Anticlimaxes? Where?

Lithp · 05-05-2010, 01:28 AM

This has been botering me for some time now: What, exactly, do people mean when they say that 8-Bit Theater is anticlimactic?

The Lich was defeated after Black Mage came back from Hell & dragged him there in his stead. Kary was even more ridiculous.

Frankly, I categorize being shoved into a bag that contains an alternate universe, having all atomic activity IN said universe halted, & then having the bag smashed as a fairly epic way of going out.

The only thing I can say that actually disappointed me is Chaos, & even then, that was pretty funny, so it didn't bother me very much.

Meister · 05-05-2010, 01:36 AM

The anticlimax part comes in when they're fighting Ur and everyone expects another tough 20 episode battle with a dramatic resolution precisely because the first two Fiend fights were like that, and then it's over in half the time because Red Mage had a lame idea. You're right though, there are a lot of genuinely climactic events, it's just that a lot of the time they serve to set up the anticlimactic ones somehow.

Lithp · 05-05-2010, 01:47 AM

I suppose I did notice that the latter Fiends were conducted a bit differently, but then there was that whole fiasco with Sarda. I suppose that did set up the Chaos anticlimax, though.

Really, maybe I'm out of the loop or something--I never even thought 8-Bit would have any sort of semblance to a plot before I actually read it--but I just don't really get the whole "joke on the reader" thing.

MSperoni · 05-05-2010, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lithp

What, exactly, do people mean when they say that 8-Bit Theater is anticlimactic?

That's not obvious? To me that's as obvious as the reason why people call it a sprite comic..

I'm pretty sure an anti-climax is like setting up a line of dominos, knocking them down, and right before the final one falls you snatch it up out of the way or something else happens to it besides it being knocked down as expected by the other dominos (like if a cat runs in the room and knocks it over, etc). 8-bit does this kind of thing many times..That or it's when you expect something epic to happen to solve a conflict and something rather unepic does it. I suppose tho anti-climax is more than just basic unpredictability, deus ex machina and non-sequitors. I think to be well done the anti-climax has to make relative sense. Like for example the White Mages vs Chaos, that's not that random, WM has wanted to stop Chaos since the comic started. We just didn't expect it because the convention in stories is to have the heroes we've been following for the past 10 years save the day.

I'm just saying what I think an anti-climax is.. I guess I'll give examples of when I think it happens in 8-bit:

Like the "fight" with Astos, the whole time you think "Oh an epic battle.." and he succumbs to a heart attack. Chaos's defeat is a giant anti-climax set up from the early days of the comic. The quest from the God of Dragons Bahamut was to find a rat tail, double anti-climactic because it had no useful magical properties to the LWs, it was just to help Big B and Matoya get freaky. The pirates they're planning to ambush all collapse from scurvy. And so on and so on.

The writing doesn't do this ALL the time, Kary's defeat is via a big fight w/ the Light Warriors. Drizz'l loses via stabbity death as expected. The variety keeps the comic relatively unpredictable, if every encounter was purely anti-climactic then it might loose a bit of its oomph (I mean, is anti-climax really anti-climax if you expect it to happen all the time?)

HisshouBuraiken · 05-05-2010, 01:15 PM

One word: Helldoken.

Hanuman · 05-05-2010, 01:34 PM

The anticlimax was that the greatest danger the world had ever known was defeated while the characters were off picking poesies and WM swooped in an logic'd him to... walk away.

Examples of climax: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcJwz7wu8_s#t=2m35s

Lithp · 05-07-2010, 07:02 PM

Lev: Technically, they blasted him with enough white magic to bring down a god of chaos--which he was. That's really not much different than what happens at the end of Tenacious D, with the exception that it isn't shown.

MS: I actually never expected Astos to be an epic battle. The plot was really building towards Drizz'l. Some things, like that & the pirates, fall under the category of "minor event" to me. As for the Rat Tail, that produced the result we expected--in fact, perhaps moreso, just not in the same way. I do agree that there are SOME anticlimaxes, mostly for the sake of humor, but I'm not sure that the comic, as a whole, is anticlimactic. Except maybe factoring in the whole Chaos thing.

05-05-2010, 01:28 AM	#1
Lithp Boo Buddy Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 400	Anticlimaxes? Where? This has been botering me for some time now: What, exactly, do people mean when they say that 8-Bit Theater is anticlimactic? The Lich was defeated after Black Mage came back from Hell & dragged him there in his stead. Kary was even more ridiculous. Frankly, I categorize being shoved into a bag that contains an alternate universe, having all atomic activity IN said universe halted, & then having the bag smashed as a fairly epic way of going out. The only thing I can say that actually disappointed me is Chaos, & even then, that was pretty funny, so it didn't bother me very much.

05-05-2010, 01:34 PM	#6
Hanuman Love Is Strength Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Vancouver/BC/Canada Posts: 1,135	The anticlimax was that the greatest danger the world had ever known was defeated while the characters were off picking poesies and WM swooped in an logic'd him to... walk away. Examples of climax: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcJwz7wu8_s#t=2m35s __________________ If you want to stay connected send me a PM with your email.

05-05-2010, 01:36 AM	#2
Meister Pure joy Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Germany Posts: 10,689	The anticlimax part comes in when they're fighting Ur and everyone expects another tough 20 episode battle with a dramatic resolution precisely because the first two Fiend fights were like that, and then it's over in half the time because Red Mage had a lame idea. You're right though, there are a lot of genuinely climactic events, it's just that a lot of the time they serve to set up the anticlimactic ones somehow.

05-05-2010, 01:47 AM	#3
Lithp Boo Buddy Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 400	I suppose I did notice that the latter Fiends were conducted a bit differently, but then there was that whole fiasco with Sarda. I suppose that did set up the Chaos anticlimax, though. Really, maybe I'm out of the loop or something--I never even thought 8-Bit would have any sort of semblance to a plot before I actually read it--but I just don't really get the whole "joke on the reader" thing.

05-05-2010, 01:15 PM	#5
HisshouBuraiken Troopa Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 32	One word: Helldoken.

05-07-2010, 07:02 PM	#7
Lithp Boo Buddy Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 400	Lev: Technically, they blasted him with enough white magic to bring down a god of chaos--which he was. That's really not much different than what happens at the end of Tenacious D, with the exception that it isn't shown. MS: I actually never expected Astos to be an epic battle. The plot was really building towards Drizz'l. Some things, like that & the pirates, fall under the category of "minor event" to me. As for the Rat Tail, that produced the result we expected--in fact, perhaps moreso, just not in the same way. I do agree that there are SOME anticlimaxes, mostly for the sake of humor, but I'm not sure that the comic, as a whole, is anticlimactic. Except maybe factoring in the whole Chaos thing.