8-Bit Theater
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8-Bit Theater (also spelled 8-Bit Theatre) is a sprite comic created by Brian Clevinger based on the game Final Fantasy I. It launched in March 2001. The plot of the comic roughly parallels the course of the game, following the four Light Warriors in their quest to vanquish the King of Demons, Chaos. The comic is not, however, a serious epic; much of 8-Bit Theater's humor is derived from the blunderings and misadventures of the protagonists and their foes.
8-Bit Theater was originally intended to parody a variety of classic 8-bit video games. The popularity of the Final Fantasy comic convinced Clevinger to abandon this idea, although 8-Bit Theater does make occasional references to other video games, as well as various elements of popular culture.
Twice, the main comic has been replaced with other content by Clevinger in the style of 8-Bit Theater. The first such occurrence, in 2002, was [Dynasty Memories,] a parody of the Dynasty Warriors video game series produced by Koei using Megaman sprites.
The second series of non Final Fantasy comics was [Field of Battle,] a parody of Battlefield 2 by EA Games, using River City Ransom sprites. It ran for a week in 2005.
Like most webcomics, 8-Bit Theater occasionally runs guest and filler strips; for example, during a weeklong [period] in 2003 while the author attended E3.
Humor
The humor in 8-Bit Theater is based on exaggerated RPG stereotypes, and includes a range of comedic devices, such as droll humor, wordplay, and slapstick. A significant portion of 8-Bit Theater's humor is character driven — this often involves creating reader anticipation for character development which fails to come. [(Example)] Clevinger has stated that "[his] favorite comics are the ones where the joke is on the reader."Art
As a sprite comic, much of the art in 8-Bit Theater is sampled from video games, particularly Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy III, where the recent new costumes for Black Mage, Fighter, and Red Mage were taken. Some art is also obtained from public clip art sites and unspecified Google image search results.Original artwork is created by Lydia Tyree and Kevin Sigmund, who contribute hand drawn art and custom sprites respectively. Sigmund (Sky Warrior Bob) has a [guide] to sprite creation on the [Nuklear Power Forums.]
The comic itself is assembled by Clevinger in Adobe Photoshop. Some details of this process are given in the 8-Bit Theater [FAQ].
Characters
- For more information, see Light Warriors (8-Bit Theater) and Characters of 8-Bit Theater.
The Light Warriors
- Red Mage — A mage possessing the ability to cast both white and black magic, though in practice he rarely casts any in fear that it will make him less versatile. He believes himself to be a character in a traditional paper-and-pencil RPG along the lines of Dungeons & Dragons — and has abilities that allow him to manipulate his character statistics and the system itself. Red Mage is known for his ludicrous battle strategies and weak grip on reality. He was the first Light Warrior to change class and is now a Mime.
- Thief — The classic gentleman thief, Thief is the Crown Prince of Elfland. He left his kingdom to seek a cure for his ailing father, unaware that this was part of a plot by the Dark Elf King, Astos, to overthrow the nation of Elfland. Thief met Fighter in Corneria, and wrote the contract that codified the formation of the Light Warriors. Thief works primarily by stealth, charm, and legal trickery, but is also highly skilled with knives. Thief was the third Light Warrior to change class, and is now a Ninja.
- Black Mage — A wizard specializing in dark magic, Black Mage is utterly and completely evil, reveling in acts of murder, sadism, and wanton destruction. His magical arsenal includes lightning spells, fire spells, and the powerful Hadoken, but he seems to take particular pleasure in carrying out murder with his knife. He has attacked all of his fellow warriors on various occasions, particularly Fighter, whom he loathes. Black Mage is deeply smitten with his polar opposite, White Mage, whom he attempts to court with clichéd and derogatory pick-up lines. An [early episode] hinted that Black Mage may represent a nexus of magical power. After the other Light Warriors changed class, Black Mage was visited by a dark god who claims to have "unbound the nexus", granting Black Mage the ability to use Blue Magic.
- Fighter — A fighter specializing in swords, and master of The Twelve Schools of Vargus-do Zodiac Style Swordplay. Fighter has a childlike mentality and an obsession with swords. He met Black Mage shortly after being cast out of Fighter's Camp '86 for failing to properly answer a trick question. [link] Fighter has since considered Black Mage to be his best friend, and is seemingly oblivious to Black Mage's frequent attempts to kill him. Fighter was the second Light Warrior to change class, becoming a Knight during a moment of quiet self reflection. This granted him the ability to block blows aimed at his comrades. Fighter is watched over by Dr. Swordopolis, a deity in the form of a sword who appears to be guiding him to an unknown destiny.
Other notable characters
- White Mage - A mage specializing in white (healing) magic. White Mage is a priestess, assigned by her order to protect fate and to help the Light Warriors save the world. To her chagrin, White Mage constantly has to deal with passes from Black Mage. Although she is a priestess, she has a hammer that she frequently uses against Black Mage. During her travels she became the creator of the universe by accident.
- Black Belt - Formerly a talented martial artist and travelling companion of White Mage. Black Belt had an extremely poor sense of direction, to the effect that the laws of physics and spacetime tended to rearrange themselves around him. He was eventually killed by Kary, the Fiend of Fire, causing strong reactions among fans. Unlike many other comic book characters, Black Belt is permanently dead according to the author.
- Sarda - An omnipotent wizard who forces the Light Warriors to retrieve the four elemental orbs.
- Princess Sara - A Princess in Corneria, Princess Sara is kidnapped on a near constant basis. Far smarter than she lets on, Princess Sara is really evil underneath and, in the beginning of the story, tried to encourage Garland, her kidnapper, to be more evil.
- King Steve - Princess Sara's Father and ruler of Corneria, King Steve is a simple-minded lunatic. He believes that he invented eating, inventing, and a number of other things.
- Dark Warriors - A group of villains previously defeated by the Light Warriors. They consist of Garland, Bikke the Pirate, Drizz'l the Dark Elf Prince (a clear parody of Drizzt Do'Urden of Forgotten Realms fame), and Vilbert Von Vampire. Led by Garland, they plot the downfall of the Light Warriors.
- The Four Fiends - Powerful elemental beings and the Light Warriors' biggest adversaries to date. They are Lich (earth), Kary (fire), Kraken (water) and Tiamat (wind); only Lich and Kary have yet made an appearance in the comic, but since the comic follows the game's storyline, it's safe to say Kraken and Tiamat will appear at some point.
Columns
In addition to the comic, 8 Bit Theater's website featured two columns which claimed to be written by characters in the comic, both now discontinued. The first of them was written by Ryan Sosa as the character Red Mage and was entitled Twinkin' Out. It dealt mainly with role-playing games and fictional battles, pitting superheroes against other superheroes or villains. A famous running gag in the column involved Febreze and its ability to solve every conceivable problem if applied properly. The second column is Ask EPS or Ask Evil Princess Sara. Clevinger's girlfriend Lydia Tyree, posing as Evil Princess Sara, would give advice on dating, which was often scathing.Unanswered questions
Throughout its run, 8-Bit Theater has assembled several yet unanswered questions. Some of these are presented below. This section does not answer these questions; it merely lists a number of them and gives the most common proposed answers or speculation.
- Episode 434 - [Episode 434] presents what appears to be some sort of dialogue from the future. The identity of the speakers is unknown.
- Death of One - In one column of Twinkin' Out With Red Mage, he says that he knows of the tragic death of one of the characters. This is likely Black Belt, although another character death in the future can't be ruled out.
- Megahedron - A character similar to Fighter's spirit guide, Dr. Swordopolis. The character appeared once to Red Mage in Episode 661 and has the appearance of a red 20-sided die wearing aviator sunglasses. Red Mage stated Megahedron was not real but rather a result of his "3-point hallucination flaw." Clevinger's initial comment in the discussion thread for Episode 661 suggests Megahedron will be seen again.
- The Gods - In Episode 656, a "dark god" alludes to a rivalry between himself and Dr. Swordopolis, imparting a similar conflict on their respective protegés, Black Mage and Fighter. The exact nature of this conflict has yet to be revealed.
Flash version
A Flash version of 8-bit Theater, created by TLF and Meddros, is available on Newgrounds and UGOPlayer. So far, five episodes have been made. As of 8 Bit Theater 5, the episodes cover an average of 5.4 comics per episode. [link]A song was produced for the credits after the first episode, called "NES Christmas 2000" by Tacoriffic and CotMM.
See also
External links
- [8-Bit Theater website]
- [8BT:Animated flash tributes by TLF]
- [''Mortisland, Flash Films with the 8-Bit Characters]
References
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