Fanboys (webcomic)

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Sylvia consults dark spirits for gaming skills.

Fanboys (stylized F@NB0Y$) was a web comic by Scott Dewitt. The comic was centered on two fanboys and one fangirl, each rooting for their own company.

• Lemmy, the Nintendo fan. The Ditz of the team, don't call Nintendo kiddy in his vicinity.
• Paul, the Sony fan. Unemployed -for a while- snarker of the team. Previous Sega fanboy and childhood friend of Lemmy.
• Sylvia, the Microsoft/Xbox fan. Never handled a console before the Xbox, came out of nowhere in the second episode but found a place in Lemmy's heart quite soon.

The main characters are supported by their somewhat quirky pets/friends/furniture and run into some well known individuals from time to time.

Aside from the adventures of the cast itself, the comic goes off into game themed episodes from time to time, spoofing the more ridiculous aspects of the games mentioned and heading off into Nightmare Fuel territory more often than not.

The comic is very conscious about itself, regularly smashing through the fourth-wall, especially during the first few dozen of episodes. The comic basically takes the familiar videogame-styled web comic, blatantly ripping off ideas from other comics, comments about the lack of originality and then proceeds to fly off into one situation to another.

The comic is mixed between a soapy overall story arc -- sometimes alluded to -- and a lot of one off comics commenting about (upcoming) changes in the videogame industry.

Not to be confused with the movie Fanboys. For the similarly named trope, see Fan Boy.

F@NB0Y$ ran from December 2006 to February 2015; its website vanished from the web at some point in February 2020. An archive copy can be found here at the Wayback Machine.

Tropes used in Fanboys (webcomic) include:

• Aborted Arc: "THEY GOT TO THE BANK; THE END."
• Actually Pretty Funny: You put some real thought into this, huh?
• Appliance Defenestration: A certain show puts Paul in a fit of rage.
• Art Evolution: Went through a drastic one after the comic was criticized on Something Awful.
• Author Appeal: Scott has made it very clear that he likes his Team Fortress 2.
• Back to Front: See the comic above by Appliance Defenestration.
• Berserk Button: Lemmy goes into "Angry Clown Mode" when someone calls Nintendo "kiddy." Paul uses this to get bounty money.
• Bile Fascination: Conversed In-Universe in this strip.
• Brain Bleach: Paul sees Sylvia and Lemmy dressed up respectively as Spike and Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic. And Sylvia is trying to ride Lemmy.
• Cerebus Syndrome: The author tried this when people on Something Awful mocked his comic for being too generic. The ensuing Wangst that the characters displayed pissed everybody else on the Internet off, and he decided to come to a happy medium afterwards. Strip 200 also lampshades this.
• Cosplay Otaku Girl: Sylvia, at various times.
• Demoted to Extra: Chess and Will. Lampshaded when Will returns and Lemmy doesn't remember him.
• Description Cut: Sylvia tries The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time:

Sylvia: This game is going to suck. Hard. ... Lemmy: Sylvia, it's three in the morning. I think it's time to shut off the Wii and sleep. Sylvia: Just one more... dungeon...

• Don't Fear the Reaper: He's actually pretty chill. Apart from having a twisted sense of humor, that is.
• Eye Scream: The perils of ice cream shaped like faces.
• Fan Service: Sylvia cosplaying Midna. It looks like she doesn't wear any clothes, just bodypainting. Not to forget, she wears a skintight Zero Suit Samus-Costume in one Halloween strip and there is a Beach Episode...no, a beach arc.
• Five-Token Band: Parodied here.
• Freudian Trio: Lemmy's the id, Paul's the superego, and Sylvia's the ego.
  • Lemmy and Paul often switch back and forth between the id and superego roles depending on which is funnier.
• The Grim Reaper: He enjoys pool and is bribed by Paul.
• Incredibly Lame Pun: Paul is not amused.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Paul. More jerk and less gold most of the time, but recently seems to be showing some heart.
• Just One More Level: In-universe with Sylvia playing The Legend of Zelda games for the first time.
• Lucky Charms Title: F@NB0Y$
• Noodle Incident: Paul shows Lemmy and Sylvia the night of their lives when Lemmy wins ten thousand dollars. This is the aftermath.
• Old Shame: Yep.
• Oral Fixation Fixation: Paul is pretty much never seen without a cigarette.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: This Team Fortress 2 parody.
• Pink Means Feminine: Sylvia has several pink items of clothing.
• Rashomon Style: Compare these.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Paul and Lemmy are bronies.
• Recycled in Space, Freaky Friday Flip, Spinoff Babies: Parodied in "Popular Trends."
• Running Gag: Lemmy and Sylvia getting caught cosplaying.
• Schedule Slip: The comic has a tendency to occasionally go dead for months, before temporary springing back to life.
• Self-Deprecation: Here.
• Shout-Out: Death's cat, Marvin, who was shot in the face.
  • Hell, there are a bunch of little ones you can find if you look real closely. My personal favorite are the hidden Homestar Runner cameos.
  • Look closely in the background, and you'll see someone from another videogame webcomic...
  • From the same webcomic, has a hobo but is not that hobo, instead has an animal from the webcomic.
• Shower of Angst: Which turns quickly into a Shower of Love
• Sliding Scale of Silliness Versus Seriousness: All the time.
• Smoking Is Cool: Paul.
• Supreme Chef: Turns out Lemmy can cook.
• Testosterone Poisoning: The TESTOSTER-PHONE. Running on MANDROID.
• Up to Eleven: "That's right. I hacked the board game."
• Visual Pun: A shameless plug.
• Women Are Wiser: Gender-inversion with Lampshade:

Paul: You know, it's usually the girl who proves the guy wrong. Sylvia: Bite me, Paul.

• Worth It: The above-mentioned Noodle Incident.