Final Fantasy Excursions
A sprite comic written by Colin Castro which ran from 2001 to 2003, and starred a cast of characters from the nose-kissingly popular Final Fantasy series. Its main characters were pulled from the first, fourth, fifth, and sixth installments of Final Fantasy, Super Mario Bros., Mega Man, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid. Although the series has since been discontinued, an archive of the first 62 comics still exists, and can be read here.
Tropes used in Final Fantasy Excursions include:
- Author Avatar: Colin Castro gets one in a blue Tails who resides in the afterlife.
- Art Evolution: Not with the characters, who stay the same, but the backgrounds go from two-color, MSP
- Badass Decay: Word of God is that Mario suffered from this, while Luigi Took a Level in Badass.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Lampshaded by Elliot.
- Chekhov's Gunman: The old man who Black Mage throws into the Forest of Instantaneous Death in the second page is later mentioned by his grandchild, who is looking for him. He is brought up again at a more important point, when the King sends all the characters on a quest to find his brother, the same man yet again.
- Follow the Leader: The series is obviously "inspired" by 8-Bit Theater.
- Goldfish Poop Gang: Trent, Dante, and Elliot.
- Heaven: Where Colin resides, alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi.
- Heroic Sociopath: The whole cast qualifies. However, Black Mage takes the cake.
- Idiot Hero: Fighter is an exaggerated example, and most characters speculate that he's mentally retarded.
- Lampshade Hanging: The comic is chock-full of these.
- Long-Lost Relative: The quest given by The King is to find his long-lost brother.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Done by The King to Link, in a word-for-word Shout-Out to The Empire Strikes Back.
- Minion with an F In Evil: Elliot.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: The four main characters, Fighter, Thief, Black Mage, and White Mage, have no names aside from their job classification in the original Final Fantasy game.
- Only Sane Man: White Mage, and sometimes Thief.
- Punch Clock Villain: Trent, Dante, and Elliot come off as this.
- Quirky Miniboss Squad: Trent, Dante, and Elliot, again.
- Sadist Show
- Samus Is a Girl: With the original Samus.
- Sprite Comic
- Stating the Simple Solution: After he and Trent easily knock out the entire party, Elliot wonders why they don't just shoot them.
- Took a Level in Badass: Word of God is that Luigi took one of these, while Mario inexplicably did the opposite.
- The Verse: The comic seems to tie in with Castro's other webcomic, with the inclusion of Trent, Dante, and Elliot.
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: Effectively happens to both Link and Samus, who are given newer, flashier sprites.