Manly Guys Doing Manly Things: Difference between revisions

[[File:commjaredfish350_675.jpg|frame|Left to right: [[Colonel Badass|Commander Badass]], [[Cloudcuckoolander|Jared]] and [[Fluffy the Terrible|Mr. Fish]].]]

{{quote|''"Lady, you have no idea how hard it is for guys like [[God of War (Video Gameseries)|Kratos]] to reintegrate into everyday society."''|'''Commander Badass'''}}

Created as an entry for a webcomic contest in 2010 for [[The Escapist]], '''''Manly Guys Doing Manly Things''''' (MGDMT) is a comic about a temp agency to help [[Testosterone Poisoning|"ludicrously macho guys"]] find work in the real world when they no longer have work as popular fiction characters. How well they actually integrate has... [[Hilarity Ensues|mixed results]].

Sadly, the comic lost out, but was by far a favorite among those paying attention to the contest, making it popular enough for its creator, Coelasquid, to keep it going from 2010 to 2018. It can now be viewed at [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/ here] in all its MANLY''manly'' glory.

{{quote| '''Jared:''' ''Where are they coming from?''}}

* [[Achievements in Ignorance]]: Only someone as clueless about Pokemon Training as Jared would start with Magikarp but only someone who doesn't even understand simply battle mechanic could make it work. See [[Shamu Fu]].

* [[American Kirby Is Hardcore]]: In -Universe example, this happens to Ryu of ''[[Breath of Fire II]]'', turning a fairly normal (if [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|blue-haired]]) sixteen year old kid into a muscle bound roid raging hulk. This is meant to be a [[Take That]] by the author at the trope, which happened to the game in [[Real Life]].

* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: the Commander complains about Canadian Guy since he comes to work drunk, cranks up the AC, field dresses deer in the lunchroom, breaks various office equipment, and beats all of the Commander's ''[[Robot Unicorn Attack]]'' high scores.

{{quote| [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/1102 "Ghat damn, nobody out there content t' just let people like ya fer who y'are"]}}

** She had a special brand of venom for [[Nie RNieR]]'s Japanese design and motivation, saying it was far weaker and much more prissy than American NieR trying to find his daughter.

* [[Badass]]: Most of the characters. Usually parodied (often in a deconstructive fashion) - the premise of the comic is to show how this character trait isn't exactly the best way to deal with [[Real Life]].

{{quote| '''Jared:''' Roll over! Roll over, Mr. Fish! Mr. Rolly Fish! Mr. Rolly Polly Fish!}}

* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: It turns out that Canada's niceness as a whole [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|is just an act to throw people off]]. According to Coelasquid, Canadian Guy is a [[Palette Swap]] for Commander Badass, which has the unexpected result making him look like her dad.

* [[Big Bad]]: {{spoiler|[[Gackt (Musicband)|Gackt]]}} is shaping up to be the [[Big Bad]] of the [[Bishonen|Nomura Syndrome]] arc.

** Nier spread [[The Virus|Nomura Syndrome]] that turned everyone into a bishōnen. In the case of [[The Bouncer|Volt]] he's been living with it his entire life, but when told that he'd never be able to bench-press his own weight [[Dare to Be Badass|he took it as a challenge]]. And then there's [[Gackt (Musicband)|Gackt]], who secretly is every single [[Square Enix]] protagonist.

{{quote| ''[http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/529 Consensus on the debut of this game was that Spartan Gay Chicken] ends in [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/910 a 30 year committed relationship complete with bickering over when to open a joint bank account and where to place the ottoman.]''}}

* [[Combat Pragmatist]]: Commander Badass, as seen [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/1088 here].

{{quote| '''Commander:''' Import'nt t' draw that fine line between fightin' dirty an' fightin' stupid. }}

{{quote| '''Commander:''' That's a straight-up end credits song, gotta hang ont' it for th' victory lap. Do something like "Wheel in the' Sky."}}

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: Commander Badass actually got AM from ''[[I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream]]'' to leave [[Portal (Video Gameseries)|GLaDOS]] alone [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/804 after they broke up].

* [[Dude Looks Like a Lady]]: The bishonen versions of [[Dragon Age|Sten]], [[The Legend of Zelda (Franchise)|Ganondorf]], and [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Sandor Clegane]] are very effeminent and almost appear to be dressed in drag.

* [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"]]: The main character Commander, full name/rank being Commander Badass. He says soldiers can be made from American soil and triple-A steak in the future, so are named by rank, but it's quite possible he was joking. {{spoiler|He was.}}

* [[Five -Token Band]]: The Commander's old squad.

* [[Formally -Named Pet]]: Jared has a pet [[Pokémon|Gyarados]] named Mr. Fish.

* [[Four -Fingered Hands]]: Commander Badass in [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/images/commanderbadass.jpg this old concept art], although never in the comic itself.

** [[God of War (Video Gameseries)|Kratos]] plays Street Sharks with [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/images/guests/2010-11-13-crush.png Commander Badass's kids]. And Jared and Mr. Fish, who were ''supposed'' to be babysitting.

* [[Grievous Harm Withwith a Body]]: Mr. Fish's (or rather, Jared's) primary attack before Mr. Fish evolved [[Magikarp Power|from Magikarp to Gyarados]]. Now that he's too big to be swung as a blunt weapon, Mr. Fish mostly just eats his enemies.

* [[HitlersHitler's Time Travel Exemption Act]]: Commander Badass is actually a member of the Navy TIALS (TIme Air Land Sea), an elite group of time travelers founded in the future to hop through time righting wrongs, some of which aren't righted, for whatever reason. While they haven't done anything to Hitler (besides punching him in the face), Commander Badass ''was'' once sent to Vietnam twice. Once to try and win it for America, and a second time to stop himself from succeeding, because a world without the [[Rambo]] movies is just too bizarre to contemplate.

** Invoked when Kratos and [[Three Hundred300|Leonidas]] play [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/529 Gay] [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/910 Chicken].

** One strip had Krauser from the ''[[Resident Evil]]'' franchise admit that Chris in ''[[Resident Evil 5 (Video Game)|Resident Evil 5]]'' was him in disguise. He did this just to get Wesker's attention.

* [[Involuntary Shapeshifter]]: [[Nie RNieR]], who unwillingly shapeshifts from his gruff old [[Papa Wolf]] form seen in the [[American Kirby Is Hardcore|western version]] of his game to the Bishonen version seen in the Japanese version.

* [[Kid Withwith the Leash]]: Jared.

* [[Know When to Fold 'Em]]: The "Gay Chicken" contest between Kratos and Leonidas [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/938 ends] when {{spoiler|Leonidas surrenders so he can go back to his wife and son.}}

{{quote| '''Coelasquid:''' Jared has a new t-shirt every day, he may be a teenage boy, but at least he changes his shirt.}}

{{quote| '''ARE YOU AFRAID OF MY FISH CHUCK NORRIS'''}}

* [[Man in Aa Bikini]]: [[Gears of War|Marcus Fenix]], believe it or not, though not by his own [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/777 choice].

* [[Man in Aa Kilt]]: The Commander, [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/345 here].

* [[My Little Panzer]]: [[Robo CopRoboCop|ED-209s]]. [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/353 They come in] "Authorized to use physical force" or "Loyal as a puppy" versions.

* [[Not What I Signed Onon For]]: When [[BioBioShock Shock(series)|Mr. Bubbles]] realizes he actually has to give the children BACK to their parents when daycare is over. [[Hilarity Ensues]].

* [[OOC Is Serious Business]]: When the Commander stops dropping his g's, [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/323 you know you're in trouble].

** '''''[[Duke Nukem]]''''', [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/448 if you think about it...] due to his constant [[Shout -Out|Shout Outs]] and references from obscure places is shown to be a huge nerd.

** Also [[Lobo]], [[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|The Heavy]], and [[Dragon Age|Sten]] join Duke and The Commander for [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/551 a game of] [[Dungeons and Dragons]]. However, since all of them insist on being fighters and barbarians despite the Commander voicing that he has reservations about how will work out that work, it can be assumed the Commander is the only one who really gets the game.

{{quote| '''Heavy:''' ROGUE IS COWARD.<br />

* [[PoesPoe's Law]]: The very first question on the comic's About page is about which game Commander Badass is from. Despite being a blatant parody of this style of character, it's still easy to mistake him for the genuine article, noting particular similarities to characters like [[Mad WorldMadWorld|Jack]] and [[Captain N|Simon Belmont]].

* [[Rated "M" for Manly]]: This and [[Testosterone Poisoning]] pretty well the reasons it exists.

* [[Reference Overdosed]]: The cast list would qualify this comic alone, but that's not the end of the [[Shout -Out|Shout Outs]].

* [[Shout -Out]]:

{{quote| '''Kratos:''' That's not how it went...<br />

{{quote| '''Jared:''' They still have my Xbox! With my save files! And all of my achievements! How am I supposed to show everyone online that I'm beating games without it?}}

** The Halloween strip is basically a huge [[Shout -Out]] to ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', with Canadian Guy showing up to work dressed as Robert Baratheon "because he's Canadian Guy."

{{quote| '''Commander Badass:''' ''Whadda ya mean, "don't fight Canadian Guy to death on the front lawn"? Why else would I invite Canadian Guy over?''}}

* [[Small Reference Pools]]: Referenced as the reason that the Commander didn't go as [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Tywin Lannister]] for Halloween.

* [["Stop Having Fun!" Guys]]: [[In -Universe]], Jared's parents consider Pokemon training such [[Serious Business]] that they yell at him for being proud of his Gyarados, because Gyarados sucks in the metagame.

* [[Stop Helping Me!]]: In the author's opinion, [[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Video Game)|Fi]] is worse than Navi.

* [[Throw the Dog Aa Bone]]: [[Sin City|Marv]] is the only one enthusiastic about being a bishonen. But then again, he had the luck to turn into a more muscular [[Marlon Brando]] whereas everyone else turned into overly feminine pretty-boys.

* [[Uncanny Valley]]: Discussed [http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/730 here.]

* [[The Virus]]: [[Tetsuya Nomura|Nomura]] Syndrome. Patient zero was [[Nie RNieR]]. There's also an inverse version of this that Ryu of ''[[Breath of Fire II (Video Game)|Breath of Fire II]]'' suffers from, as well as a poison that turns [[The Big Lebowski (Film)|Walter]] into a [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|pony]].

* [[The Voiceless]]: Pyramid Head. He plays charades with [[Halloween (Filmfilm)|Michael Myers]] and [[Friday the 13 th13th (Filmfilm)|Jason Voorhees]] every Wednesday, but nobody ever makes a guess. This bugs the hell out of Commander Badass:

{{quote| ''"For chrissakes, it's [[Pride and Prejudice]]!"''}}

* [[White -Haired Pretty Boy]]: Bishonen Marv.

* [[Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?]]:

{{quote| '''Jared''': Well that doesn't seem sporting...}}

{{quote| '''Commander''': Nice call, Indiana Jonesy.}}

[[Category:WebcomicWeb Comics]]