacks are only available during certain phases, meaning that if you hurt them too much before you get all your parries, you'll miss out when they change phases.
Downer Ending: If you choose, the Cups can join the Devil and become his soulless minions. You get a somber ending credits to go with this choice.
Draconic Demon: One of the forms the Devil takes during his boss fight is a demonic Chinese dragon.
The Dragon: King Dice is the Devil's right hand man, and runs his casino while personally collecting the Soul Contracts needed to progress through the game. He's also the game's second-to-last boss and fought right before the Devil himself.
Dragon with an Agenda: King Dice doesn't want the two heroes to succeed, as he believes that the Devil will replace him with them if they do. Which is, in fact, exactly what happens in the Bad Ending.
Dual Boss: Ribby and Croaks, as well as the Lollipop Ghouls of the Phantom Express.
Earn Your Happy Ending: If you defeat the Devil after refusing to join him, then the Cups earn this. They burn all the soul contracts and throw a party for the debtors.
Easy Mode Mockery: When you fight a boss on easy mode, you face fewer phases, and winning won't give you their soul contract. To fight either of Inkwell Hell's bosses and beat the game, you'll have to put on your big boy pants and beat the game as the Moldenhauer brothers intended.
Eaten Alive: Cala Maria's hinted to have eaten a lot of sailors, judging by all the ghosts she's got living in her stomach. Werner Werman also seems to meet his end this way when a giant cat swallows him whole during his boss fight... but it turns out that the cat was a mech that he controlled.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Unsurprisingly, quite a few debtors have people in their lives that they clearly care about given their Anti Villain status. Sally Stageplay is happily married to another actor, Ribby and Croaks are brothers who have each other's backs, and Dr. Kahl's happy to help his robot fight you off despite not owing a debt to the Devil.
Everything's Worse with Bees: Rumor Honeybottoms, a queen bee with an arsenal of powerful magic spells at her disposal.
Everything Trying to Kill You: The diversity among the Devil's debtors is insane. Giant vegetables, dragons, robots, genies, queen bees, trains (albeit haunted trains)?! And that's not even getting into King Dice's boss rush, where you'll be fighting cigars, dominoes, glasses of booze, and a crane machine/cymbal monkey toy among others.
Flunky Boss:
- Baroness Von Bon Bon fights alongside her many minions such as jelly bean soldiers, a living gumball machine, and a monstrous piece of candy corn. She herself only attacks by taking the occasional potshot with her candy shotgun and throwing her head, leaving her henchmen to do most of the heavy lifting.
- Captain Brineybeard barely fights you himself, and usually lets his sea creatures, sentient barrel, and pirate ship do all the heavy lifting. He'll occasionally grab an octopus and use it as a living gun, but he's far from the biggest threat during his fight.
- Like Brineybeard, Cala Maria will summon sea creatures to help put the squeeze on you. Notable examples include swarms of porcupine fish that will cut off your maneuverability, and electric eels that will fire clusters of lightning bullets at you.
- King Dice is the biggest example, since he forces you to fight a few of his henchmen before you can face him in battle. And even then, he doesn't really attack you himself so much as he summons a lot of playing card minions to do the job for him.
- The Devil has a lot of mini-devil minions that cause trouble during his boss fight.
Gorgeous Gorgon: Cala Maria turns into one during the second phase of her boss fight.
Greed: Cuphead's major flaw: while Mugman's got enough common sense to not risk gambling against the Devil, Cuphead can't resist the treasure he offers up, and damns their souls with his reckless betting.
Green Hill Zone: Inkwell Isle One has lots of pleasant grasslands and picturesque forests, as befitting of the game's first world. "Forest Follies" is also set in a lush, forested area and is far easier than the other Run 'n Gun stages.
Hair-Raising Hare: Hopus Pocus, a demented bunny magician who serves as one of the minibosses in King Dice's stage.
Happily Married: What little we've seen of Sally Stageplay's relationship with her husband indicates that they're quite the loving couple: her husband's in a state of distress during their boss fight but will celebrate if she hits you, they're happy to "drive off" together in the prop car while switching to the second phase, and if you kill him to trigger the fight's secret phases, she's genuinely heartbroken.
Hornet Hole: Rumor Honeybottoms is fought in an office building that doubles as a beehive, where obstacles include bee employees and honey flooding in from below.
Humanoid Abomination:
- Hilda Berg is a weird boss, even by classic cartoon standards. She can use her laughter as a weapon, summon tornados, and transform into things such as blimps, constellations, and monstrous mechanical moons that can summon UFOs. There's a method to the madness behind most of this game's weird opponents, but good luck trying to figure out whatever her deal is.
- The Devil's a more subdued example, but him being able to transform his head into dangerous monsters or grow kaiju-sized are good indicators of just how unholy he is.
Humongous Mecha: Dr. Kahl's Robot, a towering mechanical monstrosity that is so big that you only ever see its top half during his boss fight. This is also the true identity of the cat that seemingly kills Werner Werman during his boss fight.
Idiot Hero: Mugman might be a little smarter than his brother (at least he realizes gambling in a casino that is literally run by the Devil is a bad idea) but taking the DLC into consideration, they aren't all-too bright. The duo even admit this in the cartoon.
Interface Screw: Objects in the foreground of certain stages can really screw you over, since they can obstruct Cuphead and Mugman's location, as well as enemy attacks. Not only does this further Hilda Berg's "Wake-Up Call" Boss credentials, but it also makes Phear Lap a frustrating example of That One Boss.
Interface Spoiler: The lack of a KO screen always means the boss survived, so don't be fooled when it looks like bosses such as Goopy Le Grande and Werner Werman bite the big one.
Intrepid Merchant: Porkrind somehow manages to have a store on every overworld map except the fourth.
Jackass Genie: Downplayed with Djimmi the Great - he doesn't grant wishes and isn't any morally worse than the other debtors, but he puts up a serious fight and is quite tricky for when you fight him.
King Mook:
- Goopy Le Grande is a bigger, stronger version of the tiny slime enemies fought in the "Forest Follies" Run 'n Gun stage.
- The baby dragon enemies in Rugged Ridge look like miniature versions of Grim Matchstick, making him an example of this trope.
- Rumor Honeybottoms is a gender-flipped variant: not only is she a literal example due to being a queen bee, but you have to fight multiple bee minions during her boss fight.
Laughing Mad: During the final phase of his boss fight, Dr. Kahl belts out nonstop maniacal laughter while he showers you with projectiles.
Luck-Based Mission: Baroness Von Bon Bon's fight is partially this: before you fight the baroness herself, you have to fight three of five randomly selected food minions. With each phase, she throws in new obstacles that don't always mesh with the fighting style of the minion currently in play. Getting an A+/S rank on her, let alone beating her at all boils down to hoping that the RNG won't screw you.
Maniac Monkeys: Mr. Chimes, a creepy cymbal monkey toy who's one of King Dice's miniboss minions.
Monster Clown: Beppi, a creepy clown who always has a deranged grin on his face. However, the ending reveals that when he isn't fighting for his life, he's more of a friendly Non-Ironic Clown who just happens to look creepy.
Ms. Fanservice: Cala Maria, a sexy, buxom mermaid who goes out of her way to flaunt her curves.
Nintendo Hard: The Moldenhauer brothers really wanted this game to emulate the difficulty of classic Run 'n Gun arcade games, and boy does it show. You can only take three hits before dying, there are no checkpoints, many late game bosses attack in Bullet Hell patterns, and even the easy ones are likely to kick your ass a few times.
Off with His Head: There is a ton of decapitation imagery in this game. Cuphead and Mugman are collecting Soul Contracts so the Devil won't take their heads (the "milk" inside them being their souls), and the game's theme song makes it clear that this is the consequence if they can't rise to his challenge. This overlaps with Detachment Combat: the pair "take off" their heads during their super moves, and various bosses such as Baroness Von Bon Bon, Cala Maria, and even the Devil himself will detach their own heads as part of their attacks.
One-Winged Angel: Some debtors gain a huge and imposing final form during the last phase of their boss fight: Hilda Berg turns into a robotic crescent moon, Rumor Honeybottoms becomes a monstrous plane with buzzsaw arms, and Werner Werman pilots a mech disguised as a giant cat among others.
Our Dragons Are Different: Grim Matchstick seems like your typical fairy-tale dragon at first, but then he suddenly grows two heads out of nowhere near the end of his fight. And when he breathes fire, the attacking head briefly turns into a flamethrower.
Our Giants Are Bigger: Glumstone, a mountain giant from the DLC who's so big that his beard covers the entire length of the battlefield.
Perverse Puppet: Cuppet, a Cuphead puppet Djimmi the Great summons during his boss fight who will chase Cuphead and Mugman around the screen while firing finger bullets of his own at them. As of the 1.2 update, shrinking at the start of the phase will skip Cuppet's dedicated phase, but you'll have to deal with a tiny Cuppet harassing you during Djimmi's last phase.
Pig Man: Porkrind, a gruff old fellow with an eyepatch who runs the store.
Protection Mission: The mausoleum levels task you with protecting the Legendary Chalice from a legion of mobster ghosts. Keep her safe, and you'll be given a new super move for your troubles. Let them get her, and you lose.
Ridiculously-Human Robots: Dr. Kahl's robot can laugh, get angry, chew bubblegum, and has a heart and a soul that the Devil wishes to collect.
Rise to the Challenge: Rumor Honeybottoms is unique among the bosses due to the screen scrolling upwards during her boss fight, requiring you to constantly jump from platform to platform so you don't drown in the sea of honey rising upwards, as well as deal with her minions and spells.
Scary Black Man: While technically not a black man, King Dice's appearance and voice are meant to evoke black musicians from that era (particularly Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong). And thanks to his love of inhuman, deranged grins and his status as the Devil's right hand man, he's definitely got the "scary" part down to a science.
Seadog Beard: True to his stereotypical pirate aesthetic, Captain Brineybeard's got some impressively scruffy facial hair.
Sea Monster: Captain Brineybeard's ship comes to life over the course of his fight, and it looks less like a ship and more like a monstrous wooden narwhal by the end of it.
Slasher Smile: Whether it's Hilda Berg, Cagney Carnation, or King Dice, there are plenty of demented grins to go around.
Smug Snake: While a competent manipulator, the Devil's overconfidence screws him over when he refuses to listen to King Dice's warnings about how powerful Cuphead and Mugman are growing, and that they should kill them when they have the chance. Thanks to his arrogance, the Devil loses to the brothers and is forced to free all his debtors from their contracts.
Tank Goodness: Werner Werman pilots a soup can tank during his boss fight.
Terrible Trio:
- The Root Pack, which are a trio of gigantic vegetables consisting of an angry potato, a sad and scared onion, and a maniacally grinning carrot. As of the 1.2 update, there's a secret fourth member: a (relatively) tiny radish who looks even angrier than the potato.
- The Tipsy Troop, one of King Dice's minibosses, who are a living martini, a shot glass filled with whiskey, and a rum bottle respectively.
Turns Red: All bosses change their patterns to become more difficult as the fight goes on.
Unexplained Recovery: If you kill Sally Stageplay's husband to trigger her boss fight's secret route, he'll still be alive and well during the ending where the debtors are celebrating the Devil's defeat.
Vague Age: Cuphead and Mugman seem to be kids since they live with an elderly caretaker, but their gambling habits and moonshine powerups complicate things a bit. Though given their mischievous natures and their old-school cartoon world, underage gambling and drinking definitely isn't out of the question.
Villain Song: The Die House theme is a catchy tune that serves as this to King Dice.
"Wake-Up Call" Boss: While most of the bosses in Inkwell Isle 1 are fairly easy, Hilda Berg and Cagney Carnation are good indicators that you'll really need to step up your game. She may be the introduction to the aeroplane mechanics, but Hilda's a surprisingly relentless opponent who will happily hit you with bullet patterns and attacks that are faster and more complex than anything you've seen thus far. Cagney, on the other hand, simply has a lot going on in his battle. In between the bullet seeds he drops on you from above, the monstrous plants they spawn, his boomerang attacks, and the damaging vines he sends to coil around your platforms, you'll really have to learn how to keep track of multiple attacks onscreen to survive his fight and beyond.
Warmup Boss: While it's likely you'll die to them a few times before getting a hang of their attack patterns, the Root Pack and Goopy Le Grande are both incredibly simplistic foes that ease you into the game's mechanics well before the truly brutal opponents show up.
Wrong Side of the Tracks: Where the Devil's Casino is located, according to the storybook intro. Considering that the (intended) last boss before Inkwell Hell is the Phantom Express, this appears to be a literal example!

Tropes Exclusive to the DLC

All for Nothing: After all the trouble the boys go into so that Ms. Chalice can try the Wondertart and return to life, they realize that for her to do that, she'd need to sacrifice a living soul. Chalice refuses, saying that she is not someone that would sacrifice another person or being for her benefit. With that said, the epilogue did show that she found another way.
Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: The Knight's body language paints him as such, with his frequent taunts painting him as a cocky swordsman who doesn't take his opponents seriously.
Belated Happy Ending: The epilogue with end credits shows that Chalice managed to find another way to come back to life, and she hangs out with the brothers, a reformed Saltbaker, and the DLC island residents.
Beware the Silly Ones: Esther Winchester is a goofy-looking literal cowgirl who fights with a vacuum cleaner and gets turned into sausage, but she's easily one of the most dangerous bosses in the DLC. When the silliness in her fight ramps up, the same goes for her difficulty, culminating in a brutal final phase where she's turned into a living tin of sausages that can and will kick your ass over and over again.
Bonus Boss: The King's Leap is home to a bunch of these, all of which are chess-themed and can only be hurt with parries. There's no real reason to beat them other than to get more money so you can buy the new weapons and abilities. The Broken Relic questline also pits you against The Nightmare, who you need to defeat as one of the steps taken to purify it.
Bully Bulldog: The Bulldog of the Howling Aces isn't evil, but he's at the very least a rowdy bruiser who's willing to hurt a cat as one of his attacks.
Contrasting Sequel Character: The real villain, Chef Saltbaker, serves as this to the Devil. While the Devil has legitimate reasons for wanting the soul contracts from the debtors that had evaded him, Saltbaker basically sent children to beat up his neighbors and steal their stuff. He also reveals he played the Cups and Ms. Chalice for patsies, while the Devil was upfront about the price that the brothers had to pay. Also, while the Devil can be beaten, Saltbaker can be arrested for his crimes.
Cult: Mortimer Freeze leads a cult of snowmen in... some form of worship. Whatever it is they're worshipping is left up to the player's imagination.
A Day In The Limelight: The DLC gives more focus to Ms. Chalice, an NPC from the main game. She gets more characterization as a legendary hero, that once gave up her life to save the Inkwell Isles.
The Determinator: While many Cuphead bosses embody this to some extent, Esther Winchester takes it to truly insane levels. Accidentally getting sucked into her own vacuum and turned into a bunch of sausage links doesn't dissuade her from fighting the cups, and even when she's stuffed into a can, she refuses to give up.
Dual Boss: The Nightmare's set up to fight like one, since it pits you against the Angel and the Demon at the same time with both entities behaving independently of one another. However, you only ever actually fight the Demon while the Angel is completely harmless, with the former's attacks hurting you while the latter's merely phase through you harmlessly. Their locations change every time you turn around, so the real challenge of this boss fight is keeping note of which half of the Nightmare is firing which attacks and changing the direction you're looking at so you can nullify the Demon's attacks.
Easily Forgiven: While Chef Saltbaker does end up in jail, it seems a rather light sentence given the scope of his crimes, especially since the three heroes are still children when he's released and everyone seems to see him as a friendly baker afterwards. Kind of hard to believe the Desert Limes would be able to forgive the brutal murder of their kin simply because he did community service work for them.
Equivalent Exchange:
- Chalice can temporary come back to life if one of the brothers eats an Astral Cookie. They become a ghost, while she takes their place in the living realm.
- The Wondertart requires one last ingredient: a living soul. Saltbaker says that he plans to sacrifice one of the Cups or Chalice to make it. When Chalice finds this out, she refuses to help Saltbaker finish the baking. That, and he plans to use it to take over the astral plane.
Evil Chef: Saltbaker, the main antagonist, although he does reform in the end.
Evil Is Deathly Cold: Mortimer Freeze, an ice wizard who runs a shady cult and doesn't care if he accidentally smacks his minions with his giant whale.
Feathered Fiend: The geese Glumstone summons and the buzzards that harass you during Esther's boss fight are truly nasty little pests.
Good Counterpart: The King of Games is this to King Dice. Both are living game pieces with cool moustaches that oversee similarly-themed boss gauntlets, but King Dice is a devious sleaze who runs a hotbed of sin and vice, while the King of Games is a noble ruler whose contest of champions is a grand and glorious affair. Their relationships with their campaign's respective Big Bad even contrast each other, with King Dice being the Devil's partner in crime while the King of Games is a key player in rehabilitating Chef Saltbaker.
Hero Antagonist: Zig-zagged. Unlike in the main game, the bosses are just minding their own business and attack in self-defense when the Cups and Ms. Chalice come after them. With that being said, only the Howling Aces and Glumstone the Giant are truly innocent of any wrongdoing: Esther Winchester is an outlaw and a snake-oil saleswoman, Mortimer Freeze is a cult leader, and the Moonshine Mob are... well, the Mob. With that being said, the ant cops fought in the Mob's boss fight are heroic, you're simply caught in the crossfire between them and the criminals they're trying to arrest.
Hidden Agenda Villain: Downplayed; Saltbaker's stated goal is to take over the Astral Plane, but exactly what he intended to do had he succeeded is never stated.
Hostile Show Takeover: The Snail of the Moonshine Mob takes over the announcer role during the gang's boss fight, and when you defeat the Anteater, he gleefully yells "Knockout!" and has his fly goons show off a fake victory screen before trying to jape you with a surprise attack. When you promptly kick his ass, the real announcer clears his throat before resuming his duties.
Hot Mom: The Saluki of the Howling Aces, possibly. While it's ambiguous if she's the mother of the Yankee Yippers or not, she is an attractive maternal figure all the same.
Humans Are The Real Monsters: Technically, Chef Saltbaker isn't human (almost nothing in the game is) but he is definitely mortal and not the literal Prince of Darkness. While The Reveal is easy to see coming, the Final Battle shows he is far more evil than the Devil was. The Anthropomorphic Food that appear in the battle that he uses as weapons can obviously feel both fear and pain; the fate of the desert limes is especially brutal, he pretty much executes the poor fruits and chops them into mulch. Worse, the bosses in the DLC haven't done anything to earn his ire like the debtors, Saltbaker is sending the heroes after his neighbors because they're in the way of his bid to dominate the Astral Plane.
I Lied: Turns out Saltbaker was never going to bring Chalice back to life. He used her to lure the boys to the Delicious Last Course, knowing they'd be strong enough to take out their neighbors. To seal the deal, he tells the trio that he'll use their heads as serving platters after sacrificing one of their souls.
Lady of War: The Saluki in charge of the Howling Aces is a classy, beautiful pooch who conducts herself with an air of dignity, even when she's frantically mashing buttons on her Chinook's control panel.
The Last of These Is Not Like the Others: The otherwise bug-only Moonshine Mob has an anteater as one of its members, who is not only a mammal, but a giant among the much smaller bugs.
Logical Weakness: The Moonshine Mob seem to be exploiting this in the third phase of their boss fight. Are the cops hassling you a bunch of ants? Then hire an anteater and sic him on them!
The Mafia: The Moonshine Mob, a criminal gang of bootlegger bugs evocative of Al Capone-era mobsters.
Nice Hat: The Anteater of the Moonshine Mob wears a snazzy bowler hat. When he joins the fun, he even tips it before challenging the cups!
Precious Puppy: The puppies fought in the Howling Aces' second phase (officially known as the Yankee Yippers) are cute little fellas.
Protagonist-Centered Morality: Deconstructed by the end of the story. Chef Saltbaker asked the brothers and Chalice to collect the ingredients from his neighbors, who hadn't done anything to warrant that level of home invasion. It turns out that the antagonists were Good All Along, or at the very least safeguarding the ingredients from someone far worse than them. The Wondertart also requires a living soul to be baked into it. When the brothers and Chalice stop Saltbaker from making the Astral Pie and accidentally destroy his bakery, they agree that one living soul is not worth bringing Chalice back to life. Chalice says that she'll find another way to gain back her limbs.
Reality Ensues: Chef Saltbaker sends the kids on an errand to collect the ingredients for the Astral Pie, that could bring Chalice back to life permanently, without needing the brothers. The epilogue shows that he gets arrested for coercing and kidnapping children, attempted murder, destruction of his neighbors' property, and attempted domination of the astral plane. Why were the brothers let off the hook? Because they had helped save the Inkwell Isles from the Devil, and the Judge was a Reasonable Authority Figure that figured out Saltbaker duped them. Saltbaker gets a plea deal where he rebuilds all the damage he indirectly wrought upon the DLC, and spends months doing community service.
Sinister Minister: The Bishop isn't evil, but he isn't above flashing a creepy smirk at you if you lose to him.
Slasher Smile: The Howling Aces' Chinook constantly has its fangs bared in a surprisingly menacing grin. Then there's Chef Saltbaker once he drops the nice guy schtick.
Snake Oil Salesman: Esther Winchester, if her snake oil bullets are of any indication.
Speaking Simlish: The spider from the Moonshine Mob will periodically bark orders at his fly minions over the phone in incomprehensible, deep-voiced gibberish.
Taken for Granite: At the start of his boss fight, Glumstone the Giant bursts free from a layer of rock he was encased in. This seems to have happened to the rest of his Giant brethren, since several of the mountains in the background have faces similar to his.
Warmup Boss: At the start of the DLC, the first two bosses you're able to fight are the Moonshine Mob or Glumstone the Giant. Glumstone's about as far from this trope as you can get, but the Mob are a fairly easy boss on par with the likes of Cagney Carnation or Captain Brineybeard whose heavily telegraphed attacks and simple patterns shouldn't be too hard to deal with. While the fake victory screen and the Snail's surprise attack can catch you off guard, they only work once.
- The Pawns of the King's Leap are likewise an easy introduction to the place's special parry-only battles. Relentless Wolfpack Boss tactics aside, their battle is very straightforward compared to the rest of the chess gang's more complex fights.
What Measure Is A Non Human: Shown in the final boss battle. All the ingredients you gathered for Saltbaker are sentient. He chops them up, some of whom are screaming or crying, before sending them as bullets your way.
Womb Level: Comical example, in the third phase of the battle against Glumstone the Giant, he swallows the duo, leading to them continuing the fight in his stomach.
Would Hurt a Child: One of the ingredients Saltbaker kills during his boss fight is a dopey, boyish-looking sugar cube. He also hurts the childish living basket carrying the Gnome Berries, but he at least escapes with his life (albeit in tears).