View source for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

{{work}}
{{Needs Image}}
{{quote|''[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db{{=}}comics&id{{=}}1899 Testicles joke... or math joke? Damn, this is hard.]''}}

'''''[http://www.smbc-comics.com/ Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]''''' is an episodic daily strip by Zach Weiner. The strip has few, if any, recurring characters. This is a [[Webcomics Long Runners|Web Comic Long Runner]]; [[Archive Panic|the July 21, 2021 strip is number 6,000]].

Much of the strip's humor comes from setting up a situation and then [[Bait and Switch|subverting either the established premise or the audience's expectations]], often going with a [[Dead Baby Comedy]] punchline. The cartoonist is self-described as having the abilities of [[The Far Side|Gary Larson]] and a sex offender.

Zach also does [http://www.smbc-theater.com/ videos] under the name ''[[SMBC Theater]]''. There's less sociopathy in them, though. (Or more, depending on your point of view.)

Compare ''[[The Perry Bible Fellowship]]''. No relation to [[Chocolate-Frosted Sugar Bombs]].

{{tropelist}}
* [[Accuse the Witness]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/?db=comics&id=210#comic Here].
* [[A.I. Is a Crapshoot]]: Parodied [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2124#comic here].
* [[Alt Text]]: Most cartoons have a bonus '''panel''', called the votey, that you see if you mouseover the red button at the bottom of the main cartoon.
** Called such because you used to have to vote for the comic in a poll about web comics in order to see it.
* [[Exclusively Evil]]: Apparently, economists.
* [[Apocalypse How]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2520#comic One strip] starts off with the death of all humans, except for people at frat parties.
* [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=401#comic Dungeons And Dragons is always the first step].
* [[Author Avatar]]: Zach Weiner is redheaded and naked. Always.
** Well, he's [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2565 not always naked].
* [[Author Tract]]: Many strips savage organized religion, in particular Christianity. To be fair, Zach often pokes fun at atheism/agnosticism in the same breath.
* [[Back to Front]]: Done many times as a form of comedic reveal.
* [[Bad Date]]: "Date Wars" is a bad date summarized in an actiony death-ray battle.
* [[Bait and Switch]]: As said above, one of the comic's claims to fame is subverting the audiences expectations, or even double-subverting them. Taken to ridiculous extremes (to the point of self-parody) in [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=561 this strip].
* [[Batman Can Breathe in Space]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2547#comic But Peter Pan and company can't.]
* [[Beat Panel]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=450#comic Four in this comic.]
* [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2049#comic This] comic cites this trope as the route to the best possible sex.
* [[Bigger Is Better in Bed]]: At first, the point of [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2584#comic this strip].
* [[Bizarre Alien Biology]]: It makes  {{spoiler|giving the aliens one million children in exchange for their advanced medical knowledge}} a poor decision in hindsight.
* [[Black and White Morality]]: [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]] and [[Deconstructive Parody|deconstructed ( ...sorta)]] [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2244 in this strip].
* [[Black Comedy]]: A lot. A real lot.
* [[Blessed Are the Cheesemakers]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2590#comic The purpose of life.]
* [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick]]: Plenty of examples. Here's [http://www.smbc-comics.com/?db=comics&id=827#comic a literal example].
* [[Chest Burster]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=499#comic With puppies.]
* [[Clarke's Law for Girls' Toys]]: Pointed out [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1883 here].
* [[Coming Out Story]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2114 With a genuinely unexpected twist.]
{{quote|''It's okay! The less concentrated your love gets, the stronger--'' [SLAM!]}}
* [[Compensating for Something]]: [[Parodied Trope|parodied]], [[Deconstruction|deconstructed]], and [[Trope|played straight]] [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1918 here].
* [[Courtroom Antic]]
* [[Crapsack World]]: Where all doctors and lawyers are incompetent, all relationships are dysfunctional, and suicide and murder are apparently common pastimes. Also, the unicorns? Racists. In some cases though, the doctors are competent sociopaths, and the dysfunctional relationships work due to [[Nightmare Fetishist|nightmare fetishism.]]
* [[Crap Saccharine World]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1222#comic On occasion.]
* [[Create Your Own Villain]]: And we mean '''literally''':
{{quote|''[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db{{=}}comics&id{{=}}2244 That's why we created Skull-King, the robotic scourge of mankind].''}}
* [[Dating Catwoman]]: [[Ho Yay|Though]] [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1243 not with Catwoman herself.]
* [[Dead Baby Comedy]]: Often literally, see Running Gag below.
* [[Deal with the Devil]]: Several; usually it turns out the mortal was cheated.
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2404 A crime deterrent!]
* [[Dogged Nice Guy]]: Brutally mocked [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2264#comic in this comic].
* [[Doublethink]]: Parodied in [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2221 this strip].
* [[Double Standard]]: discussed [http://www.smbc-comics.com/?db=comics&id=1918#comic here]
* [[Dramatic Gun Cock]]: in [http://www.smbc-comics.com/?db=comics&id=457#comic this panel]
* [[Dream Within a Dream]]: Taken to [[Overly Long Gag|ridiculous]] [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1849#comic extremes.]
* [[Easy Road to Hell]]: There was one strip about a priest being sent to hell... [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=471#comic for this reason.].
* [[Eats Babies]]: Used so often, you'd think it's [[Author Appeal]] or something.
* [["Everybody Laughs" Ending]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2527#comic here].
* [[Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory]]: In-universe, the victim of a [[Take That]] [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2112 in this comic].
* [[Everything's Better with Bob]]: Inverted in the bonus panel of [https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/de-extinction this installment].
* [[Everything's Better with Dinosaurs]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2109 ...And funnier too!] <ref>Even political cartoons.</ref>
* [[Everything's Worse with Bears]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1488 The Most Dangerous Game] (also a subversion of... [[Hunting the Most Dangerous Game|yeah]]).
* [[Expospeak Gag]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1957 In weaponized form.]
* [[Eyes Always Shut]]: Snobs tend to be drawn this way.
* [[Fail O'Suckyname]]: Nobody will ever name anything discovered by Dr Oinky Hitlerballs after himself. He resigns from science.
* [[Fling a Light Into the Future]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2106 Gone catastrophically wrong.]
* [[Foe Yay]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2170 Not a riddle].
* [[For Happiness]]: One [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2569#comic strip] start out with featuring a [[Straw Character]] version of [[For Happiness]]. He soon becomes a [[Totalitarian Utilitarian]], however.
* [[For Science!]]!:
** [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1202 Naked people wearing capes are funny.]
** Also a good reason to [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1907 molest bunnies.]
* [[Freakier Than Fiction]]: [[Averted Trope|Lies]]. Just [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1713#comic add a monkey dressed as Hitler] to anything, and it becomes stranger and fictional.
* [[Future Imperfect]]: Invoked. Apparently, [[Don Quixote]]'s true exploits were quite different from [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2134 what is written on the novel]. <ref>The Aesop is - Always remember to be polite to your sidekicks!</ref>
* [[Gag Boobs]]
* [[Gambit Pileup]]: A [http://www.smbc-comics.com/?db=comics&id=1582 psychological experiment] ends in this.
* [[Geeky Turn On]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1318#comic It points out] how pathetic [[This Loser Is You|you]] are for doing this.
* [[Girl-On-Girl Is Hot]]: As briefly explained by [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1023#comic Professor Ferman].
* [[God Is Evil]]: Actually, he runs the gamut from all-loving to unspeakably cruel, as fits the gag.
* [[God Test]]: A variant in [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1584#comic this] ''[[SMBC]]'' comic strip.
* [[Goggles Do Nothing]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2131#comic The votey of this comic.]
* [[Good Angel, Bad Angel]]: In debating whether he should kill his own family, the man's bad angel  {{spoiler|kills them himself. Say what you will, but sociopathy is efficient.}}
** [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=205 It's hard at first.]
* [[Gravity Is Only a Theory]]: A combination of [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2183#comic two] [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2184#comic strips] plays creationism for laughs by invoking the idea that ''the theory about the earth moving around the sun rather than vice versa'' is only a theory. The first strip joke about creationists demanding to put "evolution is only a theory" stickes in biology textbooks. The next strip joke about a guy from the 13:th century demanding the same kind of stickers in astronomy textbooks.
** Also [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2376#comic this] strip.
* [[Hates Everyone Equally]]: The tale of [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2573 Bobby and the Gurg.] Averted at the end.
* [[Half-Human Hybrid]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2519#comic Attempted and failed.]
* [[Heart Is an Awesome Power]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=499#comic With puppies.]
* [[Heroes Want Redheads]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2100 The votey contains such information.]
** The punchline in [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2105#comic this one] too.
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2226#comic SAVE YOURSELF, MAMMAL!]
* [[Hidden in Plain Sight]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2012-04-25 Here].
* [[Hilariously Abusive Childhood]]: A great deal of the humour is this.
* [[Hitler Ate Sugar]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1335#comic You know who else didn't floss?] {{spoiler|You know, probably.}}
* [[Hunting the Most Dangerous Game]]: As seen [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1488#comic here], the real most dangerous game is playing tennis with lit dynamite while riding a [[Everything's Worse with Bears|bear.]]
* [[Hurricane of Puns]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2349#comic CHEMISTRY puns no less.]
* [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place]]: Well, [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=113#comic not really.]
* [[I Ate What?]]: One comic featured a box of "Everything But Urine-Os" cereal, with the line of dialogue "You put ''what'' in my cereal?"
* [[I Banged Your Mom]]: With a frequent subversion. So much so that it's a running gag.
* [[I Have No Son]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=157#comic Well, goodnight Susie].
* [[Impossible Task Instantly Accomplished]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1366#comic What if God took away sex?]
* [[It Makes Sense in Context]]: Some of the panels and/or the dialogue in them can be really bizarre before you read the caption, or in some cases the bonus panel.
* [[Kick the Dog]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=249#comic "I'm beginning to wonder if Fred had an ulterior motive in buying me a puppy for Christmas"]
* [[Lego Genetics]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2519#comic Subverted and mocked].
* [[Long Runner]]. So you like the latest strip. You click to the one before. It has a big number in the URL. {{spoiler|(2000 as of September 14, 2010.)}} [[Archive Binge|Then the one before that.]] Big number minus one. [[Oh Crap]].
* [[The Magic Poker Equation]]: parodied in the SMBC Theater episode "Poker World Championships", before the sketch moves on to the realm of pure absurdity.
* [[Mathematician's Answer]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2208 Literally.]
* [[Mix-and-Match Man]]: Subverted and [[Discussed Trope|discussed]] <ref>(addressing some of the many reason [[This Is Reality|it wouldn't work on real life]])</ref> [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2351 on this strip].
* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: By Jesus himself. He tries to patch things up afterwards, though... [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2413 But not in the way you'd expect].
** Also, [http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2006-07-07 Batman]
* [[Nightmare Retardant]]: In-universe. [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2028 The most horrible monster of all time!]
* [[Noodle Implements]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1864#comic At the end of this].
* [[Nostalgia Filter]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2253 Addressed here,] [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2323 here,] [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2337 and here.]
* [[Lensman Arms Race]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2138 Taken to its logical conclusion.]
* [[Obviously Evil]]: Inverted [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=283#comic here] and [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=436#comic here].
* [[One-Two Punchline]]: There's an entire bonus second-punchline panel accessible by hovering over a red button at the end of the strip.
* [[Only Six Faces]]: Though in this case, it doesn't really matter.
* [[Painting the Fourth Wall]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1234#comic Right here], subverting your expectations again.
* [[Poe's Law]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the votey for [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2573#comic Bobby and the Gurg].
{{quote|''Dear Voltaire's Ghost, please let everyone recognize this as irony.''}}
* [[Poke the Poodle]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=301#comic This strip.]
* [[Precious Puppies]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=499#comic Using Heart as an awesome power.]
* [[Prophecy Twist]]: Played with [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2372#comic here].
* [[Rage Against the Heavens]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1366#comic There's a reason why we're not observant enough.]
* [[Raising the Steaks]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1564#comic How the war was lost.]
* [[The Real Heroes]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=484#comic They're much easier to kill.]
* [[Rule of Cool]]: A number of punchlines revolve around the idea that, for engineers, [[Rule of Cool]] overrides all other considerations.
** [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2088 For scientists too.]
* [[Rule 34]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/?db=comics&id=1816#comic Here.]
* [[Running Gag]]:
** Killing/eating children.
** And whenever the author is drawn, he's [[Naked People Are Funny|naked]].
** The votey on [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1133#comic this] comic, in the site comments. Mostly because it was left up for weeks.
** Graph jokes.
* [[Safe Word]]: One strip teaches us that introducing safewords in nonsexual contexts [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2586#comic is a fun way of creeping people out].
* [[Screw Yourself]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/?db=comics&id=880#comic here]
* [[Seen It All]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2545#comic this guy, where sex is concerned.]
* [[Self-Deprecation]]: fairly common in the mouseover bonus strips.
** Special mention goes to this: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1916#comic "That's Uncle Weiner. He became a cartoonist. So now he's dead to us."]
* [[Self-Made Orphan]]: The Headless Horsemen [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=19#comic here].
* [[Shout-Out]]: A little while after [[Xkcd]] referenced SMBC's mouseover-bonus panels in the [[Alt Text]] of [http://xkcd.com/604/ this strip,] Zach obliged the "giraffe hooker" request [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1565#comic here.]
** And again [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2396#comic here], with [http://xkcd.com/435/ "Physics is to math as sex is to masturbation."]
* [[Stealth Cigarette Commercial]]: Superman subtext with this http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=191
* [[Sophisticated As Hell]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=699#comic Here's] one example.
** [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1352#comic And another.]
* [[Spin the Earth Backwards]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=352 Subversively deconstructed.] Or... deconstructively subverted? Or something.
* [[Spoonerism]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2083 Here].
* [[Stating the Simple Solution]]: A medieval variation in [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=526#comic this comic].
* [[Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion]]
* [[Subverted Trope]]: Too many to count; half the strip's humor comes from doing this in a bizarre manner.
** [[Double Subversion]]: Many, many gags involving something turning out to not be what you think it is, and then turning out to be what you thought it was after all.
*** [[Zig-Zagging Trope]]: usually reserved for multi-panel, but [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=5#comic it's been pulled off] in one panel+ text as well.
* [[Suicide as Comedy]]: Quite a few times, like [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1007#comic this comic], which also falls under [[What an Idiot!]] and [[Tarot Motifs]] (if you look closely).
* [[Take That]]: often accompanied by a "BAM!" in the Author's Notes.
** Zach [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1676 didn't] [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1771 care] for [[Catch-22]].
** Explicitly invoked in the bonus panel for [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1968 this one].
* [[That's What She Said]]: While the [http://www.smbc-comics.com/?db=comics&id=1926#comic consequences] were great, it was worth it.
* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1007#comic Too dumb to die.]
* [[Thanatos Gambit]]: Several examples of how to use this just to mess around with people, such as [http://www.smbc-comics.com/?db=comics&id=2023#comic here]. Or [http://www.smbc-comics.com/?db=comics&id=1954#comic like this]. Or [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2081 this].
* [[There Can Be Only One]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1691 The Ultimate Diet.] It even says so in the votey.
* [[This Isn't Heaven]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=936#comic That's so weird. I've stubbed my toe every 42 seconds since I got here.]
* [[What We Now Know to Be True]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2074#comic A Mother's Love: Nature's Deadliest Poison]
** [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=646#comic Also here.]
* [[Who's on First?]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2349#comic 57 panels worth of chemistry puns].
* [[Would Hurt a Child]]: God, apparently, according to [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2065 this comic's] votey.
* [[Worth It]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/?db=comics&id=1926#comic on the alt panel of this comic].
* [[You Cloned Hitler]]: Now on [[Deconstructive Parody]] flavor! [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2044 Check it here].
* [[Zig-Zagging Trope]]: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=561#comic What is this, middle school?]

----
{{Webcomics-archived-by-LOC}}

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Webcomics Long Runners]]
[[Category:Gag Per Day Webcomics]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Web Comics]]