Sugar Bits

Run, run, run as fast as you can, can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!

Somewhere in a world unseen by human eyes, lies a realm known as Harmonia. It is a place that represents the good things in life: Toys, Love, Sweets, you name it. The latter falls under the jurisdiction of the kingdom of Confectionaria, and it is they who make all things which tickle our sweet tooth. It is a delicious place, though not without danger: plaque monsters and the like invade the kingdom on a regular basis. Confectionaria is ruled over by as-of-yet king, along with his daughther, Princess Ginger. Lately, however, Ginger has not been herself, and this catches the attention of Hansel, the gingerbread captain of the royal guards, baked up by Ginger herself. One thing leads into another, and the two find themselves pulled into a bleak world with numerous dark forces gunning for them. And that's just the top of the cupcake.

Sugar Bits is the third Web Comic by Vinson Ngo a.k.a Bleedman (fourth if you count his one-shot for The King of Fighters). Unlike Powerpuff Girls Doujinshi and Grim Tales from Down Below, this one is not a fanwork but an original creation of the author using fairy tales for the inspiration (i.e The Gingerbread Man among others). The idea though was long since in Bleedman's head even when he started PPGD as Ginger is showcased among the first cartoon chart on Deviantart as well as a prototype comic. However works on the PPGD comic slowed the creation process till its hiatus. Eventually in 2007, he announced the creation of Sugar Bits, uploading character designs till the comic eventually started over at Snafu-Comics (by that point Bleed had moved all of his webcomics to, making this his only webcomic not started on DA.)

The comic tends to tread the line between cute and cuddly and nightmarish and grotesque. Of course, for anyone who's read Bleed's previous works, this is pretty much par for the course. Interestingly, though, out of his three comics Sugar Bits has the least amount of bloodshed and mature themes as of yet. But anything could happen as the comic goes on.

So that said, have a look and see if you enjoy. Please note that the URLs for Sugar Bits and Snafu Comics has changed since this article was written; while the link in this paragraph is up to date as of May 2020, links in the trope list below may not go where you expect.

Tropes used in Sugar Bits include:

Action Girl: Bo and the other female Bravehearts. Cupcake kicks ass as well.
All Just a Dream: For the little red riding hood.
- Or Was It a Dream?: Most likely the Red that was chained was her subconscious, since all the rest are still fighting.
Almost-Dead Guy: Bo after catching an attack. One attack too many.
Armor-Piercing Slap: Ginger to Licorice.
Art Evolution
The Atoner: Wolf implies that Brave is this.
Badass: Don't underestimate Hansel's just cause of his cute looks, he can throw down with the best of them. Brave and Bo aren't no slouches either.
- Badass Adorable (except for Brave)
Big Damn Heroes: This guy^{[dead link]} and his entourage.
Big Red Devil: Gene, assuming he's a devil of some sort. He also has horns.
Blade of Fearsome Size: One of Bo's weapons.
Blondes Are Evil: Licorice.
Blood From the Mouth: Bo
Blue Eyes: Brave.
Boobs of Steel: Cuppy. Yes, we were all surprised.
Cat Fight: Ginger versus Licorice.
Crossover: Surprisingly not with a TV show but with a fellow Snafu-Comics series, Ever After. Red appears as a lackey of Licorice and the Big Bad Wolf shows up at the end of Chapter 2.
Cute Bruiser: Hansel and Bo.
Dark Action Girl: Licorice, from what is seen.
Deadpan Snarker: Ginger, Licorice, Gene, Robin and Bo love getting their snark on.
Determinator: Hansel and Brave.
Down the Rabbit Hole: Or more like warp gate. One of the characters also sprouts this line.
Elegant Gothic Lolita: Licorice.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: When Brave manages to defeat the Big Bad Wolf, Wolf asks what keeps him going. Brave answers "Courage" which prompt this response...

Wolf: Oh what a load of ...-SPLAT-

Evil Twin: Licorice.
Expy: Ginger reminds me of a certain character... Well, cept for the whole "Dark and Troubled Past" thing, seriously, it's obvious Vinson loves this type of character!
Fille Fatale: Robin, before she becomes a hero.
Furry Fandom: Robin has quite the following.
Genki Girl: Cupcake.
Girlish Pigtails: Ginger and Licorice.
Gory Discretion Shot: Ouch.
Gosh Dang It to Heck: Justified, as it's quite reasonable that living confections would use "fudge" as an expletive.
- And then Licorice drops an F-Bomb and S-bomb in the same speech panel. That might just be her character, but it was kinda shocking.
- Bo curses when sufficiently stressed, just in symbols.
Heroic BSOD: Bo seems to be having one on top of Heroic RROD.
Heroic Build: Brave.
Hyperspace Arsenal: Both Hansel and Bo pull this off frequently.
Ironic Nursery Tune: "Mary had a little lamb, a lamb that she soon lost. And no one tried to find this lamb, not at any cost..."
Kill the Cutie: Bo appears to be heading towards this.
- As of this comic, it may be averted. She's in critical condition, but not dead yet.
Leeroy Jenkins: Brave pulls this, but he seems to be Nigh Invulnerable and possesses Super Strength, he's fine.
Little Miss Badass: Bo.
Little Miss Snarker: Ginger.
Love Triangle: Bo seems to have a thing for Hansel, who does like her but has a crush on Ginger, who has a thing for him and therefore gets jealous when he's around Bo. Yeah, I'd say this qualifies.
Magic Skirt: Not only is this a given, but Bleedman one-ups it with Magic Towels!
Mr. Fanservice: Gene and Brave.
Ms. Fanservice: Ginger and Robin.
- Robin after the flashback mini-arc, and it adds Bo to the list.
More Dakka: Excessive force indeed.
Ninja Kindling: Brave slips Robin out of her cloak, leaving a bundle of kindling in her place. It takes three pages for her to notice she's naked.
Petting Zoo People: Many but Cupcake, Bo, and Robin get the most screen time.
Playing with Fire: As this strip shows, Brave and Hansel apply for this trope. Hansel deserves special mention, since he deals in vibrant blue flames.
Plucky Girl: Bo.
Putting on the Reich: Bleed Heart, ruler of the Sorrow Sanctum. This is most visibly evident in his hat and boots.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Licorice.
Screwed by the Network: The comic itself, if rumours are true. This Troper has spoken to members of Bleedman's production team and the word is that the decision has been made to cancel Sugar Bits as a comic in order to maintain a constant focus on PPGD. Some who have heard this news are NOT happy, to say the least. Some feel that bad planning decisions were made in the comic's production but it was not given a fair chance to stand out; particularly when other projects like PPGD and After Birth were being worked upon. It's hoped that the comic can be picked up again in the future. This Troper has heard from DMajorBoss (the head SB writer) that the comic should be wrapped in about five months (from Jan 2011).
- Of course, it's still updating as of April, 2012, so time will tell.
Ship Tease: Hansel and Ginger. Which considering she created him... But that hasn't stopped Bleedman before.
- There's also Bo's rather obvious crush on Hansel.
Shout-Out: Ever wonder what Kratos would look like as a giant werewolf?
- The Brave Little Toaster is a Braveheart. Makes sense.
Silent Bob: Brave only communicates through hand signs.
- Averted once here. It counts as a Shut UP, Hannibal moment, to say nothing of a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
Standard Bleeding Spots
Sugar Bowl: Confectionaria.
Super-Powered Evil Side: Implied of Brave.
"Take That!" Kiss: Ginger gives one to Hansel, but as a Take That to everyone except him.
Tall, Dark and Snarky: Gene
The Grim Reaper: At least implied with Bleed Heart who was first shown when he came to take away Queen Hope's body after she died.
The Unintelligible: Professor Cocoa who only talks in raspberries.
Unusual Euphemism: This gem.
Webcomic Time: "Finally! It seems like this fight's been going on for a year!"
You Do NOT Want to Know: Pretty much a motto of Dystopius.
Zettai Ryouiki